Huh

So I got a bit busy, and haven't had a chance to actually sit down and do some good tastings of anything recently, so I'm going to recap everything I have tasted recently, basing the reviews on what was going on at that moment.

Ancient Age 90 proof - sitting in a kitchen, all I remember is the smell of alcohol. But hey, it was $12.00. Need to explore more budget bourbons to find something workable.

Hudson Bay Baby Bourbon - nice surprise. DJing a party filled with cheap beer, and some guy walks in with a small bottle of this. It was a party for the Kentucky Derby, and we had been drinking Mint Juleps made with Bulleit since 3pm, and I'd switched to drinking it neat by the time this came around. Also, I should mention, Nashville was flooding, and the basement of the house I was in was had flooded. Shit was crazy.
They poured me some of the Hudson Bay, which I flipped out on the guy when I saw it, since I didn't know we had it around here. Really, my tastebuds were shot, and I was kinda drunk, so I can't really comment on how it actually tasted, except that it was sweeter than I expected, and pretty tame, short finish.

-ed

Bottle # 4 - Evan Williams Single Barrel (1998)

Evan Williams Single Barrel was one of the whiskeys that we tasted at Heaven Hill (along with Elijah Craig 18), and honestly, I don't remember too much about it, apart from thinking it was a decent bourbon. Not really sure what vintage it was either.

However, when I saw a 1998 bottling at my local store, sitting alone on the top shelf, I took a chance on it. The packaging (which they've sadly done away with) was impressive, and it was the holy grail of bourbon, the single barrel, for under $30.

Really, this is probably one of the best bargains out there, and I need to pick up the 2000 bottling, as it's supposed to be superb.

But, the 1998. Let's taste this sucker. It's 86 proof, and has a dark amber color.

For the nose, I'm picking up maple syrup and citrus notes.

Tasting it, the spice hits first. This is thick, and it stays with you, coating the mouth. It has a long, dry finish. This bourbon is, so far, one of my favorites. This is a stay-at-home-on-a-winter's-night-and-watch-an-Eastwood-western type of bourbon. Or sit at home and watch 30 Rock, which is currently my situation. Maybe I'll throw on High Plains Drifter. Or the Outlaw Josey Wales. Too many choices.

-ed

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

done!

-ed

Screw this, let's gate that reverb.

If you've ever played music with me/talked music with me/slyly scoped out my record collection, you'll know I have a love for 80's music and terrible synth sounds. I actively enjoy "Cold Wave" music. I'm weird. Anyways, my wife hates 80's music. One time I put on a Kate Bush album on, and she made me turn it off. Kate Bush! The f*ck!

Anyways, this week I'm on furlough from work. I'm going to play one record each day that Tara won't let me play when she's in the house. Today, it's The Fixx - Reach the Beach.

That's it. Bet you can't wait for tomorrow.

-ed

Bottle # 3 - Charter 101

On Wednesday nights, you can usually find me a my friend Justen's house, hunched over a few MIDI controllers and laptops, making terrible noises.

As has become the custom recently, I bring with me a bottle of whiskey to share during our noise-making, dragging Justen (un)willingly into my new hobby. He's bravely joined me in sampling whatever I pull out of my bag, most of the time probably hating every bit of it.

This weeks edition was Charter 101. What do you need to know about Charter 101? It's some light stuff. We tried it over ice, and though the initial sip was a bit too much, when the ice began to melt a bit, it really opened up, and we both found it to be much more enjoyable. On the nose, you get hints of vanilla and floral notes. The taste is sweet, with the vanilla hitting, and some wood, but that's about it. The finish is short.

With the water added, this thing became smooth and easy to drink, and it went down great over some noisy synths and drum machines. I wouldn't call this a spectacular bourbon, but it is what it is, easy to drink over ice, probably best suited for a time when you don't really want to contemplate your bourbon, but just have a good drink to pass the time, shooting the shit with some friends, or adjusting the cutoff and arpeggiator knobs in Massive.

Recommended listening: Neon Indian. For real.

-ed

Bottle # 2 - 1792 Ridgemont Reserve

I was clued into this bourbon by my friend Chris Smallwood, while driving around Louisville, KY. My wife and I were in town for a weekend, after having trekked through Mammoth Cave and visited the Heaven Hill & Jim Beam distilleries. Chris was the only person we knew in town kind enough to show us around and indulge our late night quest for pie. It also helped that he'd been my roommate for 2 years in college, and I guess he owed me for not doing the dishes once or twice.

