A Look Back on the Whisk(e)ys of the World Tournament Part 2/3: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

Our whisk(e)y tournament had gone from 68 spirits down to the Sweet 16 throughout November and December of 2011. For the full look at how we figured out the field of 68, check out last week's post. My #1 seed, Blanton's bourbon, got knocked out by 16 seed Prichard's Tennessee Whiskey... that's some good stuff! Eric and James each had their #1 seeds make it through the first two rounds so Power's and Highland Park stayed alive. Tullamore Dew, Jeremy's top seed, got eliminated by a different Irish whiskey, Knappogue Castle. We spent two weeks taking this field of 16 down to the Elite 8 then another week of tasting over the airwaves to get to our final four. The 16 whisk(e)y listed below are certainly all worth taking a look at. Some had much tastier roads to get to where they are. James and Chivas in the bottom right bracket eased their way into the Sweet 16 and that match-up really wasn't worthy of being held this far into the tournament. For the most part, the rest of them are all worth putting your liquor shelves. Quite a few of these have been reviewed on other Whisk(e)y Wednesday posts, but not all of them. That will come in time! Next week we'll look back on the Final Four!

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 90 is rather extraordinary.

Bite and Booze Radio Show: Halloween Pop-Up Recap and Triumph Kitchen

This episode of the Bite and Booze Radio Show aired on Saturday, November 2, 2013. Chef Chris Wadsworth and I recapped the Haunted House Pop-Up at the Stockade Bed & Breakfast and were joined on the phone by Kristen Morrison from Red Six Media who attended the event. We also talked plenty about Triumph Kitchen, their current IndieGoGo fundraising campaign, and the culinary world in general.



The Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket airs on Saturdays at 5 PM on Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge.  It is also available on iTunes.  The show's sponsors include Calandro's Supermarket, Visit Baton Rouge, Slap Ya Mama Cajun Seasoning, Mama Della's N.Y. City Pizzeria, Louisiana Cookin' Magazine, Juban's Restaurant, the Tin Roof Brewing Company, the Louisiana Culinary Institute and Triumph Kitchen.

Louisiana’s Bite and Booze Radio Show Nominated for The Taste Awards

BATON ROUGE, LA – THE TASTE AWARDS have selected the Bite and Booze Radio Show as a nominee in the category of Best Food or Drink Radio Broadcast. The Bite and Booze Radio Show, hosted by Jay Ducote of biteandbooze.com, airs on Talk 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge, La. on Saturdays from 5-6 p.m. The Best Food or Drink Radio Broadcast category is in the People's Choice awards section, which means public votes will decide the fate of the nine finalists. Voting is limited to one ballot per person and is open through December 18, 2013. To see all of the categories and nominees and to cast a ballot, visit http://tastetv.com/awards/vote.html.

“I’m thrilled about being nominated and that my efforts since 2011 to spread the word about the food and beverage culture of Louisiana over the airwaves is now getting recognized,” said Jay Ducote.

The Annual TASTE AWARDS are the original awards for the Lifestyle Entertainment Industry. Also known as the Tasty Awards, they are the premier broadcast awards show celebrating the year's best achievements in Food, Fashion, Home and Lifestyle programs on Television, in Film, Online, on Radio and at Live Interactive Events. The Mission is to recognize and acknowledge outstanding excellence in video, film, mobile and interactive content focused on food, drink, fashion, design, travel and lifestyle.

“The Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro’s Supermarket has been getting better and better since it hit the airwaves in April of 2011,” Ducote proclaimed. “I really have a lot of fun with it. Each week I get to talk about something different happening in the food world around Louisiana. While the show is based in Baton Rouge and that’s mostly what I cover, I’ve recorded episodes in New Orleans and Lafayette, talked to celebrity chefs from around the country, and celebrated our local food and beverage culture all along the way. I really couldn’t have done it without the support of Guaranty Broadcasting, my producer Chris Courtney, my field producer Charles Pierce, and all of my great sponsors.”



Jay would like to encourage anyone and everyone to copy and paste this tweet or come up with a unique way to spread the word about the nomination and voting:

Congrats to @biteandbooze for being nominated in the @TastyAwards as best food or drink radio broadcast! Vote: http://tastetv.com/awards/vote.html

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The Bite and Booze Radio Show first aired in April 2011 on Talk 107.3 FM WBRP in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is also available streaming online and as a podcast on iTunes. On the show, Jay chats with guests from all aspects of the culinary world from farmers markets to gourmet chefs and from craft brewers to other bloggers and authors. Based off of his food and beverage blog by the same name that Jay Ducote started in 2009, the radio show celebrates the food and beverage culture of Louisiana and everywhere Jay travels. To learn more about Bite and Booze and the Bite and Booze Radio Show, visit www.biteandbooze.com. For additional updates from Bite and Booze, follow @biteandbooze on Twitter, watch Bite and Booze videos on http://www.youtube.com/jaydducote and visit http://www.facebook.com/biteandbooze.

