Social's Small Batch Bourbon Dinner: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Bourbon Menu at Social

Typically speaking, my Whisk(e)y Wednesday posts consist of reviews of bourbons, Scotches, Irish whiskey, and more whiskeys and whiskies from around the globe. Today, however, I'm going in a different direction. On Monday I had the pleasure of attending a Small Batch Bourbon Dinner at Social in Lafayette. The southern table and bar themed restaurant invited me to be their guest for the evening and experience chef Marc Krampe's creations as well as some world class whiskey.

The meal started with George T. Stagg and seared foie gras. A bourbon aged at least 15 years from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, the Stagg clocks in at a walloping 137 proof. This bad boy is tough to drink straight but if you do it'll put some hair on your chest. With a few dashes of water it really starts to open up with rich flavors of tobacco, cherries, and luscious charred oak. The seared foie gras with bourbon infused cherries proved to be an ideal counter to the strong whiskey which could cut through the fatty liver. Served with frisse, honey infused creme fraiche, and smoked trout roe, the dish got us off to a great start.

Our second course, came with the Black Maple Hill bourbon, which isn't actually a distillery itself. They instead source their whiskey from other distilleries and release a different batch each year under the Black Maple Hill label. This particular whiskey, rumored to be from the Heaven Hill distillery, did not come with anywhere near the firepower of the Stagg. A fair amount tamer, I could sip it straight and pick up some nice hints of honey and cloves. It worked very well with the Asian inspired seafood option of the night: filets of wood fired anago, which is actually eel, atop a puree and sprinkled with spiced hazelnut dust and puffed sushi rice. The textures took the dish to another level with sweet, smoky, smooth and crunchy all combined in every bite.

Seared Foie Gras, House Smoked Trout Roe, Honey Creme Fraiche, Bourbon Infused Cherries, Frisee

Brick Oven Anago, Spiced Hazelnut Dust, Puffed Sushi Rice, Kinome

The real superstar of the evening came next. Well, the food version, anyway. And the whiskey wasn't bad either. The Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye is another whiskey out of Buffalo Trace's Antique Collection. The rye is bold and spicy with many of the cinnamon notes that you want in a rye. Apple pie on the nose and fire on the tongue, it is easy to see why the Handy is such a sought after bottle. To counter that spice, chef put together a very contemporary twist on a homestyle dish. The lamb neck bourguinon featured succulent and tender shredded lamb meat atop a puree of charred celery root. To add to the dish in the the very traditional way, chef threw in some fingerling potatoes that were wonderfully cooked in fat and dusted in salt, along with a mushroom oil and carrot foam. Yes, a carrot foam. Most likely a carrot infused cream that then went through an iSi whip. We'll be doing stuff like this at an upcoming Triumph Kitchen pop-up dinner, if you are interested. The flavors and again the textures all worked extremely well in the bowl of deliciousness. This is modern comfort food at its finest. I want more. Now.

Lamb Neck Bourguinon, Charred Celery Root Puree, Confit Fingerling Potatoes, Mushroom Oil, Carrot Foam

Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year

The meal concluded with the real prize of the whiskey portfolio. The Pappy Van Winkle 23 Year Straight Kentucky Bourbon. This is pretty much the mecca of bourbon out there right now. Getting a bottle is like winning the lottery. Seriously, Calandro's Supermarket had a raffle to decided who got the right to purchase one of two (2) bottles they got allocated this year. And they were lucky to get the right to sell those two. Pappy 23 tastes like what a bourbon should taste like. Vanilla, oak, sweet corn, subtle spice, balance, complexity... it is all there. It is overproofed but it drinks fine neat. It isn't wound up too tight that you need to loosen it up before you can drink it. It is like driving a luxury car of the liquor world... you realize the hype when you get behind the wheel. When the whiskey hits your tongue, you know it is special. Sure, it is excessively hyped and there are other bourbon out there that are really good and not as hard to find. Some of that hype is worthy though. Most of it is due to scarcity and trendiness. But still, it is insanely good. As was the dessert, for the record. To compliment a lot of the tones of the whiskey, the sweet caramel dessert with fruity figs partnered wonderfully with the amaretti cookie crisps that provided a nice crunch. All in all, great whiskey, and a tremendous meal. Next time they do a dinner like this, you don't want to miss it!

