When I went to bed around 9:00 PM EST last night, I really didn't expect to wake up this morning and see that BTC had jumped over $100,000. Let alone a quick run up to $103K or whatever the new ATH is. I'm sure you have a feed flooded with posts about that milestone this morning. I'm also sure that we probably haven't seen the last of sub $100K prices for BTC. With that in mind, I'd rather talk about whiskey today.
I've been a fan of Tin Cup whiskey for a while now. It's a pretty affordable and accessible offering that is easy to find and enjoy. It's pretty rare to walk into a liquor store with a decent inventory in Michigan and not find it on the shelf. Your corner party store might not have it, but most larger stores will. I think in the past I have typically picked up a bottle from the local Meijer Supercenter.
One of the things I love about the bottle is the fact that it comes with a metal shot glass on the top of each bottle. With their standard offering it is silver and it screws on the top of the bottle. We have a couple of them now and we keep them handy for camping and things like that where we don't want to worry about breaking a glass made out of glass.
A month or so ago I was scrolling through my Google news feed and I scrolled across something that quickly drew my attention. If you don't know, on a Pixel phone you access your Google news feed by swiping left from your home screen. It brings you curated news stories based on your interests. Mine is usually full of stories about crypto and whiskey/whisky (shocker).
Anyway, I saw that Tin Cup was going to be offering a new whiskey that has been aged ten years. Their standard offering of which you see in the opening photo next to the other bottle is aged at least four years. Then they have this other offering that is aged 10 years, and according to the Internet, they also have a line that is aged 14 years.
As I said before, the price of the original Tin Cup is pretty affordable at $30 USD. Getting a good quality whiskey for that price is a bit of a win over here. The 10 year bottle that I picked up was just about double that price. Even at $60 USD (after tax) it is still a pretty affordable bottle of whiskey.
All of Tin Cup's offerings are finished in American White Oak barrels, but they are not technically considered bourbons because they are a blend of bourbon from Indiana with a high rye content and single malt whiskey from Colorado (Stranahans). The four year and ten year are then cut with water from the rocky mountains to 85 proof or 42% Alcohol By Volume.
This makes it a very smooth and drinkable whiskey that doesn't melt your face off or knock you on your butt.
I always think it's cool when bottles give you a little extra information or history with them. In this case it came as a card tied around the neck of the bottle. One of the coolest things about bourbon and whiskey in the US is the history and the story of how recipes were passed down from generation to generation from master distiller to apprentice. The story of Jack Daniels is a prime example of that, just as I'm sure many of the whisky places in Scotland have an equally rich history.
I was actually reading another article the other day where they were talking about how American Single Malts are becoming the new hot thing in whisky over here. I've had a few of the brands they mentioned in the article and I would have to agree that they definitely give you the same feel as some of the Scotches I have tried in the past.
Of course, being a new trend, it's going to be a while before they can offer a thirty year bottle and beyond like the places across the pond can do!
The ten year Tin Cup was very good. That being said, do I think it was two times better than the 4 year as the price suggests? Probably not. It definitely had some deeper flavors. You could tell how much of a difference those five to six years made in the barrel via the smokiness and wood flavor of the whiskey. It also had a darker color which is hard to see in the photo above when you compare it to the standard bottle.
When this bottle is eventually gone, I will probably go back to getting the cheaper stuff. It's great to have on hand to enjoy just for sipping or to mix into a cocktail as well. At $30 a bottle, you don't really feel bad about using it as a mixer. The ten year at $60 per bottle I probably would think twice.
After doing a bit of research, I found that not only does Tin Cup use Stranahan's single malt in it's blend, it is also bottled at the Stranahan's plant in Denver. I'm kind of kicking myself now that I didn't visit the distillery when @mrsbozz and I were out there this past summer. I guess I will just have to go back to Colorado now... bummer :)
If you get a chance to try Tin Cup, I highly recommend it. If you like the four year stuff, I think it is worth trying the ten year stuff at least once. I don't blame you though if you just go back to drinking the four year stuff. It's good juice!
Which reminds me...
Had to share that classic Saturday Night Live skit. Probably hasn't aged well these days. My apologies to any Greek folks out there!
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
