This Fathers Day, Le Portteus Wine Decanter, pours flavor and class for your foodie, wine-drinking Dad (and the whole family).
Father’s Day is around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than with a unique and elegant gift for the wine-loving dads in your life?
Father’s Day: Le Portteus Wine Decanter offers Flavor and Class for Dad
Le Portteus Red Wine Decanter is a perfect choice that rethinks the wine sipping experience.
Its thoughtfully designed hand-blown glass piece increases oxygen exposure, releasing natural aromas and deep flavors, which improves the taste by softening astringent tannins and releasing fruit and floral notes.
“I’d been envying a friend’s decanter for ages, so finally broke down and got one. It comes with cleaning beads, a cork stopper, and a cleaning wand.
Decanting really does make a huge difference
with medium-to-heavy reds.”
Debbie Adams, Amazon buyer
According to the experts at Portteus, wine enthusiasts have long known the importance of decanting wine to enhance the drinking experience, and Le Portteus takes it to the next level with its high-quality crystal, slanted spout, and wide-bottom design that makes pouring effortless without wine drips and stains.
With a capacity of a full 750 ml wine bottle, it also doubles as a chic decoration on kitchen counters, bookshelves, bars, libraries or serving areas, and is sure to be a conversation starter.
“Beautiful design. Made a very good statement at our dinner table!
Also looks great sitting at the counter as decoration.”
MJ, amazon buyer
Moreover, what sets Le Portteus apart is its convenient cleaning beads that come with a cork and stopper ball for efficiency, making it easy to clean without worrying about scratches or grime.
Plus, high-grade steel pellets are an easy cleaning solution that can be used repeatedly, giving peace of mind to the dad who loves wine but doesn’t like the hassle of cleaning his decanter.
“Le Portteus Red Wine Decanter is the perfect gift for the wine-loving dad who will appreciate the enhanced wine-drinking experience and its chic design.”
Browse the Le Portteus Red Wine Decanter here and find out more for this perfect Father’s Day gift.
A Must for Wine Lovers
This wine decanter is an essential edition to your wine accessories.
Decanting wines will increase the oxygen exposure thereby releasing its natural aromas and deep flavors. As a result, improving the taste by softening the astringent tannins and letting the fruit and floral aromas come out.
Superior Quality
The lead-free crystal wine decanter is handcrafted with highly durable crystal, and guaranteed to withstand the test of time!
With the capacity of a full 750 ml wine bottle. In addition to our high quality crystal vase, our decanter set also includes a fine cork ball stopper.
Spill and Stain Proof
The slanted spout and wide bottom of this wine aerator decanter makes it an effortless and elegant pour, eliminating the frustration of wine drips and stains. Making this the perfect wine gift set for aerating red wines, releasing satisfying flavors and aromas, and indulging your taste buds with peace of mind!
Clean Easily
These cleaning beads are uniquely designed to be gentle on delicate decanters for alcohol and tough on dirt and grime, removing any buildup without leaving a scratch. These high-grade steel pellets are an easy cleaning solution that you can reuse repeatedly.
Gifts with Class
Every Le Portteus crystal vase wine aerator goes through a quality assurance product inspection and comes with a lifetime warranty.
Le Portteus Decanters and Carafes make great gifts for friends or wine lovers, and you can be sure they will love them!
An excellent idea for birthdays, housewarmings, anniversaries, wedding registries, and more!
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Thanksgiving in NYC: the perfect stuffing bread DOES exist – and it’s… [Recipe here]
This Thanksgiving in NYC, the perfect stuffing bread DOES exist – and it’s brioche. As in St Pierre Brioche Thanksgiving Stuffing
No Thanksgiving spread is complete without a hearty stuffing. While add-ins are a matter of preference, choosing the right bread is crucial. One underrated choice is eggy, rich brioche – and with St Pierre Bakery, you don’t need to go to France to get it.
Thanks to its butter and egg content, St Pierre’s Brioche Loaf provides the perfect balance of crisp toastiness while remaining soft and creamy inside, while its lightly sweet flavor adds a decadent quality that can still lean savory. Attached below is an approachable recipe for stuffing allowing for all the craveable crunch for the whole family with minimal effort required.
St Pierre Brioche Thanksgiving Stuffing
By @BrandiMilloy
Ingredients
1 loaf St. Pierre Brioche Bread
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 medium onion, diced
3/4 cup celery, diced
3/4 cup carrots, diced
1 cup mushrooms, diced
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme, just the leaves
1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
1 small apple (granny smith works well), peeled and diced
Salt and pepper
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut brioche bread into 1” cubes and bake for about 10-15 minutes until toasted.
