It's Tuesday, April 28th and we've been dealing with "stay at home" and social distancing orders for over a month in the U. S. at this point. If you are like me, you're totally lost. My husband has to tell me what day it is because being someone who is not employed and not working off a set schedule; I completely lose track. Couple that with I'm now a stay at home spouse with her 25-year-old taking courses online, hubby working from home all the time and four cats oh and the corn snake all crammed into our space. We are thankful because we do have a yard and a pool plus a large enough space that some of us have doors we can close to get away from the others, me not so much.
Businesses that are deemed essential are thriving and all others are struggling. If you don't have a private yard with green space or live in a warmer climate you might be going a bit stir crazy (or in my case even with all that you might be mentally struggling). I thrive on connectivity and getting to observe people, their interactions, and energy. It's what inspires me. My husband, not so much. There are few things I can pull him out of the house for and thankfully one of those is whiskey the other being food.
That being said, this weekend we were invited to attend a virtual event for whiskey that involved Brenne Whiskey (French style) and FEW Whiskey (produced in the Chicago area). Representing each were Allison Parc, Founder and President of Brenne French Single Malt Whiskey, and Kevin Hillow, Florida Market Manager for Samson & Surrey (distributor). The event was hosted like a virtual happy hour and revolved around making Boulevardier (thank God for spell check because yeah, I can't even pronounce this without tripping over my tongue) and Manhattan cocktails. The discussions centered around the different ways to make each cocktail including various types of vermouth and bitters depending on the palate.
Allison made hers (which we recreated at home) with Campari and Antica Vermouth which was interesting that the vermouth is very sweet and Campari, as we all know, is extremely bitter. Kevin chose to use a different vermouth, Routin which I have as of this writing not tried. It is on my list.
Now I am not much of a cocktail person, I prefer my whiskey straight or with a few drops of water and I do mean drops. But it was a good time and fun listening to everyone discuss their preferences, some preferred more bitter, some less, some dry, some not. We talked about each whiskey, their history, and the product lines. It was in all a great way to connect, feel like you were somewhere other than in a lockdown situation and lots of laughter. Turns out most of us have pets and they all like to photobomb Zoom calls. What is it about getting on a call that makes our pets decide they need attention at just that moment? But anyway, on to the alcohol.
After the session, Vince and I made a beeline for our local liquor store (so very thankful they are deemed essential!) to pick up items so that we could recreate the cocktails and find out what our preferences are. My husband experimented all weekend because it fascinated him. Did I mention we have a well-stocked liquor wall? If you haven't yet, go check out our Instagram account and you'll find a short tour of our cabinets under the highlights section for whiskey. Anyway, we got very lucky in that we were able to find the exact brands that Allison used and with a giddiness, we headed home.
Before we dive into the cocktails flavor profiles, I would like to share with you a bit of the knowledge Kevin imparted to us. Kevin has a good rule for making cocktails of any kind that he called the 2,1,1 ratio. It is 2 parts spirit of your choice, 1 part sweet again of your choice and 1 part citrus (lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit) then mix and pour over ice. We also discussed the 3, 2,1 ratio for a Manhattan. This is 3 dashes of bitters, 2 ounces of whiskey, and 1 ounce of vermouth. Kevin's preference is for dryer vermouth, which is something I hope to try very soon. As I previously mentioned, I am not a cocktail person per say. Ones that you order in bars or restaurants tend to be too heavy on the sugar and being at home I often prefer to go straight for the scotch but, since we do hope to start hosting dinner parties once the quarantine is lifted, I think it is time I get a better understanding of cocktails and mixers. I recognize that not everyone drinks scotch, so time to up my hostess game and this was a really good start.
For the Boulevardier we did equal parts of Brenne Whiskey, Campari, and Antica Vermouth. Now being the person I am, I had to try each individually before mixing them into a cocktail. I don't recommend trying Campari on its own as it is a bit rough. If you have ever gone to the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta or at Disney and tried the Beverly soda then you would agree.
Per my usual, my tasting notes are below.
Brenne Whiskey - There is a fruitiness on the nose that is hard to place yet very pleasing. If you close your eyes the aroma transports you to the countryside alive with fruits and flowers. It is delicate, soft, and very pale in color. It is warm, enticing in a shy way yet playful and smooth upon first taste. Feels a bit young in the mouth, goes down fast, and does not linger. It is creamy, delicate, and sweet; more like a luscious fruit than a whiskey. The balance is pristine (sounds weird but that is the only word that comes to mind). It seems almost a crime to put something so delicate in a cocktail, almost. I would say that I prefer it outside of the cocktail as it would be good to sip on a summer day.
Campari - don't, just don't. Know that it is bitter. The nose is fabulous like a damn good cigar, the flavor will make you cry. The bitter sensation heightens in the back of your mouth but not in the throat.
Antica Formula - prunes soaked in heavy syrup on the nose and palate but not in a candy sugar type of syrup. Think over ripened prunes that have been baked in the oven. It is perfectly balanced so that you could actually have this as an after-dinner aperitif on its own. It blends well with the Campari and offsets some of the bitterness but not enough to overpower.
The cocktail itself leans more towards the bitter side due to the strength of the Campari. It is not altogether unpleasant, but if you prefer sweeter cocktails, then you may want to cut back on the Campari. It is interesting as the Antica and Campari almost draw lines within your mouth. The Campari camps out in the back corners while the Antica lingers in the front creating a rollercoaster for your palate with every sip.
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Be safe and enjoy!
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