Month: December 2024

Pinewood supper club sign
Dec 17

Hidden Gem Pinewood Supper Club in the North Woods

Introduction Howdy, Junior’s Bourbon Hall.  This past weekend I had the pleasure of enjoying a Saturday night dinner in the north woods.  I was able to go to the Pinewood Supper Club in Mosinee, WI.  This supper club is the Wisconsin River and the Mosinee Flowage.  This is a supper club where you drive around in the north woods for thirty minutes and then boom here is your supper club. On this particular Saturday night, the parking lot was packed, and the external lots were even full.  This was even during a bit of rain / snow fall.  As you walk into the building it is a building that is old but kept up nicely.  A single glass door goes into an entry way.  Here you will see the specials for the night at Pinewood Supper Club and something I have not seen in a long time, a self-serving coat room.  Large enough to house all the guests at a very busy packed restaurant.  Cocktails at Pinewood As you walk into the bar area at Pinewood Supper Club you will see a long straight bar with about 25 or so seats.  As we walked in the bar was full and we were able to get two seats at the very end of the bar with a little curve.  Small area for the bartender to get to but, they were seats.  The cocktail menu has featured cocktails, Featured Mocktails, a list of Martini’s and the beer menu.  The featured cocktail I went with was the Shanky’s Whip Old Fashioned.  I was able to try Shanky’s a bit ago and really enjoyed it.  This Old Fashioned was a bit sweet so only had one of them.  I also tried the Blackberry Old Fashioned that used Crown Blackberry whiskey.  As I have stated a few times that Crown Blackberry is horrible and this old-fashioned was horrible as well. To Check in you go to the little window where all of the waiters and waitresses take the checks to be run by a single person.  Again, they were busy and had plenty of large groups to slow things down.  We had a 7 PM reservation and I believe we sat down about 7:30 so it was not horrible but late.  As we sat down our waitress was there to greet us and inform us of the specials and ask if we needed anything.  Waitress gave a us a few moments to review the menu and brought us a relish tray as well as fresh baked bread.  This is always a great experience at a Wisconsin Supper Club. Pinewood Dinner Decided to go with a French onion soup and a King Cut Prime rib medium rare.  This came with a side dish, and I went with a baked potato.  Added a side of the mushrooms with the prime rib.  I didn’t get a picture of the soup but, the French onion soup came with a square about 4×4 inches of a pastry dough that was slightly undercooked but, very tasty.  You were able to rip pieces off and dip into the soup which was very good.  The onions were cooked well and the broth had great flavor.  Extremely hot so you had to give it a moment or two to cool down to eat. The prime rib came out and oh my was this a large cut of beef.  Nice and red and warm to hot all the way through the cut.  Not too fatty and the seasoning was extremely good.  Easy to cut with the steak knife provided which is a great sign of a good steak.  Not tough at all and melts in your mouth.  After the relish tray, bread, onion soup and various cocktails I was unable to finish the prime rib and potato.  Yeah, I know I need to clean my plate as I am listening to my parents in my head. Didn’t go with any dessert and headed out for the night.  The bill was respectable for all the food and cocktails we had during dinner. Conclusion Pinewood Supper Club is a must-go to if you are in the area.  Next time I am up I will ensure to hit this Supper Club again and try a few others around the area to make a good comparison.  This place is out in the woods and country, which is great.  Now I don’t mind a supper club in the city these types of supper clubs just hit differently.  Hope you enjoy the supper club and if you have leave a message on your thoughts and experiences. Thanks Junior

Liquid Reese's
Dec 13

Liquid Reese’s: The Exciting Cocktail That Tastes Like Childhood

Howdy Junior’s Bourbon Hall.  We are going to talk about Reese’s candy but, this is not your childhood candy.  This is the adult version with plenty of bourbon to make your mouth water with anticipation.  This is an old-fashioned variant that will be a go to for those days you are craving a chocolate sensation. When you take a sip of this old-fashioned you will get that great peanut butter flavor of the whiskey and then the added sweetness of the bourbon and brown sugar comes through.  If you close your eyes, you will believe you have candy in your mouth.  As you swallow the sip you get that warm Kentucky hug, and your brain goes WAIT this ain’t no candy and begs for more.  Take your time and sip and enjoy this flavor bomb of an old-fashioned Liquid Reese’s Ingredients: Instructions: It is an easy cocktail to make at home with relatively inexpensive ingredients.  No need to use an expensive bourbon in this one but, make sure it is flavorful.  I used Benchmark 8 but the Evan Williams BiB would also be another fantastic choice.  Add more or less brown sugar and chocolate bitters to taste.  This calls for three dashes but, five seemed to be better. I could easily drink this with a big old bowl of chocolate ice cream. If you want or need a cocktail to bring back childhood memories and make it adult this, is it.  Can’t beat a four-ingredient cocktail.  This one is flavorful and enjoyable any time of year.  Grab your glass and let’s get mixing. Junior

