Whiskey and Some Water

This was another day of test barrels for us. We had two new sizes down, each filled with two new types of juice. The big barrel was a 2 gallon monster filled with silver rum from a south Florida distillery. We began a relationship with them a few months ago and were running a test batch to see how it ages at scale. The second was a little 1 liter guy that we had filled with Angels Envy for my father in law. He wanted to know how it would work with bourbon as he’s a big collector and he wanted to give all his bourbon friends something unique for Christmas.

It was late morning when I met up with Eddie and his girlfriend Corin at the coffee stand down the street from their house. It’s a little community meeting place in the middle of a back parking lot where Kenzo has set up a coffee shop built into the back of a Kei truck. We sat for awhile and talked about how good we thought the weather would be, Eddie beat Corin at backgammon, and we drove the 5 minutes back to their house to pick up the gear.

We decided it would be a good day to go lobstering on the way back in, but my mask and fins are still in the Bahamas so I tried on the loaners from Eddie’s closet until I got some that fit. Corin made some eggs and we had a quick breakfast after the kayaks were strapped up. We emptied the big cooler, put it in the back of the car for the barrels and took off north.

The drive was quick. We had left a bit later than we wanted to so the traffic was light, mostly just us and an old Ferrari 308 on the highway. When we stopped at Publix for Ritz crackers and water and beer, I realized I had left the fins at Eddie’s when I got distracted by breakfast. Ok great, across the street then to go rent a set of fins from the dive school. They’re good people and got us what we needed for the day.

The second oh shit moment came when we realized that there was only one paddle strapped in between the two kayaks. This time it was Eddie’s oversight. 

‘No problem, there’s a state park not to far up the beach and I’m pretty sure they rent kayaks.’

We hadn’t even found parking yet, so we shot straight to the park to find another paddle. Once inside the parking gate we sipped our beers in the AC with the windows rolled up, noticing the ‘no alcohol beyond this point’ sign along the road. Too late, booze was the business of the day. If you’re going to be on the water all day you need to stay carbohydrated. 

‘Hey man do you have a paddle we can borrow so we can go get something?’

The guy working the rental stand was unbothered as he fed the long kayak paddle through the window. We thanked him and skipped our way past the line of fat French pensioners coming off the beach after a leathery morning of sun.

Ok, back to the load-in point. We parked, got the kayaks loaded and changed next to the car, in full view of the bar at the beach. The four-top at the edge of the deck tried hard to focus on their lobster Benedict and bloodies as Eddie sprayed down his suit and squeeze into the open-cell neoprene outfit. We picked up the kayaks and shot down the beach to the slip and straight into the surf. 

The sky was clear but the wind had picked up to about 12 knots and the tide was coming in so we had a little bit of a fight on the way out there. Nothing crazy, mostly 2-4 ft swells on our way out to the first reef line. Today we were able to get on the barrels pretty quickly and the wind didn’t push us back very far as Eddie strapped on his mask and fins. He found them quickly and we hauled them into the boat within 5 or 6 minutes. The vacuum-seal bag on the big one hadn’t locked and it was filled with water, but the barrel was clean so it all looked good. The small barrel was still sealed in the dry bag and had been floating 2-3 feet off the bottom, which is ideal. Water will get in no matter what, but a sunken bag is a sign of a burst barrel.

With our one goal for the day accomplished, we decided to pick our way slowly back to shore, following the refine in and looking for lobsters as we went. Rather than paddle the whole way, we both swam, pulling the rum-laden kayaks behind us. This was Monday afternoon in November and the weekend had been beautiful which meant that the lobsters were all but cleaned out. We swam along for 3 hours or so without luck until a cloud of moon jellies forced us back up into the boats. A Remora hung out with us the whole way and I was reminded of the Ferrari on the highway.

The sun was touching the horizon by the time we got to the last shallow reef and the visibility underwater was almost nothing. We could only see into the coral valleys and under ledges by swimming through the top layer of murk with our flashlights and skimming along the bottom. Finally we spotted an antenna from under a ledge, but unfortunately he was tiny. 10 more minutes of looking, we said, and then we’re headed in. Naturally, as soon as you commit to heading back in then the lobsters come out, as if to tease you that you were about to give up. A big one poked his head out but refused to come into the open. Even with some aggressive coaxing with the tickle stick he stayed put. We could see another 5 way back in there, too far to reach with the snare.

Fine, back to shore it is.

We made it right up to the low tide mark when both kayaks flipped in the surf, sending our gear flying. Frantically I flipped mine right ways up and we hauled the barrels into it before scrabbling for our fins, masks, nets and paddles. We managed to get it all piled back into the boats and hauled them back to the car to get loaded. Two boats loaded with barrels sure feel a lot heavier after 4+ hours in the water.

A quick rinse, change, and we sat at the bar for a painkiller before leaving. I don’t think the bartender knew what ‘level 2’ meant, but they had mostly the right ingredients. Once back in the car we realized the net hadn’t made it back into the kayak so we spent another 15 minutes wading into the surf, this time in the pitch black, searching the bottom in the dark with a single flashlight. Amazingly, we found it. A lobster net designed to be almost invisible underwater and we found it in 2 feet of surf after dusk with a flashlight. 

We drove back to the bar to open the barrels with Billy. The lab smelled of ginger and limes, he was batching falernum. I cleared a dish cart and Eddie hauled out the liter barrel of bourbon. It was slippery from the bag but otherwise in great shape. Three or four passes through the strainer gave us about 950ml of beautifully clear amber liquid that smelled of salted caramel and oak. The 2 gallon barrel needed a rinse before we whacked the stopper off, but the juice had turned out pretty ok. What went in as an odorous silver rum came out a pale gold with a surprisingly tame sweetness from the char. It hadn’t picked up as much salinity as the bourbon but carried the same heavier mouthfeel. Overall a good outcome.