What bourbon are you drinking in Australia? - Winter 2011

[HighTower]

The only GT Stagg i've tried was CamDuncan's 2004 Stagg which i found to be truly amazing with a strong chocolate after-taste. Tonight i am cracking a 2009 Stagg and hoping it is as good or better.

Oh you must be forgetting the stellar 2005 131.8 Stagg we finished off at the Bowery that day! What I would trade for a bottle of that!!

Scott

[HighTower]

Caught up with Hightower and his family last night for a fantastic dinner & drinks.
Tried some Jim Beam 1795, followed by some 1972 Barrel C, 1792 KBS Barrel of the year, Old Overholt Rye, Angels Envy, Elmer T Lee Barrel C and finished with some WL Weller KBS Barrel of the year.
The 1792 Barrel C & Angels Envy were definate standouts, while the Old Overholt was the bargain of the night (cost $10.88 when I was in Hawaii last month)

That Weller never ceases to amaze me, and the 1792s were great! ETL also a favourite....
Good food any company made it a great night!!

What did you think of the 1795 Cam? JB Black in a fancy dress?

You're not far off the mark, Tym. Tastes a bit older than JBB but that's about it. Nice bourbon but I'd rather buy 4 bottles of BT for my money....

[Stones]

Oh you must be forgetting the stellar 2005 131.8 Stagg we finished off at the Bowery that day! What I would trade for a bottle of that!!

Scott

I did forget about that 2005 Stagg at the Bowery! Now that you mention it i do remember it being outstanding, pity we were finishing it off and not starting it. Some of that night afterwards has erased from my long term memory - too many mint juleps! A bloody good night was had!

[Stones]

That Weller never ceases to amaze me, and the 1792s were great! ETL also a favourite....
Good food any company made it a great night!!


You're not far off the mark, Tym. Tastes a bit older than JBB but that's about it. Nice bourbon but I'd rather buy 4 bottles of BT for my money....

Yeah i saw this at Dan Murphy's for an amusing $AU189 but as you say would prefer to buy four of something else. I was pleasantly surprised to see DM now stocks Eagle Rare via Southtrade for around $64. Not bad considering how much it would cost to ship our own through customs - so i bought one.

[HighTower]

Yeah i saw this at Dan Murphy's for an amusing $AU189 but as you say would prefer to buy four of something else. I was pleasantly surprised to see DM now stocks Eagle Rare via Southtrade for around $64. Not bad considering how much it would cost to ship our own through customs - so i bought one.

I saw them selling it for 70 which I thought was decent, 64 is a great price, solid bourbon.
Scott

[HighTower]

The unfortunate part of them stocking Buffalo Trace is it has now dropped to 80 proof from 90 proof. It will allow them to be available in more places due to the price drop, but an unfortunate thing to have to do.

I love BT but will be buying all the 90 proof I can while it can still be found here.....

Scott

[Pieface]

The unfortunate part of them stocking Buffalo Trace is it has now dropped to 80 proof from 90 proof. It will allow them to be available in more places due to the price drop, but an unfortunate thing to have to do.

I love BT but will be buying all the 90 proof I can while it can still be found here.....

Scott

The proof drop is codswallop. It's just grabbing more margin. Sure the bottle price "may" drop about $5 when it is introduced but it will be back $50+ again within a few months. I can assure BT that I won't buy any 80 proof whiskey on principle. I'd rather give my money to HH.

I'm pretty pissed off about the pricing atm on bourbon. Rarebreed is over $80 here now, EC12 is over $50 unless you nab a special. There is very little I can justify spending the coin on. I am mostly drinking beer again these days. I can grab a couple of great Belgian/German etc beers for about $15 and scratch my itch for a quality beverage.

[camduncan]

[quote=Pieface;255843]The proof drop is codswallop. It's just grabbing more margin.[quote]

I had a conversation with Ken Webber from BT several years ago when they were looking at the logistics of launching in the Australian market. One of their BIG concerns was that the Australian taxation system saw them coming into the market priced well above brands like Makers Mark and Elijah Craig 12yo, when in the US they are priced at almost half the price of those brands and compete with the likes of Jim Beam White and Jack Daniels. So whilst I don't doubt the proof drop is profit driven, I do expect it's also to try and position them closer to their real market competitors.

[camduncan]

Yeah i saw this at Dan Murphy's for an amusing $AU189 but as you say would prefer to buy four of something else. I was pleasantly surprised to see DM now stocks Eagle Rare via Southtrade for around $64. Not bad considering how much it would cost to ship our own through customs - so i bought one.

Have you opened it yet Tym? What did you think? I had my first try a couple of weeks ago and really liked it. I hear Southtrade 'might' have some limited stocks of Eagle Rare 17yo, but I'm not sure how we'd get hold of some...

[Pieface]

[quote=camduncan;255883][quote=Pieface;255843]The proof drop is codswallop. It's just grabbing more margin.

I had a conversation with Ken Webber from BT several years ago when they were looking at the logistics of launching in the Australian market. One of their BIG concerns was that the Australian taxation system saw them coming into the market priced well above brands like Makers Mark and Elijah Craig 12yo, when in the US they are priced at almost half the price of those brands and compete with the likes of Jim Beam White and Jack Daniels. So whilst I don't doubt the proof drop is profit driven, I do expect it's also to try and position them closer to their real market competitors.

They still aren't going to get within a cooee of JB or JD pricewise. They will have a product at a premium with no point of difference. I can't believe they are going to find around $15/750ml at regular retail pricing from a 10 proof drop. Can you explain how they are at a disadvantage under our system? EC12 and MM are similar proof so I'm not sure where the big impost is coming in...?