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I remember when this board started up folks listed their favorite bourbons, but we haven't done it in a while so here goes. Please list, in order of preference, you're top five American whiskeys (bourbon and rye). I'm curious about whether any of the newer products (Sazerac, Weller 19, WT Russell's Reserve etc.) have become favorites.
The top 5...so far
Jim Beam's Distillers Masterpiece - 18 Yrs.
Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve - 20 Yrs.
Buffalo Trace's Eagle Rare - 17 Yrs.
Wild Turkey's Kentucky Spirit
Jefferson's Reserve and Johnny Drum - 15 Yrs. (tie)
Let the angels take their share, baby! Older IS better!
Omar
Eat well. Laugh often. Sip bourbon.
Good to see you're still with us Henry!
1) - Kentucky Spirit
2) - Blanton's or Elmer T. Lee - It depends on the barrel.
3) - Woodford Reserve or Russell's Reserve - take your pick.
4) - Knob Creek
5) - Elijah Craig 12 YO or Single Barrel Vintage 1990 10 YO - take your pick.
6) - For a wheater - Very Special Old Fitzgerald 12 YO
Linn Spencer
Have Shotglass. Will Travel.
1) Sazerac 18 YO rye
2) A.H. Hirsch Reserve 16 YO
3) Old Charter 12 YO Classic 90
4) Wild Turkey Rare Breed or Russell's Reserve (tie)
5) Very Special Old Fitzgerald 12 YO
Really want to include Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel in here, too.
Stotz
1.) Kentucky Spirit
2.) Russell's Reserve
3.) Old Charter Proprietors Reserve
4.) Rare Breed
5.) VSO Fitzgerald
Good pick Theron with Old Charter Proprietor's Reserve! It's been such a long time since I've had a bottle and I'd forgotten it even existed.
Linn Spencer
Have Shotglass. Will Travel.
My five favorites, though not in any particular order.
1. Knob Creek
2. Woodford Reserve
3. Old Fitz BIB
4. Evan Williams Single Barrel
5. Blanton's
Honorable mention: Old Commonwealth
--Chuck Cowdery
Good bourbon does not need to cost a fortune. Try these.
1) Weller Special Reserve
2) Wild Turkey 101
3) Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond
4) Old Forester 100 Proof
5) George Dickel No.12 (Yes I know it is a Tennessee Whisky, but deserves a place on my list.)
Wow! Top five, huh? That's really difficult. Just last year it was so easy. Hmmm.
I can see from some of the other posts that I'm not the only one having a problem selecting a top five...
4. Old Commonwealth and Woodford Reserve and Elijah Craig 12
5. Russell's Reserve and Maker's Mark and Knob Creek and EW Single Barrel and Rare Breed and Johnny Drum and McCormick and Bookers and Laphroig and...
C'mon guys and dolls, now that's cheating!
What I did for me was, I set up some further restrictions and filters.
First, I said to myself, "Self," I says, "there shouldn't be any bourbons here that are not currently being made. Unfortunately, that restriction filters out some of my bigtime favorites, such as
(1) Henry Clay (maybe my all-time favorite bourbon ever)
(2) Old Rip Van Winkle Family Reserve Pappy's 20-year-old - the old style (a year ago I hated this bourbon. Now I love it dearly. Go figure)
(3) Elmer T. Lee 107 proof (first kisses should be this sweet and pure... and hot)
(4) Old Taylor - 1979 National Distillers version (Linda's all-time favorite whiskey ever)
(5) David Nicholson 1843 (basically 7-year-old Old Fitzgerald with a custom label, and a finish that lingers into next Tuesday)
It also, technically, rules out single barrels, since the particular ones currently available are no longer being made. I've modified that a little to allow single barrels that are so consistant that they don't vary significantly, but I'm afraid it does keep favorites Kentucky Spirit and the Evan Williams' vintage bottlings out. There's just too much variation between bottlings of these fine whiskeys to generalize.
(2.5) Kentucky Spirit 1998 barrel #1
(5.5) Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage 1990 barrel #251
Then I figured, how can you compare boutique, distillers' showpieces with everyday shotglass bourbon? So I'm gonna need at least two lists, sorted by price. But as I started putting a top five together, I found that my favorites all seemed to cling to the dividing line between the two lists. So I made it three lists...
<u>LIST #1: BOURBONS THAT SELL FOR UNDER $15.00 (Kentucky discount liquor store prices)</u>
(1) Old Grand Dad 100
(2) George Dickel #12 (this is too a bourbon, yes it is; and the millenium began in 2000; don't get me started, just deal with it)
(3) Wild Turkey 101
(4) Ancient Ancient Age 10-year-old (please, Ken, tell me this doesn't belong on the list above)
(5) Colonel Lee 100
Runners up: Old Ezra Brooks 7-year-old, Old Fitzgerald's 1849, Dowling 100, Kentucky Gentleman 100
<u>LIST #2: BOURBONS PRICED FROM $15.00 TO 30.00</u>
(1) Ezra Brooks: Ezra B 15-year-old
(2) Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve
(3) Old Rip Van Winkle 15-year-old
(4) Buffalo Trace
(5) Peter Jake's 10-year-old
Runners up: Old Weller Antique 107, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Knob Creek, Wathen's, Old Forester 100
<u>LIST #3: BOURBONS PRICED ABOVE $30.00</u>
(1) Old Rip Van Winkle Family Reserve Pappy's 20-year-old - new style
(2) Jack Daniel Single Barrel (see above ranting about George Dickel)
(3) Booker's
(4) Pure Kentucky XO
(5) Rowan's Creek
Runners up: Noah's Mill, Baker's, Black Maple Hill 14-year-old, all of the Buffalo Trace Historic Collection (Weller, Eagle Rare, Sazerac), Blanton's, George Dickel Special 10-year-old
=John=
http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey
Talk about cheating! John you're triple cheating and then some. Must be the bourbon.
Linn Spencer
Have Shotglass. Will Travel.