Maker's 46

As those of who've read my Guide to Bourbon know, most Bourbon distillers produce a range of products, using different recipes and bottling these at different ages and proofs. The one exception is Maker's Mark who has been bottling only one product since 1959, that being their six-year-old, 90 proof, "wheat recipe" Bourbon.

It's a controversial whiskey among the Bourbon cognoscenti, not because it's bad (it isn't; most would give it a B+) but because it has a market share considerably larger than one might expect for a Bourbon that's merely very good. It achieved this position via brilliantly successful marketing plus aggressive legal action intended to protect its trademarks (most notably the dripping red wax which seals every bottle of MM). Among those who adhere to the principle the race should go to the swiftest there's a feeling that market share should be based on the merits of your product and not on the skill of your marketing and legal departments. Although this is an admittedly naive view, it's one that's been frequently expressed in online bourbon forums.

Whether in response to these mutterings or, more likely, to provide existing MM drinkers with an up market option, last year the company decided to look at ways to produce something a little more distinctive. The traditional approach would simply be to age it longer (for example, 10 to 23 year old wheat recipe bourbons are sold by Weller, Van Winkle and Old Fitzgerald), but the company wanted to get something to market a lot sooner than that. Basically, they wanted a short cut.

So MM went to their barrel supplier, Independent Stave, and asked for their advice. I'm sure the folks at IS were aware of a little device known as an infusion spiral, but because that was invented by a rival barrel company, The Barrel Mill, they weren't about to use that. Instead they came up with a rather labor-intensive procedure of draining the whiskey from the barrel, removing the barrel head, drilling shallow holes into the sides of the barrel, stringing staves of toasted French oak onto dowels, fixing the stave/dowel assembly into the holes, replacing the head, and refilling the barrel with the whiskey. The bourbon then spends another three months in the barrel before bottling. They tried dozens of different combinations of stave characteristics (number of staves, level of toast) and aging periods and the one they like the most was #46, and this is the basis for the whiskey's name, Maker's 46.

So how is it? Well, it's definitely better than regular Maker's Mark. It's got the signature MM caramel and vanilla, and adds a hint of cinnamon. You can pick up a little extra oak, but unfortunately there's a bit of oak tannin on the finish, rather like an insufficiently aged big Cabernet. I give it an A-, and get validation from Malt Advocate editor John Hansell, who gave it a 90 in his review.

Is it worth the $35.95 that it costs here in Oregon? In my opinion, no. For $31.50 you can get twelve year old Very Special Old Fitzgerald, a wheat recipe bourbon that is considerably more complex and refined. The hot-rodders like to say, "There's no substitute for cubic inches," and I think a similar principle applies to whiskey: there's no substitute for barrel time.

Of course, there are many people who make their choices on the basis of brand loyalty, and for long-time drinkers of Maker's Mark, the new 46 offers something special for those special occasions. To you I say, enjoy.

Willamette Whiskey Society

Inspired by my friend Steve's success with his Tallahassee Whiskey Society, I'm thinking about doing something similar here.

The TWS meets once a month (first Tuesday) at a local bar or restaurant, reserving a table large enough to accomodate twelve people. Each session is devoted to whiskey of a particular type (Single Malt Scotch, Bourbon, etc). The Society Coordinator (that would be Steve in TLH and me here) provides a "starter" flight of three whiskies; cost to partake of that is $10 (payable to the coordinator, who bought them). Additionally, participants are encouraged to bring a bottle of something in the same category, the rule being that it isn't one that's available at the bar in which the session is taking place. Any food that's consumed is ordered off the establishment's menu.

A more formal alternative would be to reserve a room (say the banquet room at Loca Luna) and have the Society provide the full flight of whiskeys (probably five or six). Small servings of complementary foods would be served. This would be more expensive (likely upwards of $50 per person) because the Society would have to pay for the room, the whiskey and the food.

So if you're interested, drop me a line (E-Mail address available via my Profile page) and let me know which of the two alternatives you prefer.

Cheers!

Block 15

Block 15 is the third establishment to be reviewed in our series on Corvallis Brewpubs. Though having been in business for slightly more than two years, they’ve developed a strong following, and unless you arrive at an off time (say, 2:30pm on a weekday) there’s a good chance you’ll be waiting for a table.

The décor is what I’d call “rustic-modern”. It’s clean and you can tell that it’s a relatively new establishment, unlike some of the other local taverns which are, frankly, a little beat up. Unfortunately, scant effort has been devoted to sound absorption, and it can be quite loud when it’s busy. The serving staff is young and many of them sport piercings and have done interesting things with their hair, but I’ve found them to be friendly and fairly prompt (although some customers have reported problems when the place is at or near capacity).

This is not an establishment that aspires to provide haut cuisine, and the menu reflects that. There are sandwiches, burgers and similar fare. We’ve been there on a number of occasions and two of the appetizers I’ve enjoyed are the Magic Mushrooms, these being cooked mushroom caps stuffed with cheese and a small amount of sausage, and the Hog Wings, pork riblets with the bone protruding far enough to make consuming them a less messy affair than, say, eating chicken wings (I recommend you order them with the sauce on the side).

We’ve been generally pleased with the entrees we’ve ordered, the sole exception being a meatball sandwich that contained far too much dried oregano. The French fries have consistently hit the sweet spot between too oily and too dry.

