A Very Special Mint Julep

Quite a while back my gastronomic mentor, Winnie, had me over for dinner and afterwards we broke out the small batch bourbons and ryes. Aside from the Tutthilltown Distillery's rye, which I believe was made from all local grains, the real standout for me was the Prichards Double Barrel Bourbon.

Now all bourbon is aged in oak. However, most bourbons are aged in oak and then cut down from cask strength to the 80 to 100 proof we all know and love. Prichards works a little differently. They feel that you're cheating yourself out of some of that good vanilla oak flavor by giving your bourbon just one trip through oak land. So after they age their bourbon in oak and cut it down to bottle strength they give it another jaunt through oak town by aging it in barrels just one more time, hence the double barrel of the name.

This bourbon is a little hard to come by and whenever I'm near Astor Wines I like to give their incredibly respectable bourbon and rye shelves a once over and a month and a half ago I picked up some Prichards myself. I had been enjoying its rich vanilla overtones with one rock for a while, but then earlier this evening I read about mint juleps in passing, recalled that I had some mint leftover from my zucchini, mint, and honey dish from Friday, and thought that it might go well with the rich Prichards I've been stocking. I improvised a little simple syrup, bruised some mint in it and added a healthy dose of Prichards. Divine, my friends. My own private Kentucky Derby. Instead of a minty sweet bourbon, it's a rich combination of the mint, vanilla, and something like brown sugar.