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Meanwhile, into a pot over medium high heat add butter until melted. Add onion, celery and carrots and cook until everything starts to soften, about 7 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat and set aside.
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Into a bowl whisk together the eggs, herbs, apples, mushrooms, and salt and pepper. Add your cooked vegetables and mix to combine.
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Pour mixture on top of toasted bread and stir to combine. Bake stuffing for about 45 minutes. If your stuffing starts to get too brown, cover until finished baking. Enjoy!
As America’s favorite brioche brand, St Pierre’s products are widely available via grocery stores nationwide as well as Walmart.
The Rise of Mushroom Coffee: A New Era in Health-Conscious Brewing
In today’s health-focused culture, where wellness transcends mere goals to become a lifestyle, mushroom coffee is emerging as a leading trend. This innovative beverage combines the classic energizing effects of coffee with components often linked to the reputed benefits of medicinal mushrooms. Such a blend makes mushroom coffee a more mindful, health-oriented option for daily consumption, resonating especially with those who weave wellness into their daily routines.
Image courtesy of Freepik
The uniqueness of mushroom coffee lies in its ability to enhance the usual coffee experience by potentially offering additional benefits. For those who find regular coffee too acidic, mushroom coffee presents a more stomach-friendly option. Additionally, it incorporates adaptogenic mushrooms, which are believed to help the body better manage stress. This attribute makes mushroom coffee especially enticing to wellness enthusiasts and those seeking a natural way to support their body’s stress response.
The Rise of Mushroom Coffee, Image Courtesy of Freepik
Finding a coffee that delivers on both taste and health promises can be a daunting task. Leading the initiative is More.Longevity & Wellbeing with its Coffee Superfood Blends. These products are meticulously developed, selecting each ingredient for its quality and scientific backing, ensuring they contribute effectively to the blend. Flavors such as Salted Caramel Vanilla and Mocha are designed to mask the natural earthiness of mushroom, making the beverage more enjoyable while enhancing its appeal. The addition of adaptogens and essential vitamins in the blends aims to support overall health by boosting immunity, enhancing energy, and improving mental clarity.
The Rise of Mushroom Coffee, Image Courtesy of More.Longevity & Wellbeing
The company’s commitment to radical transparency ensures that consumers receive a product free from unnecessary fillers and additives, affirming a respect for consumer health and environmental sustainability. This level of honesty and ecological consideration is becoming increasingly important to consumers who prefer products that are both healthy and environmentally conscious.
As the trend continues to carve a niche within the beverage market, consumers are presented with expanding choices. It’s no longer just about picking a brand; it involves selecting a philosophy and a level of quality that resonates with personal health values and taste preferences. The coffee not only invites coffee lovers to rethink their daily mug but also serves as a gateway to a more mindful and intentional morning routine.
Image Courtesy of Freepik
Are NYers falling in love with New Wine? Dancing Wines from Cynthia Russell, Lauren Russell
Are NYers falling in love with New Wine? Dancing Wines from Cynthia Russell, Lauren Russell in Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County.
The team at Dancing Wines is developing a collection of sensory brands that celebrate life through taste, touch and aroma – inspiring you to find your inner dance and show the world what truly moves you.
Dancing Wines’ red wine trio includes Old Vine, Duo and Estate — three limited-release wines made from hand-picked grapes that showcase the full breadth of the Dancing estate.
Lauren Russell (L) and Cynthia Russell (R) from Dancing Wines Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Today’s conversation with the dynamic Mother / Daughter team Cynthia and Lauren Russell from Dancing Wines ha been edited for length and clarity.
For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Joe Winger: What is the most important message you’d like to share today?
Lauren Russell: I think one of them is dancing is art and art is life.
Another is love needs no explanation. I think really the thread between those is we’re trying to create a product and an experience that brings people together and invites them to find their inner dance, which is something we say a lot.
So we want to encourage people to find their unique rhythms. And wine is also really lovely because it is a vehicle that brings people together to enjoy a moment and diverse people together.
I think my Mom [Cynthia] can speak to this as well, but one of the things we thought about when first exploring wine was just how daunting the whole atmosphere is around the consumption of it and the buying and using all the right adjectives.