At this point, I hadn't tasted a lot of bourbon, mainly Maker's Mark, Jim Beam, & Woodford Reserve...a few that even the bourbon uneducated might be able to name and have tasted. The Heaven Hill tour & tasting definitely launched me into a bourbon quest, and when Chris (proud, native bourbon loving Kentuckian) mentioned that 1792 Ridgemont Reserve was his favorite pour, I made a note to pick up a bottle.

1792 is distilled by Barton, out of Bardstown, and is a 8 year old small batch bourbon. If you do any research into it, you'll find that it was sued by Woodford Reserve for the naming similarities, as it used to be called Ridgewood Reserve. Clever, Barton, as I was once almost fooled when I saw this on sale at Frugal McDougals in Nashville and thought it was Woodford before looking a bit closer. So, they changed the name to Ridgemont, and went on their way.

The first thing that strikes you about this bourbon is the bottle. Seriously, this is my favorite bottle of all time (close 2nd by Black Bottle Scotch). It just looks beautiful. I've been drinking this bottle so slowly because I can't bear the thought of having to recycle it.

RR is 93.7 proof, which I love because it's so random...most bourbons stick to nice, whole numbers. I guess the master distiller at Barton happens to think that this is the best at the proof, but any insight anyone has would be welcomed.

So, onto the tasting (soundtracked by the Bruce Springsteen 5lp live album, record 4).

On the nose, it's not very strong, but I'm picking up vanilla and oak, and maybe what a lot of reviewers on Bourbon Enthusiast deem "leather."

The taste is initially sweet, and then goes straight for rye and char. The finish is moderate, and the taste of rye and pepper linger at the end.

Overall, I like this bourbon. I might love the bottle even more. It's really good neat, and goes well with a raging fire and a copy of Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball (which I've just started, and it's amazing). For about $27 a bottle, it's a good value, but I believe I'd pick up a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch or Evan Williams Single Barrel before I'd go for this. If it goes on sale, then I'd probably stock up, but until then, this bottle will have to hold down the fort. Sorry, Chris.

-ed

New Maker's Mark?

According to a few of the forums I frequent, and with confirmation from the master distiller himself on the comments section of this post, there's going to be a new expression of Maker's Mark coming out soon.
It looks like they're adding toasted oak staves the barrel, and increasing the bottled proof. Pretty cool, considering the variations of MM have been really limited (I like the mint julep version, since I can't make an actual mint julep to save my life). Not sure when the ETA is for stores, but I'll definitely check it out.

-ed

Next up...

Just picked up a bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel, 1998 Vintage.

I'm also looking for 2 bottles that my closest store didn't have: Old Grandad BIB, & Ancient Age 10 year. I'll check Frugals next time I'm around there.

-ed

Bottle # 1 - George Dickel No. 12

This is the other Tennessee whiskey. Jack may get most of the press, but Dickel has a special place in my "bar" (as it's only a shelf in my house, under the plants that got moved inside in the winter...such is the life of living in a small apartment).

Made just south of me in Cascade Hollow, near Tullahoma, George Dickel Whisky won me over after a visit to their distillery. Due to some wonderful laws, the only places where whiskey is made in Tennessee are located in dry counties, meaning that while certain bottles can be sold only at the distillery, there are no tastings allowed (Will prohibition ever really end?). I picked up a bottle of Dickel No. 12 shortly after, and it's kept a spot in my house ever since.

No. 12 is 90 proof, and has a nice reddish amber color, a little darker than the bottle of Ridgemont Reserve I currently also have, and much darker than the Johnnie Walker Red.

On the nose, it seems to me to be very sweet, and I pick out vanilla and maybe some honey.

The taste is, as with the nose, it's very sweet. Letting it move around the mouth a bit brings out some of the vanilla. The finish is not too long, and has a taste of pepper.

George Dickel No. 12 is a whisky that I plan on always having around. It's a great every-day kind of whisky. I haven't tried to No. 8 yet, but I would be interested to compare them. My father-in-law bought a bottle of the single barrel while we were at the distillery, but I didn't try it while he was here. I saw a bottle at my local store, so I do plan on getting one eventually.

Thus concludes my first tasting. Please feel free to leave a comment if anything I said sounds weird, or if you have any advice for future tastings. As I said before, I'm new at this.

