Episode 187

Whisky Philosophy with Billy Abbott

Play Subscribe

Listen On:

Previous Episode Next Episode

Whisky Philosophy with Billy Abbott

Episode 187

What’s shakin, cocktail fans?

Welcome to Episode 187 of The Modern Bar Cart Podcast!

This time around, we have the pleasure of catching up with Billy Abbott. Billy is a whisky writer, educator, and…as it turns out…philosopher. He’s here to share some of his journeys through some of the better- and lesser-known whisk(e)y categories, including some exciting spirits from Asia, and to share some details about an upcoming book project he’s currently working on.

Some of the topics we cover in this wide-ranging conversation with spirits writer, educator, and judge Billy Abbott include:

How Billy took the leap from a career in computing and database management to pursue his passion for whisky, and what the past decade has looked like for him following that drastic vocational shift.
What it means to be a generalist in a world teeming with whisky specialists, and why it pays to take a curious, humble, and omnivorous approach to learning and teaching about spirits.
Then we take a slight left turn and talk about Asian spirits, including how Billy became one of the first Awamori Jinbners, his thoughts on Shochu and Bajui, and the tricky business of introducing large markets to spirits they know nothing about.
But that’s not all. We give you the inside scoop on BIlly’s new book, we cover some exciting new spirits producers and trends in Europe and the UK, and we even wax poetic on the importance of sandwich ergonomics in the age of COVID.

Billy is a wonderful educator and ambassador for spirits of all types. You can view his work by visiting the Whisky Exchange blog, you should check out his upcoming book, The Philosophy of Whisky, and you can find him on Instagram @meatrobot.

FEATURED COCKTAIL: THE BOBBY BURNS

This episode’s featured cocktail is the Bobby Burns. Named after poet Robert Burns, who’s widely considered to be the national poet of Scotland. To make it, you’ll need:

1.5 oz Blended Scotch whisky
1.5 oz Sweet Vermouth (for this application, we’d select a dark option, like Punt e Mes)
And ½ – ¾ oz Benedictine.liqueur

Combine these ingredients in a mixing beaker with ice, stir until well chilled and diluted, then strain into a stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist. A slightly more precious garnish would be to express and discard the lemon twist and serve the drink with a sweet biscuit or slice of shortbread.

Now, if you’re following along at home, you’ll notice that this is a Manhattan and that it very closely resembles another Manhattan variation, the Vieux Carre. This explains the fact that no two recipes for the Bobby Burns seem to agree on ingredient ratios. More traditional (i.e. Mid-20th century) recipes seem to agree on an equal split between Scotch and Sweet Vermouth, while more contemporary versions pare back the sweetness quite a bit. This is further complicated by the fact that when the drink first appeared in print in about 1900, it was made with Irish Whiskey and absinthe.

So, the moral of the story here, is that a good Bobby Burns should closely resemble a Manhattan, but you can feel free to mess with the ingredient ratios just a bit. Personally, I wouldn’t mind swapping out that blended scotch for a single malt on occasion to really let the terroir and the regional character drive the flavor of the drink. But hey, that’s just our take on it. Follow your bliss.

SHOW NOTES

Here are some highlights and links from this wide-ranging conversation.

Billy is a writer and educator for The Whisky Exchange, a spirits retailer that specializes in old/rare spirits and has a large collection of whiskies from around the world.
In addition to teaching spirits courses for the WSET, Billy is a bone fide Awamori Jinbner, “someone who [spreads] the beauty of awamori with wisdom across the world.”
For more information about Shochu, check out our interview with Taka Amano.
For more information about Baijiu, check out our Interview with Derek Sandhaus.
Distilleries mentioned include Bimber Distillery, and J. Gow Rum
And of course, this page wouldn’t be complete without featuring some of Billy’s impressive sandwich architecture.

This episode was made possible with editing and sound design by Samantha Reed, whisky and sandwich insights courtesy of Billy Abbott, and a little bit of interview magic by yours truly. This has been a Modern Bar Cart production, copyright 2021.

This episode is also brought to you by Near Country Provisions. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic and want to enjoy ethically raised (and delicious) meat from local farmers delivered to your door every month, then you need Near Country in your life.

Head over to NearCountry.com and enter the code BARCART when you sign up for your subscription to receive 2 free pounds of bacon or ground beef in your first delivery.

Whisky Philosophy with Billy Abbott

FEATURED COCKTAIL: THE BOBBY BURNS

SHOW NOTES

Leave a Reply Cancel reply