Do you remember......

[Yalc]

......how you first got started drinking bourbon and which was the first you really enjoyed not drowned in cola or some other foreign substance? Strangely, I got interested in bourbon because I started liking blended scotch (Dewars) and got curious about our national whiskey. Now my cabinet is lopsided towards bourbon.

[theDon]

......how you first got started drinking bourbon and which was the first you really enjoyed not drowned in cola or some other foreign substance? Strangely, I got interested in bourbon because I started liking blended scotch (Dewars) and got curious about our national whiskey. Now my cabinet is lopsided towards bourbon.

I'll go first. It was 1999, I was working in a liquor store south of Denton and the owner/manager drank nothing but Maker's. I asked for some at a Christmas party and he would not let me mix it. I got too blasted to work the next day, probably only after a couple and I've been drinking bourbon straight ever since. Maker's is not a go to now for other reasons. I enjoy the taste of it but have found it is overpriced for what comes in the pretty bottle.

[cbus]

I have a similar story I suppose... The firs whiskey of any sort that I had straight without any cola or anything else was Jameson 12 Year, which I had on a trip to Ireland over the summer of 2010 (a trip that allowed me to imbibe whilst still being under age in the U.S., btw, which was cool. Plus, I also got college credit, which was awesome!). From there, my introduction to bourbon was Evan Williams Black Label, because it was inexpensive and good. My journey through the world of whisk(e)y has been very much centered around Bourbon and Rye since, but I still very much enjoy my Jameson as well as a good scotch.

[clingman71]

Ironic thread. I just mentioned my bourbon start on another thread earlier. I started with a seven year Beam which was good enough to get me searching for even better bourbons. VW lot B got me hooked for good.

[Bourbon Boiler]

Started with Candian Club. I was adding a decent amount of water to it, but no cola or other mixers. I gradually went from drinking it with water, to a small splash, to drops, to rocks, and finally neat. About the time I started drinking it neat, I went on the Bourbon Trail with some friends and sampled a couple dozen different bourbons. I was more or less adjusted to the proof and the basic whiskey characteristics, so I was able to pick out the flavors I liked. I doubt I've had more than 3 ounces of Canadian whiskey since.

I really liked Elijah Craig 12 and WT 101 out of the gate. I quickly went up to Blanton's and WTKS, and those have been my two favorites since.

[AaronWF]

Deadwood did it for me. According to the characters in the show, Mr. Basil Hayden made the finest bourbon, and it just so happened that Mr. Jim Beam made a product of the same name. I drank it like they did: sippin from a shot glass. Yeah, it tasted pretty good, but it was the romance of the Old West, the innocence of hard work, the alchemy of grain spirit that hypnotized me. When I happened upon Pappy Van Winkle shortly thereafter, romance turned to love.

[StraightNoChaser]

Dewar's was my intro to whiskey too! I got onto scotch quite a bit but eventually moved to bourbon. Was never one to mix whiskey with coke... would never turn down a sazerac or mint julep but I learned to appreciate those after I learned to appreciate whiskey by itself

[dohidied]

A few years ago, I bought a bottle of Jim Beam White to mix into my eggnog and ended up liking it straight. A couple weeks later I was in a wine shop with my dad and he told me to pick a bourbon for Christmas, so I grabbed an Eagle Rare SB. When I opened that on Christmas morning, we were both hooked.

[MarkEdwards]

I started out with gold Cuervo, and Glenlivet. I didn't drink anything at all for about ten years, until I discovered this site, and now my cabinet is stuffed with bourbons, scotches, ryes and Irish. But mostky bourbons.

Thanks, guys.

[Whiskey Willie]

Hi, my name is Whiskey Willie and I was a, a, . . . a beer drinker. At a family Christmas, there was the usual light beer swill and some inexpensive whiskeys. I drank the whiskey. Then I was corralled by the slick MM advertising and began comparing the tastes of MM, Beam Black, etc.

Well, I've been a bourbon guy for about 10 years now, enjoying RB, BT, WSR, and ORVW.