Bourbon

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

19 hours ago, Slacks said:

So... How do we get a list of the things to buy in this place? 

I'm a newb, but I like the Bourbons.

I’d ease it into. Old Forester 100 is terrific and $26 for a liter. OF’s master taster or whatever the hell they called Zykan said in a podcast that it contains 8 year old product. 
 

You’re going to have to spend a little more for rye. Bulleit 12 year is very approachable and $45 a bottle. 

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

@USCATX come out and play. Good week at work, and I got 2. What the hell, I’ll crack some RC16.

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

I’m digging this RC16 barrel. Nice white chocolate/dusty note. 

[NOMAAA 1699]

39 minutes ago, billfromlaketravis said:

@USCATX come out and play. Good week at work, and I got 2. What the hell, I’ll crack some RC16.

Found mine in storage last night. Put it back. 

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

4 minutes ago, NOMAAA said:

Found mine in storage last night. Put it back. 

Is it priced OK? 16 year old MGP. $200 seems like a bargain when compared to Wild Turkey’s new pricing model. 

[BigDHornfan 6625]

Found this one at the back of a shelf tonight.
Such an underrated one.

[thrillhammer 686]

On 5/9/2024 at 6:23 PM, Slacks said:

I was wrong. The Bookers was $120.

still a buy.  they are highly sought after.  little books are nice too, but much rarer.

[thrillhammer 686]

On 5/9/2024 at 10:25 PM, Slacks said:

So... How do we get a list of the things to buy in this place? 

I'm a newb, but I like the Bourbons.

most people recommend angels envy as a starter bourbon.  if you're a newbie i would try all those that carl suggested.  store picks i would not recommend since you have to experience the nuance of knob creek before you can appreciate a store pick of knob creek.  makers mark, knob creek, and buffalo trace would be the three mass-batch, on the shelf, <$50 bottles and brands to start with and branch out from.

[thrillhammer 686]

14 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

@USCATX come out and play. Good week at work, and I got 2. What the hell, I’ll crack some RC16.

i have that botte, but didnt remember the story on the back.  what distilleries have closed since 2010?  that surprises me since the onset of the bourbon craze started soon after that.

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

1 minute ago, thrillhammer said:

i have that botte, but didnt remember the story on the back.  what distilleries have closed since 2010?  that surprises me since the onset of the bourbon craze started soon after that.

It’s high rye MGP. Any distilleries that closed, MGP likely put out of business. 

[LCHorn 2749]

1 hour ago, thrillhammer said:

most people recommend angels envy as a starter bourbon.  if you're a newbie i would try all those that carl suggested.  store picks i would not recommend since you have to experience the nuance of knob creek before you can appreciate a store pick of knob creek.  makers mark, knob creek, and buffalo trace would be the three mass-batch, on the shelf, <$50 bottles and brands to start with and branch out from.

I always recommend starting out with Makers.  I think it’s a little on the sweeter side but it’s otherwise just so squarely middle of the road.  Knob Creek and BT are more interesting once you’ve developed a little bit of a palate.    
 

[thrillhammer 686]

 

1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

It’s high rye MGP. Any distilleries that closed, MGP likely put out of business. 

the stories on the back label usually come across as fluff and hogwash.  some kind of marketing ploy to make the bourbon stand out when there is nothing in the bottle to make the bourbon stand out.   i'm not saying its bullshit, but a distillery closing in the last 20 years is like a munitions plant closing during wartime.  there's just too much demand.  ive heard of thefts, and fires, and massive spills, and mergers and buyouts, but am not aware of any closures.

[Hornlover 8915]

5 hours ago, thrillhammer said:

most people recommend angels envy as a starter bourbon.  if you're a newbie i would try all those that carl suggested.  store picks i would not recommend since you have to experience the nuance of knob creek before you can appreciate a store pick of knob creek.  makers mark, knob creek, and buffalo trace would be the three mass-batch, on the shelf, <$50 bottles and brands to start with and branch out from.

There are lots of good Old Forester or Four Roses bourbons that are around $50, readily available, and a step above the mass batch ones. The OF1920 is great. So is Four Roses Single Barrel.

 

[TankedBevo 2495]

My first bottles I purchased were four roses small batch select, legent, and old forester 1910. A very good place to start IMO. 

