In Pittsburgh, Allegheny County has started a 10% tax on all poured drinks.  Basically, it’s a tax on all of the “social drinkers” that prefer to be “social” every night or a couple of days out of the week.  So on Saturday, February 2, a crowd gathered on the banks of the Mon River, dressed in colonial garb as protesters reenacted the Boston Tea Party but in a far worse fashion. 

     These horrible, evil men dumped beer and liquor into the water to protest the 10% liquor tax.  Sure, I see the point they were trying to make, but why pour out delicious liquor?  Being a member of BoozeBasher’s reviewing team, I have come across some pretty bad liquors, but I have never poured out even the worst of the worst booze.  This was a horrible travesty. 

     A quote from one of the protesters reads, “I think the drink tax is evil, especially for us young people.  For evil to succeed, all it needs is good men to do nothing,” and I agree with that statement fully.  I think an extra tax on liquor for any occasion is wrong.  Plus, it’s even worse when it’s called something stupid like a “sin” tax.  Screw that!  If you want more money for the government, why not start a “holy” tax?  Im sure we can come up with a way to start taxing the “religious” people that are making it harder for us drinkers to get a decent all night fix on Friday and Saturday.  After a long week of work, I want to drink as much as I need without hearing “last call” at one or two in the morning.  I guess what I’m saying is that it’s okay that they protested and right that they voiced their objections, but next time, unless it’s for one of their dead homies, they should try to stray away from pouring out liquor.  We all know, the only real sin involving liquor is wasting it.

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     Virginia, a state best known for its presidents, pork, and peanuts, has another product worthy of national recognition.  Introduced in 1998, Virginia Gentleman 90 is a small-batch straight bourbon whiskey that might he a little tough to find outside of the tidewater region of the U.S.  While this whiskey might be as elusive as a fox, hunting it down will absolutely reward you with one fine tasting liquor.

      VG 90 is produced at the A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Founded in 1935 by Bowman and his sons, this was the United States oldest family-owned bourbon distillery until its purchase in 2003.  Now some of you might have noticed the “Bowman” in the name of the distillery and you are probably familiar with some of their other products.  Don’t run off scared just yet, because VG 90 is different.  Your first indication of that is the fact that it is actually sold in a glass bottle vice the plastic of many of the other Bowman products.  Secondly, in 2003 at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, VG 90 took home the Double Gold and Best American Whiskey awards.  We aren’t really experts here at BoozeBasher, but we would like to think that the folks at that competition know what they are doing.

     Unfortunately for Virginians, they cannot completely lay claim to the above mentioned accolades.  VG 90 actually starts its life in an unnamed Kentucky distillery.  All signs points to the Buffalo Trace Distillery, but nobody can confirm the source of the Bowman Distillery’s low wine distillates.  Once the base distillates arrive from Kentucky, they go into Bowman’s unique copper still for the final round of distillation.  A triple filtration and 6 years in a white oak barrel finish up the production of this bourbon.  All of these final steps take place in a heavily renovated old cellophane production plant.  While the production site’s transformation was amazing, the work that goes on inside the buildings is equally impressive. 

     Once you crack the wax seal open on a bottle of VG 90 you will realize that your $24 was well spent.  The time in the barrel is immediately evident on the first whiff.  In fact, the nose on this bourbon is so enjoyable it goes down as one of my favorites.  Does it compete with Maker’s Mark?  Absolutely not.  However, it does beat out a number of other higher priced offerings.  Sipping it straight you will discover that it has a little lighter flavor than many other small batch bourbons.  It has a surprisingly smooth taste that starts with a nutty/sweet corn flavor that fades into a smokey oak taste with just a hint of citrus and spice.  Be careful how long you let it sit with ice as the flavor is easily diluted, and letting bourbon sit around for no good reason is alcohol abuse anyway.  When mixing it with cola the smokey oak and spice flavors carry through nicely.  Again, don’t be too heavy-handed with the mixers as the flavor is easily drowned out, and you will end up ruining a good thing.

     As if you could not figure it out from the name, Virginia Gentlemen 90 is a 90-proof product.  When drinking it, you will feel every single proof advertised on the bottle.  This stuff did an excellent job of getting me a buzz quickly.  It was a relaxed and elated type of buzz that was thoroughly enjoyable.  So here we have a liquor that smells good, tastes great, that will get you to a special cloud 9 type of drunk, and is dirt cheap.  Is this all too good to be true?  Yup.  The next morning you will realize that VG 90 is no gentleman at all.  I felt as if I had gone several rounds with Mike Tyson, but a quick check for my ears let me know that VG 90 was the only culprit.  I had all the symptoms from a good night of drinking: dry mouth, upset stomach, and a pounding headache.  Fortunately my misery only lasted until mid-day, but I learned my lesson about drinking too much of this bourbon.

