Agave Spirits+ Journey

Pictured above is the first whisky (or “whiskey,” per your spelling preferences) that I tried after deciding to jump back into spirits after many, many years away from all spirits since my early college days (trust me, that’s an increasingly long time ago now). Like many silly college students, I of course had had the usual cheap “shelfers” like Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7, Jim Beam “White Label,” Cuervo Gold, and others – I did/do not have fond memories of them, truth be told.

Last year, I decided to give whiskies a spin again after all this time. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. To compound the challenge (depending on your point of view and personal preferences), I decided to start off my “whisky journey” with single malts, which, as those of you who are fans of Scotch, American Single Malts, Irish, and other single malt whiskies, have a very distinct, and sometimes challenging, flavor profile regardless of whether they’re peated or not.

My decision to start with Virginia Distillery Company’s (VDC) “VHW” line of blended American Single Malt and sourced Scotch was in significant part based on my pride in being a Virginian and my desire to support local companies doing things right and making a name for themselves on the national stage. So, I bought two mini 50-ml bottles of the VHW Port Cask and Cider Cask Finished blended American Single Malts to start off with together with the mini bottles of the VDC’s flagship “Courage and Conviction” line’s American Single Malt and Double Cask Reserve.

My serious (i.e. not college) exploration of whiskies started off with the VHW Cider Cask Finished blended American Single Malt, a combination of the VDC’s own distillate and sourced Scotch. Right off the bat, I absolutely loved (and still do) the aroma profile and initially I liked the flavor profile, too, despite the challenges posed by malt whiskies, especially to someone coming from tequila and other agave spirits. I spent time with the mini bottle over multiple pours and my opinion fluctuated between liking it and not liking it.

At the time, I wrote in my tasting notes and reflections: “While I can’t honestly say that single malt whiskies are something I enjoy like I do tequila and other agave spirits, I also know that this is in part because I need more exposure. I intend to continue tasting, experimenting, and trying new whiskies of all types before forming a harder, “final” opinion/s. At this point, I can say that I definitely enjoy the aromas of many whiskies, single malts and others, more than I do, for now, their flavor profiles. But I don’t dislike the flavor profiles of most either and so will continue tasting, learning, and building my palate and taste preferences.“

The results were similar for the VHW Port Cask Finished blended malt whisky and the two Courage and Conviction mini bottles.

I was ready to write off single malt whiskies.

But I decided to kill the two Courage and Conviction mini bottles after leaving them about half full for just over one month and something had changed – the penny had dropped for me. Now, not only did I love the aroma profiles (those orchard fruits!), my palate was beginning to acclimate to the different flavors and I was starting to actually really enjoy them.

I repeated the re-visit tasting sessions, taking notes because I’m very verbose and an academic (read: nerd) with the remainder of the two VHW mini bottles and had the same experience – my palate was beginning to change, to adjust, and I was all for it, if also, honestly, very surprised because of how strong my negative reaction had become to single malts at the start.

I went out and bought full-sized bottles of all four whiskies.

My experiences followed a similar trajectory with bourbons. The first two bourbons I tried since college were the flagship Maker’s Mark wheated bourbon and Elijah Craig’s Small Batch. Like I did with the VDC whiskies for my own education, I tasted them both neat and adding a little bottled Smartwater using a crystal Glencairn pipette just to see what water did to the aroma and flavor profiles.

I absolutely loved the aroma profile of Maker’s Mark and thought that of Elijah Craig Small Batch was decent, if less impressive to my particular preferences than the former. For me, the flavor profile of Maker’s Mark was okay, though, at the time, not something I’d reach for over a tequila. I didn’t really care for the Elijah Craig. On both, the oak/barrel notes were super prominent and, at the time, dominated everything else on the palate. I didn’t like that.

At the time, I wrote about the Maker’s Mark: “I found the aroma profile of Maker’s Mark’s standard line bourbon to be much more pleasing than the flavors on the palate, though I think this is at least in part to do with my palate still acclimating to the more prominent oak barrel notes, specifically the barrel char smokiness, and the higher proof, even if it’s slight to an experienced whisky or spirits drinker. I will continue to experiment and do tastings with a range of other bourbons and other types of whiskies including malt whiskies (including scotch) and maybe a rye or two.“

On the Elijah Craig, I wrote: “I think the oak charring notes in bourbons are the big flavor hurdle that I’ll need to tackle as I continue delving into the world of American whiskies, just like malt is the big hurdle for scotch whiskies and American single and blended malt whiskies.”

