British Bourbon Trail: Southampton

Note: “Marshals” has now become “Sadler’s Brewhouse and BBQ”

I have to admit that for a while it was looking like the only places I could go to explore new and interesting whiskeys were either London, which isn’t too far but can be expensive to travel to, or up North, which despite being where I’m from nowadays always seems like a heck of a drive.

So imagine how delighted I was when a friend of mine revealed that the bar she works at – just thirty minutes drive down the coast in Southampton – has over thirty American whiskeys and, what’s more, a board on which the names of people who have tried all the whiskeys get written!  There was no question; I had to visit.

And so it was on a Saturday afternoon, picked because I knew the aforementioned friend would be working, I stopped by The Rockstone to check out the much acclaimed burgers (beware the ‘volcano sauce’) and see what whiskeys I could pick off from the list.

The list, incidentally, does come as an actual printed sheet which you can keep as a record of which of their offering you have already tried.  And it’s not just bourbon either, they do the same thing for gin and rum.  So needless to say their liquor shelves are pretty rammed.  Add to this the considerable selection of cask ales (anyone for a boilermaker?) and other home-grown cocktail recipes and this is pretty much the perfect place to bring your non-bourbon friends to give them the impression you’re considering what they like too.

On the occassion I visited I managed to cross off eight whiskeys, which unfortunately wasn’t enough to get my name put on the board, but was more than enough for me to expand my horizons further with some very different spirits.  On the one hand there was J W Dant, with it’s rye-heavy mashbill that gives it a strong oak, treacle and coffee profile, with a hint of tang that seems to be characteristic of bourbons from the Heaven Hill distillery.  At the other extreme was Rebel Reserve, which like it’s younger brother Rebel Yell has a very light and slightly floral nose, and a gentle and fruity flavour which makes for very easy drinking; it’s what I’d call an excellent entry-level bourbon for the non-spirit drinker!

Surprisingly my favourite bourbon of the night wasn’t a very expensive one at all; Fighting Cock is another Heaven Hill bourbon and has a lovely sweet brown sugar and cinnamon nose which continues in the pallet.  It put me nicely in the mood for a bowl of the pub’s home-made crème brûlée, accompanied by a glass of Stagg Jr, which I can only describe as pure caramel fire, no less formidable that the fully grown version!

But the story gets better, as the Rockstone staff themselves pointed me in the direction of yet another place in Southampton which takes bourbon seriously.  In fact, it seems that the Rockstone and Marshals – “Southampton’s Speakeasy” – have allowed their proximity to foster a friendly rivalry, and I’m told that the staff of both establishments are allowed to run up a combined tab at the two bars!

In the interest of writing cogent tasting notes, I deferred my visit to Marshals to another occasion, however it wasn’t a long delay.  The promise of their smoked-on-site BBQ menu charmed me back pretty quickly, and if I say the words “Cherry Cola BBQ Ribs” I think you’ll agree no further justification is needed.  Marshals is a place where, with 48 hours notice, you can take a party of 10-12 people to feast on a 5Kg Hampshire fore-rib that’s been smoked for 9 hours especially for you.

And with such an impressive meat offering, it stands to reason that they will have a range of quality bourbons to accompany the ‘cue, right?  You bet.  The head chef, Tom, was good enough to email the bourbon list ahead of time and offered to join my in a glass when I stopped by.  Numerically the number of bourbons is about the same as the Rockstone, but the actual selection is quite different, with perhaps some rarer whiskeys on the shelf.  In fact it turned out I had picked a very good time to stop by, as they were down to the last ‘heel’ (ie, just over a single measure) of Maker’s 46.  I’d heard of this very limited quantity expression of Makers Mark, which is goes through a further finishing stage in barrels with French oak staves.

Naturally I had to try it, not least because bars in the UK are only allowed one bottle each, and this was the last of it in Southampton, possibly anywhere in Hampshire.  And despite not being the biggest fan of Maker’s Mark, this one really impressed me.  The nose was like Port and Kirsch, mahogany, figs and ginger.  On the tongue there was salted caramel, toasted grains, hints of citrus and a sort of cranberry dryness.  Not only was it delicious, but it also had the prestige of being the 100th whiskey to be noted in my tasting book!

So happily I now have somewhere relatively close to home where I can go and sample a wide range of bourbons and American whiskeys.  But perhaps you’re wondering if I ever did get my name on that board in the Rockstone.  Well, I took myself back there one afternoon and showed my book of tasting notes to one of the head bar staff, and…well, see for yourself.