Have you ever had the desire to make your own liqueur?  We here a BoozeBasher have.  I raided my father’s recipe box and decided to share what he claims is an old family recipe for making a coffee liqueur.  It makes about a half-gallon of the delicious liqueur, and it ends up costing about half the price of Kahlúa.  Enough with the small talk, let’s get right into it…

Ingredients:
            
750ml bottle         1 tablespoon         single vanilla         6 heaping tablespoons of
of cheap vodka      of glycerin             bean                    instant coffee
                                  

                 3 3/4 cups of sugar                 2 1/2 cups of water
                                                                   

Notes:  Don’t waste your money on expensive vodka for the recipe, as it really won’t make any noticeable difference in taste.  The instant coffee brand really doesn’t matter either.  I would suggest just getting a standard brew.  If you really like how this recipe turns out, you may want to try some specialty brew like a hazelnut or French vanilla.  I can’t make any guarantees on the taste with the specialty stuff, so experiment at your own risk.  The glycerin should be available at any drugstore and probably some grocery stores.  I know it sounds weird to add this stuff, but it gives the final product a smooth thickness.  In your next batch, you can play with the amount you add a bit to tweak the consistency to your liking.

Directions:

Pour all of the sugar into a pot, and then add 2 cups of water.

Heat and stir until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture looks pretty clear.

Pour all of the instant coffee into a smaller pot.  Add the vanilla bean, and pour in the glycerin.

Heat 1/2 cup of water in the microwave to nearly boiling, and pour it into the instant coffee mixture.  Let the mixture sit for a few minutes.

Next, dump the now brewed coffee mixture into the sugar water pot.  Dip the smaller pot in the larger one to ensure that everything goes into the big pot.

Pour in the entire 750ml bottle of vodka, and mix everything well.  If there is still a little coffee that is not dissolved, heat the entire mixture until everything is dissolved.  Turn off the heat, and let everything sit to cool for awhile.

Pour mixture into a container.  I prefer to use an empty half-gallon vodka bottle.  It should just about fill it.

We decided to do a little blind taste comparison of the homemade coffee liqueur and the popular Kahlúa brand.
VS

     The results were pretty interesting.  The general consensus was that the Kahlúa was a little more pleasant to sip on the rocks, but our homemade liqueur mixed better.  The homemade coffee liqueur was a little thicker in consistency and had a stronger coffee flavor.  That extra thickness and coffee flavor gave white Russians a more rich and almost chocolate-like flavor.  If you fancy yourself a big fan of coffee, you may find the homemade liqueur more enjoyable all around than Kahlúa, and it will cost you about half the price to make it yourself.  If you are a big fan of Kahlúa, get up off your lazy butt and give this recipe a try.  You may just fall in love with it. 

Also check out our review of Kahlúa.

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     Jack Daniel’s is one of the most recognizable brands in the spirit world.  There have been a number of songs written about it, from David Allen Coe’s Jack Daniel’s If You Please to the more recent Sex Slaves’ Thank god for Jack Daniel’s.  When you think whiskey, you probably think Jack Daniel’s.  However, most of the fame is enjoyed by the original “Old No. 7″.  Fortunately for drinkers around the world, No. 7 has a better-aged and more refined sibling, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel. 

     The first thing you notice when you get your hands on a bottle is the awesome deep red amber color of this spirit, that is if you are into judging a liquor by its color.  Unfortunately, for us at BoozeBasher, we couldn’t care less what our liquor looks like.  We are firm believers that booze is for drinking, not decoration.  Luckily, this single barrel beverage has much more to offer than good looks.  Jimmy Bedford, head distiller, has the arduous task of tasting each barrel and setting aside select barrels that he feels are a cut above the rest.  These barrels age for about 8 years before each is drained and and hand-bottled.  The aging is apparent when you first open the bottle and the smokey, woody aroma with just a hint of vanilla escapes.  We were all in agreement at this point.  However, the taste is where we had a difference of opinion.

     I like whiskey, actually I really like whiskey and I prefer it with a very bold, slap you in the face flavor.  Unfortunately, I am the only one on the BoozeBasher staff that feels this way.  Lucky for me, JD Single Barrel has a rich, bold taste.  When poured over ice and enjoyed immediately I found the smokey, woody and peppery taste pleasing to my pallet.  However, nobody else had much good to say about it.  After tasting a few other liquors, I returned to my lonely drink and discovered the flavor to be much improved by the melting of a little ice.  I let the other guys try it and we all agreed that cutting it with just a little water seemed to release the subtle corn and caramel flavors.  It is still not a smooth as Maker’s Mark, but to me, the difference is made up by the extra flavor of the JD Single Barrel.

