I enjoy bourbon but don’t know much about it, so I ask bartenders and other knowledgeable people about it when I get the chance — over and over again, I was counselled to look for “Angel’s Envy.”
I gave a talk in Vegas last week and since I’m constitutionally incapable of being entertained by pseudo-random number generators, I typed “bourbon” into a search engine and found myself at Oak and Ivy, who let me bring in a takeout plate of ribs from across the way and served me an Angel’s Envy.
Holy shit.
It’s a sweetish-bourbon that’s finished in port casks, and has this very long, very mellow, very complicated finish that tastes exactly what I thought whisky would taste like before I ever tasted whisky. It’s like Elvish wine or something.
I found a UK supplier for it and just got a bottle today, and it was even better than I remembered. I’ve had one and a half, and it’s hard to resist having another.
Angel’s Envy didn’t pay me to post this. I’ve never had any contact with the company or anyone associated with it (unless the bartender at the Oak and Ivy was a shill — also, I have no connection with the Oak and Ivy). It’s goddamned hard to find, judging from my unsuccessful attempts to find bottles of it to send to friends this Christmas.
They also do a rye, finished in rum barrels, which sounds pretty dynamite.
PS: I tried another outstanding whisky at the Oak and Ivy, and there’s apparently no way at all to get it in London: Colkegan Single Malt, a barley malt whisky from New Mexico that’s smoked over mesquite instead of peat, and is indescribably, barbequishly magnificent.
PPS: Angel’s Envy, if you did want to advertise, we’d happily take your money. You make good booze.