Bourbon

[Party_Taco 3908]

Bumped into a distro at the regular spot today who mentioned new ER and BT SiB dropping in November, so get your wallets ready.

Meanwhile, today features some tasty mid-tiers:

[Eggo 4026]

I've quite enjoyed my 1792 Full Proof pick from Total Wine. Reminded me of the Garrison barrel proof from there but better and 70% cheaper. 

[Wanker Bob 379]

Jefferson's Ocean - $100

Jefferson's Very old - $60

Jefferson's Small Batch - $50

Any of these worth buying?

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

5 minutes ago, Wanker Bob said:

Jefferson's Ocean - $100

Jefferson's Very old - $60

Jefferson's Small Batch - $50

Any of these worth buying?

No. I like Jefferson's Twin Oak. Total' Wine's pick was pretty good, but this was a couple years back. 

[henrygandorf 29230]

nice little trip to the grocery store today.

[Herbie Hancock 7506]

You walked into a grocery store and found all of that at a reasonable price?

[ISUCyclones 216]

nice little trip to the grocery store today.

That's insanity

[ISUCyclones 216]

nice little trip to the grocery store today.

Jesus I didn't even notice the eh barrel proof. My God man

[henrygandorf 29230]

39 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

You walked into a grocery store and found all of that at a reasonable price?

the short answer, is yes.

the longer answer is that a few months ago, as we were ordering our groceries either thru instacart or thru the pavilions website, i started noticing some allocated bottles that appeared to be in stock.  stagg jr, blantons, bt kosher, etc.  but if you ordered them, they wouldn't come, obviously.  nothing is that easy.  but knowing that they were at least in their system made me think they'd pop up here and there and i needed a man on the inside.

i called a couple of the stores, including the one around the corner from me in weho.  turns out he's a bourbon chaser too, and we got to talking, and exchanged numbers.  he complained that their location doesn't get as much of the good stuff as one particular one about 20 min away from me.  he said they just opened and they had a ton of stuff, and to call (he gave me a girl's name) and that he trained her and to drop his name.

so i called her, this was about a month ago.  and she had the bt kosher wheat and rye recipe.  i had her put them aside for me, and went out there to purchase (i posted a pic of the 3 bottles i snagged).  when i was there, i spoke to a few of their employees and a liquor rep, and tried to make it clear that when cool shit came, they needed to text me.  i'm sure others are on that list too, but whatever.  i never heard from anyone there.

fast-forward to today, i texted him, because i needed to do another grocery order, and he said that he was pissed because that other store was getting all the good shit.  so i called the girl again, and she was like, let me see what we have, hold on.  she came back and said "we have an eh taylor, a weller, kosher rye recipe, george dickel blue bottle, stagg, jr" and before she finished talking, i said "put everything aside for me, i'm on my way".

when i got there, i found her, and obviously none of this stuff is on the shelf.  and i started talking with her, and she was like "yeah, i want to take good care of you, because (his name) trained me, and he's awesome".  i don't know him, but she thinks we're pals, so whatever.  she comes out with weller sr (hard to find here), dickel bottled in bond, eht small batch, stagg jr, and 2 rye recipes.  i told her that i already had the weller (a lie) and the small batch (truth) and wasn't interested in the dickel (truth) so just the kosher ryes and i was excited about the stagg jr. 

then we talked more, and she said she thought there was another eht, and she would go look.  i told her that i was interested in any other eht other than sb, and to find me anything of interest, since it's all in the back, and reserved for "special" customers or whatever the fuck.  she came back with eht bp, 4r le, and rock hill.  i had a mini-stroke in the liquor department of the grocery store.  i was texting photos to @hugeand @Hank Kingsley and @NOMAAA and @Ramsalot at this point.  i made sure she had my cell phone number and also gave her a $20.

it seemed to take forever because she had to check on pricing, and had to make a couple of phone calls, because a couple of those bottles are barely in their system and weren't registering.  there's the normal price (inflated), the club price (standard grocery store stuff) and the 6 bottle price (6 bottles of anything earns you another 10% off).  i got peer pressured into buying the 4r, but was going to buy the rest anyway, so fuck it.  i was going to leave the rye recipes, because i was already at 6 counting the two bottles of wine i bought the wife for obvious reasons.

then when we got to the register, the rock hill wasn't coming up, so they had to type it manually.  it also wouldn't trigger the 6 bottle discount, so i went back and got a kosher rye for good measure.  the first item on the receipt is the rock hill.  the juggernaut is the wine.