Neeley family distillery building
Dec 11

The Fantastic Neeley Family Distillery

Howdy Junior’s Bourbon Hall.  I had the great pleasure of visiting the Neeley Family Distillery in Sparta, KY.  The distillery is outside of the Kentucky Speedway and is a small family distillery.  The family was in the woods for ten generations across multiple counties in Kentucky.  Roy and Royce Neeley finally have taken the family business legal.  They took the recipe from the woods moonshine and created the bourbon and whiskey they have at the distillery.  The whiskey they have is good and the absinthe (if you are into it) is really freaking good. Pulling up to the distillery you will notice that it is a log cabin-looking building that makes you feel like you are out in the woods.  You are not as stated this is on a state highway leading to the Kentucky Motor Speedway.  As you walk in you will see a small gift shop with all the goods and whiskey for sale.  On the right side you will find a small bar top with 5 stools.  The door off of the gift shop led to the start of the tour with all history of the distillery and family tree.  I have some photos and videos until I realized there was a sign on the wall stating no videos.  Ooops. We were then asked if we wanted a tour and tasting and decided against it.  Looking back, we should have taken the tour to learn about the history of the distillery in the woods.  Without taking the tour, we ended up doing a tasting.  Sit at the bar and the guy running the tastings gives us a piece of paper with a bunch of selections on it with little boxes for you to select your tasting.  This was one of the first time I selected a tasting from that many of the options. The Selection So, my son and I make our selections.  You are able to select 8 different samples to taste.  The options were moonshine, Single Barrel, Barrel Strength straight whiskeys, Pawpaw’s flavored Whiskeys, NFD Flavored Moonshines, NFD Moonshine Creams, Specialty Aged Spirits, The Old Jett Brothers Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and finally the Absinthe. This took us a moment as each grouping has a few selections to make.  We finally make the selections and understand the order.  So, the bourbons and whiskeys go first and then the flavored whiskeys and finally the Absinthe. Here were my selections from Neeley: Reviews I selected the wheated as I do like a sweet bourbon.  This came in at 102.2 proof and had a great flavor on the front and very little hug on the back.  This is also triple pot stilled, and a sweet mash aged for 51 months. Then went on to the experimental bloody butcher rye.  Wanted to compare this to Jeptha Creed Distillery as all of the bourbon there is made with the bloody butcher corn.  The bloody butcher gives the whiskey a different flavor I can’t decipher and am not a big fan. Here we go to the bottled in bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon.  This is Grandpa Neeley Pawpaw’s Birthday barrel.  At 100 Proof this doesn’t disappoint and is a good bourbon to sip and make cocktails with.  The story behind the bottle is that each year they take one barrel and make it into Paw Paw’s birthday bottle is also kind of cool. From here went with the Hidden Barn – Maple Syrup Finish.  I was hoping to try this and be able to enhance the Maple Old Fashioned that I make.  This was a nice bourbon but, the maple flavor didn’t come through for me as much as I was hoping.  It was sweeter than maple. Now we get to the double oaked which happens to be one of my favorite type of bourbons.  I really enjoy the Woodford Double oak.  This was nice and smooth, and you tasted the oak and some butterscotch.  The smell was sweet, and the caramel and butterscotch came through.  This is a bottle that came home with me. Finished with the rye and bourbon went to the Peanut Butter Whiskey.  This was very much peanut butter whiskey.  The smell knocked you off your seat with Peanut Butter and that is all you tasted.  Like you took a spoon of smooth peanut butter and licked it.  I could see this being good in some cocktails that you are going to need peanut butter for. Finally, we got to Neeley Family Wormwood Absinth.  I LOVE black licorice and anise candies.  This did not disappoint.  Very smooth and a great flavor of anise came through.  I could sip this with an ice cube all day. With the tasting over we sat and chatted with the bartender and with being a touch slow he started talking about the research they do behind the bar.  So, we got to try two shots they came up with.  Very nice of him to offer. The first one was an Andies Candy.  Take 1 part of the Absinthe and 3 parts of their Moonshine Chocolate Truffle Cream and stir.  It tastes exactly like one of the Andies candies after dinner mints. The next one was 1 part absinthe and 2 parts lemonade.  This was a light refreshing black licorice lemonade you could have a problem with as you just could drink them all day long.  You would drink them stand up and go oh shit. This was a great tasting and fun experience at the distillery.  Will need to go back and give the rest of the products a try and probably take a tour to see the still they make the absinthe on and learn more about the family in the woods.  There must be a great history for this family business. Junior