Especially for my generation I feel like there’s a bit of a learning curve. So I think one thing we really want people to take away from the brand is just like, just enjoy it. Love needs no explanation and you can’t drink wine when your mouth is full of adjectives. We’ve created a great wine just for you to be able to enjoy and to describe however you want and enjoy whenever you want.
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Cynthia: Yeah, I think the measures we created we have a beautiful heritage property that the soil and the climate create this great wine. And me being of an older generation where wine was very intimidating, even though I know a lot about it.
And drinking it for a very long time. I’ve lived in France. I’ve lived in California. It’s still when you order in a restaurant, you’re scared. Do I know enough? I’m going to be embarrassed. Is this the right pairing? And what the good news is that wine making in the world has become so sophisticated that if you are buying wine from a place that is special, including all.
Sonoma or France or Italy, the wines are good, they’re really good and all you have to do is be comfortable with yourself and enjoying it. And so that’s what we’re trying to do is take a product that has thousands of years of history as being a part of our culture and make you comfortable with just having fun, enjoying it and celebrating what wine can do to bring people together.
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Joe Winger: You have a really unique story that you restored a vineyard up in Dry Creek. Can you talk about experience and what you learned from the restoration?
Cynthia: We lucked out. It was a Covid purchase. We spent a lot of time as a family together in very small confined spaces drinking a lot of wine.
We [thought we] might end up needing a place where we have more outdoor space and can be together. So we bought this property more as a farm and then discovered that it was a unique part of the world.
Zinfandel grapes have been growing in this small region for over 150 years.
It was called America’s grape back in the time I think [the] 1850s. Okay, we have these vineyards. They’re really old.
There was one owner at this property for 60 years, an older Italian gentleman. And a lot of the area is multi generation, fourth generation Italian families who came over and cultivated this grape.
We never intended to make wine and yet we were scared to let this history and heritage die.
So we took classes and tried to figure out, can we make wine?
It’d be such a shame to let this history go in this special place.
We made a great discovery, which was that you don’t have to be an expert on wine. You just have to have great soil and a great climate.
Then we launched from there.
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Lauren: We’re always towing the line between the respective tradition and traditional winemaking and the land and all of the old vines and creating something new.
She [Mom, Cynthia] always brings a lens of respect for the older generation and ways of life and what wine has meant to her throughout her life.
I’m always pushing the other direction. We always land somewhere in the middle.
You’ll see that in the brands, it has really playful branding and packaging. But, our winemaking is a bit more traditional. We’re a sustainable vineyard but we have old vines and we respect what the land has to offer and what it’s been offering in that region for a long time.
It creates a better product and brand for us because we get to cater to both audiences.
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Joe Winger: You have a collection of sensory brands. Can you talk about what that collection is, what inspired the idea, and what we should be looking for?
Lauren: All of the products have been and will be inspired by the backdrop of the vineyard.
When we talk about wine, we talk about this kind of multi sensory experience, whether that’s aroma or where you’re having it, who you’re enjoying it with.
We came into wine knowing that it was going to be not just about taste or smell, but about the holistic experience of what wine could do for someone.
Sort of the thread between all of our products are taste, touch and smell. Again, like finding your inner dance and allowing you to express your personality.
We’re launching a trio of fragrances, which are loosely inspired by the terroir and the vineyard.
Cynthia: We have a fresh perspective on Sonoma. Every time we arrive, we have this nose full of these incredible senses:, the smell of moss, crushed grapes, barrel, fire and oak.
Yeah. So we’re like, wow. Every time we arrive, we’re like, wow, this is really cool.
This is so distinct and unique and just elevates your experience of being there.
We are going to bring more experiences to the brand when we can, like having an artist in residence, creating visually beautiful contributions.
We have an art collection there that inspired us to bring art to the brand. It’s largely from a diverse group of artists from the West Coast who are very colorful and young and also push boundaries. So our idea with the senses is like we’re trying to This is a brand that you enter into our world and you get to experience people and life in a way that’s very unique and bold and
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Joe Winger: What are both of your backgrounds outside of wine?
Lauren: I was raised in Connecticut and went to Dartmouth for undergrad, was a creative non-fiction writer, so always had that storytelling bent.
After school, I worked at a lot of businesses in marketing. Uber Eats, Refinery29, right before the pandemic, I worked for AB and Bev that was my first kind of foray into alcohol.