 

straight cash homey.

[huge 3831]

Yes sometimes good things happen to bad people...

[H_Boogie 80]

I could legit feel the range of emotions experienced throughout that saga and final exchange. Well done.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

['stache 22148]

Good lord, well done.

['stache 22148]

On 10/5/2020 at 4:18 PM, Buzzrock said:

Possible Unpopular opinion alert.

Bottles that have languished on my bar because I just don’t dig em:

Russel’s Reserve 10 Year
Legent
Maker’s Mark Private Select
Four Roses Small Batch Select
Pure Kentucky Small Batch

My unpopular opinion is that I’m not a big fan of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. Finishing it off now to open space in my booze cabinet.

[henrygandorf 29230]

9 minutes ago, huge said:

Yes sometimes good things happen to bad people...

it be like that sometimes.

8 minutes ago, H_Boogie said:

I could legit feel the range of emotions experienced throughout that saga and final exchange. Well done.

i paint with my words.

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

the short answer, is yes.

the longer answer is that a few months ago, as we were ordering our groceries either thru instacart or thru the pavilions website, i started noticing some allocated bottles that appeared to be in stock.  stagg jr, blantons, bt kosher, etc.  but if you ordered them, they wouldn't come, obviously.  nothing is that easy.  but knowing that they were at least in their system made me think they'd pop up here and there and i needed a man on the inside.

i called a couple of the stores, including the one around the corner from me in weho.  turns out he's a bourbon chaser too, and we got to talking, and exchanged numbers.  he complained that their location doesn't get as much of the good stuff as one particular one about 20 min away from me.  he said they just opened and they had a ton of stuff, and to call (he gave me a girl's name) and that he trained her and to drop his name.

so i called her, this was about a month ago.  and she had the bt kosher wheat and rye recipe.  i had her put them aside for me, and went out there to purchase (i posted a pic of the 3 bottles i snagged).  when i was there, i spoke to a few of their employees and a liquor rep, and tried to make it clear that when cool shit came, they needed to text me.  i'm sure others are on that list too, but whatever.  i never heard from anyone there.

fast-forward to today, i texted him, because i needed to do another grocery order, and he said that he was pissed because that other store was getting all the good shit.  so i called the girl again, and she was like, let me see what we have, hold on.  she came back and said "we have an eh taylor, a weller, kosher rye recipe, george dickel blue bottle, stagg, jr" and before she finished talking, i said "put everything aside for me, i'm on my way".

when i got there, i found her, and obviously none of this stuff is on the shelf.  and i started talking with her, and she was like "yeah, i want to take good care of you, because (his name) trained me, and he's awesome".  i don't know him, but she thinks we're pals, so whatever.  she comes out with weller sr (hard to find here), dickel bottled in bond, eht small batch, stagg jr, and 2 rye recipes.  i told her that i already had the weller (a lie) and the small batch (truth) and wasn't interested in the dickel (truth) so just the kosher ryes and i was excited about the stagg jr. 

then we talked more, and she said she thought there was another eht, and she would go look.  i told her that i was interested in any other eht other than sb, and to find me anything of interest, since it's all in the back, and reserved for "special" customers or whatever the fuck.  she came back with eht bp, 4r le, and rock hill.  i had a mini-stroke in the liquor department of the grocery store.  i was texting photos to @hugeand @Hank Kingsley and @NOMAAA and @Ramsalot at this point.  i made sure she had my cell phone number and also gave her a $20.

it seemed to take forever because she had to check on pricing, and had to make a couple of phone calls, because a couple of those bottles are barely in their system and weren't registering.  there's the normal price (inflated), the club price (standard grocery store stuff) and the 6 bottle price (6 bottles of anything earns you another 10% off).  i got peer pressured into buying the 4r, but was going to buy the rest anyway, so fuck it.  i was going to leave the rye recipes, because i was already at 6 counting the two bottles of wine i bought the wife for obvious reasons.

then when we got to the register, the rock hill wasn't coming up, so they had to type it manually.  it also wouldn't trigger the 6 bottle discount, so i went back and got a kosher rye for good measure.  the first item on the receipt is the rock hill.  the juggernaut is the wine.

