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Bourbon: What are you sipping on?

Had a pour of Michters 10 last night after hearing a lot of trusted recommendations and it just missed the mark with me.

Seemed very 'hot' and in mature for a sub 100 proof bourbon. Two large cubes helped, but never found much to it. Big disappointment.

Followed up with a George T Stagg. That never disappoints.
 
Just bought some 'Old Scout Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 7 year'. 51% corn and a lot of rye on the other side. I don't care for rye's or even high rye content. I don't love the flavor profile here, but it is very easy to drink with none of that characteristic rye 'back end'. It is not KY though, WV. First non KY bottle I have ever bought.

Rye honks would like this. Good blend of traditional bourbon with rye characteristics.
 
My go to liquor store said they had two bottles of the 23 year old Elijah Craig, $300 each. Just checked on the reviews and----although a very good bourbon, not good enough for me to throw down that kind of cash.

(I also noticed that the recommended retail price should be $200.)
 
It's really gotten stupid. There are very good bottles that are widely available so I have a hard time paying more than $50 for anything. Eagle Rare, WT Rare Breed, 46, Michters Sour, etc. All are easy to get and delicious. Hard to think anything is worth $300 per.
 
Originally posted by TKE_:
Just bought some 'Old Scout Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 7 year'. 51% corn and a lot of rye on the other side. I don't care for rye's or even high rye content. I don't love the flavor profile here, but it is very easy to drink with none of that characteristic rye 'back end'. It is not KY though, WV. First non KY bottle I have ever bought.

Rye honks would like this. Good blend of traditional bourbon with rye characteristics.
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i really like old scout's picks. it's all sourced bourbon from MGP in lawrenceburg. i think their own distillate is about to come of age soon, though. i've had three of four varieties...the 10yr, 2 7yrs and a 6 year single barrel, all have been very good and pretty consistent. the aged rye was very good, as well.
 
With me, most bourbons/American Whiskeys get a "good" rating, a few get a love rating. Even the bottles I don't "love" I enjoy. This falls in the good for me. For a seven year this stuff is dark.

The only mid to premium I have had that I didn't like was Town Branch, but I think my bottle had a bad cork.
 
There aren't a ton of bourbons that are just undrinkable. I particularly don't like Woodford (double oaked is just okay), and the town branch stuff is pretty mediocre.

But most is drinkable with a couple exceptions. I really dislike the flavor profile of the lower end Beam stuff (white label)...it needs age or it tastes sort of "stale" to me. granted, that may be because I pretty much substituted it for water for most of my college years...

I recently picked up another bottle of Stagg Jr, Parker's heritage Wheat Whiskey, and a couple more Four Roses private selections along with most of the Smooth ambler stuff.

Old Scout is nice, especially on the ryes, but the bourbons coming out of MGP seem to lack something for me...they're fine, but even the ones aged 10 years taste like they have almost no age on them. Not sure if it's the aging locations, barrel char levels, or what, but they lack that barrel character you expect out of 7-10 year old products. It works fine with rye...you just get a more citrus character. but bourbons taste thin to me without some oakiness.
 
It's probably been mentioned in here already (not going to scroll back through), but with Costco opening in Lexington, has anyone purchased their Kirkland brand of small batch bourbon? I thought it was pretty decent, especially at 21 dollars for a litre bottle (instead a fifth). It's 7 years old, but other than that, I thought it tasted a lot like Knob Creek.

I took some to a party recently, and sure enough, a friend of mine that works for Beam told me that might be a safe assumption (wink wink)

It's bottled at 103 proof.
 
I've had the Kirkland and thought it was better than many labeled brands at a much better price. Liked in better than Jefferson's VSB standard selection.

It's great to keep around for your friends that want to mix and the sippers too as they are usually surprised.

Stagg Jr gets poo poo'd by some, but I really like the stuff. Have gravitated toward the barrel proofs of late.
 
Nashville Whiskey Festival this weekend at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Whiskies from all over the world for your tasting pleasure. See more information at nashvillewhiskeyfestival.com
 
Anyone know where I might be able to find Buffalo Trace Antique Collection? Everywhere I've tried in NKy says they've come and gone.
 
Just got ahold of the Bulleit 10yr. Love it. Especially the smokiness at the end. Big fan.
 
Just bought a bottle of 8 yr old OLD CHARTER..80 proof...Very nice and inexpensive bourbon. Rare too.
 
Originally posted by bigbluedon:
Just bought a bottle of 8 yr old OLD CHARTER..80 proof...Very nice and inexpensive bourbon. Rare too.
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Nobody ever talks about it, but OC 8 (and the 10) are really good bargains for some damn good bourbon.
 
