Sunday, July 1, 2012

Buffalo Trace White Dog

Moving this blog on to more important things once again...

It's been nearly thirty years (1983) since I last played with the white liquor and I do remember some of it: the main memory is my buddy's mother throwing us out of the kitchen, and then told to exit the premises entirely... after somebody struck a lighter to some spillage... creating a three-foot trail of flame along her kitchen counter...
She was not amused.
That time, the magic potion was a bottle of Everclear that we had purchased after crossing the Mexican border and brought back. 192 proof, or something like that...
wicked stuff...
and tasted accordingly.

We tried shots (which didn't go down very well) before we decided to mix it into beer. After three of those it was like having a piano dropped on my head from three floors up...
Yeah, I was over and done for the night.

I've avoided the white liquor ever since, til now...

'White Dog' is the name given to un-aged, straight-from-the-still American whiskey before it goes into the oak barrels where it is aged into that beautiful substance we call Bourbon.

There are a few varieties to choose from at my local liquor store. My curiosity was on high this time around and reached for the bottle of un-aged Buffalo Trace distillate.

I chose the Buffalo Trace variety for two reasons:
--First: Buffalo Trace is a reputably solid offering of bourbon.
--Second: It was at a proof (125) that I thought I could handle.

Not much at all to look at with this stuff being clearer than water.
I was expecting an aroma similar to rubbing alcohol, but instead I got a faint combination of alcohol and sugar.

The real test is the taste, which is kinda yucky and pungent to the pallet; a lingering kind of yuck that stays a while, several minutes, and then some.
Due to the surgical event of 2008, I don't always feel much back there, but damn... I was feeling this like it was 2007.
Slight corn sweetness up front, but nothing to get all 'whoo-hoo' about.

Most impressive are the effects: akin to the subtle massage of a ball ping hammer  to the forehead.

Unless you feel the need to truly appreciate what oak barrels over time will do to distillate, avoid the White Dog.

12 comments:

Brian said...

Shreds: trying out the fire water, so you don't have to!

Foxfier said...

My knowledge of Everclear: my mom uses it on a cow's skin before slicing them open, because it NUMBS THEM.

Never felt a need to try drinking it.

Brian said...

FF--you haven't missed out on anything, except wicked hangovers and regret.

Speaking of which...Gino, you should probably make jungle juice out of what you have left.

Foxfier said...

Brian-
thanks; I think I've had more than my fill of both, even if that's less than average.

Night Writer said...

If I recall the recipe correctly, a bottle of Everclear, a bottle of grenadine, both poured into a new (or clean) kitchen trashcan, add 3 or 4 gallons of orange juice, stir. It was called "Prairie Rattler" and I saw some poor freshmen get totally wiped out on that one night (I got to drive them home, having eschewed the potent punch). Fortunately, none of them puked in my car. Can't say the same for the next morning when my rugby friend who had mixed the concoction (and was apparently immune to it) and I went to dorm and knocked on the door of one of the kids to see how he was doing. After several minutes he appeared. My friend was eating a quarter-pounder with cheese for breakfast. The kid got one sniff and...well, it was ugly.

John said...

@ Nightwriter, we used Welsh's Grape Juice and it was Purple Passion... A date in college thought she could drink and gulped down three mugs... I think it took 45 minutes to find its way back out.

Mr. D said...

Drank something like that in college, too. Mixed with grape Kool-Aid. It was on a Saturday night. Think I woke up on Monday.

Gino said...

Brian: thanks for the new tagline. i hope Fearless Maria isnt too upset. she's had a good, long run... very long, and Fearless.

Bike Bubba said...

OK, my take here is that the only reason to drink this stuff is to get drunk fast--am I reading this correctly?

Thanks, Gino, for doing this research so that we don't need to. :^)

K-Rod said...

Gino, they have kits of white liquor and a tiny oak cask to "home age" bourbon. Almost bought one for dad last xmas...

Gino said...

krod: that sounds like something i'm gonna look into.

K-Rod said...

The small barrel size only needs 3 to 6 months to age. The barrel can be reused a half dozen times.

http://www.woodinvillewhiskeyco.com