Old Grand-dad Review

Is Old Grand-dad the most underrated bourbon in the world? It seems to me that no one takes it seriously, while heaping praise on a whole swarm of latecomers, many of them costing much more money, and delivering very little more to show for it. It isn't fashionable, it doesn't come in a beautiful bottle, and it has an old-fashioned, unfashionable name. It's been around forever (or at least since the 1880s) and reportedly hasn't changed much since. You'll probably find it on one of the lowest shelves in the liquor store, but it's definitely worth stooping over to pick up a bottle. It's the very definition of bourbon.

We're talking about Old Grand-dad 100 here, the "bonded" version. An 86 proof bottling is available and not really worth the effort. There's also a 114 proof monster that is well worth seeking out, although it's really not for the faint-hearted. The BIB version is the real gem, with a huge backbone of rye for spice coupled with a surprisingly sweet palate and a very long finish. 100 proof is a lot to drink straight and there is definitely an alcoholic burn that mellows with a bit of ice.

The high proof also makes it a natural for cocktails, although I've yet to see it mentioned as an ingredient. As the new generation of bartenders has discovered the versatility of rye in cocktails, especially in drinks like the Manhattan, they may have missed this one entirely. Rittenhouse BIB rye gets frequent mention, but the Old Grand-dad is an equally suitable choice and holds its own with robust vermouths like Antica Formula. For an all-American version of the Manhattan, I paired it with Vya's very rich and dense sweet vermouth, 2 to 1 with a couple of dashes of orange bitters and it made for a spectacular cocktail. (And as it turns out, it makes a killer whiskey sour.)

Some day, Jim Beam might pour this into a fancy bottle, double the price and sell a ton of it. I've seen that happen with other fine and unnoticed bourbons, and I'd be seriously miffed if they followed suit. In the meantime, stoop down and pick up a bottle. Tell me if I'm wrong about this exemplary bourbon.

UPDATE: I just noticed that the OLCC store sells the 86 proof OGD for 50¢ more than the BIB. Huh? Binny's, by contrast, charges $2.00 more for the BIB.

Finally

There is a change in the White House.

Passed Out - Yur Doin It Rite

Walkies

Dogs don't ask for much and almost nothing makes a dog happier than going for a walk. Where? Who cares? Walk around a few blocks, sniff all the other dogs' signatures, leave many signatures of your own, wag your tail and just walk. Who needs fancy things when you're a dog?

First you make a roux

Theoretically, that's the first line in any Cajun recipe. This is on its way to becoming roux and then it will serve as the basis for a gumbo. Just oil, flour and heat. Oh, and a lot of stirring so the roux doesn't burn. For years I would baby the roux and it would take forever to darken properly, but I eventually learned to keep things pretty hot and rely on stirring to keep it safe. It's working.


The next step is to add the holy trinity: peppers, onions and celery. And then some sausage (very difficult to get real andouille up here in Portland, so I have to settle for something inferior but not necessarily bad).


Cayenne, bay leaves, salt and chicken stock. Now it gets to simmer for a few hours. Then some chicken, some seasoning and more simmering. That's pretty much it.

Then it will be gumbo.

More snow and more snow and . . .

When I came out of the apartment this morning to slog to work I was shocked by how much snow had fallen through the night. This just does not look like Portland. At work we had to shut down a lot of bus routes and I think the customer response to that is not going to be pretty. A lot of people are going to have (or have had) a really difficult time getting home from work. I just hope a lot more of them decided this morning it wasn't worth the effort to go in in the first place.

That car on the right, where you can see that it's silver? That's mine. It's not going anywhere any time soon.

Please melt!

Better not be a white Christmas!

It's December 20th at roughly 4 p.m. and it has been snowing since about 8 a.m. There still isn't an enormous accumulation of snow, but for Portland it's pretty impressive and the forecast is for more and worse to come, including sleet or freezing rain. And temperatures are supposed to stay low enough through the week to call for more snow (or snow mixed with rain) right up to and through Christmas Day. Bah. Humbug.

At least it's a weekend, so my demands at work relating to this weather have been reduced. There are a lot of people traveling on public transit today, though, because it's the last shopping weekend before the gifts fly on Thursday. I've been hoping and planning to host a Christmas dinner with my parents (86 and 91 y.o.) and my son Alex. The kid may be the only person to show up.

So, thanks, it's all very pretty but it's also cold and Portland doesn't cope with snow very well. I know there are people out there laughing at us, but they live in regions where snow is a normal part of winter and they're equipped to deal with it. I think the City of Portland has all of three snowplows. 50 miles south of here, from Salem on down, they've got rain and grass. Not a bit of snow. Humph.