The World's Whiskey Writer

If you are drinking a single malt or a microbrew as you're reading this, then you owe a debt of thanks to English whiskey and beer writer Michael Jackson.

There is probably no one person who played more of a role in changing the way we drink than Michael Jackson. It's almost hard to remember there was a time before Michael. Prior to the publication of his first beer compendium in 1977, beer meant Bud and prior to his books on single malts, Scotch meant a low end blend. Discussions of tasting, aromas and such were reserved for wine or maybe the precious few codgers who still drank Cognac.

Michael's ceaseless advocacy for quality beers and single malts was one of the major forces in changing how we drink. Thirty years later, we have had an explosion of craft brewing that's on its second wave, and of course a new interest in single malts as well as other small batch whiskies which he championed.

MJ might not deserve sole credit for this turn of events, but he was a huge force in making it happen. His writing, with its amusing, anecdotal and curmudgeonly asides, awakened a generation to the joys of drinks with flavor. His whiskey reviews were unpretentious and real...he always told you how he felt; his descriptions willed you out to he liquor store to taste the good stuff.

Michael Jackson, who suffered from Parkinson's Disease, died today at age 65. I'm sure that throughout the world, many glasses are being raised in his honor.

Whiskey Fundamentalism: The Whisky Bible

You've got to have a good amount of self-assurance to refer to your work as a "Bible." You are basically saying, I'm a god and I doth pass down these writings to thee. Is it possible to set up a greater expectation than to compare your own work to a book that millions of people use to guide them through life? Can any book come close to meriting such an expectation? Well, if your book consists of the most comprehensive set of whiskey reviews ever, then maybe.

And if God drinks whiskey, (and let's face it, if I can't have whiskey, I don't want to go to heaven), then I have no doubt that She owns a copy of Jim Murray's Whisky Bible. The Whisky bible, an annual publication now in its fourth year, is composed of British whiskey writer Jim Murray's tasting notes for literally thousands of whiskies. It includes not only Scotch, Bourbon, Irish, Canadian and Japanese, but whiskies from Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. It reviews $10 bottles and bottles that only the wealthiest collector could ever hope to lay hands on. It is truly a thing to behold.

Now, I don't always agree with Jim's ratings. In fact, I'd say I disagree with him more than I agree, but his reviews are always interesting and the comprehensiveness of the book means if I want to know what whiskies a distillery has produced, I can just open up and look.

The Gospel of Jim Murray

Another thing I like about Jim is that, not unlike the writers of the other Bible, he has a distinct and somewhat contrarian point of view, and he's not afraid to share it. To wit:

• He was one of the first people I heard rail against the still common use of artificial coloring in Scotch.


• He is a champion of blended Scotch and
  rails against single malt snobbery. He went so far as to name a blended Scotch his best rated whiskey this year.


• He thinks Bourbon is some of the finest whiskey being made today, no small feat for a Brit.


• He is a proponent of Canadian and Japanese whiskey as well as the new American single malts and wants to see those markets grow.


• He does not worship the false idols of price and age.

So, if you are an intermediate to advanced whiskey lover looking to expand your experience, this is the perfect book for you.

The availability of new editions is spotty in California, but for about $25 (depending on the exchange rate), you can order it on-line from www.whiskybible.com, and Jim will even sign your copy and encourage you to...keep the faith.

Next Wednesday: The Indie Bottling Scene

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a...sandwich!

When the planet Krypton exploded, a lone capsule was launched into space in an effort to save that dying civilization by preserving one young sandwich. Landing in rural Mexico, the young sandwich grew up and migrated to an urban metropolis. Now, when someone calls out in hunger, the unassuming sandwich dawns its cape and tights and turns into one of the best sandwiches in the greater LA metropolis: Super Torta.

In a city of a thousand tortas, Super Torta is one that deserves its name. Located on Alvarado, south of third, Super Tortas does one of my favorite versions of the traditional Mexican sandwich. Traditional Mexican meats, guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes on a fresh, pressed bolillo roll. My favorite is the milenesa, that Latin American version of chicken fried steak. The milensa torta is the perfect combination of salty, crunchy and meaty, the thin, fried patty blending so well with the guac. The ribeye (lomo de res) is also excellent. The pork, usually my favorite of anything, is a bit dry.

I've only tried the Alvarado location but there are two others:

Super Tortas
360 S. Alvarado St.
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 413-7953

7951 Vineland Ave.
Sun Valley, CA
(818) 765-2496

1253 N. Vine St.
Hollywood, CA
(323) 469-8912

Putting the Korea Back in Koreatown

I've lived in Koreatown for four years now, and I realized that, though I eat Korean food regularly, I have precious few Korean write-ups on this site, so I thought I'd provide a quick list of a few of my favorites.

The amount of Korean food available in my neighborhood is staggering. I've been eating Korean for years, and I still feel that I'm just starting to understand all of the styles and genres of Korean cuisine.

Now, most of the places I go are accepting of non-Koreans, at least enough to have English menus, but there is a whole world of Korean restaurants that appear to have no interest in serving non-Koreans, no English menus, no English signs, nada. In these establishments, where I'm usually treated somewhere between curiosity and annoyance, I employ a point and hope strategy...point to the menu, hope for the best. Sometimes this goes well, but once it got me a plate of rice mixed with what appeared to be chopped pieces of Oscar Meyer wieners. Live and learn.