The cat's sleeping next to me, the wife is out with a friend, so I think I'll finish off this pour and read a little more McCarthy. Seems appropriate.

-ed

What's going on

So, I re-templated the blog. I was tired of the black, and since I'm almost 25, I figured I should grow up and stop being so angsty.

Also, I'm examining the purpose of this blog, which has skewed towards writing about music and other assorted rantings. From today onwards, I'm refocusing the scope of this to include a new obsession of mine: Whiskey. Or Whisky, depending on whatever you find suits your prejudices.

I have been slowly getting acquainted with the fine art of drinking whiskey, which began slightly before last summer, but was expedited by trips to the Jack Daniels and George Dickel distilleries in TN, as well as trips to Jim Beam & Heaven Hill in Kentucky.

I'll update this blog every so often with my opinions and tastings of certain bottles I've picked up. Being at my income level, don't expect to see any Buffalo Trace Antique Collection reviews, or any amazing old finds (for that, please go to The Bourbon Dork or Chuck Cowdery's Blog, which are sort of my inspiration for going in this direction). This will be a learning experience for me, as I my knowledge of whiskey is still in its infancy. So, if you come across this, don't slam me for my ignorance, kindly point me in the right direction instead.

Tonight, I'm going to put up a review of my favorite Tennessee whisky, George Dickel No. 12. Basic, nothing fancy, just a good Lincoln Co. Process whiskey.

-ed

BEST ALBUMS OF 2009

For flexing to


So, sometime after I went to North Carolina and ate a giant hush puppy stuffed with pulled pork and slathered in some amazing vinegar based sauce (which, Texas, is nowhere close to being as good as our shit, but still some good shit nevertheless), as well as the best Bojangles chicken biscuits ever, I came to the conclusion that I was getting kind of fat. I mean, really. Like, the fat where you still can sort of wear your pants you wore when you were not fat, but it hurts to button them, and it turns into a kind of corset and you go numb. That kind of fat.

I decided I would work out more often. This began with signing up for another 5k, wherein I developed shin splints and couldn't run for 2 weeks before the race. And truth be told, I didn't really do much besides run down my road for approximately a mile and turn back around. But, I ended up going to the Belmont gym and using the bicycle machine to try to sweat and keep my heart rate up before I did the race (which, I did complete, and yes, my mother did beat me).

I started going to the Belmont gym every day before work, which I've kept up since June, so yay for me. Doing this has given me time to listen to music on my ipod while I'm sweating, and so instead of my usual Best of list, I'm devoting this years list to music that I work out to, because basically, it's all I care about because I'm a giant douche bag who cares little for subtlety in my music these days.

I am basically this kid now. What up, lil' Hercules

So, here's the music I cared about for the past 6 months. Everything else sucks.

1. JAPANDROIDS - 1st 3 tracks of Post-Nothing on repeat

2. MASTODON - Crack the Skye

3. FUCK BUTTONS - Tarot Sport

4. THE JUAN MACLEAN - The Future Will Come

5. MARNIE STERN - This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That (Per Chris Sakaguchi)

6. THE MARS VOLTA - Bedlam in Goliath

Everything else put out this year was unworthy of my sweat.

Also, this was my favorite musical moment of 2009. HARDER FASTER STRONGER.

-ed

PS. at least 2 of these are from 2008. Oh well.

Thoughts on being 24 and feeling old.

One of my best friends from high school just had a daughter. There have been other people in my life who have had kids, and I have friends with kids now, but this is the first child that I actually feel like I have an interest or obligation to. And it's strange. My friend and I have been apart for nearly 5 years, only seeing each other sporadically, and keeping in touch through e-mail and phone calls. In my mind and memories, she's still the same girl who obsessed over NSYNC, gave me my first cigarette, and went through countless schools, jobs and homes, going through life at what seemed to me, in my stable college and professional existence, a chaotic and exciting way. Now she's a mother, and it will be interesting to see how that takes with her. I don't think we can know how anyone will react to such a dramatic change in life, even though she's had 9 months to prepare. Luckily, in a strange turn of luck, Tara and I will be passing through where she lives now next week, and we'll get to see her and her new family. I'm sure it will raise even more strange feelings in me, as I'm suddenly very aware of being 24, married, having the same job for over a year, and not feeling even remotely ready to raise children. huh.

-ed

New Dime Store Keats Songs

I had some spare time this weekend, so I recorded 2 songs that don't really fit in with any of the groups that I play with right now, so they became default Dime Store Keats songs, which is what I fancy calling anything that I recorded entirely by myself.

