New Member from Seattle

Hello all. A little about myself, I grew up in Wisconsin, in the home of Woodman's (which I saw referenced recently.) I've also lived in Austin and currently reside in Seattle.

I started drinking MM Manhattans about 10 years ago. About 3 years ago, a friend introduced me to Knob Creek. That got me started drinking my bourbon neat. I tried a few others that were similar and felt like it was boring. I didn't realize everything I tried was also from Beam.

I branched out a bit. After reading about Ryes, I decided to try the only well reviewed Rye I could find in WA state at that time, the BMH 18. That just blew me away, and got me excited to experiment again. From there I tried PVW 20 & ER 17 (2006). Both were excellent, esp the PVW. I've had quite a few ryes and bourbons since. Aside from the aforementioned, I've particularly enjoyed the BMH 23 rye, EC18 & OGD 114. I also appreciate BT and Rittenhouse BIB.

I'm probably the only person who doesn't love the Hirsch 16. It thought it was just uninteresting and one dimensional, certainly not worth the price. I'm not that thrilled with an ETL I got. It had an odd burnt corn husk flavor that seemed to overwhelm everything else. It seems to be dissipating as the bottle stays open, though. The worst thing I've tried is definitely the WT Rye. It has this strong bitter and sour flavor.

I appreciate all the good info, and I'm always looking for recommendations. I've just ordered a bottle of GTS & Handy, and I'd like to locate a Saz18. Hopefully the BTAC will show up here soon.

I probably won't post much. I'm more of a listener than a talker, and it's obvious there's a lot of expertise here.

Thanks,
Tim

Welcome to SB.com, Tim!

Like you said, plenty of info here, the search function will help you find lots of it.
Good luck with the Saz, this years appears to be a favorite!

Scott

Welcome from another NW'r! I picked up my BTAC bottles from the 4th Ave. Store today. I have a feeling they were all spoken for and were not ever going to hit the shelf. I am glad they ended up coming in as the manager had told me at one point it didn't look good.
I recall that you live by the UW? Were you able to order them from the U-Village Store?
I am not giving up on "speical orders" just yet. I'm going to visit my local store in Sammamish and see what type of person the manager is there. The State Policy seems to be if your willing to order a case, they will order anything, but I have not found that to be the situation at most of the stores? I have a pretty good bunker going now, so I have time to work on it.
Anyhow, welcome to SB.com!

:toast:

Welcome Tim. I don't like my bottle of Hirsch 16 either, although I've tasted from a few others that were pretty good. There seems to be bottle variation even within the gold foil bottling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T47

The State Policy seems to be if your willing to order a case, they will order anything...

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Sounds like you need to form an East Side Study Group - as a group buying club, if nothing else.

Roger

PS: Remember "East Side Story - Where the Bellevue Squares take out the Trash of Factoria?"

He's from Wisconsin :cool::cool: It's all good!!

Welcome :grin::grin:

Like Dan (Sijan) there's quite a few of here who don't care for the Hirsch gold foil. If you do a search for Hirsch you'll find there's quite a bit written about it. For me I don't like how metallic it comes across. That's what you get when whiskey sits in steel tanks too long I guess.

The blue wax and gold wax releases are another story, however. The blue wax is one of my all time favorites.

At any rate, welcome to sb, and good luck on your bourbon journey.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T47

I picked up my BTAC bottles from the 4th Ave. Store today. I have a feeling they were all spoken for and were not ever going to hit the shelf. I am glad they ended up coming in as the manager had told me at one point it didn't look good.
I recall that you live by the UW? Were you able to order them from the U-Village Store?
I am not giving up on "speical orders" just yet. I'm going to visit my local store in Sammamish and see what type of person the manager is there. The State Policy seems to be if your willing to order a case, they will order anything, but I have not found that to be the situation at most of the stores? I have a pretty good bunker going now, so I have time to work on it.
Anyhow, welcome to SB.com!

:toast:

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What's a person have to do to get some of this? I've been calling the 4th Ave store every Wed for the past month. I was told this was the way to check since deliveries always come in on Wed. This last Wed I went in person to check since I was starting to get anxious, and I was told nothing came in. Is there some magic handshake I'm missing? About a month ago, I was placed on a "list" so that I would get called if something came in. I guess I know how well that worked.

I haven't tried actually "ordering" as you say because of the 1 case requirement. There isn't much that I would want 12 bottles of. AFAIK, all I can do is get on a notify list that doesn't seem to work.

I tried driving down to the 4th ave store today to beg, but it's Veteran's Day :(

Did you talk to Mary the manager? I don't know where these bottles came from? She had told me at one point when she tried to order them the response was they were not available, then I got an email saying they were getting some in?

I don't know if a case is always 12, I think they come in 6's and 3's as well.

I will keep an eye out for you as well. My son goes to school in Spokane, and for some reason some nice bottles show up over there on occasion? Does not seem to be any way to really figure it out.

There used to be a store at 6th and University, and the gal that was the manager there was top notch. She always seemed to have a selection of the VW's and a great Buffalo Trace selection as well, so I know it's possible.

When I have a Monday off I am going to try and stop by the Sammamish store and meet the manager. I am going to give him the same wish list I gave Mary and see what he says? I also would like to get a more consistent answer on how the "special order" thing works.

As always if I get any news on a special order I will let you know. If I find a lone bottle I will pick it up for you...if you want to PM me your cell phone # I can always give you a call if I find anything that is "special" to see if you want me to pick one up for you as well?

:toast:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T47

I don't know if a case is always 12, I think they come in 6's and 3's as well.

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The BTAC comes in cases of 3.
Joe :usflag: