D G

Here’s a new release that really came out of the blue. Bonded whiskey was a big deal before Prohibition — when heavy tampering with spirits was a major problem — but it is rarely seen these days because of the cost involved and, surely, limited demand. (Rittenhouse 100 is one good example that’s still around.)

Bonded whiskey must be produced in accordance with strict Federal law and under official Federal oversight, so consumers could be sure of what they were getting: Bonded whiskey has to be 100 proof, spend at least four years in barrel, and be produced from a single season at a single distillery. Bonded, or “bottled-in-bond,” whiskey has to be stored at a Federally monitored warehouse, where it is essentially kept under lock and key for those four-plus years. For a bonded whiskey to be a bonded bourbon, it also has to meet all the standard requirements for bourbon, too (at least 51% corn, barreled in newly charred oak, and so on).

And so we get to Beam’s new Bonded Bourbon. The company has a bonded product, but it seems to be sold only in a few duty-free markets. This is a new, four-year-old expression destined for the U.S. this February. (This expression also has no age statement.)

On first whiff, it’s just like the whiskey dad used to drink. Sharp and woody, it’s austere, with a frontier-style nose. As the body unfolds, intense butterscotch and deep vanilla notes emerge, on top of notes of charry burnt marshmallow and thick wood oils. The finish coaxes out some bitterness in the form of rich pipe tobacco, possibly even cigars. Sweet and almost syrupy at the start, the hefty level of alcohol makes for an interesting juxtaposition on the back end.

Fun, old-timey stuff.

100 proof.

A- / $23 / jimbeam.com

The post Review: Jim Beam Bonded Bourbon appeared first on Drinkhacker.

nuttersincorporated:

geekartgallery:

“The Problem With Actually Having Superpowers" by JHALL Comics

Source: Dorkly

If you ever get a superpower, what are the chances that a second power develops at the same time to counteract the negative effects of the first power?

That last one though

In this age of digital bloat, you might be surprised to hear that making a game as small as possible is an attractive challenge. But this tiny implementation of chess is just that—and takes up just 487 bytes on your hard drive.

Read more...

You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the telling numbers tucked inside the news. To receive this newsletter in your inbox, subscribe.

0.5 percent per year

Credit-rating agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded Russia’s sovereign debt to junk levels, forecasting growth of merely 0.5 percent per year over the next three years. [The New York Times]

89 percent

96.4 percent

Percentage of amputations related to snowblower injuries — caused by sticking a portion of your body (mostly the fingers) into a snowblower while it’s still running — where the victim was male. [The Washington Post]

$15,000

Value of a statue of a bare-chested Celtic god of the sea, described as a “6-foot-tall striking local male with an athletic build,” missing from a Northern Irish town. Guys, I’m right here. [The New York Times]

$352,154.53

Estimate of how much American Airlines could save in yearly fuel costs by flying without Sky Mall catalogs weighing down its planes, assuming there are 37.5 pounds of Sky Malls on every American 737 hopping around the skies. It takes fuel, however little, to lug every pound to 35,000 feet on each flight, and that can add up in the aggregate. [Wired]

$9.2 million

40 million

Since 1996, the number of tourists visiting Times Square every year has doubled to 40 million. As a result, companies attempting to accomplish actual things — such as the publisher Condé Nast and the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom — are fleeing the seething hellhole of a neighborhood. [The New York Times]

$921 million