The Whiskey to Life

Chefs have been doing it for ages; counter-intuitively adding contrary ingredients to enhance the overall flavor of a dish. Salted caramel being the obvious and most universally digestible example of a seeming flavor contradiction working delicately together to create a more delicious treat. In the same vein, Smooth Ambler Contradiction is a tasty example of two distinct whiskey flavors blended together in a manner that – defying reason – delivers a more complex and delectable whiskey than either of its two primary sources alone could yield. It is a blend of two decidedly different bourbons; a super young wheat-forward bourbon (a scant 2 years old and a mashbill containing 20% wheat) and a nicely aged/sourced rye-forward bourbon (9 years old and a mashbill containing 21% rye.) Both whiskies in the blend are properly bourbon , with 60% and 72% corn in their respective mashbills, but the secondary grain in both is wildly different – as is their time

Maker’s 46 Bourbon Whiskey Finished with heavily charred French oak staves Maker’s Mark Distillery – Loretto, Kentucky 94 Proof $40 If you’ve been following along, I think about and write about TIME quite a bit. Considering and appreciating Time is a Key to Life, of course. Time should be spent with loved ones, doing good work, and appreciating great whiskies. Thankfully, the world has given us so many incredible Whiskey options. Between my closest whiskey brother and myself, we’ve got hundreds and hundreds of bottles to choose from. Add to that access to myriad liquor shops (both local and on the web), and the options become nearly limitless. This can be a double-edged sword. They call it the paradox of choice. I can’t tell you how many times my friend and I will stare at his wall of whiskey, and be completely paralyzed. Do we want bourbon, rye, scotch, Canadian, Japanese or a blend? Something special or accessible? Sweet, spicy, smoky? Bar