That was, indeed, the biggest hurdle and one that I like to think I’ve climbed over, if not always easily. As my palate has acclimated and evolved, I’m able to pull out other flavors with the oak/barrel notes and especially the charred oak notes from bourbons. In short, I’m now able to pick up a range of flavors over and around that oak char that was so dominant for me early on. If you’d asked me last year if I thought this would ever happen, I’d have said no, not out of some kind of fatalism but because I really didn’t think I’d ever like bourbons.

At the end of last year, thinking back on my “whisky journey” thus far at that time, I wrote: “Earlier this year, when I commenced back into whiskies after years away, the overwhelming flavor for all bourbons (even the standard Maker’s Mark, which is a wheated mashbill bourbon) to me was oak & specifically wet wood/woodiness. It’s taken a while, but other flavors now pop out despite the oak/wood notes remaining very prominent – orchard and/or red fruits, an array of baking spices, caramel & brown sugar, vanilla or vanilla extract, black pepper & “rye spice,” & so forth. Though there are often still differences between noses of bourbons & their palate flavors, these are no longer quite as jarring.”

Aside from my natural inquisitiveness (and also stubbornness when I set my mind to something), both characteristics I’ve had since I literally was a baby according to my parents, I’ve been fortunate to have also learned from folks who enjoy and also know a lot about whiskies. As an academic, I conduct research for a living and that’s helped me find reputable experts and their writings, videos, podcasts, and news publications about them. These include whisky experts like Lew Bryson and Fred Minnick, whose books I’ve read several times over. These include publications like Whisky Advocate, which I now subscribe to and enjoy reading quarterly.

In addition to these folks, I’ve sifted through the online space – chiefly YouTube – and subscribe and learn from a range of “Spirits Tubers” on a wide range of spirits from bourbons and ryes to Scotch, American Single Malts, tequilas and other agave spirits, rums, gins, and even vodkas. Like the books and publications I’ve read, I’ve often learned a lot from these content creators though, as with research on any topic, it takes time to get to know the “information environment” (as we say at work) and be able to separate the wheat from the chaff (and there’s a lot of both in the social media and content creation space – to separate those shilling for brands without doing the ethical thing and acknowledging this relationship to honest, unbiased reviewers and enthusiasts).

At some point I may write up some blurbs on the books, blogs, websites, other publications, and reviewer/content creator pages/channels/accounts that I’ve learned the most from. The goal of this post was a (fairly) brief summary reflection on my “whisky journey” and explorative trajectory so far. I’m looking forward to where it takes me in the future.

In my next reflective post, I’ll write a bit about what I call “Milestone Whiskies” – whiskies that really opened my eyes and showed me the depth and breadth of what whiskies can be, not an easy task for an agave acolyte like myself who entered the vast world of whiskies interested, sure, but also admittedly, skeptical. A few of these “Milestone Whiskies” are pictured in the gallery below – each has a special place in my “journey” and I’ll wax nostalgic on each of them in the next reflective post.

Cheers & moderation, folks!

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1792 Bourbon Agave Spirits American Single Malts American Whisky ArteNOM Añejo Tequila Blanco Tequila Blended Whisky Bourbon Whisky Bruichladdich Buffalo Trace Cocktails Código 1530 (Codigo 1530) Dulce Vida E.H. Taylor Elijah Craig El Tesoro Extra Añejo Tequila Four Roses Gin Glassware Glenlivet Irish Whisky Limestone Branch Distillery Liqueurs Lost Lore Maker's Mark Mezcal Mijenta Mt. Defiance Distillery Patrón Penelope Reposado Tequila Reviews Rye Whisky Scotch Whisky Siempre Single Malt Whisky Spirits Tequila Tequila Ocho Tequila Partida Virginia Virginia Distillery Company Whisky