And now for something completely different…….!

Ever want to distill your own whisky or whiskey at home? I think a lot of us have thought about it and many of us have a family heritage of uncles, grandfathers, etc. that actually did produce some fine shine back in the hills of various states in the South mostly. For now home distilling remains illegal in the United States and even in Canada but there are actually web sites (that we are not affiliated with in any way) that will sell you all the stuff you need to distill at home. Not being fond of striped clothing and metal bars I for one will pass on the illegal stuff however there is a perfectly legal alternative that I would like to suggest to you now.
There are a few sites you can Google that sell small oak casks and you can purchase them already charred or even toasted or plain. They seem to come in most any size you could want from 1 liter up to 16 liter and one site has them in gallons from one gallon up to 5 as best as I can remember. They are not cheap and will run you from around $100 to $300 depending on the size and there will be some shipping charges as you might imagine. We are dedicated whisky (ey) drinkers though are we not??? So a few hundred bucks could be worth it for this project and you can budget it over time and not have to buy everything in one day.
Alright so you first secure a nice little oaken cask and remember to please follow the directions that come with it to the letter. You must use the charred one for whisky the toasted is for wine and toasted or plain will not give you the aging results you seek! There is a process you must do involving filling it with hot water for several days to get the wood to seal properly. Once it is sealed then you can continue the project but don’t wait too long between the sealing and the introduction of spirits as you don’t want the cask to dry out.
Now for part 2! Go to your favorite liquor store and see what kinds of whisky (ey)’s they have that are “Cask Strength!” Which means they were removed straight from the large cask at the distillery without having any water added and the ones I have seen run about 118 proof or so. Procure enough bottles to fill your home cask and take them home and open the cask and pour the luscious liquid into the cask and reseal. Watch it carefully for leaks the first couple of days and be sure to secure the tap or spigot so that it is wired or secured in the closed position as you don’t want to come home from work and find your treasure covering the kitchen floor and your dogs and cats badly in need of a trip the pet version of the Betty Ford center.
So why do this? Well as I’m pretty sure you know, whisky (ey) stops aging once it is removed from the cask at the distillery. Yes you may have had that bottle of 12 year old scotch in your closet for 20 years but no unfortunately that does not make it a 32 year old scotch only the time maturing in the cask adds to the age and flavor of a whisky (ey) it just doesn’t work like some wines that get better in the bottle. You now have a way around this challenge. Note the age of the cask strength whisky (ey) when you empty the bottles into your home cask and then BING like magic the wonderful aging process begins again. Every day you keep your treasure in your home oaken charred cask is one more day it ages!!! Aint that great!!! So let’s say you find a 10 year old cask strength and put it in your home cask. Every year it just gets better and better and you can still be drinking it along the way. For a while you are drinking 10 year old then before you know it its 11, 12, 13, and right on up to as long as you can stand to have it in your home without consuming it. That is why I suggest at least a 2 gallon cask so you can drink up a gallon over the years and leave a gallon for that 20, 25, or even 30 year old goal.
One choice for this could be Macallan’s cask strength which last time I bought a bottle ran me about $47. There are many others to choose from so have fun doing this and it’s a great conversation piece for when you are entertaining friends or having the poker buds over for an evening of cards. Just don’t be too generous and end up with a nice empty cask after just a few months….that would not be so much fun…well maybe…!

2007 Moscato Allegro, wine review - The Wine Muse

Today I will be reviewing one of my all time favorite "dessert wines". I find that typically people either love or hate dessert wines. The haters typically cite them being way too sweet to pallet. Martin & Weyrich 2007 Moscato Allegro falls into the category of dessert wine, but definitely holds its own with its crisp pleasant taste. It is refreshing with a nice finish and there is a hint of sweetness, but it isn't overpowering or syrupy like many of its contenders. Reasonably priced, between 10 and 17 dollars for a 750ml bottle, it is a contender for most appealing dessert wine for the masses.

This wine has a nice light traditional Moscato d'Asti color. HEAVY pear and a little apple scent. NOTES: Orange blossoms, honeyed apricots, peaches, pears, citrus, pink grapefruit. This wine finishes with a semi-sparkling finish (fizzy light).

This wine is produced in the style of northern Italy’s muscat. A deliciously fresh and fruit wine from the Muscat Canelli grape. Muscato is California's premier Muscat Canelli based wine and is fermented in extreme cold temperature's creating a light, sweet wine perfect for appetizers, light desserts or by itself.

All in all a nice wine for a nice price, would appeal to a large variety of pallet's, a good into wine into the "dessert wine" category for the picky wine drinker.