Then during COVID, I got my MBA at Columbia. We all got this massive reset of our priorities. I come from an entrepreneurial family. This opportunity arose
Cynthia: We’re a family who really believes in experiences. I have dabbled in many different areas. I went to Scripps college. I actually was a dance major until I was not. I became an international relations major. I lived in France for a while. Then moved to New York City and worked for JP Morgan trading stock, money market securities.
I didn’t find that was my passion, so I went to Harvard Business School and I got a master’s in business. Then I worked for American Express where I started a weekend travel program. It was a little startup within the travel segment of American Express. I got my “sea legs” of starting a business.
I quit that business because I had kids, then I started my own mail order company then I decided again, that maybe I needed a little more education.
I went back and got a doctorate at Columbia in organizational leadership.
I have a consulting firm on the side where I consult leaders and organizations about how to handle complex challenges in a complex world.
So my daughter [Lauren] gets through business school and we decide to marry all these wonderful experiences together and create something really new and unique.
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Joe Winger: Let’s talk about your wines.
Lauren: We launched with our rosé which is really beautiful. It’s an intentional rosé. From our Primitivo grapes and we harvested them early and intentionally for rosé.
It has this really beautiful distinct, watermelon, almost Jolly Rancher aroma, and it’s really playful and full, but also dry. And it’s been a really big hit so that was a fun debut for us.
We just launched our trio of reds, and what makes them unique goes into the story about the restoration of the vineyard.
We’re still learning our land and learning from it.
We chose to harvest from different blocks and treat the wines in a similar fashion and bottle them separately to see what personalities they expressed.
One is the Old Vine Zinfandel, which is from our oldest head trained vines which is the deepest, moodiest, richest wine. It’s really lovely.
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Then we have an estate wine, which is actually from Primitivo, a different word for Zinfandel. That one is a bit lighter.
Then we have a third, a duo which is a blend of both. And so it’s really helped us to understand. And they are quite different.
They’re obviously all Zinfandels in their expressions, but they’re all quite different.
People say Zinfandel is like a map of the land and I think that’s really true here. Which is super cool.
But we have two forthcoming sparkling wines because I think it really speaks to our ethos about being playful and to my generation.
Cynthia: It’s really fun for us because being on the East coast, Zinfandel is a really unknown varietal and we think it’s underrated. Californians know it’s been around for a long time. It has a lot of possibilities with food. And so what we’re trying to do is bring to light this really good wine and do it in a slightly different way.
We pick ours earlier, trying to have it be less jammy, juicy, heavy; lighter, less alcoholic than some of the more traditional Zinfandels that are on our street.
That’s really trying to address the changes consumer changes.
Our wines are chillable, super easy to eat with most any food, especially ethnic food, spicy food.
2022 was our first vintage. 2023 is already in barrels and we’ll be bottling that in probably in March. But it’s going to be a little different because the climate was different that year.
The rosé was just a fluke. Our winemaker wanted to try a Zinfandel rosé. Most people love it. It’s so distinct and unique.
Our 24 Rosé will come out in March. The reds will come out in the early summer. We’re going to bottle the sparkling in January, but that will be at least a year until you’ll see that. The pétillant naturel will probably be launching at about the same time as the rosé
Credit: https://instagram.com/DancingSonoma
Lauren: What’s fun about having both an early release sparkling and a [second, additional] later release [sparkling wine] one is going to be lighter, more effervescent, maybe geared towards the younger generation and the other will have that toastier champagne flavor.
Joe Winger: Do you have a favorite wine and food pairing?
Lauren: This one’s so hard. Rosé and oysters or any seafood is just awesome. Sparkling wine and a burger is one of my favorites.
In terms of red, when I think of Zinfandel, it’s Thanksgiving foods. It speaks to the hominess in our story. Bringing everyone around the table. Kind of experiential pairing.
Cynthia: Yeah, that resonates with me.
We have a lot of ethnic food, so it holds up really well to spice, to sweet and sour, salty and sweet. So it’s great with Indian food, Mexican food. Apples in your pork chops.
A burgundy is usually killed instantly by those kinds of flavors. It’s too fragile.
[Ours] is not fragile, but it still has so many nice aromas and flavors to enhance whatever you’re eating.
Lauren: It’s great with pizza. Pizza and a nice glass of Zinfandel
Source: WeAreDancing.com
Joe Winger: What’s something magical about Sonoma that you learned through this journey?
Lauren: True of both Zinfandel and Sonoma it always has this underdog energy to Napa. One of the hidden gems, we wake up really early and drive to the Redwood forest to watch the sun rise through the trees.
