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Secrets of Bourbon Food Pairing Explained by Experts

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Date & Time: Friday, October 4th, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Location: The Kentucky History Center, 100 West Broadway St., Frankfort, KY 40601

By Rebecca Herman McBrayer

As part of our Frankfort, KY Bourbon on the Banks weekend, we attended the Secrets to Bourbon Food Pairing with Peggy Noe Stevens & John Medley. We had a big morning of travel from Indiana with our friends, Hap & Judy Aziz, as well as an insightful grounds walk tour at Glenn’s Creek Distilling – home of the historic Old Crow Distillery. We made it to the event just in time and friends had saved us seats right up front – Thank you Lisa & Phil!

Event Description: The Secrets to Bourbon Food Pairing – Bourbon Hall of Fame and Master Taster, Peggy Noe Stevens and John Medley, the Research and Development Director at Buffalo Trace Distillery take you on a sensory journey with food pairings from Limewater Bistro and our favorite expressions from Buffalo Trace Distillery.
-History and Tasting of three premium Bourbons
– Bourbon Benchmarking: Understanding three Different Styles
– Food and Bourbon pairing and palate training

What We Learned About Pairings

Peggy shared her approach and teaching tool for bourbon pairings called The Flavor Trio. She referred to this technique a balance, counterbalance, and explosion.

  • Balance: When the flavors of a bourbon MATCH the flavor of a food.
  • Counterbalance: When a completely OPPOSITE food flavor highlights certain bourbon flavor profiles.
  • Explosion: When a predominant bourbon flavor is matched with a predominant flavor in a food – this causes a flavor explosion.

With this in mind, you should select your bourbon first and get to know its flavor profile. Next, you would select foods to balance, counterbalance, and explode those flavors. This (and much more) is detailed in the book: “WHICH FORK DO I USED WITH MY BOURBON? Setting the Table for Tastings, Food Pairings, Dinners, and Cocktail Parties.” Peggy Noe Stevens & Susan Reigler. Available on Amazon.

Pairing 1: Buffalo Trace

Buffalo Trace: Caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, and honey with notes of summer fruits and hints of leather and oak.

Balance: Paired with Peach Salad with Molasses Vinaigrette, Fresh Tarragon, and Honey Brown Bread Crouton.

The molasses vinaigrette balanced with the brown sugar; the notes of honey were present in the honey brown bread crouton; and the peach highlighted the bourbon flavors of summer fruits. This combination was truly delightful!

Pairing 2: Weller 12-Year-Old

Weller 12: Vanilla, orange peel, creamed corn, honeysuckle, and baking spices.

Counterbalance: Paired with Slow-Cooked Brisket with Crispy Gouda Grit Cake, Spicy BBQ, and Green Onion.

While the grit cake complimented the creamed corn from the Weller, the spicy BBQ sauce was the perfect counterbalance to the overall sweetness profile of the bourbon.

Pairing 3: Stagg Jr.

Stagg Jr.: Pipe tobacco, caramel, vanilla, baking spices, dates, with hints of clove and cocoa.

Explosion: Paired with Date and Chocolate Cake with Fresh Blackberry.

Wow! Explosion is a great description for how this tastes together. Amazing!

About our Hosts

Peggy Noe Stevens: As the world’s first female master bourbon taster and founder of the Bourbon Women Association, Peggy is uniquely qualified to educate the audience about Kentucky’s native spirit. Whether you are new to bourbon, or a seasoned enthusiast, she will present an entertaining overview of Bourbon’s flavor influencers during the production process and how to taste like a pro. A customized food and Bourbon pairing will delight your senses and teach you why the many different “styles” of our amber elixir make Bourbon a signature industry for Kentucky.

Rebecca Herman, Judy Aziz, Hap Aziz, Wayne McBrayer, and Peggy Noe Stevens

John Medley: As the Research & Development Director at Buffalo Trace Distillery, John Medley is responsible for providing technical leadership for Sazerac products and implementing improvements in manufacturing processes. Under John’s helm, the new product development team creates successful brands enjoyed by fans all over the world.

Wayne McBrayer, Rebecca Herman, and John Medley

The perfectly prepared food pairings were created by Limewater Bistro.

The pairings were both delightful and educational. This was a fantastic experience. If you have an opportunity to attend a similar event, we highly recommend it. If you are unable to do so, Peggy & Susan’s book is fantastic!

Embracing the Craft!
Rebecca & Wayne

February 2024 Traveller Whiskey Tasting

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02/27/24
By Rebecca Herman McBrayer

Please be sure to read our approach to Tasting Whiskey if you haven’t already. 

For this tasting, Wayne and I tasted the recent release from Buffalo Trace, Traveller Whiskey. From the Buffalo Trace site: For this first-of-its-kind collaboration from Buffalo Trace Distillery, Traveller brings together the collective artistry of 8X Grammy Award-Winning Artist Chris Stapleton and Buffalo Trace Distillery Master Distiller, Harlen Wheatley.

What is a Blended Whiskey? A Blended Whiskey is a mixture of different types of whiskeys, sometimes with other ingredients. It’s typically made by mixing one or more higher-quality straight or single malt whiskeys with less expensive spirits, neutral spirits, colorings, and flavorings. For example, a blended Scotch might be a combination of a barrel-aged malt whisky and some other grain whisky. In the US, blended whiskey is a combination of straight whiskies and neutral spirits containing at least 20 percent straight whiskey and bottled at not less than 80 proof. For additional information, read Blended Whiskey, part of the Sunday Spirit Notes.