Red Stag Bourbon

I first saw Red Stag the other day as I was doing my kid in a candy store impersonation wandering the isles of one of my local liquor stores. I had never heard of it nor had I ever seen Red Stag before this week. It is made by Jim Beam, one of the venerable Bourbon houses with a good reputation that goes back in history a long way. The label caught my eye and well I just had to try it.
Now usually I like my whisky (ey) straight or at most with a splash of water and on 95 degree Florida days in the summer, yeah with some ice. I don’t care for flavored vodkas but do enjoy a good vodka martini. I don’t even put lemon in my tea. So straight and undiluted is the way I enjoy my alcohol. Then Red Stag came along and caught my eye. Red Stag is black cherry flavored and I honestly had never heard of flavored Bourbon before. There may be several of them but this was the first time I had come across one. So I cracked open the bottle and gave it a whiff and you guessed it, I could actually smell black cherry (surprise!). So I took a swig and yep there it was, lots of black cherry flavor right there in this bottle of Bourbon. It left a nice after taste in the back of the throat not unlike drinking a black cherry cola but with the pleasant Bourbon taste right there riding shot gun on the whole experience.
I guess the thought is (and this is just my guess) that the Beam marketing department thought that a lot of folks like Bourbon and Coke and a lot of folks like black cherry Coke so Red Stag would make the perfect mixer for those of us who enjoy that sort of thing.
Well, it does taste pretty good. The combo is really nice and I think this is a winner for the Bourbon and Coke crowd. It may not appeal to the straight whiskey drinkers but I got to tell you that it actually was enjoyable so if you are of a mind to try something different every once in a while this could be a nice diversion from your normal whiskey.
I think it would be great at parties and I am fairly sure that there are some ladies out there who would enjoy this black cherry taste in their Bourbon and yeah some men too.
There are hundreds of brands out there and that just proves that we all like different things or else there would only be one brand so if nothing else buy a miniature 50ml bottle and give Red Stag a try. I will most likely buy it again one day soon and yeah I might even have a Bourbon and black cherry Coke once in a while…..maybe….but it does have a nice flavor to it. Try it and let me know what you think.

The Whiskey Warrior

The mystery of tannins revealed - The Wine Muse

Take a bite of the skin of the grape, and chew it for a minute. Taste that puckery, bitter taste? What you are tasting fellow wine drinkers, are the tannins in the grape skin. Tannins are also found in the stems and seeds of the grape. These types of tannins are the least preferred type of tannin by wine drinkers and sometimes referred to as “the bad tannin”. Tannins are more noticeable in red wine, because it is macerated (soaked with skins and seeds) and sometimes fermented while in contact with the skins and seeds to extract the color from the skins.

Tannins are found in a lot of plants, like tea. They also have been used to aide in tanning animal skin. (uhm disgusting) But the type of tannins we care about are in the grape. But there is another type of tannin found in wine (these are referred to sometimes as the “good” tannins) are called “Hydrolyzable tannins”. Hydrolyzable tannins are extracted from the barrel of the wood. As your wine ages in it’s bottle, the “good” tannins will eventually go away. The “bad” tannins will be just as prominent in your wine, regardless of how long it ages.

Modern winemakers try to minimize the taste of the amount of the “bad” tannins by gently crushing the grapes while extracting their juice to avoid crushing the seeds. Tannins also play an important role in preventing oxidation of the wine. Un-aged wines with high tannin content can be less palatable than wines with a lower level of tannins

You probably have heard red wine is good for your heart? That is because of the, you guessed it, tannins. Tannins, in the form of proanthocyanidins (a class of flavinols) have been shown to have a positive effect of vascular health. The study showed that tannins suppressed production of the peptide responsible for hardening arteries.

So what does “mouthfeel” mean, anyways? Well I am glad you asked. Remember that puckery feeling when you bit into that grape skin? When you bite into the skin (or sip the wine) the tannins constrict your tongue and (this is kind of gross) the mucous membranes of your mouth. This cause the “furring” of the mouth, or puckering of the gums, a sensation very similar to what happens when you drink tea (which also has tannins) that has been steeped to long.. But the good news is, that all this “gross” talk creates the impression of a full-bodied liquid. Which for a wine, is a desirable effect.

There you have it, now you are an expert on tannins. Go out and get your mouthfeel on.....

Irish Pub field trip in Titusville – The Wine Muse

Flaskandcask ventured on our first ever field trip last weekend to the Irish Pub in Titusville, Florida. The staff was warm and welcoming and the pub definitely had a flare of a “true Irish pub”. I was pleasantly surprised to see their extensive menu featuring traditional Irish food like corned beef and cabbage or shepherd's pie. But we weren’t there for the food this time, but the drink! While the Whisky warrior was sipping on his bourbon, I partook of the fermented grape! Although the staff first told me they had a great New Zealand wine on hand, which peeked my interest, then they came back and informed me they were out due to the overzealous winos from the previous weeks St Patty’s day festival, but that didn’t deter the wine muse from her quest for good tasting wine! My first glass of wine was a Benziger Chardonnay (From the vendors site: This Sangiacomo Vineyard Chardonnay is a rich, luscious wine with a lovely mouth feel. In this vintage, there are bright tropical flavors of pineapple, pear, and peach with a slight hint of vanilla from oak barrel aging.) While I am not sure what “a lovely mouth feel exactly entails”, this wine was average. It didn’t make my mouth feel lovely, but it wasn’t the worst chard I have ever tasted either. The oak-y taste wasn’t super prominent (and those of you that have read my very vocal feelings about oaky chards before, KNOW where I am coming from) If I had to rate this on a scale of 1-10 (1 being vinegar and 10 being the best wine I have ever had, which to date is probably the Startree, unoaked chard, based on the sheer amount of bottles I have consumed over the past year) I would probably rate this a 5. Mediocre at best. Nothing I would ever seek out and intentionally order, but I wouldn’t turn my nose at it if it was served to me.