 

straight cash homey.

Holy shit. 

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

1 hour ago, 'stache said:

My unpopular opinion is that I’m not a big fan of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. Finishing it off now to open space in my booze cabinet.

I’ve had batches I haven’t liked. The quality swings pretty wildly. It’s the only  bourbon that can swing from bourbon of the year in one batch, to do not buy in the next batch. 

[Eggo 4026]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

the short answer, is yes.

the longer answer is that a few months ago, as we were ordering our groceries either thru instacart or thru the pavilions website, i started noticing some allocated bottles that appeared to be in stock.  stagg jr, blantons, bt kosher, etc.  but if you ordered them, they wouldn't come, obviously.  nothing is that easy.  but knowing that they were at least in their system made me think they'd pop up here and there and i needed a man on the inside.

i called a couple of the stores, including the one around the corner from me in weho.  turns out he's a bourbon chaser too, and we got to talking, and exchanged numbers.  he complained that their location doesn't get as much of the good stuff as one particular one about 20 min away from me.  he said they just opened and they had a ton of stuff, and to call (he gave me a girl's name) and that he trained her and to drop his name.

so i called her, this was about a month ago.  and she had the bt kosher wheat and rye recipe.  i had her put them aside for me, and went out there to purchase (i posted a pic of the 3 bottles i snagged).  when i was there, i spoke to a few of their employees and a liquor rep, and tried to make it clear that when cool shit came, they needed to text me.  i'm sure others are on that list too, but whatever.  i never heard from anyone there.

fast-forward to today, i texted him, because i needed to do another grocery order, and he said that he was pissed because that other store was getting all the good shit.  so i called the girl again, and she was like, let me see what we have, hold on.  she came back and said "we have an eh taylor, a weller, kosher rye recipe, george dickel blue bottle, stagg, jr" and before she finished talking, i said "put everything aside for me, i'm on my way".

when i got there, i found her, and obviously none of this stuff is on the shelf.  and i started talking with her, and she was like "yeah, i want to take good care of you, because (his name) trained me, and he's awesome".  i don't know him, but she thinks we're pals, so whatever.  she comes out with weller sr (hard to find here), dickel bottled in bond, eht small batch, stagg jr, and 2 rye recipes.  i told her that i already had the weller (a lie) and the small batch (truth) and wasn't interested in the dickel (truth) so just the kosher ryes and i was excited about the stagg jr. 

then we talked more, and she said she thought there was another eht, and she would go look.  i told her that i was interested in any other eht other than sb, and to find me anything of interest, since it's all in the back, and reserved for "special" customers or whatever the fuck.  she came back with eht bp, 4r le, and rock hill.  i had a mini-stroke in the liquor department of the grocery store.  i was texting photos to @hugeand @Hank Kingsley and @NOMAAA and @Ramsalot at this point.  i made sure she had my cell phone number and also gave her a $20.

it seemed to take forever because she had to check on pricing, and had to make a couple of phone calls, because a couple of those bottles are barely in their system and weren't registering.  there's the normal price (inflated), the club price (standard grocery store stuff) and the 6 bottle price (6 bottles of anything earns you another 10% off).  i got peer pressured into buying the 4r, but was going to buy the rest anyway, so fuck it.  i was going to leave the rye recipes, because i was already at 6 counting the two bottles of wine i bought the wife for obvious reasons.

then when we got to the register, the rock hill wasn't coming up, so they had to type it manually.  it also wouldn't trigger the 6 bottle discount, so i went back and got a kosher rye for good measure.  the first item on the receipt is the rock hill.  the juggernaut is the wine.

 

straight cash homey.

God damnit. 

[drt 647]

And here I was thinking I was lucky to find Weller on the shelf in Austin. 
 

Any opinions on the Balcones Rye? I went with it and the MMPS store pick to round out my trip. 