We eat a burrito because we have terrible burritos in New York.
There’s an amazing food community, 3 Michelin star restaurant, chefs, farm to table.
Cynthia: The distinct part of Sonoma is how important nature is to everyone there. It’s not just about wine. It’s incredible nature.
We both traveled a lot, lived in a lot of places. I’ve never seen such natural beauty in such a small area.
Lauren: That’s what the idea of our products is too. We have to bring people here in some way, differently than just having them taste the wine.
So as many dimensions as we can bring people into that realm to experience [00:29:00] that it’s like definitely the dream.
Joe Winger: Whether it’s social media, website, or other ways, what are the best ways for our audience to find and follow Dancing Wine?
Lauren: We have our website, which is wearedancing.com. We also are on Instagram, which is at DancingSonoma.
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NYC take a Weekend trip Tasting Bourbons? This Fredericksburg Virginia Bed & Breakfast Might Be Your Dream Visit, Owen King from Ironclad Distillery shares Delicious Details
NYC take a Weekend trip Tasting Bourbons?This Fredericksburg Virgina Bed & Breakfast Might Be Your Dream Visit, Owen King from Ironclad Distillery shares Delicious Details
Ironclad Inn is the first B & B & B – Bed & Breakfast & Bourbon Tasting Room.
Ironclad Inn is the first B & B & B – Bed & Breakfast & Bourbon Tasting Room
Today’s conversation with Distiller Owen King from Ironclad Distillery has been edited for length and clarity. For the full, un-edited conversation, visit our YouTube channel here.
Owen King, Ironclad Distillery
Joe Winger:
A lot of really cool things are happening right now. I want to jump into your tasting room, the distillery, we’ll get into bourbon tastings in a few minutes.
But first and foremost, what’s the most important thing with Ironclad right now for you?
Owen King:
The most important thing about Ironclad for me right now is the same thing it’s always been, trying to make the best bourbon we can.
The other thing is spreading the word about our bed and breakfast; and bourbon. It’s a bed and breakfast in Fredericksburg that when you’re there, you can drink bourbon.
Ironclad’s famous Old Fashioned cocktail
We make a lot of old fashions there and we always have all these leftover oranges. Now the perfect thing is in the morning you have fresh squeezed orange juice from our [leftover] old fashions.
It’s really working double duty now.
Besides that I just love the fact that we can now expand our distillery up to Fredericksburg. So we can have more people try our bourbon and enjoy our bourbon, which is the goal.
Joe Winger:
Getting to know you before you jump into Ironclad, I want to use the word “were”, you were a football player and cooking changed your life.
Tell us more about your cooking. Was there a special dish that enhanced your life?
Owen King:
I’m Italian. So obviously with the Italian genes, we share our love through food. Growing up I cooked a lot.
When I went to college [I cooked] for my teammates. I’d make dinner for everyone. So when we decided to open the bourbon distillery, I figured, I know how to cook. I think I could probably figure out how to make bourbon.
I know flavors. I know how things go well together. I think I have a pretty decent palette.
So putting all those things together to make a great bourbon was the goal.
Food is one of those things where you never stop improving. I feel the same about bourbon.
FlavRReport.com on YouTube
Joe Winger:
Is there a favorite dish?
Owen King:
Breaded chicken cutlets and spaghetti.
That is how it started. Then I was like “I really like cheese.” Maybe I could put cheese in with the breadcrumbs and then do that. Then I started expanding. Chicken Parm. Making my own sauce. Thinking I could add something here to make that better.
It’s the same way I look at bourbon.
Thinking, “I like what this person’s doing. Let me see what they’re doing. I can build off that to make it work on my own.”
Creating my own recipes, going from there, just continually tweaking little things here and there.
We’ll make a 5% difference, maybe a 10% difference.
Joe Winger:
Ironclad Distillery is in Newport News, Virginia. The bed and breakfast Ironclad Inn is in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
For most people when we think of bourbon, we don’t always think of Virginia as the first choice. What would surprise us most about coming down to Virginia for a bourbon tasting and staying the night?
Ironclad Distillery
Owen King:
If you’re coming down to Virginia, you have to remember Virginia is the birthplace of American spirits. The first place spirits were made in the new colonies, in the new world, was here in Virginia.
The first corn liquor which would eventually become bourbon, was made in Virginia.
You can also talk about Elijah Craig, who was from Fairfax County, Virginia, before he moved out to Kentucky.
