A Michter's day for the record books!!!

Yesterday, July 24th, several people including my wife and me got together for a tour of Michter's. Included in the bunch were ex-employees, a man looking to start his own rye distillery, the current Michter's site owner, and other notable people in the whiskey world. After a fantastic tour and equally fantastic lunch at the Franklin House, we navigated to the Holiday Inn in Lebanon for drinks, sharing stories, and sharing information. One of the highlights of the whiskey tasting we did was a comparison of each variant of Old Overholt from about 1928 to 1977. We also tasted several other Monongahela ryes from the prohibition era. Then we tasted several different batches of Michter's whiskey and compared it to several prototype samples from the aspiring distiller that was with us. John Lippman has a write-up and a few photos here:

MICHTER'S

Michter's gets more national attention!!

Sam Komlenic wrote a very detailed and very accurate account of his memories of Michter's from the late 70's until its closure at the end of the 80's. I've been in conversation with Sam for a few months now about various Michter's things and he is certainly as big a fan of the place as I am- and he had the privilege of actually visiting the distillery while it was in operation! Please read this article. It will give you a great idea of what the whole Michter's tour experience was like.

http://www.whatdoesjohnknow.com/2010/06/04/guest-blog-sam-komlenic-on-the-legendary-michters-distillery/

For some reason, once again, stupid Blogger won't recognize this link. You'll have to cut-and-paste this link to your browser.

No Michter's tour

I am sending the following message out to everyone:

Guys and gals, I have bad news. Due to the snow storm damage to the buildings, the owner's insurance agent said he would not allow tours due to liability. The snow did significant structural damage to several buildings and they are now unsafe to be inside or near. There is also now renewed pressure from the local government to have the site torn down because more has collapsed. I am VERY sorry about this, but our hands are tied right now. If anything changes, I will let you all know but at this time, tours can't be done safely.

I feel terrible about this but I guess this is what it comes down to. The 36" of snow that Schaefferstown received did an awful lot of damage to the buildings and some could collapse at any time. Until the buildings are secured, no one can go in them.

The Escort gets a new engine!

Well, the band-aid patch I did to the old engine last fall didn't work out. The previous owner didn't do regular oil changes and the block was severely worn- to the point that the pistons could wobble back and fourth in the bores! So it was time for a replacement. I had several options, but I decided to go with a Ford remanufactured engine since it carries a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty and it was installed by factory trained technicians. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right! Here are a few pictures of the new, shiny engine that replaces the worn 105,000 mile boat anchor:

.....but what is it???

Ok, a real puzzler here. I bought 2 copper pieces shown below and was told they are from Michter's. One appears to have been a whiskey thief at one time (the one with the handle and black cone) and the other piece is some type of other equipment. I am appealing to the greater masses to help me identify if at least what I think was a whiskey thief was actually just that. It appears to have been modified but the thick wall copper with the handle on it makes me suspect that it was once the long lost Michter's whiskey thief.

Summer projects...

This summer, since I've once again found gainful employment, I plan on doing something that I've wanted to do for 10 years- have the Capri restored. Back in college I did a very rushed paint job on it and it shows. The car also needs a proper rustproofing and some other areas repaired. So far this spring I repaired the sunroof, did an oil change, repaired the driver's door armrest, and put a new hood weatherstrip on. I found a guy that's local that does classic car restorations during the summer (He's a school teacher) and he came over and we discussed the car. He is going to take on the project, so early this fall I should have a VERY nice looking, solid car!
As for other projects? I am going to fix up the 94 Escort wagon and sell that (so I can buy a 99 Escort wagon!), do some more work around the house, and of course stay involved with everything Michter's! After doing a little more research, I am going to start my whiskey rebarrel project. I still haven't selected the barrel size or what whiskey to use, but I've narrowed it down. I am probably going to buy 3 3 liter barrels and put Old Grandad 100 in one, Old Heaven Hill 100 in the second one, and Cabin Still 80 in the third. This gives me 3 very different whiskeys to experiment with and see what happens when they are aged an additional few months.

I'm not dead yet.

I know. No word from your fearless (blog) leader in just 2 days shy of a month! What have I been doing? Here's a list for those of you that like organization:
1. Getting a new job.
2. Shoveling snow. LOTS of snow.
3. Buying Michter's stuff (You have no idea.)
4. Buying whiskey and enjoying a shot each night of something new.
5. Making space for aforementioned Michter's stuff.
6. Apparently not blogging.

So now the actual update on my Michter's efforts:

The tours did not happen on Valentines Day due to snow and unsafe conditions. However, that gave me time to make contacts and get my hands on some colossal collections of Michter's items. Thanks to Mr. Mummert and his sister, Mrs. Foreman, I was able to secure over 50 decanters- most full with boxes for the collection. These decanters replaced empty ones in my collection which are being sold off. Mr. Mummert was a Michter's Collectors Society member and also provided me with a large amount of newsletters, mailings, advertising, and special event flyers. Several other individuals, EBay, and some local antiques dealers have also helped in securing rare pieces for my collection. I'm going to go out on a limb saying this, but as far as I can tell, I now have the most complete collection of Michter's memorabilia that exists. There are still several decanters out there that I do not have, but they are very rare (less than 500 made) and it may take some time to find them- if they even still exist today!


As for my whiskey for drinking collection, I am experimenting with "bottom shelf" and "middle shelf" economically priced whiskeys to see if there are some good bang-for-your-buck pours out there. Recently I've tried:
Banker's Club Blended Whiskey
Old Fitzgerald Bourbon 80pf
Pikesville Supreme Rye
Cabin Still Bourbon

For me, that standout was the Cabin Still. For being a 36 month old whiskey at 80 proof and only $8.50 a liter I was not expecting much. But I was amazed at how smooth it was. It presented itself as a more mature bourbon. It certainly did not have the oakiness and deep flavor that older bourbons have, but it was not harsh and bitter like so many other young bourbons are. I was really amazed at the flavor and that it even had a slightly sweet, lingering finish. If this stuff was made at 100 proof and aged 4 years, I'll bet it would be absolutely amazing. Only downside- it's not available in PA! From my list above, only the Banker's Club Blended Whiskey is available in PA at $8.50 for a liter. This is actually my second choice from the list above. But being a blended whiskey, one should expect it to be smooth and not so harsh already. It met, but did not exceed my expectations. A very good, easily found, inexpensive whiskey. I still recommend it for tight budgets. It would mix great in soda as well.