Author: Thirsty South

Dedicated to all things drinking well in the South.
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Small Batch Tonic from Jack Rudy Cocktail Co., Charleston

I love a gin and tonic. There are few cocktails whose spirit and mixer come together so seamlessly to produce a greater sum. Most places use good ole Canada Dry as the “T” in the G&T. Not bad. At home, I most often use Fever-Tree, which suits me to a T. Roughly, Fever-Tree is to Canada Dry as Plymouth Gin is to Beefeater Gin. Elevated, refined, both intense and balanced at once.  But now, though, there’s a Southern artisan tonic that will be pushing aside the Fever-Tree in my cabinet. Jack Rudy Cocktail Co., out of Charleston, South Carolina, has introduced a small batch concentrated tonic syrup that merits inclusion in any bar, north or south. It’s not easy to find – in Atlanta, Star Provisions got some in recently – but you can order directly from the Jack Rudy website.

What you’ll notice is that the Jack Rudy tonic is not carbonated – it is a syrup built from cane sugar, orange peel, lemongrass and quinine. You get to control its strength by the amount of club soda you add in to your cocktail, which is a delightful freedom for cocktail tinkerers everywhere. I recently received a bottle of the Jack Rudy tonic and have been playing with gin and tonics, as well as drinking it simply mixed with club soda to better gauge the flavor profile. Compared to Fever-Tree, the Jack Rudy mixed with club soda has more body, more of a grassy herbal quality, and an almost gingery depth. Fever-Tree is more bracing, a bit more clean, though with a quinine bite that is assertive. For drinking by itself (why oh why would one do this when gin is close at hand?), I actually prefer the Fever-Tree; but once gin enters the equation….

In a Plymouth gin and tonic, the Jack Rudy really comes alive. Gin and tonic do go together so nicely, and Jack Rudy’s flavor profile and body simply works wonders in this combination. Somehow, the Jack Rudy produces a cleaner G&T than the Fever-Tree, a more exotic layering of citrus and herbs and sweetness. And what does “clean” mean? That’s a tough one… to me it represents a middle ground between sharp and smooth, a clarity of flavor. With the Fever-Tree G&T, the citrus notes, both lemon and lime, come prominently to the forefront, and there is both a definitive sweetness AND a more pronounced quinine bite than in the Jack Rudy G&T. Great drinks both, and fascinating to contrast them, but the Jack Rudy takes the lead.

Oh, and here’s the recipe for a “proper gin and Rudy” if you were wondering:

Enjoy, and check out some other recipes that make great use of this artisan cocktail tonic.

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The Quintessential Southern Cocktail

Garden & Gun is a fine journal of Southern culture. This month’s issue features 50 great Southern bars (though, ahem, the Caribbean is included as part of the South!?), as well as some fine Southern spirits. What caught my attention though was a small graphic showing how Garden & Gun‘s Facebook fans voted in a poll to determine the “quintessential Southern cocktail.” The choices were the Bloody Mary (Southern? I don’t think so), the Mint Julep (decidedly Southern, but frankly a bit of a specialty drink in my opinion), the Old-Fashioned (quintessential, yes; Southern, not so much), the Sazerac (ahhh, yes), and the Bourbon & Ginger (quite Southern, but a bit too easy).

As if my comments didn’t hint at it, my choice would be the Sazerac – that classic cocktail of the classic cocktail city of New Orleans, a drink of great character, especially when made with a good rye whiskey. As for those Facebook voters, they chose the Mint Julep first, then the Bourbon & Ginger, then the Old-Fashioned, then the Bloody Mary (bloody hell!), THEN the Sazerac. Dead last. A sorry Southern state of affairs. I can forgive the Mint Julep win, though the commercialization of it as the drink of the Kentucky Darby (brought to you by Yum! Brands, and Budweiser, and Ram trucks, and Early Times, and Woodford Reserve!) gets under my skin a bit. But to put the Sazerac below the Bloody Mary! Blimey. Maybe those Garden & Gun Facebookers just don’t know what they’re missing. They need to get down to New Orleans, or to their town’s best cocktail bar, and reconnect with the Sazerac, THE quintessential Southern cocktail.

