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Derby Julep

Nic — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:21:54 +0000

Just in case you can’t make it to the Kentucky Derby, the next best thing is to drink the official drink of the Kentucky Derby by yourself with a group of friends and watch the race on tv. Being fans of both the Derby and bourbon the Mint Julep is one of our favorite drinks and only times we agree that it is ok to mix bourbon with…well anything except water. As a favor to our loyal readers (all 3,000 a month of you) we did God’s work and tried a bunch of different recipes so that we could make a suggestion for you all. The one we agreed tasted the best was sent to us a few weeks ago by a rep from Wild Turkey who assured us they knew what they were talking about. It turns out they were right, probably because they have been perfecting their julep recipe at the Derby for fifty-six years. Let us know what you think or if you have a better one post it in the comments. The recipe, as it was sent to us, is below:

THE 56 JULEP
2.5 oz. Wild Turkey 101
3 sprigs of mint (six to eight mature-sized leaves)
1.5 teaspoons brown sugar
.5 cup crushed ice
In a traditional silver julep cup or double-old fashioned glass, muddle two sprigs of mint with the brown sugar and one ounce of Wild Turkey 101 for a few minutes, crushing the mint leaves with a spoon. Add the crushed ice, the remaining bourbon, and garnish with sprig of mint. Enjoy!

Best Bourbon Bars: The Remington

Nic — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:08:12 +0000

There are nights when nothing sounds better than meeting up with your buddies for late night bourbon drinking. The hard part comes in trying to find a drinking establishment with a decent selection of bourbon. To help, The Boys of Bourbon is beginning a series of reviews chronicling the best places in America to drink bourbon. The first is called The Remington at the St. Regis Hotel in Houston.
Bourbon Selection:
Here is how you know you are in for a fantastic drinking experience: You say to your order taker “What does your selection of bourbons look like?” His reply, “We have pretty much everything.” This is what happened on my first trip to The Remington. I admit I was dubious about his assertion as were the rest of our party. After all, we take pride in believing we have a vast knowledge of the high end bourbon arena. To our surprise they had nine out of the ten bourbons we threw at him. We ended up ordering a variety of our favorites including Booker’s, Knob Creek, and Basil Hayden’s.

The Pour :
This may be the second most important criteria for evaluating a good bourbon bar. Are they stingy with their liquor? Fortunately, for The Remington, the answer is no. The serve the bourbon in a fairly standard highball glass, and fill consistently to the half inch mark. However, we found that when ordering either on the rocks or with water the amount of liquid in the glass was the same. In other words: Always order on the rocks and if you need water ask for a separate glass.

The Environment :
The Remington definitely caters to an older wealthy crowd. The valet area is a mix of German luxury sedans, Porches, and super exotics (i.e. Bentley’s, Rolls, and silly sports cars). Inside, you are going to see a great deal of wood and leather. It all smells of rich mahogany. There is only one main bar, but it stretches across the entire main room. On a Friday night it is full of rich men in their fifties and sixties, and a women of assorted ages (21-80+). There are also tables and couches away from the bar with plush seating that make for both a comfortable seat and good people watching. If you are lucky/unfortunate (depending upon your perspective) expect to see a great deal of making out and second base type relations. I suspect more than one room at the attached hotel has been booked over the years by the bar’s patrons.

The Final Verdict:
The Remington at the St. Regis is a great place to drink bourbon in Houston. On a weekend the crowd has a real energy to it, the pours are generous, and the selection is more than adequate. The only disappointment I had was with our waitress who had no idea what kind of bourbon they had and the glares our group consistently received all night from old men who seemed to be worried we would dance with their wives. I will simply consider that a compliment.

1792 Ridgewood Reserve | Rating 80

Eric — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:08:39 +0000

Brought to you by the Barton distilling company in Kentucky, 1792 Ridgewood Reserve is one whiskey that state should be proud of. There are two reasons people drink whiskey: 1) They love the taste and enjoy the explosion of flavor on their tongue with every sip. 2) They just want to get drunk so they think they are a whole lot cooler than they are when they are sober. If you don’t like the taste of whiskey and you just want to get bombed, buy a bottle of whiskey that comes in a plastic bottle with a screw top lid (See my fellow bourbon boy, Marc’s, reviews). However, if you do enjoy the taste of a good whiskey, try 1792 out. As I am more of a purist when it comes to whiskey, I always give the distilled liquid a chance by itself on the rocks. I was not disappointed as I poured a healthy portion of this whiskey on top of 3 chunks of ice and started sipping. This Kentucky whiskey is so velvety if it were socially acceptable I would drape myself in it. A seriously smooth flavor, you’ll be surprised as you are starting to pour your third glass and tell yourself, “Self, watch it or you are going to finish off the liter tonight.”

I did try a splash of water with a glass, but I would not recommend it. Sometimes a splash of water can bring out flavor, but I felt like it just diluted the taste of this one. If anything, just letting your ice melt a bit should soften it up enough for you. It comes in a pretty basic bottle with a neat tag on the back that tells you how long it was aged (this whiskey is aged 8 years) and who inspected it before it was put in the bottle. Not that it really matter if someone actually inspected it, but its nice to think there is a little bit of a personal touch that goes into each bottle. I guess that “personal touch” as well as the wonderful flavor make this whiskey a little pricey. It runs about $60 per liter.
I would normally encourage people to indulge in as much good whiskey as they want, such as polishing off a bottle in an evening. However, we are the boys of bourbon not the men of fancy whiskey who wipe their butts with Benjamin Franklins. Therefore, at $60 a bottle, I recommend sipping on a few glasses nice and slow and enjoy the flavor. After a few glasses, you can switch over to the “rotgut” brands and you probably won’t be able to tell the difference. By that time you’ll be telling girls that you are a producer and if they let you touch them on the thigh, you’ll make them a star. Point is, enjoy 1792 down to the last drop.

On a scale from one to ten, I will give it an 8. It gets points for its smoothness and general good taste, but it damn sure better be good for that much money. Bottoms up!

Proof: 93.7