The Ballyowen Balvenie & Bourbon Golf Event will feature Balvenie single-malt Scotch as well as Hudson Baby Bourbon distilled just up the Thruway at Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner, New York.
Some golfers think they play better with a few beers or 80 proof belts in them. Others think it wiser to abjure such refreshment until the 19th hole. The competition—to be played at Ballyowen, ranked the No. 1 public course in the state this month by New Jersey Monthly’s expert panel—will test these notions.
Two tasting tables will be set up on the course—one on the front nine, one on the back nine—offering roughly .25-ounce snorts of Tullamore Dew Scotch and Tullamore Dew 12-year-old.
On holes one through nine on the Scottish links-style course, 2-person teams will play, appropriately enough, in the Scotch Format, in which both players on a team tee off, the better of the two drives is selected, and the second shot is played from the spot of the better drive by the player who hit the lesser drive. The players then alternate shots and putts until the ball is holed.
On the back nine, the format changes to Better Ball of Partners, in which each of the two players hits a second shot from the spot of the better drive and both continue to hit from the spot of the better shot or putt until the ball is holed.
Golf prizes will be awarded, most likely free rounds of golf or items from the pro shop.
Gabel Erenzo, 33, master distiller at Tuthilltown Spirits, will be on hand to discuss the company’s libations, and each golfer will receive a complimentary commemorative bottle of Hudson Baby Bourbon to take home.
Tuthilltown is the first distillery to be launched in New York State since Prohibition. It brings the popular concept of local and sustainable to all its products. Vodkas are distilled from apples grown at orchards less than 5 miles away, and whiskeys use grain harvested from farms less than 10 miles from the distillery. The featured bourbon was made from 100% New York corn.
The 19th hole will be memorable. At a buffet dinner in the Ballyowen clubhouse pub, eight whiskeys will be available for tasting: Balvenie 12-, 14- and 15-year-old single-malt Scotches, and Tuthilltown’s Hudson Baby Bourbon, unaged Hudson Corn Whiskey, Hudson Four-Grain Bourbon, Hudson Manhattan Rye and Hudson Single Malt Whiskey.
Participants will be able to taste each whiskey once, in a roughly .25-ounce pour. Rocks are available, but the preferred tasting, I am told, is neat with a drop of water.
Erenzo says golfers will be encouraged to abide by the one-taste-of-each unofficial limit. "Otherwise," he says, “you can get inebriated pretty quickly.”
The event—with a 2 pm shotgun start—costs $150 per person and includes golf, range balls, cart, the bottle of commemorative whiskey, samples on the course and in the Ballyowen pub afterwards, and the buffet dinner. Here is the menu, for picky eaters:
Station #1: Smoked Salmon and Blue Fish Platter with Appropriate Accompaniments; Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Chipotle BBQ Sauce.
Station #2: Artisanal Cheeses with Assorted Rustic Breads; Grilled Peaches and Poached Pears.
Station #3: Pork Steamship Round with Natural Jus; Apple Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Filet Mignon with Hudson Bay Steak Sauce.
Station #4: 1/2 Roast Sweet Potatoes with Dark Brown Sugar; Broccoli Rabe with smoked pancetta roasted garlic and olive oil; House made Corn Bread; House Salad with Assorted Dressings
Dessert Table: Assorted Dark Chocolates, Desserts and Homemade Pies from Local Farms.
As in all drinking games, participants must by 21 years or older.
Ballyowen Balvenie & Bourbon Golf Event
tuthilltown.com
Meanwhile…
New Jerseyans recently got into the distilling game again, too, following on the heels of new laws that are spurring the craft beer boom reported in NJM’s March issue.
Despite being the first state to license distilleries, in 1780, New Jersey hadn’t had a new one since Prohibition ended. Then, as reported in NJM, attorney Krista Haley and business partner Brant Braue founded Jersey Artisan Distilling (JAD) in Fairfield this year.
“The Craft Distillery Law passed the Assembly and Senate and is sitting on the Governor’s desk waiting to be signed,” says Haley.
Small batch distilling has been allowed, but licensing fees were so steep they discouraged interest. The bill will drastically reduce those costs and allow JAD to build a tasting room separate from its Fairfield distillery.
The only product JAD is currently producing is Busted Barrel Rum, made with molasses from a Garfield distributor. Area restaurants such as 90 Acres in Peapack-Gladstone, 381 Main in Little Falls and Fitzgerald’s 1928 pub in Glen Ridge are using Busted Barrel in their cocktails.
In August, the rum will hit stores statewide. This fall, JAD plans to create a cranberry rum for the holidays, with all-natural strawberry, blackberry, blueberry and cherry rums coming ext season. Within a year,JAD hopes to launch gin, vodka, whiskey and bourbon.
“Most flavored alcohols use chemicals,” says Haley, “but we have the greatest fruit ever right here. We want to make something that is pure Jersey.”
SUZANNE ZIMMER LOWERY is a food writer, pastry chef and culinary instructor at a number of New Jersey cooking schools. Find out more about her at suzannelowery.com.