Buffalo Trace Welcome Center

Traveller Whiskey Blend No. 40

Mashbill – Unknown a blended whiskey

Age – Unknown a blended whiskey

Blend – From the Buffalo Trace site: In pursuit of the finest possible whiskey, over 50 blends were sampled before making Blend No. 40 the chosen combination. Blend No. 40 is the carefully curated result of countless hours of testing & tasting and is exactly what you’d expect – a premium whiskey that speaks for itself. 

Proof – 90

Price Paid – $39.99

Color – golden

Aroma – very light, sweet such as honey or fruit, not distinct, doesn’t draw you in but also doesn’t push you away.

Tasted Neat –  somewhat of a creamy mouthfeel, like the nose, it is sweet with hints of maple, caramel, or some sort of dessert.

Tasted with dried cranberry –  sweetness again with nothing distinct or specific.

Tasted with a pecan –  brought out some complexity of oak and white pepper.

Tasted with dark chocolate – the creamy mouthfeel returned, but it is rather one note.

Discussion and Final Notes

In general, it is a rather nondescript whiskey that lacks complexity. However, with the marketing, availability, and price point, it has gained a lot of attention by those who might not typically drink whiskey or bourbon.

If you are seeking a sweet, creamy, lower proof whiskey at a good price, you should give Traveller a try. For this reason, it is also a great bottle for bourbon enthusiasts to keep on their shelf for friends who might not appreciate a more robust or complex pour of bourbon.

Cheers,
Rebecca & Wayne

Photos by Rebecca Herman McBrayer

NOTE: The whiskey in this review was purchased by us. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is simply our opinion based on what we tasted on this day. Please drink responsibly.

January 2024 Industry Highlights

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02/01/24

There were several important happenings in the bourbon industry this past month including announcements of expansions, ground breaking, new releases, and festival news.

Distillery News

Angel’s Envy announced expansion plans.

New Riff named their first Master Distiller – Brian Sprance.

Rabbit Hole Distillery announced expansion plans.

RD1 Spirits broke ground January 10, 2024, for their $4.8 million brand destination.

Bottle Releases

Buffalo Trace releases Traveller Whiskey, a collaboration with Chris Stapleton

Green River to release their Green River Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey on February 1, 2024.

Woodford Reserve released their Double Double Oaked January 23, 2024

Festival News

Bourbon & Beyond 2024 released their lineup.

January 2024 Wheated Bourbon Tasting

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01/10/24
By Rebecca Herman McBrayer

Please be sure to read our approach to Tasting Whiskey if you haven’t already. 

What constitutes a wheated bourbon? First, it must meet all the standards to be bourbon.  Second, it is common that the second largest percentage of the mashbill is wheat.  However, there is no percentage requirement for wheat.  Thus, after the minimum of 51% corn is achieved, the remaining mashbill will likely be a mixture of wheat and barley. In essence, the wheat takes the place of the more common ingredient of rye.

For this tasting, we selected Castle & Key, Weller Special Reserve, and Maker’s Mark 101

Castle & Key Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Released in 2023; Batch 1; bottle 03788; 5 years old; 99 proof
Mashbill – 73% White Corn, 10% Wheat, 17% Malted Barley
Color – medium amber
Aroma – orange zest, caramel, vanilla, baking spice/nutmeg, golden delicious apple
Taste – oak, baking spice/allspice, cherry, cinnamon, honey, raisin, dates; Tasted with dried cranberry – pulled cinnamon forward, with the sweetness of wheat; Tasted with a pecan – nutty, light cinnamon, ginger/gingerbread
Finish – warm, lasting, creamy, vanilla, toasted oak
General Notes – A very good bourbon that is different, even for a wheated, and pleasant to drink.

Weller – The Original Wheated Bourbon – Special Reserve

Aged 7-8 years; 90 proof
Mashbill – 70% corn, 16% wheat, and 14% malted barley.
Color – medium amber
Aroma – honey, caramel, floral/honeysuckle
Taste – honey, vanilla, light baking spices, butterscotch, light oak; Tasted with dried cranberry – less sweet, more spicy, slight oakiness; Tasted with a pecan – smooth, creamy, caramel, baking spices
Finish – gentle hug, nice warmth, honeysuckle
General Notes – A very good bourbon that is smooth and very easy to drink.


Maker’s Mark 101

Approximately 6 years old, 101 proof
Mashbill – 70% corn, 16% wheat, and 14% malted barley.
Color – medium amber
Aroma – cherry, vanilla, caramel … caramel corn, apricot, spice
Taste – cherry, caramel, buttery, nutmeg; Tasted with dried cranberry – cherry is stronger, baking spice comes forward; Tasted with a pecan – fruit is gone, nutmeg appears, and a woodiness
Finish – creamy, gentle, lasting
General Notes – Surprised by it being so cherry forward and smoother than we anticipated.


Comparison and Ranking


Aroma
  Wayne: WSW, C&K, MM
  Rebecca: MM, WSW, C&K  
Taste
  Wayne: WSW, C&K, MM
  Rebecca: MM, C&K, WSW


Discussion
We enjoyed all three of these wheated bourbons. It was interesting to see their differences and similarities. The most “different” of the three was the Castle & Key as its nose had the strong citrus. The Weller SR is incredibly easy to drink on every level. Maker’s Mark 101 was our biggest surprise as it tended to have a bit more complexity and we didn’t anticipate such a strong cherry component. Contributing to our “winning” selection was price and availability. All things considered, we selected Maker’s Mark 101 as our #1 pick.

You can’t go wrong with any of these options, and we certainly recommend each of them.

Cheers,
Rebecca

Photos by Rebecca Herman McBrayer

NOTE: The whiskey in this review was purchased by us. We were not compensated by the spirit producer for this review. This is simply our opinion based on what we tasted on this day. Please drink responsibly.