[Slacks 7019]

9 hours ago, thrillhammer said:

most people recommend angels envy as a starter bourbon.  if you're a newbie i would try all those that carl suggested.  store picks i would not recommend since you have to experience the nuance of knob creek before you can appreciate a store pick of knob creek.  makers mark, knob creek, and buffalo trace would be the three mass-batch, on the shelf, <$50 bottles and brands to start with and branch out from.

Thanks. I guess I need to reclassify myself. I'm not a newb, but not a connoisseur.

I've have a lot of different bourbon's. I have

Eagle Rare, Michters, Weller 12, Basil Hayden 10, Stagg, and Bookers on the shelf now. 

I've had Weller, 1792, Four Roses, Yellow Rose, Angels, Rare Breed, Sazerac Rye, Sagamore Rye, Bullet, Bullet Rye, Woodford Reserve (and Barrell Select), Whistle Pig (and Rye) and a bunch of others I can't recall.

What I don't know is why one is supposedly better than the other and which are must gets or what is a great bargain, etc.

I suppose I could find some lists on the listservnet.

[USCATX 1087]

On 5/10/2024 at 6:47 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

@USCATX come out and play. Good week at work, and I got 2. What the hell, I’ll crack some RC16.

This is the best Texas bourbon of all time.  And by Texas bourbon, I do mean 16 year MGP going for way less than any barrel proof high age MGP I’ve ever seen.  It’s really good and I have an embarrassing amount of backups. 

[Slacks 7019]

14 minutes ago, USCATX said:

This is the best Texas bourbon of all time.  And by Texas bourbon, I do mean 16 year MGP going for way less than any barrel proof high age MGP I’ve ever seen.  It’s really good and I have an embarrassing amount of backups. 

So, if one were making a list, this would be on said list?

[huge 3824]

3 hours ago, Slacks said:

So, if one were making a list, this would be on said list?

So long as you are good with $225

[USCATX 1087]

7 hours ago, Slacks said:

So, if one were making a list, this would be on said list?

This is the list.  

[Slacks 7019]

4 hours ago, huge said:

So long as you are good with $225

I've done worse.

[KeysPhoneWallet 807]

This any good? Boss took a tour and got it for me.

I really like mine, but it needed to open up a bit first.

[RichUT 1922]

I picked up one of the higher proof RC16's and it was severely over oaked. I disliked the first pour but came back to it 2 weeks later to give it another shot. I couldn't even finish that pour, and I never pour whiskey down the drain.

All I am saying is that YMMV on that one. Given the price point, I'd want much more of a sure thing. 

[BigDHornfan 6625]

Who has $7500 burning a hole in their pocket?
Go fuck yourself Buffalo Trace.

[thrillhammer 686]

1 hour ago, BigDHornfan said:

Who has $7500 burning a hole in their pocket?
Go fuck yourself Buffalo Trace.

just what we needed, another unicorn.   they have a vodka that's outrageously priced too.  i'll take the wheatley for $20, thank you.  

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

Spec’s Tumblin’ Dice bourbon pick is good, and I guess priced appropriately. 113 proof 7 year old high rye MGP. 

Edited May 18 by billfromlaketravis

[Yev Kassem 1078]

Had these today. My favorite two were the Old Stagg and Three Feathers

[SurlyGator 956]

No offense, but I would have opted for something on the back table...  

[stork642 4511]

Almost forgot I had this one. This SP is quite good.  

[Yev Kassem 1078]

12 hours ago, SurlyGator said:

No offense, but I would have opted for something on the back table...  

Oh we definitely got into that too. Long afternoon…

[Hornius Emeritus 12779]

On 5/11/2024 at 2:02 PM, Hornlover said:

There are lots of good Old Forester or Four Roses bourbons that are around $50, readily available, and a step above the mass batch ones. The OF1920 is great. So is Four Roses Single Barrel.

 

I am probably a heretic, but I prefer the Four Roses small batch to the single barrel.

[SurlyGator 956]

Different strokes for different folks.  Since BT uses two different mashbills and five different yeast strains for a total of ten different combinations, they have some variety to play with.  I searched online to try to find the breakdown, but no luck.  Small batch is a blend of several of those varieties, whereas single barrell is just one of them.  The standard issue single barrels are always the same variety, but the private label single barrels can be any one of the ten.  BT fanatics try to collect store picks of all ten for comparative (and bragging) purposes.