On top of that, Kentucky wasn’t a state until 1793. Evan Williams was doing distillation in 1783, and at that point Kentucky was still Virginia.
The birthplace of bourbon is right here in Virginia.
I’ve been to Kentucky a lot. They talk about the birthplace of bourbon being there in Kentucky.
Maybe the territory it’s in was Kentucky, but it was still Virginia at the time.
Whenever someone comes by, I can tell them the history of actual bourbon, where you’re gonna get the whole story, not just the fantasized story that you get in Kentucky.
Joe Winger:
I’m incredibly glad you just shared that.
Let’s talk about The Ironclad Bed and Breakfast now. The bourbon tasting room, the event space.
Owen King:
We wanted to spread our bourbon out around the state. We’ve always really liked Fredericksburg. It’s a beautiful town. It’s got a ton of history to it.
Nothing goes better with bourbon than a good story.
So we can always tell our history while drinking. So with our bed and breakfast, we looked at what the bigger guys were doing. A lot of them were starting to have these places where you could stay [the night] and get an experience to go along with it.
We really wanted to spread our Ironclad experience.
We have a tasting room. It’s beautifully decorated by my sister. We’ve got a bottle shop where you can pick up pretty much every one of our bourbons that are available. We’ve got a bar so you can try it from our seasonal cocktail menus where we change it five times a year.
We have a winter, a fall, a spring, summer [menu].Then a holiday menu as well.
No matter what time of year you’re there, you’re trying something that’s going to go well seasonally.
Everyone likes seasonal drinks. You don’t want to drink in the fall, what you’d drink in the summer.
We always have an old fashioned and it’s a damn good old fashioned.
Then we also have an event space. We have weddings. We’ve had 50th birthday parties.
Ironclad Inn wedding and special events
We’ve had any event that you want to tie into with our bourbon or just if you want a beautiful event space in a building that was built in 1793 we have that as a great option.
It’s a really cool spot that you can go and see and experience.
It’s something we want to share, our love for bourbon with everyone.
Whether you’re here in Newport News or in Fredericksburg, you’ll get a King family member there to tell you our story and tell you all about our bourbon and show you around.
Ironclad Bottled-in-Bond Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Joe Winger:
Outstanding. Let’s get to the tasty part now. You have several amazing bottles. When someone comes to your tasting room this weekend, what should they be looking forward to?
Owen King:
We do a few bottle releases that are once a year for us. One of my favorites.
A five year, three barrel blend of three 30 gallon barrels. Bottle of Bond.
The history alone is one of my favorite things to talk about. In 1897 the federal government stepped in because there was people dying from drinking bad whiskey.
They stepped in to “certify” everything in there.
“If you bottle it at four years old and at 100 proof, we will claim that this is a bottle and bond bourbon certified” by the federal government that it is safe to drink.
That story alone is one of my favorites of bourbon lore.
We just want to make sure that we do that every year that we can.
It’s absolutely one of my favorite bourbons. It’s our four grain mash bill. 70% corn 10% wheat, 10% rye, 10% malted barley.
So with the corn and the wheat, it adds a nice sweetness to it. But then the rye is there to kind of balance that whole thing out. Before it gets [to be] a very sweet bourbon, it balances out, a little baking spice, maybe even some clove, maybe a little black pepper.
It balances it out to be a nice, rounded bourbon.
Ironclad Sweeter Creations Maple Syrup Cask
Joe Winger:
Let’s move on to your Maple Syrup Cask.
Owen King:
Absolutely delicious. But this is a cast finish, not a flavored bourbon. So we’re not adding maple syrup to it. People who drink it might think it’s going to be super sweet and not going to like it. Because they don’t like maple syrup.
This is my version of drinking maple syrup responsibly and not getting diabetes.
After we empty our barrels, we give them to a maple syrup producer in upstate New York. He’ll age his maple syrup using our bourbon barrels.
By doing that through transference, there’s about a gallon of bourbon stuck in the staves of the wood. So when he puts a new liquid in there, that maple syrup is going to absorb into the wood and that bourbon is going to come back out.
Now his maple syrup is picking up that beautiful bourbon flavor and we are picking up all that maple syrup flavor into the wood.
When he brings those barrels back down to us, we put our aged bourbon back in there and we let him finish in there for about three to six months.
After we take the bourbon out, it’s now got this beautiful, mild sweetness, but it’s got that hint of maple syrup at the end.