The Sazerac

1 Sugar Cube
2 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (I suggest Rittenhouse Bottled in Bond)
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Absinthe (or Herbsaint)
Lemon Peel for garnish

In an Old-Fashioned glass, muddle the sugar cube with a touch of water to soften it up. Add some ice cubes, then the rye, then the bitters. Meanwhile, add a splash of absinthe to a second, chilled Old-Fashioned glass and swirl around to coat the inside of the glass, then pour out the rest. Strain the rye and bitters into the absinthe-washed glass. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel. Enjoy.

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Thirsty Outtakes

I accumulate a lot of photos over the course of a year, only a small percentage of which end up on Thirsty South. Every once in a while, I’ll look back and see certain shots that trigger a memory, a moment in time. They may not mean much to anyone else from the perspective of the experience captured, but hopefully the images themselves are interesting, compelling, beautiful even. At least I hope so, as much as a photo of a bottle or a drink or a bar can be. So, for anyone who digs photos of such things (and I know you’re out there, in droves on Pinterest and Flickr), I hope you enjoy a few outtakes from the past year and a half of Thirsty South:

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A Balanced, Thirsty Life: Public To Do List

Life is busy. There’s work, of course. More importantly, there’s family. And friends. I like it best when writing for Thirsty South can be an extension of the things that are most important to me. A component of those things, rather than an impediment to those things. Grinding some coffee beans by hand as my kids eat breakfast each morning is a fine thing. Sharing a bottle of wine with friends is equally good. Darting out to a beer event just to stay on top of the scene? Not so much. So, while I hope to be as in the know as possible on “all things drinking well in the South,” the reality is that it’s a fool’s cause to try to actually be completely in the know (unless that is your real full time job). In that light, here is a list of things I’ve failed to do and to write about that should be done and written about in a perfect Thirsty South world (a public To Do List that will hopefully prod me into getting out and exploring and tasting and meeting folks doing cool things, as long as it fits within the rhythm of my life rather than disrupt that rhythm):

Beer:
Go meet David Stein, new brewmaster at Twain’s in Decatur
Go visit the folks at Red Hare Brewing in Marietta, GA
Go visit the cool little home of Jailhouse Brewing in Hampton, GA
Check out the expansion of SweetWater Brewing in Atlanta
Check out the expansion of Hop City‘s Growlertown…
…and The Beer Growler in Avondale Estates
Spend more time at The Brick Store… and The Porter… with friends

Likker:
Check out American Spirit Whiskey, based in Atlanta
Spend more time with Atlanta’s fine bartenders… and friends
Spend more time at H&F Bottle Shop… and making cocktails for friends

Juice:
Revisit Georgia wine country, a few times, there is good stuff going on up there

Coffee:
Get back to my favorites more often – Octane and Steady Hand especially
Keep doing the Clever routine at home with good locally roasted beans

Alas, it won’t be easy, but I’ll do my best to keep on living a happy, thirsty, balanced life. Cheers.

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Rye Battle: Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye vs. High West Rendezvous

Following up on a battle of two exemplary wheated bourbons, we now bring you… BATTLE RYE! My “catch” of the year in 2011 was securing a prized bottle of the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye. One bottle. It’s not easy to come by. I’ve been able to try this rye on a few occasions in the past, each time walking away swearing it was the best I ever had. The Van Winkle Family Reserve is labeled “13 years old,” but rumors abound (actually, confirmed by Julian Van Winkle III) that the actual time in the barrel was quite a bit longer. Word is that the Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye was actually put into tank (to stop the aging process) at 18 or 19 years of age back in 2005 or so, and was sourced from a combination of long gone Medley rye and Cream of Kentucky rye. The art is in the blending, the selecting, the determination on when to stop aging. Whatever it is, my various tastings of it have confirmed that it is a tremendous spirit and among the best ryes available anywhere.