The next wine I tried was Rosemont Shiraz. (Winemaker Notes Richly textured with well defined, ripe blackberry fruit flavors, soft generous tannins on the mid-palate and a long, rich finish. Try with lamb, pasta, antipasto, osso bucco)
First off, I love this wine. I actually could taste a hint of blackberry in the wine. (and I never taste any notes, hardly EVER, so this was amazing). It was smooth and didn’t have a harsh aftertaste that I hate about so many reds. Ok, lets be honest, the bottle was cool too. I am a sucker for the art on the bottle, a cool shaped bottle or a creative name. The tannins, I am sure, were quite generous. (What are tannins, you ask? Tannins are polyphenolic compounds that bind to and precipitate proteins. And if you don’t understand this term still after reading this description, tune in for my next article: "What are tannins and why are they generous"??) I would rate this wine a 7 on a scale of 1-10. I would probably seek it out in a bar or if I happened to see the cool bottle at the wine shop, I would grab a bottle. Try it! Tell me what you think!

Your personal favorites, wine or whiskey? Share with us!

My favorite wines, sigh...so many, so many. My preferences seem to go in waves. I don't discriminate. I love white, red, sweet, dry, sparkling, oaked, un-oaked....in a glass or in a cask, in a train or on a plane...special occasions or a glass with dinner. Currently, I like Cupcake Chardonnay and of course, my favorite un-oaked chardonnay, Startree.

I have two bottles waiting for me to try. One is called "Mad HouseWife", you have to love the name. The other is called "Fat Bastard". You see, I have a very technical and refined way of picking wines most of the time. One is, by the artwork on the bottle. Yep, very technical. The other is, by the name. Is it creative? Imaginative? Cool? Actually, more refined wine drinkers may poo-poo this method, but I have to say, I have gotten to try many great wines! (and many craptastic ones as well).

How do you choose your next wine to try? Do you go solely by rating? So you ask the bartender? Do you read Wine magazine? Tell me!

Field Trip!!!!

Our first 18 articles have been written and published in F&C blog. As you might expect many of those articles have been banging around in our heads for a long time so in effect the easy articles are done and now we have to actually think, well maybe not think but drink some more in order to have more to report on. Friday night the 19th of March the staff of Flask and Cask; The Wine Muse, The Whisky Warrior, and our technical guy who for now we will call Greymatter all met up at the Irish Pub in Titusville Florida to sample a couple of items we had never tried before so we can report on it to you. The staff of the Irish Pub was very friendly and helpful and our patty melt and nachos were very good. I also highly recommend their fish and chips and of course they have a full bar, varied menu, and way upstairs is there martini bar. Now the higher priced stuff is on the top shelf behind the bar to the right of center so you can take a good hard look and choose something extra nice up on the shelf if you are so inclined.

I chose Knob Creek Bourbon for my first selection of the evening. Knob Creek is 9 years old and 100 proof. I was presented a double shot by the server and I looked at the color, a nice bourbon brown and a darker shade more so than the 4 year old bourbons owing that deeper, richer color to more time in the barrel I would imagine. The aroma was pure Bourbon and no I did not smell apricots or pears or hazelnuts or shoe polish, I simply smelled very good Bourbon and that is a great aroma unto itself. Sorry but I just will never get all these subtle flavors people attribute to spirits. I then drank the Bourbon and it went down fairly smooth I would rate it for that first drink an 8 out of 10 for smoothness but hang on, the second drink was much smoother 9.5 out of 10. Remember I once tried 47 year old scotch and nothing will ever be that smooth so 9.5 is about as high as I can possibly rate any sample. The taste was, yes you guessed it, like good Bourbon is supposed to taste with a little after taste that was quite pleasant that started on the roof of my mouth and then moved on down and that was an unusual sensation but then I was tasting this for you and not guzzling it for me. It was very pleasant and I do recommend Knob Creek for those of you wanting to try something a little more up the Bourbon ladder. (While I was enjoying this Bourbon “The Wine Muse” was trying out Benziger and Rosemont Shiraz wines but you can read her article shortly)

My next selection was Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon. I have read other peoples reviews of this Bourbon who tout things such as oily and lanolin flavor but nope, I did not taste that at all. I found Eagle Rare and Knob Creek to be amazingly close in quality and in taste. The Eagle Rare is a 10 year old so it has one more year in the barrel and may have been just a tick smoother because of that but it was a very drinkable Bourbon. I did not get any aftertaste from the Eagle Rare but the one I got from Knob Creek was a good thing not a negative. I think if you have both of these bourbons in your bar at home you will spend long hours of quiet enjoyment with either one of these outstanding Bourbons.

The Whiskey Warrior