I always say, I don’t want it to be maple syrup with a hint of bourbon. I want it to be bourbon with a hint of maple syrup, which I think it absolutely is.
Ironclad Missouri Toasted Oak Cask
Joe Winger:
The maple syrup is so subtle, almost a tertiary flavor to it.
Moving on to the Missouri Toasted Oak Cask.
Owen King:
This is a double oak bourbon. With double oaking, what you’re going to do is exactly how it sounds.
You’re going to go from one new charred oak barrel. But instead of a second new charred oak barrel, we’re going to go to a lightly toasted barrel.
So my analogy for this is you’re sitting at a campfire and you’ve got a marshmallow. You’re roasting your marshmallow over the flame and it gets burnt. It catches on fire. So now you’ve got that roasted marshmallow where you’re still gonna eat it because it’s a roasted marshmallow.
So you eat it and it’s still sweet. But it’s got that sort of maybe a bitter acrid note just cause you burnt those sugars. You haven’t toasted them.
Now you take another marshmallow. You’re a little more patient this time. You’re going to stick it down in the coals and you’ll slowly rotate it until you’ve got that perfectly golden brown marshmallow.
When you taste it, it’s now twice as sweet because you just caramelize those sugars as opposed to burning them.
It’s the same with a charred oak barrel to a toasted oak barrel. With that charring of those oaks, you’re gonna you’re still gonna have that sweetness. We’re amplifying that sweetness with the toasting of the oak.
With this one you get those softer vanilla flavors like toasted marshmallow. You get a cookie dough flavor, maybe it’s raw cookie dough without the chocolate chips.
Joe Winger:
That’s amazing. mmIs there an extra bottle when I come down there, I’m in the tasting room, another good bottle we should ask for?
Owen King:
Another one that we have right now that is a very limited run. Very small release is our blueberry mead cask finish.
We give our barrels to a meadery in Williamsburg, Virginia and they make this blueberry honey mead. So now they have this bourbon barrel aged blueberry mead. And when they’re done with them, they give them back to us.
You’re not necessarily overwhelmed with [a] heavy blueberry flavor but it opens up to this really nice fruitiness and then like a fermented honey flavor on the front end.
It’s so unique, but it’s great neat on the rocks.
Joe Winger:
If we come down for the weekend, we visit the distillery in Newport News. What’s a tour like?
Owen King:
If people aren’t the biggest bourbon drinker, I want you to walk away saying, “Okay, I found something that is made with bourbon that I like.”
We are a distillery that only makes bourbon.
I want to make sure that everyone who comes here has something they can enjoy. This isn’t an uppity bourbon bar.
I want someone to come and be able to say, I’m not the biggest bourbon fan. What kind of cocktails do you have?” We always have a cocktail on every single menu that’s open for everyone.
Everyone’s going to love it and whether you’re a big bourbon fan or not. We just really want to be accommodating. We want to be a fun place for everyone to hang out.
We want to tell our story, the history of the Ironclad ships. Go through our distillery tour, we’ll show you that. If you want to know the history of Fredericksburg, or the history of What the bed and breakfast is we’ll tell you that.
Nothing pairs better with bourbon than a good story. And we really care about spreading that word.
Joe Winger:
Whether it’s a romantic getaway, a weekend getaway, why choose your bed and breakfast instead of a hotel?
Owen King:
While we’ve only had it a short time. But we’ve been adding things here and there. You’re going to get a fresh orange juice in the morning, made with the oranges that we used for our old fashions [last night].
We have our barrel aged maple syrup for your pancakes. So you’re going to have that maple syrup with a hint of bourbon.
Ironclad Inn
We really drive home that it’s a bed breakfast and bourbon experience. Get immersed in the bourbon culture. That’s our goal.
Joe Winger:
Any favorite bourbon and food pairings?
Owen King:
Bourbon’s wonderful for food pairings.
We’ve gone from pasta pairings to pizza pairings. Anything that’s fatty is a perfect pairing. Pork belly with a cherry reduction over top of it with one of our bourbons straight
We have this bourbon cream, Buzz’s Bourbon Cream, where it’s made with our small batch bourbon that’s infused with coffee beans, cacao nibs, and vanilla beans. That one over vanilla ice cream is perfection.
You’re adding a little booze, some coffee, a little bit of chocolate.
You take a bite and all of a sudden you had three scoops and it’s gone 30 seconds later.
Joe Winger:
What’s the best way to learn more about Ironclad Distillery and Ironclad Inn?
