The Phsiological Effects of Drinking Bourbon

[bluesbassdad]

No, not that effect! We all know about that one.

Recently in a caustic mini-review of a certain BIB bourbon with a proud history but a questionable present, I remarked that it made my lips swell and burn, similar to the effect of salt water.

Now I sheepishly admit that I must have been so annoyed at the product that I was looking for reasons to condemn it. I say that because at this very moment I am experiencing the same phenomenon. Have I lost me senses and poured another drink of Old Betrayal BIB? Not on my life.

I am sipping for the first time a bourbon that will probably end up on my Top Ten List, and maybe my Desert Island Top Ten List, as well. (Hint: It comes in a stoppered bottle, where the stopper is hollow and will fill with bourbon if one inverts the bottle. Anyone?)

I'll try to do a reasonably complete tasting report later, but right now I'm dealing with the fact that the parched-lip phenomenon is not necessarily characteristic of an unpleasant bourbon. In fact, as I replay my old memory tapes, I believe I have had the same experience with other enjoyable bourbons, but for some reason I just didn't notice it.

Please understand that this is a different effect than the numbness that can occur with extreme inebriation. It's more akin to the surface anesthetic that a dentist uses to numb the surface of one's gums before injecting a deeper-acting anesthetic.

I wonder whether others have experienced the same effect.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[ratcheer]

Not the same effect, but I have had a lifelong (well, at least since I was a young adult) effect when drinking draft beer. I often get a sharp, strong, and persistent pain in the back of my jaws that seems to pierce into my ears. Canned or bottled beer and wine cause this effect on rare occasions. Spirits almost never cause it. But draft beer almost always causes it.

I get the funniest looks from bartenders and waitresses when they have proudly announced their draft beer selections, and I ask, "What bottled beers do you have?"

Tim

[bobbyc]

You don't mention a glass stopper but if you had I would be certian you're speaking of Rock Hill Farms. I like to invert mine until the stopper fills then sit it right and only a little will flow back and it holds this whiskey seperate from the rest.

[bluesbassdad]

Rock Hill Farms it is.

Could it be that the beautiful decanter, with both etched and gold-overlay artwork is causing me to believe this bourbon is even better than it is? Regarding the stopper, I may take off a point for it. Mine doesn't fit squarely, owing to a deformation of the thin layer of cork that surrounds the stopper.

I haven't been able to replicate your feat of getting the stopper to stay full after the bottle is set aright, but I'll give it another try.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[Blackkeno]

I get that "pain in the back of the jaws" affect from great margarittas. Go figure.