Let's Talk Liquor: Bourbon And Rye Enter Our Liquor Cabinet, But We Need More Advice

Woodberry Kitchen's "Deadwood" cocktail with Rittenhouse rye

Has anyone ever told you that scotch tastes like dirt?

I drank scotch for almost 20 years.  I learned to drink on cheap beer and Cuba libres, and I got adult by adding bottled beer and the scotch loved by my grandfather and father.  Scotch is easy.  You can drink with the boss.  You can impress your friends.

But drinking scotch is hard . . . because it tastes like dirt.  Smoky.  Peaty.  I tasted the flavors that aficionados love, but I admitted at some point this year that they taste awful to me.  So my friend asked if I liked bourbon.  Bourbon?  I thought that was harsher than scotch.  It turns out that it's sweet.  Sweet!

This started as a summer of bourbon.  DonkeyKong introduced me to Buffalo Trace bourbon at Kloby's Smokehouse, which does bourbon, beer and barbecue.  Then Woodberry Kitchen taught me about rye.  Specifically, it was a wonderful "Deadwood" cocktail with "honeyed rye," a smoky tea, peaches, a sage leaf and other magic.

Rye w/dinner of
potatoes, tomatoes and eggs

Now, I'm trying to recreate the experience at home.  I have shopped around.  Buffalo Trace from Roundabout Liquor in Laurel.  Rittenhouse rye at Perfect Pour in Elkridge -- a giant store that can really offer variety.  Then a special mixer -- ginger shrub -- at i.m. Wine in Fulton.  Shrub is a non-alcoholic vinegar, and i.m. Wine sells an entire line from Shrub & Co. 

So far, it's good fun.  I'd recommend either Rittenhouse or Buffalo Trace.  Just a glass and an ice cube make a great drink.  But I'd love some advice -- about cocktails and about other options.  What liquor stores have something special?  What restaurants serve cocktails on the Woodberry theme?  What cocktail recipes could you recommend?

Canned Beer You Can Love

It ain't Milwaukee's best, but you can buy more and more interesting beers in cans these days.

Practically, canned beer works well for summer events like picnics or concerts where you don't want to risk those classy glass bottles.  But it is also a kick to anyone who drank beer when classy glass bottles were just too expensive to even consider.

Ah, the Milwaukee's Best 12 pack.  At an age before I even knew about gift bags and bringing a bottle of wine, I proved myself a good guest by ringing the doorbell with canned beer -- cheap beer, but more than I planned to drink myself.  Now, craft brewers are getting into the act with a variety of beers canned for quality, not quantity.

Personally, my favorite is a Scottish Ale from Oskar Blues.  For an adult review, you really want the Baltimore Beer Guy.  I'll tell you that it's delicious and flavorful, and it's perfect for a barbeque.  I think it's pretty available at liquor stores, certainly available at i.m. Wine in Fulton or Perfect Pour in Elkridge.  Perfect Pour's beer wall has canned beer from Brooklyn Brewery, the Reading Brewing Company, and even a hefeweisen from Butternut Beer.  They even have a $17 four-pack of Oskar Blues' Ten Fidy imperial stout.  That's $4+ for each can of beer.

(Update: Check out the Craft Cans blog mentioned in a comment below.  The Mama's Little Yella Pils is one of the good Oskar Blues brands available around here.)

If you're interested in beer, check out the Baltimore Beer Guy for news from the local craft beer bars or read my post about the Sudsy Triangle of Howard County.

Mrs. HowChow's House Wine House Wine

We're wine people, but not really liquor people -- which makes it hard to be real wine people because we can't handle our liquor.

But we know what we like, and Mrs. HowChow discovered her new house wine House Wine at i.m. Wine. To say that again: That's her new favorite wine, a Washington State variety called House Wine with two giant words and little house on the label.

Mrs. HowChow went back for more Monday at i.m. Wine, the liquor store in Maple Lawn. She likes dry red wines, smooth dry red wines. She likes House Wine for the taste and for the cute label. We went through several bottles at my birthday party, and she bought more to serve some medical students when they come visit. Mrs. HowChow was so effusive that another customer picked up a bottle based on her recommendation. It's the casual kind of wine that it easy to serve to people.

i.m. Wine is a casual store where it is easy to get some advice. I'm a fan of the Perfect Pour's beer wall, and they're both places where you can good advice on everything from $10 picnic wine to expensive bottles to age for a special day.