Creme Caramel, Fig and Baby Walnut Compote, Amaretti Cookie Crisps

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.

Bite and Booze Radio Show: Taste Awards and King Cake

On this week's episode of the Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket I get to talk about being in Los Angeles for the Taste Awards. I'm also joined in studio by three members of the Calandro's Supermarket team including Blaise Calandro III, CJ Webre, and Sammy Rumfola. We talk pop a cork on some bubbly to celebrate the Taste Awards, then enjoy some great Calandro's king cakes as well as White Russian made with king cake vodka. Enjoy the show!



The Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket airs on Saturdays at 5 PM on Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge. It is also available on iTunes. The show's sponsors include Calandro's Supermarket, Visit Baton Rouge, Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, Mama Della's N.Y. City Pizzeria, Restaurant IPO, Mason's Grill, Donner-Peltier Distillers (Rougaroux Rums and Oryza Vodka and Gin), Louisiana Cookin' Magazine, Juban's Restaurant, the Tin Roof Brewing Company, the Louisiana Culinary Institute and Triumph Kitchen.

Four Roses Small Batch: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Four Roses Small Batch

Four Roses Small Batch scored very well with our panel. Kind of forgotten in the recent news about Suntory purchasing Jim Beam and Makers Mark, Four Roses has long been owned by the Japanese owned Kirin Brewing Company. That certainly doesn't mean there is anything un-American about the taste or quality, though. The nose on the Four Roses Small Batch bourbon is spicy sweet with hints of oak. It is fairly mild with a bit of a syrupy aroma laced with a pleasantly booze tinge. On the palate it is not as sweet as a lot of bourbons. Some vanilla and cinnamon are present, but mostly the flavor sticks to grains and wood. The finish is long and smooth with a lingering brightness that warms on the way down. It is complex yet balanced. A very good bourbon worthy of any collection!

Four Roses Small Batch 

Average Score 82.67

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.

Bite and Booze Wins at the Taste Awards (with Video!)

The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Blvd.

I cannot imagine a better four day stretch in Los Angeles than the one I just experienced. I'll get to all the food and drinks eventually, but for now I need to write about the real reason I made the trip: The 5th Annual Taste Awards. A couple years ago Peggy Sweeney-McDonald of Meanwhile, Back at Cafe du Monde... fame hosted some red carpet interviews at the Taste Awards. I knew nothing of it at the time, but she showed me the video and at some point tried to encourage me to apply. I blew it off. It seemed unattainable. People like Anthony Bourdain, Andrew Zimmern, and Zane Lamprey were winning these awards. TV shows like Top Chef and Food Network Star were being highlighted. I thought maybe one day, but not now. The fourth annual awards came and went last January, and again Peggy mentioned to me that I should look into them. So when the nomination process came back around this past August, I submitted the Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket for the Best Food or Drink Radio Broadcast. I figured it couldn't hurt to just throw my show out there. I heard nothing until November when the finalists were announced. I got a tweet from Kid Chef Eliana out of New Orleans who congratulated me on my nomination. As it turned out, her show, Cool Kids Cook, was also a finalist! Votes were cast over the next month and then all I could do was plan a trip to L.A. and wait. Obviously there is a great need to thank all of you who helped in any way whether it was by casting votes, sharing links, or screaming from a levee top.

Michelle Farmer-Purcell with Jay Ducote on the Red Carpet

The day finally came. Again, I'll have more about my eating and drinking adventures later. My date, Michelle Farmer-Purcell, who I had met as contestants on season two of Masterchef last time I was in Los Angeles, graciously served as my "arm candy" (her words, not mine, but she lived up to it!) for the evening. We checked in and then waited in line to do some red carpet photos and interviews. Peggy came back to do interviews again this year, so I got to chat with her for a bit. I'll be posting that interview on my Facebook page whenever it is online. After the red carpet we headed into the theater to get our seats. Well, I drank a few glasses of champagne, and then we went inside. We were welcomed and a few other awards were passed out. When they got to the fourth presenter the show came to the first Viewers Choice category, which happened to be for the Best Food or Drink Radio Broadcast. I somehow started recording on my phone just in time:

The entire time on stage is a blur in my mind like the Flash running by in the night. I truly did not prepare a speech or even think much about what I would say on stage because I didn't want to even partially get my hopes up that I might win. I figured there was no way, in my first year of being nominated, and competing against shows in much larger media markets, that I'd have a chance. Somehow, thanks to all of you who voted, I emerged victorious. Surprised and excited, I passed my phone off to Michelle and ran to the stage where I decided a few victory leaps with my arms stretched to the sky would be a good idea. I recall pausing a time or two during my speech to both catch my breath and actually try to think about what I should say. I felt like I really made a fool out of myself, but looking back now it isn't so bad. After the show people actually told me that it was the best acceptance speech of the night because there was evident surprise and passion. I'll take that, I suppose!