[deac_tracy 517]

2 hours ago, drt said:

And here I was thinking I was lucky to find Weller on the shelf in Austin. 
 

Any opinions on the Balcones Rye? I went with it and the MMPS store pick to round out my trip. 

Balcones Rye taste more like a scotch then a rye IMO. Lots of chocolate which is weird for a rye.

Still enjoyed it.

[capnamerca 585]

16 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

nice little trip to the grocery store today.

I say this with love - fuck you.

[capnamerca 585]

14 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

the short answer, is yes.

the longer answer is that a few months ago, as we were ordering our groceries either thru instacart or thru the pavilions website, i started noticing some allocated bottles that appeared to be in stock.  stagg jr, blantons, bt kosher, etc.  but if you ordered them, they wouldn't come, obviously.  nothing is that easy.  but knowing that they were at least in their system made me think they'd pop up here and there and i needed a man on the inside.

i called a couple of the stores, including the one around the corner from me in weho.  turns out he's a bourbon chaser too, and we got to talking, and exchanged numbers.  he complained that their location doesn't get as much of the good stuff as one particular one about 20 min away from me.  he said they just opened and they had a ton of stuff, and to call (he gave me a girl's name) and that he trained her and to drop his name.

so i called her, this was about a month ago.  and she had the bt kosher wheat and rye recipe.  i had her put them aside for me, and went out there to purchase (i posted a pic of the 3 bottles i snagged).  when i was there, i spoke to a few of their employees and a liquor rep, and tried to make it clear that when cool shit came, they needed to text me.  i'm sure others are on that list too, but whatever.  i never heard from anyone there.

fast-forward to today, i texted him, because i needed to do another grocery order, and he said that he was pissed because that other store was getting all the good shit.  so i called the girl again, and she was like, let me see what we have, hold on.  she came back and said "we have an eh taylor, a weller, kosher rye recipe, george dickel blue bottle, stagg, jr" and before she finished talking, i said "put everything aside for me, i'm on my way".

when i got there, i found her, and obviously none of this stuff is on the shelf.  and i started talking with her, and she was like "yeah, i want to take good care of you, because (his name) trained me, and he's awesome".  i don't know him, but she thinks we're pals, so whatever.  she comes out with weller sr (hard to find here), dickel bottled in bond, eht small batch, stagg jr, and 2 rye recipes.  i told her that i already had the weller (a lie) and the small batch (truth) and wasn't interested in the dickel (truth) so just the kosher ryes and i was excited about the stagg jr. 

then we talked more, and she said she thought there was another eht, and she would go look.  i told her that i was interested in any other eht other than sb, and to find me anything of interest, since it's all in the back, and reserved for "special" customers or whatever the fuck.  she came back with eht bp, 4r le, and rock hill.  i had a mini-stroke in the liquor department of the grocery store.  i was texting photos to @hugeand @Hank Kingsley and @NOMAAA and @Ramsalot at this point.  i made sure she had my cell phone number and also gave her a $20.

it seemed to take forever because she had to check on pricing, and had to make a couple of phone calls, because a couple of those bottles are barely in their system and weren't registering.  there's the normal price (inflated), the club price (standard grocery store stuff) and the 6 bottle price (6 bottles of anything earns you another 10% off).  i got peer pressured into buying the 4r, but was going to buy the rest anyway, so fuck it.  i was going to leave the rye recipes, because i was already at 6 counting the two bottles of wine i bought the wife for obvious reasons.

then when we got to the register, the rock hill wasn't coming up, so they had to type it manually.  it also wouldn't trigger the 6 bottle discount, so i went back and got a kosher rye for good measure.  the first item on the receipt is the rock hill.  the juggernaut is the wine.

 

straight cash homey.

EHT Barrel for $80. Rock Hill for $51. What the FUCK is happening right now ...

[RichUT 1943]

Balcones Rye taste more like a scotch then a rye IMO. Lots of chocolate which is weird for a rye.
Still enjoyed it.

Definitely this. I picked up the Cask Strength version and was utterly confused by my first pour. The second pour when much better, as I knew what to expect. It’s difficult to think of this one as a Rye but it’s pretty good at the same time.

[henrygandorf 29230]

after yesterday's score, this was completely unnecessary, but i placed the order last week so of course it arrived today...

