Tasting through EAT! Vancouver's Bourbon & BBQ workshop

If you want to know more about bourbon, talk to Darryl Lamb. The brand manager at Legacy Liquor Store is full of stories about the history of the spirit.

Lamb is a bourbon fan himself. In fact, when the time came for him and his wife to tell his father they were expecting, he let the bourbon do the talking: he handed him a bottle of Old Grand-Dad whiskey.

That was one of the boubons the sold-out room of 75 people tasted at An Evening of Bourbon and BBQ. Part of the EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival, the event was hosted by Lamb on Tuesday night (April 28) at the Belmont Bar.

I attended as a media guest: here's a brief recap of the evening.

The group tasted four bourbons, each paired with one of the courses on the menu.

The first was Knob Creek 9-Year Old. Lamb expained that it's part of a small-batch collection, a more handcrafted style of bourbon. 

“It’s one of the few bourbons with an age statement,” he said. “With the Knob Creek nine-year old, you know you’re getting at least nine-year old bourbon.” The age denotes the youngest whiskey in the blend.

The group then tasted Basil Hayden's bourbon. “The Basil Hayden whiskey has a huge rye content," Lamb explained. "The rye gives it that sweet and spicy flavour.”

Smooth and elegant, Lamb recommends Basil Hayden for those unfamiliar with bourbon as a good starting point. 

The Old Grand-Dad whiskey, however, is "something I’d recommend to bourbon aficionados” since it's hot and fiery.

Lamb noted that Old Grand-Dad has only become available in Canada over the last six or seven months.  “It’s George Thorogood’s favourite brand of bourbon,” he said, referring to the American blues rock musician who mentions it in his song, "I Drink Alone."

The final bourbon we tasted was the well-known Maker's Mark.

“Maker’s Mark was one of the brands that got respectable people drinking bourbon," Lamb said; before that, it was seen as a drink for those who were down on their luck. You'll recognize it by its distinctive red wax seal.

The EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking Festival continues until Sunday (May 3).