(Update: House Wine comes from The Magnificent Wine Company in Mattawa, Washington.)

i.m. Wine
8180 Maple Lawn Boulevard
Fulton, MD 20759
240-456-0330

NEAR: In the Maple Lawn commercial area off Rte 216 just west of Rte 29.

i.m. Wine: Make Your Own Six-Pack In Fulton

99 bottles of beer on the wall.  99 bottles of beer.  Take six down, pass them around, 93 bottles still left for you to choose.

Summer is the time for beer, and you can make your own six-packs at i.m. Wine store.  The Fulton liquor store shows off its wine on beautiful displays, but on the way to the back room, there are steel storage shelves unceremonially lined with beer -- dozens of different brands, styles, flavors.  You pick your own.

For a dinner party, I made two six-packs to augment the random beers floating around our refrigerator.  I picked six different beers and bought two of each.  Three wheat beers.  Three pilsners.  It was an easy way for me to sample something new, and it was fun to have a guest say, "This is a great mix of beers!"  My discovery -- a DeGroen's weizen  from a Delaware brewery that I had never heard about before.  Delicious and slightly bitter.  Not your 18-year-old's party beer, but perfect on a summer evening.

The wall at i.m. Wine is an eclectic mix.  Lots of small American breweries like DeGroen's.  Some European beers, but few of the usual suspects that are in coolers anywhere.  Also few of the flavored beers that I have come to hate.  (I still cringe remembering the taste of a cranberry beer from Boston.)  The i.m. Wine folks have always lead me right.  Everything that I bought was good, and the beer seems aimed at companies brewing beers in traditional styles like IPA, Belgian ale, wheat beer, etc.  Great taste; less gimmicks.  That's my kind of wall.

The beers are individually priced.  Most seem to be about $1.50, and there is a $2 charge per six-pack for the "pick your own" opportunity.

I posted before about why i.m. Wine is a great place to go for suggestions.  If you are in Maple Lawn for i.m. Wine, check out the three restaurants nearby:  Trapeze, Ranazul and oz Chophouse.

i.m. Wine
8180 Maple Lawn Boulevard
Fulton, MD 20759
240-456-0330
www.imwine.com

NEAR: In the Maple Lawn commercial area off Rte 216 just west of Rte 29.

im Wine: Interesting Wine in Fulton

The i.m. Wine store feels like a friendly place, and I think I'd like it even more if I knew what anyone was talking about.

The i.m. Wine store in Fulton is a small place with large windows. Windows are rare in a liquor store, and I think there are rare treasures to find in i.m. Wine. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recognize them. I love wine. I love beer. I love liquor. Or at least, I enjoy the idea of them, the thought of stocking a wine cellar or serving up cocktails to guests. The truth is that I drink so little that I have never learned the details.

That is why i.m. Wine works so well for me. I go in for suggestions, and I always leave happy with the straight-forward answers. An inexpensive wine to drink today. A wedding gift that will age well and be something special on the 5th and 10th anniversaries. Mrs. HowChow bought a six-pack of mixed beers, and the owner walked her through the entire selection, picking things based on the beers that she had seen me enjoy. (The beer selection -- and the make-your-own-six-packs -- does make im Wine stand out from most liquor stores. It's a craft-beer selection, not so much on the foreign labels that you can get most places. I'd lobby for Pacifico, but my consumption can't warrant stocking anything specific!)

The owner and his folks do a great job at explaining without being snooty or sounding like they're trying to sell me the most-expensive option that they can get away with.  There are always specials just inside the door that cost $9-15.  The rest of the stock runs the normal range from $10 with lots in the $20-40 range and then more expensive for the real experts.  For me, answers are exactly what I want. If you're more "in the know," go ask questions, and I think the same i.m. Wine employees will engage you in a conversation that you'll like even more.

i.m. Wine
8180 Maple Lawn Boulevard
Fulton, MD 20759
240-456-0330

www.imwine.com

NEAR: In the Maple Lawn commercial area off Rte 216 just west of Rte 29.