Best Mixing Bourbon

Quote:

---

I also occasionally enjoy Chuck Cowdery's recipe for bourbon, ice, and a lot of water. Kentucky iced tea?

---

Didn't I see another name for this around here? "Kentucky Chardonnay" or somethin' like that?!

Quote:

---

...Didn't I see another name for this around here? "Kentucky Chardonnay" or somethin' like that?!

---

Brown zinfandel, perhaps?

While I seldom pollute my bourbon with more than a few ice cubes, I have found the cheaper the better taste wise when mixing. Ten High, Kessler's, most anything you pick up for $10 a 1.75 will make good Cocktails. The elements that make a great whisky when drank neat or on ice will often produce wierd aftertastes in cocktails, at least in my experience.

Quote:

---

What is a flavored mixer?

---

I guess it could be argued that water has taste properties, but for this I meant anything other than water.

Elijah Craig 12 yr mixes nicely with ginger ale, coke etc and is reasonably priced. This bourbon is spicy and interesting enough so that the flavor penetrates the sweetness of the mixer and creates a pleasant combined taste. You can mix any cheap spirit with soda to make a cocktail that goes down easily, but with a little better grade of bourbon the resulting drink can have a bit of character. Good by the poolside on a hot summer day, anyway.
Craig

Quote:

---

I really enjoy an occasional Wild Turkey 101 with old fashioned, spicy ginger ale (I use Buffalo Rock, but I know its not widely available). Occasional? Maybe twice a year. http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...lins/smirk.gif

I also occasionally enjoy Chuck Cowdery's recipe for bourbon, ice, and a lot of water. Kentucky iced tea? Usually in the summer time.

That's about the extent of my borubon mixing.

Tim

---

Exactly where I am Tim. Maybe 2-3 times more frequently but exactly the same. Kentucky tea is perfect on a hot summer evening. 101 and ginger ale (I'll have to look for Buffalo Rock (is that the Buffalo Trace ginger ale?) but right now I use Vernors) is great in colder weather (it 26 out right now!)

Ken

Quote:

---

The bottom bourbons are great for Manhattans...

---

I'm a firm believer that the best products are made by using the best ingredients. About 50% of my bourbon consumption is via Manhattans and to me, the bourbon used makes a big difference in the final product. I'm not advocating using the priciest ones out there, but a good ~$20 bottle of bourbon (I'm using EC 12 yo right now with happy results) makes a better Manhattan made with Old Crow and the like. I know you probably don't disagree with that last statement. I guess I'm just saying that bottom bourbons don't make great Manhattans. They make passable Manhattans. Great Manhattans are made with great ingredients. And while I'm on the subject, toss those grocery store maraschino cherries and try the Michter's ones. Again, substituting a better product for an inferior one will just make the final product better.

I don't do too much mixing, but I guess I do it enough so it is one reason why anytime I empty a bottle of Old Grand Dad 100, I replace it. The proof and rye twang to make itself known even in heavy sweet tastes, good enough to play around with on "serious" cocktails, and, at $17 or so, no real hard hit on the wallet. Wild Turkey 101 would probably be another good choice, but it's about $5 more, I like the OGD better neat, and if I want a WT experience, I have one of their higher-end bottles around (but not for mixing). Cheaper would be Very Old Barton 90 (or any other proof), which here is $9-10.
Bob

I'm with you!!!
I'll have to make you Bananas Stephen Foster with Rock Hill Farms!!!
Good Bourbon makes great cocktails and great recipes.
Add VWFR to your next saute of mushrooms. Put Sazerac in your Sazerac. Put EWSB in your Eggnog.
Heck, you spent the money already.
Enjoy it.
http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...ns/soapbox.gif


Digressing: How many of you spend $30 for a bottle of wine consumed at one meal or 5 bucks for microbrewed beer at pub? I get a lot more mileage from a premium bourbon.

I mix regular 101 with anything I might mix. That's usually only water or ginger ale but if there was something else I wanted to try, I'd make it with 101, not counting just killing off a bottle of something I don't care for (which is rarely done)

Ken