Lurker from Madison, WI joining

[Rutherford]

Hi all,

I'm a 20-something male living in Madison, WI who has been getting into bourbon and rye over the last year or so. After college, I became interested in gin, aged rum, and various other liquors. Eventually, after trying most of the good rum I could get my hands on, I started branching out into bourbon. I've since acquired a fairly good selection of bourbon and rye, which I think to be both delicious and among the best value in beverages.

I've found that I tend to like higher rye mashbills at moderate ages. While whiskies like Sazerac 18, Elijah Craig 18/20, and Black Maple Hill have much more flavor than their younger comrades, I find them somewhat overwhelming and unbalanced. I'd rather enjoy some OGD BiB, VOB, Jim Beam Black, Russell's Reserve (Bourbon or Rye... Both are fantastic values here), or Four Roses Small Batch for a fraction of the price.

I did most of the distillery tours last December and enjoyed them all, as they combine engineering, good smells, and a final product that I have really learned to enjoy.

After lurking on this forum for a while, it made sense to join, so here I am.

[jtexaslonestar]

Welcome to SB.com and that was an excellent intro!

[White Dog]

Welcome, fellow badger!

[weller_tex]

Welcome! I agree that the middle and even bottom shelf can be quite good! Madison is a beautiful town. I attended some conferences there a few times at UW and always stayed at the Edgewater Hotel..

[cas]

Madison is nice town and good university. My daughter is a freshman there now.
Welcome.
Craig

[Bourbon Boiler]

Good choices. Welcome to the board.

[mrviognier]

Welcome! Love Madison...was last there a few months back for the Distill America event. Lots of great whiskey nuts there. Really enjoyed eating at Craft and Merchant. There seems to be a lot of Bourbons you can get over there that we can't get here...which means I'm back on a regular basis.

[tommyj1986]

Welcome to the board, I'm from near the Madison area, and will be moving back soon. I have a friend who works at The Merchant they have a pretty good selection of whiskies there, plus complimentary shots of OGD!

And I agree, the prices on the RR are way better in WI than here in NY. Same with the Bulleits, they are both $10 less than here.

[Rutherford]

Thanks for all the welcomes! I'll have to make it to the Distill America event next year.

I do like the selections and prices here. The $19.99 (pretax) Russell's Reserve is better than I've even seen when in KY. This is a good city for cuisine in general (it's a good city for most things, as long as you aren't bothered by the hippies and rowdiness). There are only a few things that I consistantly can't find here, namely VOB and Rittenhouse BiB. I guess nobody can have it all.

The one thing that disappoints me about Merchant is their $150+ BTAC bottles, but I also recognize that they'd fly off the shelf immediately were they priced reasonably. Granted, I'm no longer in the market for BTAC products after realizing I don't like them as much.

[mrviognier]

FWIW, I've seen PLENTY of Ritt BiB in a bunch of stores in Milwaukee.