I returned to my seat with Michelle as well as Samira from Samira's Table and her friend Valerie who had both joined in on the fun in order to support me. They both seemed way more confident that I could win than I ever was. And now that I'm home with a TASTY, I guess they were right all along!

Now that I'm not on stage and have had a little more time to think about everything, I would like to say thank you to some people in addition to all the voters and supporters and listeners out there.

First, my mom, Phyllis Ducote. She has been my biggest fan, role model, encourager, and teacher. She might not realize it, but I always appreciate her wisdom and words of advice. She is the kindest and most giving person I know, and I hope I can even come close to living my life in that fashion. 

My brother Eric, who really helped encourage me to keep blogging right when I started, my sister Dana who I share a lot of memories with, and my dad Jere who has always given me the ability to chase after my dreams instead of living a boring life.

On to the radio nods, Chris Courtney at Talk 107.3 FM has been the producer of the Bite and Booze Radio Show since my very first episode. He has been there for any question I've had, for any pop-up dinner I've cooked, and for any advice I've needed about the show. He also makes the show happen on the technical side, which is awesome. Also, thanks to Flynn Foster, Gordy Rush, and everyone at Guaranty Broadcasting for giving me a shot three years ago to make a successful local food and beverage based radio show. And to Charles Pierce from the Me and My Big Mouth Radio Show and Podcast who is my field producer anytime the show is recorded out of studio. He makes the magic happen when we invade bars and restaurant with the show, and does it all for a beer or two.

A huge thanks to all of my sponsors. Calandro's Supermarket, the Louisiana Culinary Institute, and the Tin Roof Brewing Company have been on board practically since the beginning of the show. Some sponsors have come and gone, and some are brand new, and I'd like to thank each and every one of them. I couldn't have been doing this show over the last three years without the sponsors, advertisers, and supporters that have made it all possible. Juban's Creole Restaurant is the first major restaurant to believe in me enough to put their name on my brand. Visit Baton Rouge, which has been a supporter for a long time, has also been a great partner in allowing me to create content that promotes the Capital City. Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, Mason's Grill, Restaurant IPO, the Donner-Peltier Distillery, Mama Della's Pizzeria, Louisiana Cookin' Magazine, and Chef Chris Wadsworth at Triumph Kitchen have also been a huge part of the growth of the Bite and Booze brand as a whole and especially the radio show.

Finally, there's no way I can get to them all, but thanks to Chef Eusebio Gongora for being my culinary role model and taking that first trip to San Francisco with me to a Food Blogger Festival and to Brent Broussard for being a "long time listener, first time caller" on my very first radio show. Thanks to Tommy Talley and everyone involved with tommysTV for helping launch everything I've ever done on the video side too. There's a bright future there as well. To everyone else, sorry if I missed you! But thanks to you too!

Locke's Single Malt: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Locke's Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Locke's eight year old single malt Irish Whiskey is like a cross between an Irish and a Scotch. Anybody looking for a transition into Scotch could certainly take the road that travels through Locke's. The barley whiskey has a hint of peat smoke on the nose with a touch of bourbon sweetness from the barrel. The whiskey is light and approachable on the lips while supplying a tinge of smoke and easy barley. It cautiously mixes the flavors of sweet, smoky, and oak but delivers an all around drinkable elixir. The finish is smooth and warming, leaving the spirit with a very easy to sip profile whether neat or on the rocks. It might not be fit for most Scotch drinkers, but as an Irish whiskey it is certainly a great stepping stone in the single malt Scotch direction.

Locke's Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Average Score 75.67

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.

Restaurant Week Baton Rouge Returns Today!