chocolates and Glencairn glasses with bourbon
Dec 06

Chocolate and Bourbon Nothing goes better together

Howdy, Junior’s Bourbon Hall.  I was able to book the Choc-ology: A Whiskey & Chocolate Tasting Experience at Evan Williams in downtown Louisville, KY.  What goes better with bourbon than chocolate?  Cigars are one but those are not edible.  Steak is another but not really finger food.  So maybe chocolate is the best.  Time to dig in and find out. This was a great “Tour” as you started by going downstairs and then having to knock on a safe door.  Then they asked you a question so you can get into the prohibition bar and have your tasting and treats.  Obviously, they tell you what is going to be asked and the answer but, it was kind of a cool way to get into the tasting. When you walk into the bar area there is a plethora of antiques and memorabilia from Evan Williams and Bourbon in general.  It was interesting to see and the history of Evan in bottles and pictures. We sit down to a tasting of five different Evan Williams Bourbons and 4 chocolates and one marshmallow on a stick.  Very interesting start to the tasting.  The following were part of the bourbon tasting: Evan Williams Single Barrel Evan Williams Master Blend Rittenhouse Rye Square 6 Wheated Bourbon Evan Williams Black The Chocolates that correspond to the bourbon Milk Chocolate Dark Chocolate Orange Dark Chocolate (Those chocolate orange ball things) Orange Mile Chocolate Charred Marshmallow For the tasting we learned a bit about the history of Evan Williams and that they are owned by Heaven Hill and they are still a private company.  Each distillery operates on its own and they do some collaborative items.  This was interesting as many of the other distilleries are owned by a large corporation in Japan or other foreign entities.  The person giving the tasting was very good with plenty of knowledge on the bourbon, history of Evan Williams, and why the chocolate was chosen to go with the bourbon. The Tasting The first bourbon was the Evan Williams Single Barrel.  The proof is 86.6 which is lower then a normal single barrel.  When I hear single barrels, I think the 120+ proof bourbon.  This bourbon had a nice flavor, and caramel came through for me.  Taking a bite of the chocolate with the bourbon the caramel flavor is enhanced. So, I am thinking the higher sugar in the milk chocolate will bring out the flavors you are tasting in the bourbon. The second bourbon is the Master Blend coming in at 90 proof.  This is a blend of the various expressions from Evan Williams.  When I sipped the bourbon, I had a very strong flavor of butterscotch and a fruity taste.  This tasted so good I ended up buying a bottle of the master blend. Up next was the 100 proof Rittenhouse rye.  This rye is the perfect rye to make all your rye cocktails, especially Manhattan.  Good Strong rye flavor and strong enough to stand up with mixes.  When you take this spicy flavor and pair it with a bite of chocolate and orange you get a very spicy citrus flavor that makes your taste buds dance.  Fourth was the Square 6 Wheated Bourbon coming in at 105 proof.  This did not taste like 105 as it really didn’t have a Kentucky hug or bit on the front or back of your mouth.  This came across sweet with a nutty flavor.  When you take a bite of the orange milk chocolate the bourbon becomes a touch sweeter and the chocolate orange comes out in your mouth. The last bourbon we tasted was Evan Williams Black coming in at 86 proof.  This is their flagship low-cost bourbon.  There was plenty of flavor and you didn’t have much of the alcohol flavor as you do with some of the cheaper bourbons you can drink.  When tasting I did get the vanilla flavor coming through on both the smell and taste.  Here is where this sample gets fun.  You get to toast your marshmallow and when you eat the toasted marshmallow with the bourbon the vanilla comes out and you almost feel like you are eating a smoked smore.  Made the bourbon that much better. This was a fun and exciting tasting experience.  You try five of Evan’s stable of bourbons and get samples of chocolates along with it.  Anyone that loves chocolate or bourbon should try this tasting. Leave a comment let me know if you have tried this tasting or opinions on the bourbon Junior