     The drunkability testing also brought mixed results.  The first test was in the midst of a BBQ and resulted in a very sober Kevin.  Apparently, grilled meats counteract the effects of alcohol, who knew?  The second test was after a particularly frustrating day of work; one drink turned into two, which turned into three and then into a full fledged drunkability test.  This time the whiskey turned me into a tipsy, giggling idiot.  Honestly, the feeling was similar to the Clear Spring 190 buzz except without all of the yelling.  The best part is that I felt great the next morning.  There was no indication that I had spent the previous night knocking over or dropping just about anything I had in my hands.

     Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel is a bit pricey at about $50 a bottle.  If you are not a whiskey drinker or you prefer it with a more subtle taste, the price is not worth the product.  With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed my bottle and will probably keep one on hand for future consumption.  If you are big on drinking bold-flavored whiskey and have never tried this liquor, I suggest you pick up a bottle.  If you are fanatical about it, you can just buy yourself an entire barrel for the low price of only $8400.

Also check out our review of Jack Old No. 7.

Sipability - 7.5

Mixability - N/A

Drunkability - 7.5

Hangover-ability - 8.5

Bang for the Buck - 5.5

Overall - 8.0 

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     The Glenmorangie Port Wood Finish 12-year is a single malt highland Scotch whiskey distilled in Ross-shire, Scotland.  The spirit is initially matured in American Oak Casks and then is racked into selected port “pipes” for extra aging in its final years of maturation.  This extra “finish” to the aging process adds more characteristics to the malt to give it a more complex and fine taste.  The Glenmoragie distillery boasts the tallest stills in Scotland, and every Glenmorangie Scotch is undertaken by a staff of only 16, known as The Sixteen Men of Tain.  These sixteen men are hand-selected master distillers that work year-round and are the only people involved to ensure excellence in taste from Glenmorangie Scotch Whiskies.  I just love how serious they are about their liquors in Scotland. 

     Glenmorangie Port Wood 12-year has a golden color with a slightly rosy hue.  Its scent is light and contains notes of hazelnut and even chocolate.  Even after it’s poured over ice, Glenmorangie Port Wood maintains a very subtle scent.  The taste is very oaky on the first sip.  It tastes almost dry and immediately warms your whole mouth and throat as it goes down.  Subsequent sips prove to be much more rewarding.  The little complexities in flavor begin to appear.  It’s definitely a dry taste with hints of a walnut-like flavor.  After a few more sips, I began to taste a bitter chocolate flavor with an almost minty finish.  This is truly a fine malt for the Scotch drinker with a refined palate.  I usually don’t pride myself in having the most discerning of palates, but I can definitely tell that the complexity of flavor offered by Glenmorangie Port Wood 12-year, would bring a smile to the face of the picky Scotch drinker. 

     All of the flavors of Glenmorangie Port Wood hit your palate very early and diminish quickly creating a dryness that left me feeling almost thirsty after consumption.  It was almost a cotton-mouth like feeling, but the hint of mint flavor made me confident that my breath wasn’t that of a common booze-hound or wino.  I’m sure all the ladies appreciated it just as much as I did…I just didn’t think to ask them.  Although the complexity of this spirit will likely excite the Scotch drinker with a fine palate, all the extra flavors may prove to be a little much for the casual Scotch drinker.  Some of the BoozeBasher crew felt that the taste was a little bitter and strong up front for a top-shelf Scotch, so the sipability rating wasn’t incredibly high.   

     The Glenmorangie Port Wood gave me a slight buzz after one glass.  I was surprised, but it happened on three different occasions.  The second and third glasses increased the intensity of that buzz.  It was a light and almost energized feeling.  I was quite impressed.  The fourth glass made me a little drunk, but I wasn’t quite at the point I felt I should be after four glasses of 86-proof Scotch.  It’s definitely a good Scotch to drink when you want a quick buzz and plan on being active or out on the town, but you may have to rely on additional players to really put you in the drunken stupor we all crave. 

     After a night of drinking the Glenmorangie Port Wood, I awoke without much of a hangover, but I had a bad case of dry mouth that took a little time to quell.  I also had some of the worst breath I have ever experienced after a night of drinking, and that’s a scary thing!  I had to brush my teeth a few times to kill the foulness.  I hope the women I talked to on the review night didn’t have to deal with the same rancid fumes that tormented me the next morning.  That might explain why I came home alone.  I’m sure it wasn’t The Glenmorangie’s fault, but I’m totally allowed to rationalize my lack of charisma however I please. 

     Coming in at a moderately-serious price of $67, Glenmorangie Port Wood 12-year was pretty pricey.  Unless you consider yourself somewhat of a Scotch connoisseur, you may want to stick with something a little more affordable.  There are several good Scotches out there for less money, but if you crave a truly unique and complex taste, pick up a bottle and taste an excellent after-dinner or pre-night on the town Scotch.

Sipability - 7.5

Mixability - N/A

Drunkability - 7.5

Hangover-ability - 7.0

Bang for the Buck - 5.5

Overall - 7.5 

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