**DONOTDELETE**
06-14-2000, 07:12
For the General Bourbon Topics Board:
> Supposedly, an ole moonshiner showed this trick to a friend of mine and
> I'd like a possible explanation because I think it has merit. Not knowing
> anything about bourbon whiskey except it is my definite preference over all
> adult beverages, this "shake" test has never failed to help me choose a winner.
Of all the brand names that were familiar to me after
> surfing this great website, the top choices were also mine and all due to
> this one test. When I walk to the shelf with all the bourbons, I shake a
> bottle of each brand. The stuff that keeps bubbling the longest is hands down the very
> best. Why is that or has anybody else ever tried this? It works! So far, Beam
> black label (a seven-year-old soldier), Makers Mark, and Wild Turkey have been winners (and in that order), but I did find
> a top winner one time that disappeared from the shelves for some
> reason--called Passport and it was one of the cheapest price-wise, so a
> great value. Too bad it's gone from my local shelves now; probably too good
> to be true, so the company went under or something, huh. Anyway, the "top
> forty" brands like Jim Beam (four-year-old), Old Crow, Evan Williams, Ezra Brooks,
> Ancient Age, Ten High, all flunk this test--the "bead" returns to normal too quickly. These are cheaper brands, for
> the most part, so the test fits, I suppose. Jack Daniels (not a bourbon, I found out, but a Tennesee whiskey) also fails to
> "hold the bead" very long, as this alleged moonshiner phrased it. I not familiar with the premium bourbons like Hirsch and Blantons,
so don't know how they'd fare, but I hope to find out soon assuming this one-horse town (Tucson AZ) carries this kind of quality stuff.
This test does not work with the blends, Scotch, Rum, Vodka, etc....only bourbon whisky, thus
> far, so I thought y'all could fill me in on why the "good stuff" bubbles the bead longer...and what happened to Passport?
> Thank you...
>
> Respectfully, Joe Scott
jfscott
> Supposedly, an ole moonshiner showed this trick to a friend of mine and
> I'd like a possible explanation because I think it has merit. Not knowing
> anything about bourbon whiskey except it is my definite preference over all
> adult beverages, this "shake" test has never failed to help me choose a winner.
Of all the brand names that were familiar to me after
> surfing this great website, the top choices were also mine and all due to
> this one test. When I walk to the shelf with all the bourbons, I shake a
> bottle of each brand. The stuff that keeps bubbling the longest is hands down the very
> best. Why is that or has anybody else ever tried this? It works! So far, Beam
> black label (a seven-year-old soldier), Makers Mark, and Wild Turkey have been winners (and in that order), but I did find
> a top winner one time that disappeared from the shelves for some
> reason--called Passport and it was one of the cheapest price-wise, so a
> great value. Too bad it's gone from my local shelves now; probably too good
> to be true, so the company went under or something, huh. Anyway, the "top
> forty" brands like Jim Beam (four-year-old), Old Crow, Evan Williams, Ezra Brooks,
> Ancient Age, Ten High, all flunk this test--the "bead" returns to normal too quickly. These are cheaper brands, for
> the most part, so the test fits, I suppose. Jack Daniels (not a bourbon, I found out, but a Tennesee whiskey) also fails to
> "hold the bead" very long, as this alleged moonshiner phrased it. I not familiar with the premium bourbons like Hirsch and Blantons,
so don't know how they'd fare, but I hope to find out soon assuming this one-horse town (Tucson AZ) carries this kind of quality stuff.
This test does not work with the blends, Scotch, Rum, Vodka, etc....only bourbon whisky, thus
> far, so I thought y'all could fill me in on why the "good stuff" bubbles the bead longer...and what happened to Passport?
> Thank you...
>
> Respectfully, Joe Scott
jfscott