Can you smell the Beer.. or Wine... or Whisky?

After years of having nasal problems I decided to have surgery to "clean out" my sinuses. So as I am writing this I am 24 hours out of surgery and feeling pretty good thanks to a few beers. I forgot that 80 percent of your taste comes from smell so lately everything has been dull to the taste. I am looking forward to finally getting the nuances of beer, wine and whisky back and really able to enjoy what is out there. First, I will review some more bourbon and a few more beers and maybe a wine or two that I have had in the past before my smell went south, in a manner of speaking that is. I will be enjoying a Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Porter as I write this (maybe two or three) to get me in the spirit of things.
Well to start, I had a snow day last Monday but left it outside to get cold. It was nice and chilled in about 15 minutes and it was ready to drink. So I left another one out there and drank that one too. Needless to say the six pack did not last long and it was inside for me. New Belgium has done a great job with this beer and if you have a chance to have a snow day like mine, take advantage of it. This winter ale has a great pale ale flavor with just a little extra hops to give it that wintery feel. If they made this a year round beer it would not be as special as it is. Get yours before the season is over.

So before the snow started to fall, I decided to visit the local ABC store and see what they had in stock. I do recommend that you visit the local liquor store when you travel because you never know what kind of deals you can get. I was shopping in the Bourbon section, (no surprise) and came across some Baker's 7 year old 107 proof. I have not tried it before but when I looked at the price, It was almost 10 dollars less than I could get it at my local store at home!

Needless to say, I grabbed a bottle and ran to the cash register to purchase the bottle and speed off down the highway before they realized that they drastically underpriced the bottle. This Bourbon was introduced by Jim Beam Distillery and is named after Baker Noe, grand nephew of Jim Beam. This Bourbon is hand bottled and uses a special strain of yeast that has been in the Beam family for over 60 years. This is a small batch Bourbon and has a wonderful smooth and creamy body with the taste of nutty vanilla and hints of fruit. With it's caramel color, wine shaped bottle and no frills label the Beam family put all it's efforts into the flavor of the Bourbon than fancy marketing. If you can buy this Bourbon for under 40 dollars, jump on it!

So now it was time to leave and we were flying out of Winston-Salem, Greensboro airport and it took us an hour and a half to drive there from our place in Virginia. We arrived around lunch time and my friend Kevin, said that there was a pub in the airport. Well by now you should know that the word "pub" has my complete interest so I suggested we go there. It was a place called Natty Greene's Brewing Company with the main brewery in downtown Greensboro. I had a buckshot amber ale and an appetizer. The ale tasted okay as it had a lighter than normal flavor and a mild hop taste. Maybe it would have tasted better if it was at the brewery. If you get a chance to go there let me know and I'll give it another try.

Hopefully I'll heal soon and i can get back to tasting and reviewing. I have some more Rhone and Loire Valley wines I want to taste so let's see how I am in a wee or so. Until then, Cheers!