Download Here

Song 1 - "The Same"
Fairly ridiculous Stones type song, with a 80's synth thrown in over the chorus. Also, I just finished off 2 Dogfish Head 60min IPA's, when I recorded the backing vocals, which apparently renders my voice the same frequency as that Dainelson guy. Huh. Enjoy the stomp.

Song 2 - "Fredonia"
Much lower key, jazzy...continues my frequency of jamming on a riff, thinking of a 2nd part, and the just killing the song after that. The title is in reference to a hotel in Nacogdoches, TX.

Recording Notes - Vocals were done with the API pre I built in college, with an AKG C3000 mic. Guitar tones with Guitar Rig 2 (Nashville Deluxe Telecaster for "The Same", Ibanez AS-73 for Fredonia). Reason for drum loop on "The Same"...some loop I picked up a long time ago from drums in "Fredonia"

-ed

Bon Iver

I spent a year avoiding Bon Iver. Not through any effort on my part, just a general lack of effort to hear anything by them/him. I didn't want another Iron and Wine.

I wasted a year.

-ed

My Favorite Albums of 2008

Nothing good comes out in December anyways. Here's looking at you, Killers.

5. Brian Militana/Fell Trees - Territory

Full disclosure - I worked on this 6 song EP, but it's still awesome, and it's a
shame it probably won't get the credit it deserves.

4. The Constantines - Kensington Heights

Better than whatever Bruce Springsteen is putting out these days

3. Chet - Fight Against Darkness

Okay, it's 2007, but I found it in Canada in May. Thanks tiny store
in downtown Victoria, and the clerk who recommended it.

2. Abe Vigoda - Skeleton

I'm beginning to think every song sounds the same, and my wife can't understand
why the title track is my ringtone now, but whatever.

1. Parts & Labor - Receivers

Better than Mapmakers? No. Better than everything else? Yes.

Biggest Disapointments:

1. Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams

Why, Dan?

2. Kings of Leon - Only By The Night

STDs.

3. The Mars Volta - Bedlam in Goliath

I wanted so badly for this to be awesome. I even reconsidered that Omar
might not be terrible. I was wrong.

4. No new Thermals album.

I wore out The Body, The Blood, The Machine this election year. I
need something to help me celebrate, Hutch.

Office Tunes

When I landed my current job, I thought it would be cool to have a little iPod speaker thing to enjoy some music as I sat in my cube all day long. I bought this tiny little iHome, single speaker thing for $50 and deemed it a wise investment, as I would not go insane at work with some smooth jams calming me. However, this iHome thing apparently only has 2 volumes: Loud and Super-Loud. Putting it on Vol 1 with music mastered with the current high levels is really too loud to play in an office setting, and I've tried various ways to lower the apparent level, from wrapping the player in blankets to my current set up: surrounded by a sweater, with a 3M Post-it Note pack taped to the speaker front, with a thick book in front of that. That lowers the level enough that I can listen to a very select number of artists on my iPod without feeling like a total douchebag for the volume being too loud. Mainly, these are classical artists and things recorded before 1990. Here are my office jams:

Avro Part
The Band
Brian Eno
Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
The Clash
Debussy
The Faces
Fleetwood Mac
Husker Du
Iron Maiden
John Fahey
Kate Bush
The Mercury Program
The Microphones
Pixies
Red House Painters
Talking Heads
Tindersticks
XTC

repeat ad nausem.

-ed

Best E-mail of the Day:
Names have been changed to protect the guilty

From: Friend 1 Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 4:21 PM
To: Eric

I think you will love this. the lead singer of (band) is here today writing. writing with who? try (singer) from the 80's super band hall & oats. they are writing about 20 feet away. this has been the best day ever.

On Feb 1, 2008 4:22 PM Eric wrote:
no. way. can you go up to (singer) and whisper in his ear: "private eyes...they're watching yoooooooou" I swear to god I will give you anything you want if you do this.

From: Friend 1 Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 4:25 PM
To: Eric
i am sooo scared. he is literally about 4'8'' at best.
and there are sounds coming out of this writer's room that have never been made by humans before

On Feb 1, 2008 4:25 PM Eric wrote:
does he still have the (distinguishing feature), or did he shave that off yet?

From: Friend 1:
I cried when he came in because it is gone. but his (some color), goofy-ass hair makes up for it.