Mysteries abound for the non-Korean speaker in Koreatown. The other day I drove by a restaurant on Vermont that had a picture of a goat on the sign among the Korean characters. Is this a Korean goat barbecue? I made a mental note and put it on my long list of places to investigate.

The places below are in the more well known, used to English speakers genre. In the future, I'll write up some of the not so typical places, but if you're looking for reliably fantastic Korean food, you can't do much better than these three:


Jeon Ju
Olympic between Vermont and New Hampshire (south side of the street)

Jeon Ju is one of my favorite places to eat of any genre. Their specialty is bi bim bap dol sot or hot pot bi bim bap. The #1, which you will likely be encouraged to order if you are not Korean, is a Kalbi bi bim bap, served in a cast iron hot pot. I love the melding of flavors in bi bim bap and with dol sot, you also get the crispy fried rice that sticks to the side of the pot, which is one of the best single things there is to eat. Add to that great panchan (Korean side dishes served before every meal) which change regularly and huge bowls of peppery soup with big dumplings and rice cakes and you have a truly amazing meal!

Dong Il Jang
8th Street, west of Normandie

I've often wondered whether there is any saturation point for barbecue restaurants in Koreatown. There must be 500, and more seem to open every day. Every time a new strip mall goes up in the neighborhood, I say to myself, I wonder what new and exciting thing will open up, and it turns out to be...yet another Korean barbecue. I've eaten at many barbecues (though there are many more I have yet to visit), but the one I always come back to is Dong Il Jang. The specialty is ross (roast?) gui, thin slices of marbled beef, sauteed on your tableside pan with butter. The marbling dissolves away in seconds and leaves you with pure beefy, fatty goodness. While I love bulgogi, Kalbi and all the marinated meats that are typically part of the Korean barbecue experience, there is something transcendent about the taste of pure, unadorned beef melting in your mouth and filling it with the rich flavor of cow.

After you finish the huge serving, the waitress will use your juicy pan to fry up rice with beef trimmings and your leftover panchan into a deliciously meaty fried rice (not unlike dol sot bi bim bap). This dish may be as good as the barbecue portion of the meal.

For a good, recent review of DIJ with pictures, check out KBlog, a great resource for all things Koreatown.

Beverly Soontofu
Olympic and Vermont, (north side of Olympic, west of Vermont)

Soontofu is a wonderfully spicy Korean soup served with soft tofu and bits of meat or fish. Beverly Soontofu is my favorite soontofu with its fresh tofu and delicious broth. I must admit, however, that Soontofu service has always been sort of a mystery to me. First, it's served with an egg. I always assumed the egg was to drop in the boiling soup cauldron which would immediately cook it, as in egg drop soup. The only problem is the soup, while it is usually bubbling, never seems to be hot enough, so you end up with a sort of slimy goo. I'm not sure if I'm doing it wrong of if slimy goo is the intended outcome. The second thing I don't get is that often, hot water is poured on your leftover scalded rice to make a sort of...soggy rice soup. Again, maybe it's just not to my taste, but I don't get it.

Now, while soontofu is great, my favorite food at Beverly Soontofu is their version of barbecued ika (squid). the slightly charred, medium-sized squid is cooked in traditional red Korean hot sauce. I love every chewy morsel of this stuff.

So, if you're looking for good Korean food, you can count on these three stars. But with nearly endless options, I'm always searching. I still have yet to find a great Korean dumpling house and my next big project, when I get around to it, is to hit the Koreatown Galleria food court, which I've never managed to make it to...and then there's the place with the goats...

Whiskey Wednesday: Daddy Saz

Sazerac 18 year old rye whiskey, 45% alcohol,
Buffalo Trace Distilleries

Here we are, the last of my wry series of rye tastings (okay, bad pun, I admit, but note that, to my credit, I avoided any Salinger reference during this entire series), and oh what a tasting it is.

Sazerac 18 year old, the granddaddy of Buffalo Trace ryes, is a heavenly elixir, probably the most complex of the ryes I've tasted. The aroma is surprisingly fruity, as is the first sip, then you get the sweet caramel that is more associated with Bourbon and even the vanilla you sometimes get from aged Scotch.

What it doesn't strike you as is rye. Just as a peaty Scotch mellows as it ages, over its 18 years in the barrel, the spice notes have settled. Of course, they may not have been that strong to begin with. The 6 year old Sazerac had them, but they were much more understated than the other ryes I sampled.

This bottling shows me that rye has the comlexity and beauty to play with the big boys. The Daddy Saz is a fitting end to a fun series of tastings. Based on the sampling I did, the quality of new ryes being put out right now is excellent, running from the powerful spice of Old Potrero to the delightfully subtle Baby Saz, through the balanced Rittenhouse 100 and ending with the giant complexity of the Sazerac 18.

To sum up: It's a good time to be rye.

Next Wednesday: The Good Book

Colorado Whiskey Comes to California

When I recently reviewed American single malts, Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey was the best of the four I tasted. At the time, Stranahan's wasn't available in California, but last weekend, I saw a bottle at Wine & Liquor Depot in Van Nuys. Now, I don't know that Stranahan's is worth the $50.00 (approx.) price tag, but if you are curious about American single malts, you can't do much better.

Wine & Liquor Depot
Saticoy, west of Balboa, Van Nuys

Guilty Pleasures: Chocolate Ice Box Cake

Three ingredients: cream, sugar, chocolate wafers plus 24 hours in the fridge. Oh so simple, oh so delectable.