My Fellow Bourbonites...

Hello all,
First post here from sunny Buffalo NY. I signed up before the holidays, but didn’t have time to make it official since. So here it goes. If you will….let me give you a short series of events that brought me to this intriguing forum. I have a circle of friends that enjoy their wine, and about three years ago during one of their “professional wine tastings” I said to my best friend “ya know we should do a bourbon tasting”. Mind you at the time, the two of us drank our share of JD, but ironically had no idea that JD wasn’t even a bourbon!

So after doing many hours of research (which oddly enough included this site) I selected 15 bottles for our tasting. (see my avatar). Over a three day “Guy’s Weekend”, myself and 14 of my closest friends tasted all 15 offerings. I didn’t know it at the time, but that weekend was a life changing event.

Over the two years since, I have indulged in my favorites and try something new as soon as I finish one off. My personal favorite is ERSB 10yr. I have been known to enjoy WTRB, OFBB 2006 and KC. By far, I prefer the rye influence over the wheat….heavier and spicier the better.

Anyway, sorry for the long greeting post…I hope to offer what I can, and learn what I can.

Best,
Ron

that avatar is a little small, please post as an jpg attachment so we can all see the "life changing" selection!

Will do...I didn't wanna be a server hog with my first post. Let me know if you can view it OK.

Thanks for the interest!

Nice collection to start with and welcome to SB.com. Many of us got our start right here educating ourselves in all things bourbon. In the last two years, my bourbon "collection" has gone from a couple of stray bottles to a wide variety of common, small batch, limited release and out of production bourbons. You will find that the more you read and talk about bourbon, the larger your bunker will grow. Enjoy.

Welcome aboard, Ron.

Do you also have another hobby that involves Rotax motors?

Tim

Yes sir, and it's even more expensive than my bourbon habit. My son and I ride Ski-doo snowmobiles. These 60 degree temps in January are killin' me.

I struggle at times with the collection aspect of bourbon. When I do venture out and pick up something unique...a Single barrel or Small batch, I find it difficult to keep it on the shelf. My latest strategy is to have my everyday pour (ERSB) always on hand, and when my unique selections hit half gone, I go get something else. To then reserve the rest for converting friends or sharing with my best friend I eluded to in my first post.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.

Well welcome aboard Ron and if you see Tim Bender tell him I said hello! I don't think he races for Yamaha anymore but My dad and I picked up sleds from him years ago in Bauffalo! We (my dad and I) both had 500 SS's now 2007/2006 respectively!

I'm sure we can chat sleds another time!

Nice starting collection! Do my eyes see right? is that ORVW 15 in the pic? That's a great bottle. If you can find an old ER 10 yr 101 check that out it's really an nice bottle as well. Don't worry about stocking up unless you know you like it and try as many as you can!

Cheers! it's a great site with a great group of guy's and even some gal's. Don't let the gals fool ya they know their stuff and have some nice collections as well!

Welcome!
Tony

Thanks Tony,
I don't know the Bender's, but I'm pretty sure they're still doin' their thing in Colden NY. (about 1/2 hour south of me).

That is a ORVW 15 bottle we had...and sadly I can't recall exactly what it tasted like. But I did come away knowing I preferred the rye brands over the wheat...but I should probably wipe the slate clean and try it again. My taste preference has definitely evolved over the past couple years. Offerings I used to enjoy, I can do without now. (i.e. WR)

What wheat influenced pour you would suggest to sway my current impression of the species?

At the end of the bourbon weekend we drew names, and as your name came up you could pick the bottle of your choice. The last I knew the guy who took the Old Rip still had it in his booze cupboard. Maybe I should offer to buy it back from him. (not all 15 guys were whiskey friendly)

I'll keep my eyes open for the ER 101. I did not know it existed 'til today. I'll mark that down as the first thing I learned on SB (as an official member that is)

Best,
Ron

Ron,

What a way to start, my friend! Top class, I see you didn't however rave about WT Kentucky Spirit. Again if it's one you can't remember, or didn't enjoy at the time, make sure you go back there, it's some good stuff!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RotaxRon

What wheat influenced pour you would suggest to sway my current impression of the species?

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Personally, I would suggest Weller 12, and if you can, get some shipped from Binny's in Chicago. Hand selected by Brett Pontoni and it's superb.

Welcome aboard!! Enjoy your ride, everyone's is different!

Cheers

Scott

What's that bottle top row left?