All the Buffalo Trace products are at the very least solid sippers.

OC is right in line with the low rye Benchmark and Buffalo Trace bottlings. Very nice flavor profile across the board.

I do miss the AAA 10 year, I have to admit.
 
Originally posted by TKE_:

Originally posted by WettCat:
Picked up a bottle of Barterhouse this weekend. Not impressed at all, in fact it had a strange taste not related to any bourbon I've ever had---almost like a chalk flavor. Strange.
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Was totally disappointed in it as well.
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Agreed. It's not horrible or "chalky" to me (mine are from the first batch early in the year), but I find it without body and thin. However, I tried it as a mixer with Coke last weekend and it was pretty good. Amazing what different flavors come out when you use it in different ways (neat, on ice, ginger, or Coke).

Last night I cracked Parker's Heritage Wheated. Pretty darned good, but needed a bit of ice to cut that cask strength down a bit. Maker's Cask Strength was also surprisingly good considering I'm not a Maker's fan. Tasted nothing at all like a Maker's Mark, which is perfectly OK with me.
 
I finally cracked a bottle of Elijah Craig 12yr that I have had for several years (gift for a baptism) and it was good. Not fantastic, but certainly a fine drink on the rocks or neat. Always overlook this bottle in the shop.
 
Hey Bill, just picked up a bottle of Rowan's Creek and not sure what I think about it. Spicy as hell, but the long finish with hazelnuts and molasses. Obviously, I'm no flavor ID kinda drinker, but that is what I taste. Didn't It like it neat, but on ice it is really good. Different than my typical flavor profile preference, but I like.

My question to you is this:

The rye has got to be sky high here, right? If I was blind tasting I'd say this was a rye with smokey bourbon like tones, but a rye none the less.

This post was edited on 11/2 10:13 PM by TKE_
 
For me, Bourbon season is from Fall to Spring. Finally got to sit down and have a few this past weekend. Knob Creek and Basil Hayden (unique bourbons are harder to come by up in the northeast).

Glad to have it back, and it's always great on a cold/snowy/windy day.... but damn, I don't miss the hangovers. I was crippled for most of Saturday.
 
Originally posted by TKE_:
Hey Bill, just picked up a bottle of Rowan's Creek and not sure what I think about it. Spicy as hell, but the long finish with hazelnuts and molasses. Obviously, I'm no flavor ID kinda drinker, but that is what I taste. Didn't It like it neat, but on ice it is really good. Different than my typical flavor profile preference, but I like.

My question to you is this:

The rye has got to be sky high here, right? If I was blind tasting I'd say this was a rye with smokey bourbon like tones, but a rye none the less.


This post was edited on 11/2 10:13 PM by TKE_
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I sort of agree...the only reason it's "sort of" is that I'm not 100% sure that KBD is using a consistent source for any of their branded bourbons any longer. Clearly, the Noah's Mill bottled today is a completely different whiskey than what was bottled 3 years ago. Not only is it no longer 15 years old, it's not labeled straight bourbon any more. I'm told it's a mixture of multiple mash bills (both wheated and rye) as well.

Rowan's creek has gone the same route, to my taste. it used to be very clearly Heaven Hill juice, but now I'm not sure at all. They're pretty much right across the street from HH's warehouses, so I'm sure they get a lot of their distillate there, but I also think they've started getting a lot of bourbon from MGP now, too, and mixing that into their batches.

So I've Rowan's that tasted spicy and citrusy (I would guess that's the MGP influence), but I also currently have a bottle that was dull and kinda lifeless. So it's very hit and miss, for me. The last bottles of both rowan's and Noah's mill I tasted were horrid. And then my buddy shared a bottle of NM just 6 weeks ago that was one of the better KBD bottles I've ever had outside of some older Willett Family Estate bottles from a couple years back. Inconsistency.

The "boom" has really hurt KBD, in my opinion. it's hard to get enough stock on the secondary market to meet demand for their independent bottled products. I think that's why they started distilling again at Willett.
This post was edited on 11/3 9:04 AM by ModernThirst_Bill
 
That all makes sense to me. I went and read yours and others reviews and they seem to be all over the map. Long finish, short finish, sweet, dry, etc. This bottle I just got at Costco doesn't taste like someone was trying to make the best traditional type bourbon, but as if it was an experiment with some type of novelty flavor enhancement.

