Winter Whiskeys

My favorite whiskey to drink in the winter months was Weller Centennial, 10 year old, 100 proof wheat recipe Bourbon that was part of the Bourbon Heritage Collection from United Distillers. When I worked at United Distillers, I remember when we were tasting the whiskey to put into this brand, it was a cold morning with a little snow flurry blowing between the warehouses. The whiskey tasted so good with tons of caramel, ripe apple and sweet oak wood – not bitter drying oak, but sweet oak like saw dust from a fresh cut board. For many years afterwards, I would enjoy my bottle of Weller Centennial during the winter when it got cold and snowy. It tasted so good at that time of the year, but not the same in the warmer months of the year. It is the ephemeral nature of tasting whiskey that caused this. Memory of that first day of tasting the whiskey made the whiskey taste better on a cold day.

I write this now because I have had a similar feeling after tasting the Ben Holladay Red Winter Wheat Bourbon. It was not quite the same, but close enough since I can no longer drink the Weller Centennial as Buffalo Trace discontinued the brand about fifteen years ago. This made me wonder if there were other brands that evoked a similar tasting experience. So, l grabbed a couple of other bottles of wheat recipe Bourbon and poured myself a few small tastes. The Maker’s Mark DNA 110 proof was very close. This is an eight year old Bourbon made similarly to the Weller Bourbon. This first try was very good.

Next I moved on to the Leiper’s Fork Bourbon. Another very close experience, similar more to the Ben Holladay, but not as close as the Maker’s Mark DNA. I tried the Linkumpinch Bottled-in-Bond next. It was a good whiskey but not as close to the Weller Centennial as the other three Bourbons. It is the youngest of the Bourbons and my conclusion is that the maturity of the whiskey has something to do with the experience.

All of this experimenting made me wonder if there are other whiskeys I enjoy better in the winter than I do in the warmer months of the year? The answer to that question is a definite “Yes”. I never really thought about it before, but I like the Michter’s Sour Mash better in the colder months. It seems to have more of the butterscotch flavor I like in that whiskey during the winter. I also like Pikesville Rye better in the winter. The cold seems to bring out more of the candied fruit and berries in the colder months than in the summer. The summer seems to drive the wood flavors forward and make the whiskey a bit dry.

These are the whiskeys I can think of that I tend to enjoy more in the winter than in the summer. I am sure that there are others and I am going to start experimenting to find other whiskeys that fit into the category of “Winter Whiskeys”. I would be interested to know if other people have the same experience. I am going start with quizzing Matt Kohorst about this and see what his winter whiskeys are and why. I will keep you informed on the results.