As mentioned yesterday, I found Knob Creek rye, barrel 8097, to be grody upon opening. Three months passed and it didn't improve so I was left with two options: Dump or Infuse. I elected to make a pair of related infusions.
Infusion One would have two Madagascar vanilla beans (whole, scored lengthwise), one dehydrated orange slice (whole), eight cloves and eight ounces of rye
Infusion Two would have two Madagascar vanilla beans, one dehydrated orange slice, eight cloves and eight ounces of rye, but the orange and vanilla beans would be chopped into tiny pieces.
Infusion One was supposed to be the less vanilla-ed of the two, but with a bigger clove hit. Infusion Two was to be more aggressive overall due to the greater exposure the ingredients would have to the whisky.
Just as important as the whisky: The Names.
Yeah, so the one on the left was supposed to say Clove Bomb. But it says Clover Bomb. Which isn't the same thing. And the one the right was supposed to say My Wee Bits. And it says My Wee Bits.
Yes, I was sober at the time. Probably. I mean, I was wielding a sharp knife. Causation, Correlation, etc.
The infusions were supposed to stew for three weeks and then I kinda forgot about them. So eight weeks later...
NOTES
"Clover Bomb"
Nose - Plenty of cloves, but not too much, and almost floral in its clovery. Carob, smoked vanilla, orange bubblegum and lots of spice cake.
Palate - Oh wow, too many cloves. Maybe some mulled wine, but that's due to the cloves. Hints of limes, flowers, woody bitterness. It was worse the following day. My written note, "Fluh".
Finish - Cloves.
"My Wee Bits" (has actually wee bits of things at the bottom)
Nose - Much less vanilla than expected. Flowers, bubblegum, lemon zest, Cow Tales candy, Creamsicles, white gummi worms.
Palate - Eel. Like straight up broiled anago with sauce and a seaweed belt. After 30 minutes, the citrus appears. So it's eel and salty creamsicles. This is all getting very phallic. The eel note remained on day two, joined by cloves and sour fruit.
Finish - Eel, vanilla, oranges.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Don't forget about your infusions.
2. This was worse than the rye.
3. I should stop doing infusions.
4. I could really go for some sushi right now.