 

i've been looking forward to this 4r for a while, and i'll actually open and drink this one.  he sold me on the wathen's, but i have no idea.  read mixed reviews online.

[thrillhammer 686]

been on the hunt for all of the buffalo trace unicorns because I've heard they're out, along with ofbb, little book, boston batch, and parker heritage.  cant find shit, but I did run into a pinhook bohemian and picked that up.  anybody tried it?  it was on my recommended list and first time ive seen it.

I am at the point where my bourbon shelf if full and overflowing, so to make room I had the idea of killing all the open bottles that I have duplicate unopen bottles of, so right now am working on McKenna 10, etl, stagg jr, eagle rare, and 1920.  I've gone through a pour of each so far, and started round 2 tonight.  of the 5, McKenna 10 is my least favorite - lightest, blandest, least complex.  eagle rare is the sweetest of the 5.  something about their mashbill or process really brings out the corn sugars.  I actually like the sweet bourbons, I think it cuts the burn some, but my favorites are the etl and stagg jr, with heavy weight on the etl.  such depth of flavor there.  I taste the handcraftedness.  when you sip it you get the feeling love went into making it.  1920, like all the old forester, is the most unique.  its one bourbon I think I could pick out in a blind tasting.  doesn't matter which year, I could pick out the old forester.  it would be my 4th favorite, but just barely behind the er10.

 

[TxTower 686]

Does anyone have an affinity for Whistlepig? Haven’t seen it mentioned on here.

[Herbie Hancock 7506]

Overpriced by a lot in my opinion. I’d rather have Buffalo Trace or 4R

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

20 minutes ago, TxTower said:

Does anyone have an affinity for Whistlepig? Haven’t seen it mentioned on here.

The 10 year barrel strength SiB/store picks are pretty good and priced OK. I normally don’t like the 100% ryes. I’ll never buy a Boss Hog. 

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

1 hour ago, thrillhammer said:

been on the hunt for all of the buffalo trace unicorns because I've heard they're out, along with ofbb, little book, boston batch, and parker heritage.  cant find shit, but I did run into a pinhook bohemian and picked that up.  anybody tried it?  it was on my recommended list and first time ive seen it.

I am at the point where my bourbon shelf if full and overflowing, so to make room I had the idea of killing all the open bottles that I have duplicate unopen bottles of, so right now am working on McKenna 10, etl, stagg jr, eagle rare, and 1920.  I've gone through a pour of each so far, and started round 2 tonight.  of the 5, McKenna 10 is my least favorite - lightest, blandest, least complex.  eagle rare is the sweetest of the 5.  something about their mashbill or process really brings out the corn sugars.  I actually like the sweet bourbons, I think it cuts the burn some, but my favorites are the etl and stagg jr, with heavy weight on the etl.  such depth of flavor there.  I taste the handcraftedness.  when you sip it you get the feeling love went into making it.  1920, like all the old forester, is the most unique.  its one bourbon I think I could pick out in a blind tasting.  doesn't matter which year, I could pick out the old forester.  it would be my 4th favorite, but just barely behind the er10.

 

Which year on McKenna 10? All of the 2019 SiBs I’ve tasted are slamming. 

[Bozo_Casanova 26925]

Haven’t had a bad one

44 minutes ago, TxTower said:

Does anyone have an affinity for Whistlepig? Haven’t seen it mentioned on here.

I like it a lot, it’s just expensive for what it is. 

Edited October 9, 2020 by Bozo_Casanova

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

23 hours ago, drt said:

And here I was thinking I was lucky to find Weller on the shelf in Austin. 
 

Any opinions on the Balcones Rye? I went with it and the MMPS store pick to round out my trip. 

I think Balcones should focus on their  Malt Whiskeys and Blue Corn. The Shiner Malt was interesting and priced well. There are scotch guys out there on a bourbon budget. If they could flip the J&B and Cutty guys to their malts, they could make a mint. 

[Party_Taco 3908]

Got damn, sometimes I really do miss California...

That’s one hell of a score!