THE TASTE AWARDS are holding their 5th annual awards ceremony on January 16, 2014 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The Annual Awards have included appearances by stars, celebrities, producers and executives from networks and platforms such as the Food Network, the Style Network, Bravo, the Cooking Channel, TLC, Discovery, Lifetime, E! Entertainment Television, PBS, NBC, ABC, the CW, HGTV, the Travel Channel, HD Net, Hulu, YouTube, Sony Pictures, and more. 

Baton Rouge Uncorked returns November 14th

Forum 35 is bringing back Baton Rouge Uncorked, and I'm happier than grapes right before harvest. For those who don't know, Forum 35 is a community of young men and women improving Baton Rouge. While the 35 originally kinda meant that members would be under 35, that idea has shifted and it is more a mentality than an age limit of any kind. They do great things in the community like Art Melt, the Reindeer Run, and much more. Now they're running Uncorked which is a fantastically fun wine event that this year (next week, November 14th) will be held at an amazing Baton Rouge space, the Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie at the LSU Rural Life Museum off of Essen.

The Concept

Young professionals gather to celebrate their affinity for wine, their instinct to support a good cause, and their desire to mix and mingle with like-minded people in a fun, casual social setting. 

 

The Tasting

At each event, different wine varietals are highlighted (this time around it is West Coast Reds). Invitees are encouraged to form teams of up to 3 members and participate in the competition or simply come and enjoy the wine and atmosphere. Each team selects and purchases three identical bottles of its favorite wine to present. Two bottles are bagged, tagged, and offered for blind tasting and scoring. The majority of the third bottles will go into the "pot" to be awarded to the winning team, while some will be grouped together in the silent auction for bidding. At the conclusion of the festivities the scores are tallied, the winners are recognized and awarded the "pot” to split while the lowest scoring wine is returned to its rightful owner to take home. Here it is illustrated:

So sign up now! Get your team of yourself, a couple, or a group of three, and be there!

I'll actually be at Uncorked with Chuck P. from the Me and My Big Mouth Radio Show to record an episode of his show for 96.9 FM WHYR Baton Rouge Community Radio as well as to record an episode of the Bite and Booze Radio Show presented by Calandro's Supermarket on Talk 107.3 FM.

Hope to see you there!

A Look Back on the Whisk(e)ys of the World Tournament Part 1/3: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Calandro's Supermarket

About two years ago we began the Whisk(e)ys of the World Tournament on one of my radio shows called Raise a Glass (now you can listen to the Me and Big Mouth Radio Show in that time slot). The concept was pretty simple: four of us would pick our #1 seeds then we would fill in the rest of the ballot by pulling whisk(e)ys out of a hat. We included all the whisk(e)y brands that the four of us had on hand as well as other major brands that we knew we could acquire easily. No bottle exceeded $100 retail, and really only a couple were even close. Most, as you can see looking at the list on the right, were pretty affordable. We actually had 80-90 in the hat, so nothing other than our four #1 seeds were guaranteed a spot. We also put in a play-in game for the 16 seed in each bracket, so in total 68 whisk(e)ys made the field. These included bourbon, American whiskey, Canadian whisky, both blended and single malt Scotch, Irish Whiskey, Japanese Whisky, and even a couple odd balls. For the most part, the #1 seeds were selected based on perceived value and taste. I picked a bourbon, Blanton's, to head my bracket. My brother Eric from the BR Beer Scene picked Highland Park 12, a Scotch, for his. James and Jeremy both selected Irish Whiskeys for their brackets going with the Powers Gold Label and Tullamore Dew, respectively. The #1 seeds were not meant to be our choice for the best whiskey of all time, but rather our pick for a whiskey that might get farther than others, that we had on hand, and that we wanted to guarantee a spot in the field.

So the field was set. We spent the following weeks tasting every whiskey in every bracket and announcing who would move forward and which spirit got sent home. We went from 64 to 32 in a matter of four weeks, then again from 32 to 16 over the following four weeks. Next week on Whisk(e)y Wednesday I'll reveal the sweet 16. Which whisk(e)ys would be your pick?

Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by Calandro's Supermarket. Calandro's has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys as well as wine and craft beer. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote, Eric Ducote, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 90 is rather extraordinary.