The 10 Best Things I Drank in 2019
I get paid to drink. So, in a year you can imagine how many different beers, spirits and cocktails I get to taste. But a lot of it blurs together. No, that’s not because of the alcohol, but because of the sheer volume of things that I try. Fortunately, the best stuff cuts through the blur and really stands out. So what did I find that was good, notable and important? Read on and check out my ten picks, plus a bonus one!
My wife’s family mostly lives in upstate New York, near Rochester. Visits always include lots of fresh, local Genesee Cream Ale, a little beauty that has won more Great American Beer Festival gold medals than your juicy IPA du jour. But last January, my wife brought back a seasonal 12-pack of Genesee Schwarzbier, and I about lost my mind. Smooth with malt and chocolate flavors in a clean lager body, all kept down to a manageable 4.4 percent ABV. Repeat orders filled her trunk on subsequent trips, but it’s a winter-only release. Thank God it’s back again, and I’m starting to stockpile a cold storage locker that should last me into next August.
Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond 6-Year-Old was a steal, a nondescript bottle filled with a smashmouth brawler of a bourbon. In Kentucky, you could find all you wanted for $14 a bottle. Then the nerds discovered it. Too much demand for the supply ensued, and the six year old disappeared. Recently, it has reappeared in an admittedly cooler looking short-necked, old-timey bottle, a year older and nearly three times the price. Worth it? Compared to other $40 bourbons, I’d say definitely. This is no brawler, this is a prizefighter, stepping lightly and hitting hard, like Kentucky’s own Muhammad Ali…and like Ali, it’s a complex package that makes you take a second look. Honestly, I didn’t want to like this higher-priced replacement, but I loved it.