Aquifer signage
Dec 04

Adventurous Fun Trip to New Riff Distillery

Howdy, Junior’s Bourbon Hall.  While in Covington, KY decided to head up to New Riff Distillery to get the new Winter Whiskey release.  Figured if I was in town why not pop in and grab a limited bottle from the distillery.  The email I received states that there are only 3 bottles per person. (Note: Did not read all the email.)  Also last year a new bar was being constructed so we didn’t get to view or experience that.  Knock two things out at once. Headed over to New Riff and first stopped at The Party Store.  The fun fact is the owner of the party store sold it to the employees to have the cash and follow the rules to own and start New Riff.  Walk around and this place is massive and has a cigar shop which has a walk-in humidor within the large walk-in humidor.  Grab a few cigars and then walk over to New Riff. I was excited to get this winter whiskey.  The following is stated by New Riff in an email that I received. “Inspired by the bold flavors of chocolate oatmeal stouts from our distillers’’ brewing roots.  Winter Whiskey is a one-of-a-kind bourbon.  Made with a blend of raw and malted oats, it delivers a unique profile of spicy oat notes, roasted cocoa from the chocolate malt, and smooth oak, offering a rich and distinctive flavor that sets it apart from the rest of the lineup.” 2024 Winter Whiskey Mash bill 65% Corn20% Malted Oats7% Pale Ale Malt5% Steel Cut Raw Oats3% Chocolate MaltBottled in Bond without Chill filtrationAged 4 Years100 Proof Tasting Notes: Nose: Forward and well-oaked emergent dark cocoa; water adds a mélange of dry cocoa notes and a unique spicy quality.  This is all from New Riff.  Read on to find out why I can’t give you, my notes. Palate: Lovely dryness with a sweeter inner core, surprisingly delicate, and the dry cocoa jousts with oak and that unusual spice. (Again, I can’t tell you if this is true or not) That all sounded awesome, and I was really looking forward to this bottle.  This is also where I stopped reading the email.  I was excited to get the bottle. Walk in and wander around the gift shop for about 10 minutes looking at all the other bourbon and rye they have available.  I thought it was strange that there was no special signage or propaganda out and about.  Decided to ask the lady at the front desk.  Hey, do you have the new release out?  A strange look on her face and she asked which one.  Well, I stumbled around a bit and stated the winter whiskey.  This is when she stated it will be released on Black Friday, and it was Tuesday before Black Friday.  I had a dumbfounded face and asked if it was distributed yet.  She stated yes, across the river.  For those of you that don’t know New Riff sits on the Ohio River straight across from Cincinnati.  There is also a small river that heads north and south, and I crossed it to get to New Riff.  Well, I am dumb enough to ask which river.  Boy, she had a look.  She pointed slowly to Ohio and stated the one right outside.  After that I decided to stop talking and walk upstairs to get a bourbon flight. The Aquifer The first item on the agenda couldn’t get.  So, onto the second.  Headed to the bar upstairs called The Aquifer. Walk in and see a nice large horseshoe bar and tables around the outside.  There is even a back private room.  On one side there is a large round table that seats 10 plus.  Outside there is a nice large deck area on both sides of the bar.  Bit chilly out so we sat at the bar.  There is all the bourbon New Riff has distilled and a book for you to choose flights or pick which bourbon you want to try.  Since we were there for the winter whiskey we asked if they had any of 2023 Winter Whiskey available.  They did and grabbed a couple of ounces.  Now this flavor hits you with Christmas.  Allspice, chocolate, anise, and clove.  The taste was warm and inviting with little to no Kentucky Hug.  This is something I could sip on with a great cigar and forget about the Wisconsin weather. 2023 Winter Whisky Mash bill 65% Corn20% Malted Oats7% Pale Ale Malt5% Steel Cut Oats3% Chocolate MaltBottled in Bond without chill filtration100 ProofAged 4 years The trip to New Riff was fun and adventurous and glad we made the trip.  Sad that I didn’t get the bottle I went for but, very pleased with getting to taste the 2023 version.  Going hunting for the 2024 bottle in hopes of snagging a bottle.   If you have a bottle and have tried it leave a comment to compare it with. Thanks Junior

Churchill Downs Horse
Dec 02

The Eventful Thrilling Thanksgiving Week

Howdy Junior’s Bourbon Hall.  I have just been on an adventure to Kentucky with my family to hunt some bourbon (it is the season), taste good food, gamble on some horses, and have all-around fun with the family.  Spent a few days in northern Kentucky and the rest of the Thanksgiving week in Louisville.  This was a great week we have had for the last six years. City of Covington City of Louisville We really enjoy the city of Covington and the Mainstrasse area.  There are plenty of restaurants and bars to visit and indulge in the food.  The city is also close to a few distilleries and breweries, so you have plenty of variety if you are tired of one you hit the other.  Another hit is the Green Bay Packer Bar on the street.  They have a group of fans that attend each game, and it is a freaking blast. Louisville is the heart of Bourbon Country.  Bardstown, KY has more breweries, but Louisville is where everything started.  Main street has great food and an abundance of distilleries to visit in one trip.  The tours are not your normal learn about bourbon and you can find a bunch of fun things to do.  Two of my favorites are Doc Crows and Troll Pub Under the Bridge.  Docs for the food and Troll Pub for being an interesting little bar with a big Troll outside of it. Come along and learn about Covington and Louisville and the exciting things you can do in both cities. Junior