Bourbon Pairing: Wheat Penny Bourbon®

Ohio loves green!

The favorite Turkey Day side dish in Ohio is the Green Bean Casserole so says Better Homes and Garden. If you don’t agree, you need to take it up with them. Leave it to our own buckeye state to hand out a bourbon pairing challenge. The first challenge, find a top–notch green bean casserole recipe not some run-of-the-mill version. No canned green beans for us. No sir. We found something creative and delicious from Love & Lemons. They say that it’s the only green bean casserole recipe we will ever need, and we agree.

A relative newcomer to the Thanksgiving table, the green bean casserole was invented in the test kitchen at the Campbell Soup company in the mid-20th century. It was originally made with Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup and frozen green beans. It was popular because it was easy, inexpensive and could be made ahead. Very sensible stuff Ohio.

While this version of the dish is a little more challenging the flavor is wonderful and it brings us to the second challenge, pairing a bourbon. It wasn’t as hard as we thought since the recipe has so many elements that are rich in the umami flavor like mushrooms and aged cheese. These often accentuate flavors and as a result less sugar or salt is required to make something sweet or salty, respectively. It was harder to narrow it down!

We chose the original Wheat Penny Bourbon to pair with this Thanksgiving fare. This recipe is quite the umami bomb which, when paired with the Wheat Penny bourbon brings out the sweetness of the wheat in the mash bill, the smokiness and rich toffee flavors of the toasted oak and black cherry wood finish.

We are giving thanks right now!