Restaurant Week Baton Rouge starts today and runs through Saturday, January 18th. In the third installment of Restaurant Week, over 40 of Baton Rouge's best restaurants are offering up three course pre-fixe menus ranging from $15-35. Check out eatbr.com for the list of all participating restaurants!

DIG Magazine puts on the semi-annual Restaurant Week with $5,000 worth of proceeds going to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Last summer I gave a recap of some of the best that Restaurant Week had to offer: http://www.biteandbooze.com/2013/07/bite-and-booze-awards-restaurant-week.html

Go ahead and scout out your options so you can start planning your week now. If you don't know where to start, here are my top three tips:

1) Eat locally. While I appreciate the corporate chains participating in Restaurant Week, this is the time to support our locally owned restaurants (well, it is always the time for that!).

2) Try somewhere you've never been. Have you always want to try Restaurant IPO? Are you one of those crazy people who has never been to Juban's? Maybe you're interested in the food at wine bars like Blend or Bin 77? Perhaps you've never experienced the farm-to-table menus at Beausoleil or Nino's? Now is the time. No excuses.

3) Go somewhere that you can enjoy a beverage or two as well. You're getting a great discount on a three course meal. You might as well spend those savings on a craft beer, a specialty cocktail, or a glass of wine paired perfectly with your main course.

Of course, ALWAYS make sure to tip your server properly. Restaurant Week Baton Rouge is a time to get out and enjoy our city's restaurants, and it is also a time for our city's service industry to be rewarded for their hard work. Take the discount and add it to the tip. You'll make someone's day!

Louisiana-Grown: From Sugarcane to Cocktails event of the LSU MOA

Rougaroux Rums: 13 Pennies, Sugarshine, and Full Moon

LSU Alumni Beth Donner and Henry Peltier, owners of Donner-Peltier Distillers, are coming to the LSU Museum of Art in Baton Rouge for an evening of Louisiana distilled spirit tastings and hors d’oeuvres parings from Stroubes Seafood and Steaks! You'll be able to hear about Louisiana-grown ingredients used in their products like the long grain rice from the Crowley and Rayne area used in their Oryza Vodka and Gin and newly released LA 1 Whiskey, and the raw sugar and molasses from the Lafourche Sugar Mill used in their Rougaroux line of rums. Beth Donner will discuss the basic process of small-batch liquor production and share the Legend of the Rougaroux, the namesake of the company’s rum. In conjunction with the tasting, unique antique barware from the LSU Museum of Art Permanent Collection will be showcased and discussed. 

Oryza Vodka and Gin

Being a fan of both education and booze, this is the kind of "lecture series" that I can really get behind! Not to mention that the tastings and food pairings from Stroubes are included in the price of admission!

Thursday, January 30, 2014
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
LSU Museum of Art, Third Floor

Museum members $40; nonmembers $45.
Limited reserved seating. Call 225-389-7210 for tickets.
21 and over only.

Burnside Bourbon 4 Yr: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Burnside Bourbon 4 Year 

Last week we drank the Burnside Double Barrel Bourbon out of Portland, Oregon. This week we have another product from Burnside, the four year bourbon. This is actually the same whiskey as the Double Barrel but without the extra 60 days in a new Oregon oak barrel. The Burnside 4 Year puts off a lovely aroma of charred oak, honey, and a pleasant sweetness that is almost like an Irish whiskey. On the tongue the honey flavors remain. The whiskey seems significantly more mellow than the Double Barrel, which is odd since it has less barrel time, but perhaps it is really the different flavors that the second barrel added to the Double Barrel that throw it off a tad. Cinnamon and vanilla come forward as 48% ABV whiskey washes down. There is some pepper on the back of the tongue that lingers in the throat in a good way. The bourbon is slightly complex with a couple different notes coming and going. The extra proof would make it great for cocktails. I think I'll be making an Old Fashioned with mine soon.

Burnside Bourbon 4 Year 

Average Score 53.0

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.

Restaurant Impossible to Film at Mama Della's Pizzeria This Week

Mama Della's N.Y. City Pizzeria

Restaurant Impossible, the hit Food Network show hosted by Robert Irvine, will be in Baton Rouge this week to film an episode at Mama Della’s N.Y. City Pizzeria.