-ed

I think my dream job, right now, would be to be paid to write a blog about the NBA. Specifically, a blog about the 1992 Dream Team, but I'll quit being picky.

-ed

9. Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway

Came After - The Dismemberment Plan, Heartbreak

Mark Kozelek is the saddest man alive. Sadder than that guy in American Music Club. He is so sad, that in Red House Painters debut album, he coined the line "glass on the pavement under my shoe, without you, is all my life amounts to." That is the saddest lyric in the world. It should come as no surprise, if you've been following these posts, that I gravitated towards Mark Kozelek's sad voice during the saddest point of my life. I came across Sun Kil Moon (which is what Kozelek calls himself now that he's done with the Red House Painters, but seriously, they're the same thing, except Sun Kil Moon is without that 4AD production "value,") when listening to the insound.com streaming mp3 feed, and "Carry Me Ohio" came on. It was beautiful and...sad. I was a Tower Records (RIP) on West End sometime later that week when I found a copy of Ghosts of the Great Highway and bought it based off of that song.

It fucking kills.

The entire album is stunning, from opener "Glen Tipton," to "Salvador Sanchez," and it is quite simply the saddest thing I had ever heard. Consider this lyric from "Glen Tipton":

I knew an old woman, ran a donut shop
she worked late, serving cops
then one day, her heart stopped
place ain't the same no more.

Doesn't that just make you want to cry? Lyrically, Kozelek leans toward the simple, uncomplex musings of a high school senior who just got dumped on the prom. But his lyrics and delivery make all those terrible "emo" bands sound like soap opera stars. When Kozelek gets his heart ripped out, you know it. He is quite simply, the saddest man in the world.

The Ghosts of the Great Highway affected me something terrible in my songwriting process. I spent the entire summer in Columbia, TN writing Mark Kozelek rip-off songs. I even recorded covers of Kozelek songs, when my rip-offs just weren't good enough. I tuned my guitars to open tunings. I was obsessed with Kozelek. Then, after my speculating he was going to do it for about 2 years, he came out with a covers album of Modest Mouse songs. So, here was my favorite singer of all time doing songs by my favorite band of all time. How much more perfect could life be? But it wasn't so. Kozelek nails a few MM songs perfectly, but really, his voice is not meant for musings on life and God. It's meant to convey the emotions of the saddest motherfucker in the world. And for one summer, that is exactly what I needed to know. No matter how depressed I might have been, Kozelek was worse off.

8. The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I

Came After

I discovered this album through a great program called ourTunes. ourTunes was this software that allowed you to take advantage of the shared-music function of iTunes via the networks on college campuses. You could basically take any audio file that was listed in a user's iTunes software and download it to your own computer. It was like napster, but 100x faster since it operated over the school's network. So I downloaded this on a whim, and then, dang. It fucking blew my mind (and then I went out and bought the CD, thank you RIAA). The most vivid memory I have of listening to this album is coming back to Texas from Nashville on an airplane, sitting next to a Mexican wearing a cowboy hat. I got on the plane, turned on my Philips CD player, and just watched the landscape below me, soundtracked by Travis Morrison's voice.

However, I did not understand the magnitute of the album's centerpiece song, "The City," until I grew older.

As a teenager (19 or so), the concept of abject lonliness was a bit foreign to me, as I had always been surrounded by friends and family. This changed when I moved with my dad to Columbia, TN for the summer before my sophomore year of college (my mom remained in San Antonio to try to sell our house). As I sat in our apartment one night, I threw on Emergency & I and listened to "The City," and I began to understand. In the song, Morrison describes noticing things that he never has before, because his lover has left him, and because that person previously had made him so happy, he never saw just how lonely and full of despair the place where he is living actually is. As a transplant to an unfamiliar city, this expressed exactly how I felt as I stared out the windows of my apartment. I knew absolutely no one, and (alright, let's see if we can guess the theme here), I had come out of a relationship, and everything was just sad sack and depressing to me. When I heard this, I thought, "shit." It was the perfect song for me at that time.

As far as the rest of the album goes, it's flawless. Each song is brilliant and now, as being nearly 23, this album resonates even more with me. "Spiders in the Snow"? Fuck, does that not perfectly describe what life is for many, many of us after college? Emergency & I perfectly captures that mid-20's sentiment of "What do I do with my life?" It was with this album that I actually began to understand what many songwriters were getting at, because I was now living that life. The truth hits the hardest.