As for a worthy competitor… Sazerac 18 is the obvious choice (and may be of common provenance), but I also think that a few of the ryes out of High West are up to the task. High West’s 21 year old rye is monumental, akin to Pappy 23 in what those last few years of aging do to transform the whiskey into something altogether magical, but, alas, I don’t have any more of that around (and it is quite a bit more expensive).  I do have a bottle of High West Rendezvous Rye, though, which is a blend of 6 year old and 16 year old ryes – putting the average somewhere near Van Winkle’s labeled (though not true) age of 13 years old – and priced not too far off the Van Winkle price. Fortuitously for comparison sake, the High West Rendezvous and the Van Winkle Family Reserve also have similar proofs – 92 and 95.6 proof, respectively.

High West sourced their 16 year old rye component from Barton stock, with an 80% rye mashbill, and their 6 year old rye from LDI, with a 95% rye mashbill. I’m just about sick of seeing LDI rye pop up under various guises lately, but they do turn out a pretty good product, and have somehow managed to maintain inventory levels at a healthy enough rate to supply all these various bottlings.

Here are my notes on an epic battle rye:

High West Whiskey Rendezvous, A Blend of Straight Rye Whiskies
Batch No. 41, Bottle No. 446
92 Proof
Approx. $42 Retail

Golden honey color. Powerful but elegant nose, honeysuckle and mint/menthol and Bit-O-Honey, with mellow green wood underneath and just a hint of smokiness – not peaty, but reminiscent of an elegant single malt Scotch. A bit of butter rum, touches of honeyed Sauternes. Intoxicating stuff, manages to be highly feminine and seductive yet still with some muscle, like a dancer leaping into the air.

Tasted neat, the Rendezvous kicks in with a nice burn, tingling on the tongue, layers of that menthol and lightly burnt caramel and anise. The texture is pleasantly lightly syrupy, permeating the taste buds. The green wood appears on the midpalate, and the rye spice and that hint of smoke come on more strongly in the finish. A few drops of water does lighten it up a bit,  but to my tastes does not do it any favors – I prefer this one on its own, dancing at full strength.

Excellent stuff – worth the tariff, not to be encumbered in cocktails.

Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye, Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, 13 Years Old
No. B0198
95.6 Proof
Approx. $50 Retail

The additional age on this is apparent – much deeper copper color than the Rendezvous. Thicker texture, too, clings to the glass like a thin maple syrup.  The nose is deeper as well, more wood, more spice, more brown sugar, all in check. Cinnamon emerges in subtle bursts on top of toasted pecans, is that a dark chocolate covered cherry passing by? Maybe a juicy purple grape? It’s hard to pin down what makes this exceptional, other than the fact that it is just so harmonious and builds and builds and builds, then segues into something slightly different but just as wonderful.

On the tongue, the Van Winkle definitely has more presence, more chewiness. Again, neat is the way to go. The spice comes in quickly here, not quite cinnamon, not quite allspice or nutmeg, not quite mint, not quite pepper, but somewhere in between all that. Dark brown sugar, vanilla and figs and toasty wood follow, and a sweet rye spice burn carries on through to a long deep finish. The long time in the barrel does seem to impart a more bourbon-y profile than the High West, but this is still definitively rye. I do get toasted pecans again at the tail end of this (not sure why I’m picking up that note on both of these – maybe because I was cooking with toasted pecans a few nights ago). Where the Rendezvous is a lovely dance partner, the Van Winkle is a warm leather coach that embraces you.

Maybe I’m a sucker for the Van Winkle mystique, but this shouts WOW to me as much as the Pappy 15. Amazing stuff. If you see it, grab it before it’s gone.

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* Thirsty South Rating Scale:

Wow – among the very best: knock-your-socks-off, profound, complex liquid gold!
Excellent – exceptional in quality and character, worth seeking out, highly recommended
Good Stuff – solid expression of its type/varietal, enjoyable and recommended
Fair – fairly standard or exhibiting obvious though minor flaws
Avoid – move away folks, nothing to see here, a trainwreck