Owen King:
We have our website at ironcladdistillery.com. All of our social media Facebook and Instagram.
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Rosie O’Grady’s, Manhattan’s famed pub and steakhouse, will close July 1
Rosie O’Grady’s, Manhattan’s famed pub and steakhouse, will close July 1
Rosie O’Grady’s, a popular Midtown Manhattan Irish bar and steakhouse for more than 40 years, will be closing its doors for good in early July 2023.
Located on the corner of West 52nd Street and Seventh Avenue, the restaurant / event space will permanently shut down on Saturday, July 1, according to Owner Mike Carty, who posted a message on the restaurant’s website.
“It is with a mixture of emotions that we announce the closure of our cherished location…after more than 40 wonderful years,”
– carty
who immigrated from Ireland in the early 1960s.
“We want to express our deepest gratitude to all who supported Rosie O’Grady’s Steakhouse and our event space…and would so enjoy seeing you for one last pint.”
Carty’s message, however, made clear that he plans to re-open the establishment elsewhere.
“Amidst the bittersweet goodbye, we want to convey our unwavering commitment to relocating our restaurant and event space to a nearby location,” Carty wrote.
“Rest assured, our new venue will capture the essence and sprit you have come to love.”
The restaurant and the building’s landlord, SL Green, continues to be involved in a rent dispute that went to arbitration, according to the Irish Voice newspaper that was first to report that the establishment will be closing. An arbitration panel ruled in SL Green’s favor.
Many jobs will be lost with this closure, as more than 90 employees will be let go.
Carty was not immediately available for commen
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NYC demands a better cocktail, Monkey Shoulder whisky Responds
NYC demands a better cocktail, Monkey Shoulder whisky Responds with Refreshed Bottle, Flavor and Style
Award-winning Monkey Shoulder whisky, the 100% malt whisky made for mixing, is revealing a fresh new look and feel to its bottle, the first major change to the brand’s hero bottle since it started shaking up the traditional whisky category in 2005.
The changes include a bold refresh of the label and a lighter bottle – up to 25% in glass reduction – providing an even better cocktail-making experience.
Get ready to party with a new look.
Monkey Shoulder bottle slims down for an easier pour
The new and improved Monkey Shoulder bottle will be implemented across both The Original and Smokey Monkey varieties of the whisky and is more than just a glass reduction.
Refreshingly light, the new look includes a longer neck for an easier pour, for both bartenders and consumers making whisky cocktails at home.
The bottle is perfect for shelf display
The new look matches the liquid within; the new split-label design and the enlarged brand logo oozes premium and is perfect for being displayed proudly on the whisky shelf or back bar. Fans of Monkey Shoulder’s “three monkeys” badge need not fear, as it still features pride of place on the new label.
The innovations to the design were delivered thanks to an AI-powered visual analysis to test key features and label viewability, followed by rigorous consumer testing. This led to a new look bottle and label that not only maintained its premium cues and distinctiveness but was approved by fans of the brand.
Everything remixed but the recipe: Inside the bold new bottles is the same award-winning liquid loved around the world. Made with single malt whiskies from the Speyside region of Scotland, selected in small batches then married together, Monkey Shoulder Original Malt Whisky retains its rich, smooth, and fruity flavour.
Ifan Jenkins, from Monkey Shoulder says: “Just like our cocktails, we wanted to mix things up when it came to our look. The eye-catching, new-look bottle has been designed not only to improve the cocktail-making experience with its glass-reduction, but also stand out from the crowd (just like the liquid inside). It’s with this bold new look that we’re looking forward to shaking up the drinks’ cabinets of Monkey Shoulder fans around the world, as well as grabbing the attention of those starting to explore the world of whisky for the first time.”
The newly packaged bottle will be available in mid-2024 in countries where Monkey Shoulder is sold, available in the best bars and retailers globally.
Monkey Shoulder, the world’s first made for mixing blended malt whisky
In 2005, Monkey Shoulder, the world’s first made for mixing blended malt whisky, burst into the world of whisky, and it has been breaking the conventions of the category ever since. Developed as the ultimate mixing whisky for cocktails, Monkey Shoulder Original Blended Malt Scotch Whisky is blended in small batches of Speyside’s finest single malt whiskies then married together. Rich, smooth and fruity, the original blend is bold enough to be mixed, yet balanced enough to enjoy neat. This unique blend gets its name from when turning the malting barley was still done by hand.
