Tag Archives: Tenn South Distillery

Toast Tuesday: any Port in a storm

28 Tuesday Jun 2016

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I really couldn’t muster it in me to try some new port this week. Seeing as this is an adventure, I decided I’ve ridden this ride and don’t need to get off at this stop. This is our official halfway point; I really should have planned a party or something.  This is week 26 in our Year of Drinking Adventurously so I decided to revisit one.

Our guide

Our guide

First though, I’ll give you my .02 on Port before I completely move to something else. Port can be quite nice sipped after a lovely meal. To me, the nose is reminiscent of a liquefied fruit cake, heady and kinda sweet. When I only want a small nip and no one else is interested in drinking port, it’s a real waste to open a bottle.  So I didn’t waste.

What I did drink this week, purely in the name of research, was to loop back to whiskey.  I wanted to see what whiskey could do in the summer, other than a julep.  So I took to the interweb to see what it had to offer, in comparison to what was in my pantry, and what I came up with was a margarita.  WHAT? Shut the front door!

The recipe I found called for an unaged whiskey, but I decided to go crazy and use  gently aged Old King Corn Whiskey from Tenn South Distillery.  On the nose, the aromatics are delicate and the taste is delicious.

Whiskey Margarita
1 1/2 ounce Old King Corn Whiskey
1 ounce triple sec
1 ounce lime juice
1/4 ounce simple syrup
Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail or rocks glass. Salt and lime garnish as desired.

This is a winner.  I really did not have high expectations, but this will be one for the books.

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Alright, now run off and see if Patsy, I mean Meg, got her homework done this week.

Cheers to the halfway point and another Tuesday!

Toast Tuesday: Gin

14 Tuesday Jun 2016

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I’m going to tell you honestly, I really didn’t read this chapter in the book. I just looked in my liquor closet and followed my tastebuds. I have three gins and a genever in my collection.

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When New Deal began making gin, I was certain I didn’t like gin. What I soon realized was I hadn’t had any good gins. I’d only had old school gins that tasted only of rubbing alcohol and juniper. New gins were a beautiful balance of flavors and different notes that just juniper.

When New Deal was experimenting with the gins, we’d pour them in the tasting room to get people’s feedback. We made two gins; one of the gins is a little more traditional, and the other something very unique and herbaceous, that really took folks by surprise.  I fell in love with Gin No, 1, the weird kid.  Before I moved I stocked up on #1. It has a soft green hue and is quite versatile.  It is great for a martini, in a Bloody Mary, or with savory elements.  I know the thing you are scratching your head about there is the Bloody Mary, but a good bloody has layers of spice, and so does No. 1.

Another gin that is great in a bloody is the barrel aged Abernathy Gin from Tenn South Distillery.  This is made in the New American style where juniper is not the only flavor element.  This has a soft hints of floral and citrus.  I knew at first sip this was going home with me.

The other thing I drank this week was Bols Genever. Genever is the precursor to the gin we know now, first made by the Dutch. It’s very malty, both on the nose and the pallet. You can make an interesting Old Fashioned with it. What I did was the Improved Gin Cocktail and followed cocktail historian David Wondrich’s tasting notes and mixed it with maraschino liqueur and bitters.  The maltiness came through and made a delicious little cocktail.

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I also made a cocktail called the Jasmine, that I found I had saved in my drinks file a couple years ago and again last week.  Clearly if I’ve saved it twice, it was time to make it.  I used Martin Miller’s Gin.  This is my favorite commercial gin a soft juniper flavor and citrus flavor.

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This week I am hosting my ladies group for my Happy Hour at home. I’ve really struggled with what to serve this week. I want to make classic cocktails that are intended to be savored and sipped. Most of these ladies want koolaid that can be sucked down in a flash. So as a compromise for myself, I’m making one classic cocktail, one simple cocktail, and one fluffy, but interesting, cocktail.  oh the decisions…

Be sure to see what Meg drank this week.  I’ll keep you posted on how the ladies fare with the gin.

Here’s to another great Tuesday and drinking adventurously!

Our guide

Our guide

Toast Tuesday: the ‘shining

07 Tuesday Jun 2016

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I’m mooning over moonshine. I think this should be a country song if it isn’t already.

This week in our Year of Drinking Adventurously, I may or may not have gotten my hands on some “moonshine” that may or may not be legal.

Our guide

Our guide

A couple years ago at Thanksgiving we did a taste test between a secret stash and some commercial “moonshine”. The clear winner that holiday was the real moonshine, in its unlabeled bottle. It has a sweetness on the nose that the commercial stuff didn’t. A nice finish, with a hint of smoke and warmth. It lingers on the back of your throat, leaving this hmmmm, something familiar, but unrecognizable.  The commercial stuff we tried, didn’t have any depth or complexity.  It just tasted like alcohol.

Back in January when the Normal’s and I went to Bluegrass Underground for the first time, I took a detour and found local Tenn South Distillery to visit.  This was a charming little distillery, off the beaten path, that was well worth the visit. I had the place to myself and got a tour in addition to a tasting.  I left with several great products including an aged gin, a Tennessee whiskey, and one of their moonshines.  They had all the flavored stuff, but I don’t care for those.  Their regular ole’ moonshine is quite nice and sip-able.  Next to my real ‘shine, the nose is a bit boozy, but it has a beautiful sweetness at the finish, like you can almost taste the corn.

I just sipped and savored this week, no cocktails.  Be sure to see what Meg did with this week’s challenge.

Since I couldn’t find a song, I came up with my own verse for
Mooning over Moonshine…

The moon was shining bright
it made me feel quite nice
a nip here and there
had me dancing on the square
I had to get home quicker
since I couldn’t find my knickers

Toast Tuesday: Canadian Whisky

19 Tuesday Jan 2016

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I’ll confess, I wasn’t quite ready for Tuesday to roll around this week. Only because Tuesday is Monday and we know how we all feel about Mondays.

This week, I had some Guinea pigs to toast with and taste this week’s spirit, Canadian Whisky. Following along with A Year of Drinking Adventurously, I made the classic cocktail, the Brooklyn. To be honest, I googled and found a Vancouver cocktail with gin, but I didn’t look for a Quebec or Montreal. So if they are out there, I’m sorry I did not pay full homage to your country.

I mentioned last week, I accidentally skipped ahead, so I partly caught up by making my Brooklyn with that acquisition, Crown Royal Rye. I also used regular ole Crown Royal and a cheat, a local Tennessee Whiskey from Tenn South.


We had one in our party who isn’t a cocktail drinker, but was a moderately good sport and drank the taste of cocktail that was forced upon her. The rest of us enjoyed the regular CR best in this recipe. The Tenn South was a little hot to start, but when I added an ice cube and sipped, it got much better. Still not my pick for this cocktail. There are much better uses for that.

I realized much too late, I forgot to snap any pictures of cocktails in a camper, but be assured, we toasted.

So to you, a Toast to your week, whenever it gets started!