I recently bought two bottles of whiskey recently to try out something I had never done before. One Jim Beam and one Black and White Scotch , very simple drinks. I wanted to see if I could pick up on characteristic of the bourbon that are often passed on to scotch whiskies via the casks.
I should have known that this would not pan out alright. Whisk(e)y has the tendency to surprise you, both in pleasant and unpleasant ways. Even though I've had these two whiskies before, I was not ready for what would happen.
I poured the scotch first since I was in a mood for something briny. I took my time with it, taking in the smells, the simple body, the nice and homeliness. This was not challenging at all. That was just alright. The point was not for me to have myself work through the typical smokiness of scotch but to find the bourbon cask in the scotch.
After a dram, one usually moves on to the next task at hand, in this case I was supposed to have poured a second measure from the Jim Beam to confirm the casks character from the scotch. But for some reason that went out of the window. Beside the confirmed notes from the bourbon cask, I found something that surprised me and that was subtle notes of hey or something like grass straw.
This was surprising because I have never been able to pick those out of any whisky. To have that with a bottle as simple as Black and White was really interesting and I loved it. So much so that I forgot about the bottle of bourbon waiting. I must have set with the scotch for something like a two hours (I'm a slow drink... small sip, prolonged masturbation over the tastes and smell... I'm a whiskey popinjay).
A quarter way through the bottle I realize I've let things get out from. I put away the scotch and grab the Jim Beam, pour a dram...
Some had changed...
I took a small breathe of the bourbon. Yes, I could confirm the what I found in the scotch but more pronounced in the Jim Beam. But I was not "hmm-ing" from the sweetness that I had love from bourbon. In fact, I was grossed out by it.
... I did not like what I was tasting.
... The near candy and bubble gum.
... The sugary butter.
"Why is this just too much, right now", I asked myself.
The long I tried it again the more it felt like I'd just had a glass of sugar diabetes. I put away the Jim Beam and pour some Four Roses.
Another glass of sugar diabetes... "The f** is going on?*"
I had just kill my preference for bourbon in a seating.
Life as I have known it will never be the same.
RIP Bourbon. Maybe we will see each other again... We can be sort of friends.
___ENTHUSIASTIC about BLOGGING?