Of course, the main draw at Block 15 is the beer brewed on the premises. The standard offerings include the Glo Golden Ale, which is light colored, not too malty or hoppy, with a hint of butterscotch on the nose, and it’s a good choice for those who prefer typical American lagers. The Ridgeback Red is darker, with a slight orange peel aroma, and sweet, flavorful malts providing enough character to balance the hops. The Alpha IPA is very nice, with a strong citrus and herbal nose, a good malt presence on the palate and a mildly bitter finish, and is my personal favorite, though I admit to a fondness for IPAs (like me, they are full-bodied and bitter). Their most popular beer is the Aboriginale, which takes a middle path in color, malt and hops, but still has enough character to be interesting. The Printmaster Pale Ale, flavored with Amarillo hops, is intensely hoppy, with a strong citrus and pine nose, slightly astringent on the palate and offering a very crisp finish. Finally they have the Nebula Oatmeal Stout which, like most of its genre, has distinct notes of chocolate and, being a stout (as opposed to a porter) enough hops so that you can feel confident that you’re drinking a beer and not a chocolate flavored soft drink (I admit I’m not fond of stouts and porters, which, unlike me, are rich and sweet).

I’ve also tried the root beer, which is not particularly carbonated but has a much stronger sassafras aroma and flavor than anything you’re going to get out of a bottle.

In addition to the year-round beer offerings, at any given time there are about a half-dozen seasonal brews. These vary widely in style, ranging from light wheat beers to double stouts. Some have been memorable, and some not.

The one constant is that all the brews are well-crafted products, and reflect owner Nick Arzner’s passion for brewing. The food is merely good (better than you’ll get at Old World Deli/Oregon Trail Brewing or McMenamins), but the beer is excellent (far better than what you’ll get at OWD/OTB or McMenamins).

In short, at Block 15, it’s about the beer.

Block 15 web site.

McMenamins on Monroe

The second in my series of Corvallis brewpub reviews is devoted to McMenanmins on Monroe. Located next to the OSU campus, at 2001 NW Monroe street, it caters to a mostly college crowd and for this reason Kathy didn’t see much point in trying it. Nonetheless it is a brewpub and if this series is to be comprehensive then I have to include it. Last week Kathy went camping with her friend Barbara, so I invited Barbara’s husband Mike to join me there.

We arrived at 7pm, an hour after the end of Happy Hour (3-6pm). It was still close to capacity and we had to go up to the second floor to find an unoccupied and clean table. It’s a voluminous place, with a large ground floor and a second floor about half the area as the ground floor. The second floor is open on its south side, balcony style, stopping well short of the street-facing window wall. The east wall features a large example of pop art, a “tree” of pipe work with the branches topped by bathroom sinks.

The noise level was surprisingly low. Much of the floor area is carpeted, and the high ceiling helps as well.

Our server was a pleasant young woman named Kaitlin, and she was consistently attentive during our visit, so I’ve no complaints about the service.

To drink, I ordered the “Brewery Taster”, this consisting of five regular offerings (“Hammerhead” pale ale, IPA, “Ruby” raspberry ale, porter and “Terminator” stout) and one seasonal (“Copper Moon” ale). These arrived after five minutes or so, and I tried the “Ruby” first. This was a little cloudy, with a slight pink/orange cast. There is a distinct raspberry nose, with a little yeast. The raspberry is less pronounced on the palate, and that, with the low hop level, give it a slightly sweet character. The mouthfeel is thin and the finish short. The “Hammerhead” was also a little cloudy, had a subtle nose of floral hops and caramel, and was only lightly hoppy on the palate. Again, it seemed a bit thin and watery. I had higher expectations for the IPA, but this turned out to be not all that different from the Hammerhead, and did not have the extra hops that I expect in an IPA. The porter was a typical example of its type, with distinct chocolate and coffee aromas and flavors, while the “Terminator” stout did not have the extra bitterness I expected, with the coffee notes being more pronounced than the chocolate. The “Copper Moon” had a citrusy nose, was not particularly hoppy, and had a light body that gave it a refreshing character.

Overall, I was not impressed with the quality of the beers. All seemed watery and short on hops. This seemed odd, because I’d had the IPA on a number of occasions at the other Corvallis McMenamins (the one on Harrison) and remember it being better.

The menu lists mostly burgers, sandwiches and pizza. Not being in the mood for any of these, I ordered the grilled wild salmon. Mike ordered the ale-battered fish & chips. These arrived after about ten minutes. The salmon was dry and tough, and the rice that accompanied it was dry, gummy and inedible. The braised greens, on the other hand, were fresh, not overcooked or bitter. Mike’s fish was okay, not over or undercooked, and his fries were only slightly greasy.

For dessert I had the black and tan brownie. Served warm, with ice cream, this was pretty good, the chocolate being quite rich.

In addition to beer, McMenamins has their own line of wine and spirits. I haven’t tried many of these, but if memory serves, the Black Rabbit Red and the Syrah are both decent. I’ve also had the brandy, and it’s not bad either.

I decided to follow up on the beers, visiting www.beeradvocate.com to get some other’s perspectives. I found a lot of variability in both the descriptions and ratings of the various McMenamins brews, to the degree that I found myself wondering are we all talking about the same beers here?

The thing is, the McMenamins beers are brewed in dozens of different locations around Oregon and Washington and there are bound to be variations. Different fermenters and the varying skill and professionalism of the individual brewers are going to result in variability in the beer. Based on the reports I read, most of the McMenamins brewpubs are producing better stuff than the local one. I don’t know why this is the case, but perhaps it’s the mostly college student clientele, of whom the brewpub management may believe has not been drinking beer long enough to know the difference.

McMenamins on Monroe website.