Heads, Hearts, and
Whiskey Tales
Sharing stories of good whiskey, good friends, and good memories
Frontier Whiskey
August 2021
I’m a Bourbon man! Always have been a bourbon man, always will be a bourbon man. When I drink bourbon, I don’t put nothing in it. No Coke, no soda, and…..no water! Just bourbon! That was the first conversation I had with participants at a tasting for French and Indian War re--enactors and volunteers at Fort Loudon, PA.
I was asked to conduct a tasting which would introduce history enthusiasts to early American whiskies. It was their inaugural Market Faire week--end and attendance was robust in spite of the 90+, still day. I spent the morning and afternoon talking whiskey, distilling, and plans for the re-creation of the Eichelberger Distillery (a few days away by horseback) in Dillsburg, PA. The distillery will use 18th century technology and copper pots stills to produce spirits the folks these re--enactors portray would recognize. In the evening, as the visitors departed and the temperature cooled a few degrees, the sutlers, frontiersmen and ladies started to fill the fort. There was music, food, drink, and my tasting. Many of the participants dressed in wool period garb and the lack of any breeze inside the palisades of the fort kept the sweat pouring as profusely as the pours from my bottles. I chose three whiskies to represent the left and right limits and a sweet spot in the middle of whiskies with a lineage back to the late 18th century.
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First was Old Tub. It must be said: even though bourbon now claims to be “America’s” whiskey, it wasn’t the first style of whiskey in America. In fact, the early distillers from Pennsylvania and Maryland honed their distilling craftsmanship before moving to Kentucky and producing their unique style. I’ll save the details for another post. Bourbon became world renowned and the Jim Beam Distillery is one of the best. Old Tub brand was inspired by a time before bottles. Locals brought a jug to fill from an old tub at Beams distillery. This bottled--in--bond, 100 proof, non--chill filtered whiskey is a pleasant surprise at a very reasonable price. The nose is sweet…it’s bourbon!!! The first taste on the palate is the vanilla and barrel flavors. On a hot night, as this was, the warming whiskey finished with some caramel. Bottled at 100 proof, I suggested a few drops of water. My new frontier friend immediately balked. No water! I drink it the way it was made! I asked if he had ever added water. Nope! No need to! I explained the principle of surface tension and how a little water opens the surface allowing more molecules to escape, enhancing the aroma. He gave me a skeptical stare. I continued with an explanation of alcohol’s effects on taste buds and olfactory senses. I offered that being a frontier Indian fighter, maybe burning off a few taste buds and nose hairs was a desirable feature of sipping high proof whiskey. The crowd chuckled as I dropped a few drops of water into his glass. He nodded affirmatively but made no comment.
Next was Dad’s Hat. Old Tub was chosen to be the left limit on taste profile. I wanted Dad’s Hat to serve as the representative of spicy and pepper on the right. Many tasters, naïve to the joy of rye, had their eyes and … taste buds... opened as they put glass to nose and mouth. Dad’s Hat is based on a pre-Prohibition whiskey from Sam Thompson. Distiller and former chemist, Herman Mihalich analyzed and reproduced the taste profile of a true Pennsylvania Rye. The mash bill is rye and barley. No corn. This was the western Pennsylvania style that become known as Monongahela. This whiskey established the right limit on sweetness in a taste profile! Very little sweet but oh, the spice and pepper! The nose is more grain than barrel influenced. It is aged months, not years. It has an earthy, vegetal character like the smell of my hands after pulling weeds and picking herbs. Spicy notes, like white pepper and a hint of dried cherries in the finish. My frontiersman friend sipped, added a little water even though this whiskey was 90 proof. But, he was beginning to experiment!
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Finally Old Overholt. Of the three variations, available I chose the Bottled--in--Bond. It is single season, single distiller, 4 years in the barrel. Whiskey. It hurts me to use this whiskey in a tasting. As the bottle states: born in PA, made in KY; represents the lack of interest PA showed in preserving Pennsylvania whiskey history! This iconic whiskey made in western PA for more than a century was bought by Beam, production moved to Kentucky and now promoted as a historic rye. Another tear in this blunt trauma laceration of Pennsylvania whiskey heritage is that this style… the high corn rye… is now promoted by Maryland and others as “Maryland Style”. Whiskey politics aside, this is a really good, affordable whiskey. It does represent a balance between the sweetness and the spice of the grains in the mashbills. However, I think the sweet dominates more than the spice. The sweetness is not as strongly corn as Old Tub, and there are fruity notes in there, like dried apples. The spiciness is more subdued, a little more cinnamon than pepper.
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We ran the table with each of the three whiskies over and over. Each group of frontiersmen, natives, craftsmen, teamsters, traders, or scallywags compared and contrasted their enjoyment of present day popular and familiar whiskies to ones chosen for their historic lineage. I poured into tin cups, horn cups, and even a turtle shell, as well as my tasting glasses, until each had experienced the spirits to their satisfaction.
The music and fires faded as I packed up my glasses. Re-enactors disappeared into the darkness to find their tents. In the dim light, my new long hunter friend extended his small tin cup and asked for a final pour of bourbon. “And put a little water in it, please!" I filled the vessel and caught a faint smile as he said, “that rye was pretty damn good too!"