I don't hate it, just was not what I was expecting. I'll finish the bottle and enjoy it (OTR is best), but it's not a bottle I will likely pick up again. I do know it's a Willet, but it sure didn't taste anything like the Willet I had and if it is now MGP it sure didn't taste like the Smooth Ambler which I think is MGP too, right?
 
The Old Scout stuff from Smooth Ambler is MGP. The yearling and other Smooth Ambler stuff is their own distillate.


I don't think anything KBD bottles is straight MGP, but I think they mix it into their batches with other distillate.

The one thing I keep getting from Rowan's Creek these days is youth. It's younger bourbon than it used to be. that's a sad function of the bourbon boom. I just got a bottle of Kentucky Vintage last weekend, another KBD bottling. I'm interested to see if it's suffering from the same issues.

Ultimately, I'm just sort of passing the years until the Willett distillate is old enough to bottle. The 2 Year rye they produced has potential. It's a little white-doggish at the moment, but I think age is going to be good for it.

I was a huge fan of Willett until the last 10 months or so, when I think their business model hit a wall as aged, good bourbon has become more expensive and harder to find on the secondary market. Luckily, they saw it in advance and built that still back in 2012. So I expect a resurgence, but that will take a lot of time.
Right now, the big producers are the place to go for great bourbon. Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Buffalo trace...they're the ones with a lot of aged stock, still. All the smaller craft distillers are sourcing it,have younger stocks, or far less quantity. four Roses and Heaven Hill in particular have had a great couple years of releases. From standard stuff to their limited releases.
This post was edited on 11/3 9:52 AM by ModernThirst_Bill
 
Anyone had the High West Midwinter Night's Dram? Local shop here has only 4 bottles remaining, but at $80 each I wanted to dig around before pulling the trigger. Some friends say it's awesome (it's a rye/bourbon blend I believe).
 
haven't had any of the high west stuff yet. I have a bottle or two of wild turkey's bourbon/rye blend... "forgiven." It's okay.

I have a backlog of bourbons I haven't opened yet that I need to get to soon before buying too much more.

Edit: And after writing that, I ambled on over to the Evan Williams Experience Gift Shop today and found they'd restocked 8th edition Parker's Heritage. So, naturally, I had to buy a second bottle.
This post was edited on 11/3 12:46 PM by ModernThirst_Bill
 
I was in the neighborhood so I went in and found no Parker's. Sad face.
 
At the Evan Williams Experience in Louisville????? They had 10 or 12 left at noon today. Did you look in the case by the front windows where they have all the 23 year Evan Williams?




This was one of two displays when I left:





This post was edited on 11/3 2:56 PM by ModernThirst_Bill
 
Well shit. I thought I looked everywhere. Was there around 2. How often do they restock it?
 
Picked up a bottle of Willet pot still reserve last Friday. Wife liked the bottle and asked if I would drink it. She was serious.

Very good bourbon in my opinion. Easy to drink. Two fingers, one cube, let it set for about five minutes, enjoy.
 
Originally posted by ModernThirst_Bill:
Originally posted by TheDude73:


Originally posted by TKE_:
I was in the neighborhood so I went in and found no Parker's. Sad face.
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I managed 3 bottles out here in Colorado.
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For my money, it's the best release of 2014 to date.
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Definitely. I got one to try, asked the store to hold the other two for me, opened it at home that afternoon, and immediately went back and got the other two.
 
Originally posted by TKE_:
Well shit. I thought I looked everywhere. Was there around 2. How often do they restock it?
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They had been out for a few weeks before I heard they got a shipment Friday, so I went over yesterday. There isn't a set schedule. I did hear that HH is releasing a second bottling of it in the next few months, ABV is something like .3 lower, but otherwise the same.

You can always call the gift shop and ask if they have it. They've always been really helpful and friendly when I call (I sort of phone stalked them about the last release of Barrel Proof Elijah Craig):

502-584-2114
option 3
Ext 810


They have three more limited release bourbons due out before the end of the year. I believe they'll be gift-shop only, but I don't have confirmation on that yet. I linked a post about it below.

I took a quick sip of Rowan's Creek last night from a friend's newly opened bottle, and I did a bit of rye spice. When I get back from next week's business trip, I may do a side-by-side with Old Grand Dad BiB to see if there are any similarities. I'm wondering if they may be sourcing from Jim beam these days, as OGD/Basil Hayden is a fairly high rye recipe too.





This post was edited on 11/4 8:35 AM by ModernThirst_Bill

This post was edited on 11/4 11:50 AM by ModernThirst_Bill

Modern Thirst: 3 New Limited Release Bourbons
 
Thx. I'll call them today. Not sure if they can sell on election day or did they get rid of that law?
 
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