     This is Virginia’s only small-batch bourbon.  It’s a product that tastes fantastic, gets you nice and toasty, and will take it easy on your wallet.  If you get carried away, you might regret it the next day, but if you keep your consumption to moderate levels, Virginia Gentleman 90 is tough to beat.  I know that I load up on it whenever I am visiting Virginia because it is a staple in my liquor cabinet.  If you live in the area, you should definitely give it a try.  You might just find that Virginia does make the best small-batch bourbon.   

Sipability - 7.0

Mixability - 8.0

Drunkability - 7.0

Hangover-ability - 3.5

Bang for the Buck - 9.5

Overall - 6.5 

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     Seagram’s Seven Crown Blended Whiskey is one of the best-known secrets of the liquor community. It’s one of those underground popular liquors and for good reason.  It has all the bark of any other 80-proof whiskey but none of the bite.  This is one unusual whiskey.  Now is that a good or bad thingj?  I’m really not sure, but, I do know a way to find out: a good old fashion BoozeBasher review.

     In 2003, Seven Crown was one of the most recognized whiskeys to order and was the number one-selling US spirit of all time.  Seagram’s 7 is a light and mild whiskey that is easy to mix and easy to order.  There isn’t a bartender in the world that could mess up a drink as simple as a 7 & 7.  There’s not much information on how this whiskey is made, so I won’t even bother with those details; I’ll just get to the important stuff.

     Alone, Seven Crown has a really unpleasant alcohol smell.  It has a charred wood, apricot flavor that wouldn’t be so bad if the taste of the alcohol didn’t quickly overpower it.  The flavor tastes like a weak rubbing alcohol with hints of good whiskey.  Just as quickly as the burning feeling in your mouth appears, it vanishes after swallowing.  The flavor, the burn, everything is gone.  All that is left is a really horrible cotton-mouth feeling and an aftertaste that will make you think you have been chewing styrofoam.  Out of all of the many types of whiskey I have tasted, this is the first (or at least the first that I can remember) that has this horrible burn and run taste.  By now, you should be able to see that this isn’t a stand-alone whiskey like Jack Daniel’s or Jim Beam.  Seven Crown seems more fitted for the mixed world.  So mix is what I did.

     When Seven is mixed, the taste is completely different from its solo taste.  My choice for testing the mixabilty of Seagram’s is the obvious one, 7 & 7.  This mix is really simple and really delicious.  It gives the 7up™ a kind of weak whiskey flavor.  It’s just like a sweet, carbonated whiskey, and it tastes great.  When mixed, all 80-proof of this one goes down smoothly.  With all the burning eliminated, you can pick up that whiskey barrel taste.  Unfortunately, it still leaves that cotton-mouth feeling after sipping.  Of course, there is an easy fix for that; just take another taste.

     As for getting you drunk, Seagram’s 7 really lets you down.  It got me to the point where I felt that if I had one more drink, that I would be wasted.  It got me there quickly, but three drinks later, I was still saying, “if  just had one more drink…”  Seagram’s Seven never pushed me past that line into a state of drunkeness that I need at one o’clock in the afternoon on a weekday.  Luckily, I was able to wake up bright and early for the next day of work because the hangover was no worse than drinking the drink itself.  I had a little cotton-mouth that was remedied by simply brushing my teeth.  Seagram’s Seven Crown makes a good lunchtime liquor.  Finally, you have a whiskey to drink at your desk without any of your co-workers being the wiser.

     I found Seagram’s Seven Crown for the low price of $14 for a 750ml bottle, which makes it a good whiskey to buy if you don’t have enough for a better whiskey like Jack.  You can mix this one at work or easily get it deliciously made into a mixed drink at the bar.  It’s probably not going to be your favorite whiskey, but it is something worth drinking.  I’m not going to tell you to go buy a bottle, but it wouldn’t be a bad one  to have for the home bar.  Go out and enjoy some Seagram’s Seven at your next social outing, lunch, office meeting, dentist appointment, or whatever business you have to take care of during the day.

Sipability - 5.5

Mixability - 6.0

Drunkability - 6.0

Hangover-ability - 7.0

Bang for the Buck - 10

Overall - 6.0  

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