If my travels have taught me anything, it’s that the north is leading the way in terms of the British bourbon revolution. And nowhere is this truer than in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. Despite being the city in which I was born, I’ve never lived there and this was my first visit as an adult, so I didn’t really know my way around or know what to look for. However, well informed travelling companions came up trumps for me once again.
The American whiskey lover needn’t look to hard to find something interesting in Manchester. My first stop was The Crafty Pig, drawn initially by the promise of porcine delicacies I was pleased to spot a very healthy whiskey collection behind the bar. The first one that grabbed my eye was Hudson Baby Bourbon, a whiskey I’ve tried before as a dram and was so distinctive that I decided I’d try another one with my bourbon-glazed pigs in blankets and sweet potato and chipotle croquettes, just to make sure I hadn’t been imagining the flavour. The nose has something quite yeasty about it, like B-vitamin pills, but the pallette is amazingly rich with port, oak, wheat cereal and caramel.
The next stop identified itself rather easily by its name. The Whisky Jar on Tariff Street was immediately likable, boasting as it did a downstairs function room which looked very much like a whisky snug. The bar’s website has a section called the “Whisky Portfolio”, but there are a lot more whiskeys (and especially American and Canadian whiskeys) behind the bar than are on the website. It was the perfect place for a flight, and so despite the slightly early hour of the afternoon I picked my trio and sat down with my co-traveller for a tasting session.
First in the line-up was John E. Fitzgerald Larceny. I’ve said before that I tend not to gravitate so much towards wheated bourbons, but this was an especially good one. It has a deeper nose than regular Fitzgerald, with hessian, cocoa nibs and jasmine. The taste is of cedar, grapefruit and honey, and isn’t too tangy at all with a nice long finish.
Next was FEW Rye. This was a complicated experience, as the nose didn’t exactly win me over at first – it was pungent, almost like blue cheese, something like raw sliced potato, card and leather. The taste was much more accessible, with not too much spice or burn, and plenty of wood for a rye. Actually not bad at all.
And since I was still picking whiskeys off my wish list, the last of the group was Baclones Baby Blue Corn Whiskey, which surprised with a nose like lavender and freshly cut pine, with a palette that did have a bit of a tang but also a fruity, Earl Grey quality to it that was actually quite pleasant. A medium finish with hints of Sandalwood.
A few doors down from the Whisky Jar is a place called Kosmonaut, which also had a lot of whiskeys available. I tried the quite light and sugary Rowans Creek bourbon here, but weirdly my lasting impression of this place was firstly that the diminuitive girl behind the bar had to climb onto the food counter to get it, and secondly that they had a selection of cocktails which were being barrel-aged after being mixed. A cool idea which I sadly was not around long enough to sample for myself.
After that it was time for a bit of site-seeing, and indulge the history geek side of myself at the John Rylands library; home of the oldest extant fragment of the New Testament in the world. 
That worked up just enough of an appetite to prepare us for Red’s True BBQ. Always good for a choice of bourbons, I added Redemption High Rye Bourbon to my repertoire. Being a rye-man I knew I’d enjoy this one. Nose of grass, apples, oak and violin resin, a palette which is very grain-forward; strong green herbs, pine and tobacco leaf and a medium finish.
On our way back to the northern quarter, we passed by Cane and Grain and I thought I saw a familiar shape on their shelf. Just as I thought, it turned out to be one of the Woodford Reserve Masters collection. This time it was the 2009 Seasoned Oak release which I’d been looking to try for a while. The barman was quite keen to talk bourbon with me, and pointed out that the Seasoned Oak was so woody that a small splinter had even dropped into my glass. I decided to let that one go.
The John Rylands Library. History geekery is my other bag,
Anyway it was a happy find. This whiskey was almost chewy in its richness, it was thick and treacly and amazing. Hints of cinnamon, caramel and brown sugar in abundance. The palette is hugely woody and nutty, with distinctive walnut and hazelnut notes and clove.
Cane and Grain had an especially nice collection of ales too, so is a recommended place to try a nice ‘boilermaker’ (ie, an ale and bourbon pairing).
To my lasting regret, I did not manage to get to Bourbon and Black which had been on my radar for the day, and for this reason alone Manchester is certainly a place I’ll be going back to. Their American Whiskey menu is especially impressive, and includes the famed Van Winkle 12 year (but don’t get too excited yet, I’ve been to a few bourbon bars that listed this but hadn’t actually had a bottle in months). Something to definitely check out next time, and yet another reason to count Manchester as a must-visit node on the great British Bourbon Trail.
UPDATE: Bourbon and Black have confirmed by way of photograph the presence of the Van Winkle family on their shelf! Which only leaves me even more gutted that I didn’t make it there this time, and more determined to come back soon.