Though it won't be released until the fall of this year, the restaurant will be getting 2014 off to an interesting start with a two day makeover that is scheduled to take place January 9th and 10th. If anybody would like to volunteer to be a part of the remodeling crew, you need to email twentz@shootersinc.com TODAY with FN BATON ROUGE VOLUNTEERS in the subject line and include your name, shift or shifts you'd like to work, and a phone number. Work shifts will be 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. Volunteers will paint, craft, construct, remodel, clean, and decorate. Skilled contractors such as electricians, plumbers and painters are also encouraged to volunteer. Volunteers are asked to wear comfortable clothes and closed toe shoes or boots with no logos.

Mama Della's Margherita Pizza

The Grand Re-opening will be Friday night, but as far as I know all the reservations have been booked for the evening. Don't worry though, you'll have plenty of time to check out the new space before the show actually airs.

I'm optimistic that this will be a great experience for Mama Della's and for Baton Rouge. Mama Della's pizza is truly great. Owner and chef Barry Kalt knows what he is doing with the pie. But he also knows that he needs help with the overall dining experience including the atmosphere and customer service. I'll be interested to see what Robert Irvine says about the pizza and other menu items. I'll also be interested to find out how the restaurant gets renovated and what is done with the front-of-house dining experience. Hopefully more than anything, Mama Della's gets the kind of makeover it needs to become a Baton Rouge pizza joint that we can all be proud of for years to come, and when this episode airs on the Food Network, it will end with a success story of another restaurant saved by Restaurant Impossible.

Lake Charles' Annual Rouge et Blanc Wine Festival

Jay gets ready to enjoy Rouge et Blanc in Lake Charles

Each fall Lake Charles plays host to a pretty phenomenal food and wine festival. Taking up a couple blocks in downtown by the courthouse and city hall, Rouge et Blanc celebrates food and wine, or maybe that should be wine and food, in Southwest Louisiana. The outdoor setting is great for such a big event. With plenty of room to move around and the region's most fantastic fall weather, Rouge et Blanc is most certainly worth seeking out. I got to attend the festival this past October on the heels of eating like a king at the L'Auberge Lake Charles, at different boudin and seafood houses, and at a special wine dinner at La Truffe Sauvage. Needless to say, it had been a good weekend. The festival itself worked kind of like Baton Rouge's Fete Rouge with different restaurants providing the food and plenty of wine being poured. But with the outdoor venue in the middle of town and street closures, the festival really comes alive.

Rouge et Blanc in downtown Lake Charles, Louisiana

With a glass of wine in hand I wandered around the grounds to find some interesting grub. It didn't take long to find what I was looking for. Botsky's Hotdogs came up with an awesome presentation of jackalope sausage on a toast point with a wedge of something pickled. Perhaps it was just a pickle. I don't fully recall. No matter what, I liked it, especially with the little bit of mustard they provided for dipping as well. Many other finds like this came at Rouge et Blanc. 

Jackalope Sausage from Botsky's at Rouge et Blanc in Lake Charles

Always with a glass of wine in hand, I worked my way from table to table tasting food and wine, then wine and food. I drank reds, I drank whites, and I drank some sparkling. I tried not to discriminate among grapes, growers, or regions. You know, for research. A great time was had at Rouge et Blanc and during my entire time in Lake Charles. I'll have to make sure I go back!

One of my favorite wine tables of the day at Rouge et Blanc

Burnside Double Barrel Bourbon: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Burnside Double Barrel Bourbon

A bourbon out of Oregon? That's exactly what we got when we tasted Burnside Double Barrel Bourbon Whiskey. Check out the sideburns adorned by the gentleman on the bottle! The nose is slightly faint with aromas of grass and honeysuckle. Oak and vanilla tones come though as well on the overproofed whiskey. The taste is not faint, though. It is too harsh to sip much straight. Flavors of hay and spicy medicinal tones come forward. The bourbon disappears on the finish, leaving little behind as the astringent liquid goes down the pipe with just a bit of residual heat. The Burnside Double Barrel Bourbon opens up a lot with a little water or an ice cube. At 96 proof, that is to be expected. This is the kind of whiskey you need to put one of those trendy huge ice balls in and let it melt for a while. But then you can get some nice oak flavors. All in all, it is right at the midpoint, which certainly isn't bad.

Burnside Double Barrel Bourbon Whiskey

Average Score 50.33

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.