Bottom line - drink what you like!  If it's less expensive, then bonus!

[PantsTent 2003]

26 minutes ago, SurlyGator said:

 I searched online to try to find the breakdown, but no luck.  Small batch is a blend of several of those varieties, whereas single barrell is just one of them. 

The mashbill combinations are right on the Four Roses website: https://www.fourrosesbourbon.com/bourbon/small-batch

 

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

2 hours ago, SurlyGator said:

Different strokes for different folks.  Since BT uses two different mashbills and five different yeast strains for a total of ten different combinations, they have some variety to play with.  I searched online to try to find the breakdown, but no luck.  Small batch is a blend of several of those varieties, whereas single barrell is just one of them.  The standard issue single barrels are always the same variety, but the private label single barrels can be any one of the ten.  BT fanatics try to collect store picks of all ten for comparative (and bragging) purposes.

Bottom line - drink what you like!  If it's less expensive, then bonus!

Are you referencing Four Roses in this paragraph? 

[Carl Spackler 3610]

12 hours ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

I am probably a heretic, but I prefer the Four Roses small batch to the single barrel.

If you amend this to refer to small batch select, then I would agree -- at least as to a couple of the 4R single barrel recipes I've tried.   

[SurlyGator 956]

7 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Are you referencing Four Roses in this paragraph? 

Yes, 4R, not BT.  Brain fart.  Not enough brown water in the system.

[Txslnghrns 1357]

I do like a good rye. There are some that I prefer. Some that I’m still trying to appreciate (looking at you Bulleit 12). But I saw this one on the shelf. Less than $40. I figured rather than hunt juice that is almost an impossibility to find, why not start trying some of these other readily available choices. There was one called Rocket Top from the same distiller but it was more than double the price. I’ll give this a spin and if I like it maybe I’ll spring for the other.

[Carl Spackler 3610]

17 minutes ago, Txslnghrns said:

I do like a good rye. There are some that I prefer. Some that I’m still trying to appreciate (looking at you Bulleit 12). But I saw this one on the shelf. Less than $40. I figured rather than hunt juice that is almost an impossibility to find, why not start trying some of these other readily available choices. There was one called Rocket Top from the same distiller but it was more than double the price. I’ll give this a spin and if I like it maybe I’ll spring for the other.

I think Redwood Empire puts out quality juice for the price based on my own tastings and reviews I've read.  I like Lost Monarch quite a bit, esp. for around $33.   It's one of my favorite "under $40" bottles.  The cask strength Pipe Dream took some getting used to, but it grew on me. 

Let us know what you think of the rye.  Don't think I've seen Rocket Top out in the wild, but I tend to lean toward bourbon instead of rye, so I may have simply overlooked it on the shelf.  

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

Still haven’t had a bottle I didn’t like. 
 

[bureaucrat 38]

On 5/20/2024 at 8:22 PM, Carl Spackler said:

I think Redwood Empire puts out quality juice for the price based on my own tastings and reviews I've read.  I like Lost Monarch quite a bit, esp. for around $33.   It's one of my favorite "under $40" bottles.  The cask strength Pipe Dream took some getting used to, but it grew on me. 

Let us know what you think of the rye.  Don't think I've seen Rocket Top out in the wild, but I tend to lean toward bourbon instead of rye, so I may have simply overlooked it on the shelf.  

I recently picked up Rocket Top and am really enjoying it. It's rich tasting but still has a spicy finish. My bottle is batch 3 distilled in spring 2018.

[BigDHornfan 6625]

Our group did a fun experiment at Iron Root.
Picked a Single Barrel of their Irish style whiskey and let it age for a further 5 years and then put half of it in a Ruby Port Cask for 6 months.
Released both at the same time so you can see what the finishing cask does to the whiskey.
It’s damn good.
Iron Root is doing some good stuff.

[Yev Kassem 1078]

Fun little Saturday night 

[4th&Five 41902]

Belated birthday present. 

[Bozo_Casanova 26773]

On 5/7/2024 at 9:51 PM, Slacks said:

The Bourbon wall at my cousin's basement in Indy. I haven't seen him in 5 years, so we opened that Heaven Hill.