[thrillhammer 686]

10 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Which year on McKenna 10? All of the 2019 SiBs I’ve tasted are slamming. 

the one i'm drinking was barreled on 8/9/08.  the one I have unopened was barreled on 12/17/08.

[TxTower 686]

I like it a lot, it’s just expensive for what it is. 

The WP 10yr for $65 and 10 yr SiB store picks for $85 don’t look that outrageous to me. Even the 6 yr is only a little over $40. Was wondering if anyone had tried them.

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

5 minutes ago, TxTower said:

The WP 10yr for $65 and 10 yr SiB store picks for $85 don’t look that outrageous to me. Even the 6 yr is only a little over $40. Was wondering if anyone had tried them.

Piggyback is solid to good. 
 

I’ve paid around $70 for the 10 year cask strength SiB/store picks. They’re very good, but I wouldn’t spend any more than that on WP.

[huge 3831]

WP is always good and overpriced.  $600 MSRP for Boss Hog, GTFO 

[Carl Spackler 3633]

Yeah, Boss Hog is damn good, but it's not worth $600.  My only time drinking it was when it was on the house, which of course always makes it taste better.

I've got a  TW store pick of the 12-year cask-finished rye.  Think I paid around $75 for it.  It's fine for that price.  Doesn't wow me.  Doesn't grieve me. 

[henrygandorf 29230]

3 hours ago, huge said:

WP is always good and overpriced.  $600 MSRP for Boss Hog, GTFO 

they had a boss hog at the grocery store.  and a little book (i assume ch 4?).

[Herbie Hancock 7506]

Cream of Kentucky 13 for $159. The TW I shop has a very large bourbon section and the bourbon man there is a great guy. No bullshit, no “oh if you like OWA you’ll love this 2 Stars!”, he’s good people and always takes care of me. Hunt him down to get the skinny on CoK13 since I’ve never seen it in the wild before. He admits he doesn’t know much about and has never had it himself. Scans it and shows that it arrived in April and they haven’t sold a single bottle since. He asks if I want to try it and I said nah not for $159. No, he says, do you want a sample right now? Unbeknownst to me my bourbon guy is now the damned store manager. Scans the bottle outbid the system, cracks it and pours me a very heavy drink. Not bad at all. I’d be in at under $90, but $160 is out of the question


Tldr; Cream of Kentucky 13 is good but nowhere near worth the price tag.

[Eggo 4026]

Apparently we're having Maker's this weekend.

[thrillhammer 686]

1 hour ago, henrygandorf said:

they had a boss hog at the grocery store.  and a little book (i assume ch 4?).

your grocery store is better than my grocery store.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2780]

I grabbed a MM 101 yesterday to try.

[GreenspointTexas 9995]

From a friend: On the shelf at specs midtown. Not picking up any


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stork642 4511]

Just saw Sam Houston 14 for $114.  I assume that’s a pretty good price?  A little out of my price range. 

[NOMAAA 1700]

think i paid $95. 

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

19 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Haven’t had a bad one

I like it a lot, it’s just expensive for what it is. 

If by expensive you mean  it's a rye, and it's always too expensive, then yes.  I just can't develop a taste for them straight. Something seems so additive to their flavor, like liquid smoke on a cut of meat.

[huge 3831]

COK13 is about $130 at Houston TW.

I bought a bottle as a gift for a friend after he took me fishing for free.

Next time I go to his house we are going to put a dent in the bottle.  I will report back.

[Herbie Hancock 7506]

I’ve got an 11.5 year old CoK that’s been sitting for over a year. Haven’t had much interest in opening it for whatever reason. After today I may just try and trade it

[henrygandorf 29230]

 

it's amazing the conversations you can have at a grocery store in la when you walk up wearing an astros mask.  same chain, different location.

been a good week.

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

4 hours ago, henrygandorf said:

 

it's amazing the conversations you can have at a grocery store in la when you walk up wearing an astros mask.  same chain, different location.

been a good week.

You better be watching The Sting to celebrate you SOB. 
 

I’ve heard legends about the good stuff just sitting on the shelf on California. It was all true. Every single word. 

[billfromlaketravis 11882]

Are we sure Baker’s SiB is good? Jesus that Beam flavor profile takes some adjusting to. The neck pour is too to get through, but it opens up well.