Good wall! Best things on it are Weller 12 and Craig 18, in part because they are among the very few Bourbons over 10 years old that are not past their prime. 

On 5/16/2024 at 6:50 AM, BigDHornfan said:

Who has $7500 burning a hole in their pocket?
Go fuck yourself Buffalo Trace.

We don’t need to go over this again, but only rarely has a brand ever been pimped worse than BT has turned out Weller. 

On 5/20/2024 at 12:27 AM, Hornius Emeritus said:

I am probably a heretic, but I prefer the Four Roses small batch to the single barrel.

You aren’t a heretic. You are 100% correct. By a lot. 

[Bozo_Casanova 26773]

On 2/6/2020 at 8:55 AM, Bozo_Casanova said:

again, axiomatically -

1) People don’t want to pay for bourbon. They want to pay for bourbon they can’t find.
2) The best bourbon is often hard to get, but the hardest bourbon to get is not usually the best.
3) All good blends are better than all but the best single barrels, and only the absolute best individual barrels are better than the best blends.
4) There’s plenty of good bourbon.
5) Until somebody drinks it, it isn’t any good.

@Slacks keep the above in mind and you’ll be ahead of most people. Especially #3, which is far more true now than it even was the first time I wrote it back on the Shag. 
Don’t chase single barrel bourbon, and don’t pay more than MSRP for anything. Ever.

It makes the chase more fun and the bottom line is that as of right now there’s something obscure on the shelf of Total Wine for like $50 that is better that whatever bottle of Old Frogdick 27 Single Barrel Cask Strength Family Reserve some guy on Instagram says is totally worth $600.

Edited May 28 by Bozo_Casanova

[deac_tracy 517]

Read this review (https://www.breakingbourbon.com/review/two-souls-double-barreled-pumpernickel-rye-featuring-middle-west-spirits) and blind bought it through the distiller's website. Holy shit. Probably one of the best ryes I've ever had. Just super intense. Very cinnamon forward (not like fireball, more like a cinnamon roll), creamy, walnutty with some pumpernickel at the back end. Flavor lingers for a while. Definitely worth it if you can find it on secondary. 

Edited May 29 by deac_tracy

[Bert Orange 1166]

Love me some prohibition PH Stitzel. 

[Slacks 7019]

2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

@Slacks keep the above in mind and you’ll be ahead of most people. Especially #3, which is far more true now than it even was the first time I wrote it back on the Shag. 
Don’t chase single barrel bourbon, and don’t pay more than MSRP for anything. Ever.

It makes the chase more fun and the bottom line is that as of right now there’s something obscure on the shelf of Total Wine for like $50 that is better that whatever bottle of Old Frogdick 27 Single Barrel Cask Strength Family Reserve some guy on Instagram says is totally worth $600.

Thanks for that. I've only bought what I could find in the store. I have a guy who gets me stuff out of the back, so I feel pretty good about it.

From him I've picked up: 

Weller 12, Eagle Rare 10, Booker's (I have to look at which), Larceny 124A, Michters something or other, Stagg, Blanton's Gold, and a plethora of others that are normally on the shelf (Four Roses, etc.)

All at retail.

What I haven't done, is open all of them.

 

 

Edited May 29 by Slacks
Swypo got jokes

[Bozo_Casanova 26773]

10 minutes ago, Slacks said:

What I haven't done, is open all of them.

No time like the present. Try all of them and then grab an Old Forester 1910 and 1920. Both are superlative. Curious which one you’ll like better. 

[billfromlaketravis 11784]

25 minutes ago, Slacks said:

Thanks for that. I've only bought what I could find in the store. I have a guy who gets me stuff out of the back, so I feel pretty good about it.

From him I've picked up: 

Weller 12, Eagle Rare 10, Booker's (I have to look at which), Larceny 124A, Michters something or other, Stagg, Blanton's Gold, and a plethora of others that are normally on the shelf (Four Roses, etc.)

All at retail.

What I haven't done, is open all of them.

 

 

I’d say you’re cleaning up.

[Bozo_Casanova 26773]

1 minute ago, billfromlaketravis said:

I’d say you’re cleaning up.

Anytime somebody gets W12 at retail that’s a hat tip from me