New to this

[EvanB]

i just started drinking bourbon. The bottle that got me was Basil Hayden's a few weeks ago. I since have bought a BH, a Makers Mark and Knob Creek. I find it hard to tell the difference between MM and Knob. MM may be a little sweeter and not quite as strong as Knob. Basil was very smooth. I am trying to find a 15yr Pappy Van Winkle. Very hard to do here in AZ.

[Gillman]

That is a very interesting statement about KC and MM.

I find KC not quite as rich and distinctive as when first released some years ago, although still a very sound bourbon.

I have wondered if the requirements of larger sales (a good thing in and of itself) are affecting somewhat what goes in the bottles.

Also, Beam Brands now owns Maker's Mark and even though MM is still made at its own plant, I wonder if imperceptibly some resemblances to other Beam Brands whiskeys will creep in, through a kind of osmosis.

True, the whiskeys being sold now were distilled before that purchase. But tasting panels decide on the final profiles and the way batches are put together can result in particular profiles even though the source whiskeys are the same (e.g. Pikesville rye and Rittenhouse rye - both seemingly different yet from the same mash).

KC is a rye-recipe bourbon, and MM is a wheat-recipe bourbon, yet it still makes sense to me that certain resemblances can start to appear.

Gary

[EvanB]

Thanks Gary. What would you recomend as a next bottle?

[Sweetmeats]

Welcome to the board!

[Gillman]

Thanks, some outlets in Arizona have excellent selections, e.g., Sportsman's which is near Scottsdale.

My suggestion would be to try a rye-recipe bourbon from another producer, say, Elijah Craig 12 years old. Or, Elmer T. Lee.

Gary

[EvanB]

Thank you. This may be a silly question, but what is the shelf life of a bourbon once it is opened?

[Gillman]

There have been many discussions on this here and the search function will prove its worth.

To try to compress what can get a little complex, I'd say, essentially bourbon and straight rye (in fact almost all spirits) have an indefinite shelf life if well-sealed both before and after opening.

Some people feel whisky deteriorates once it reaches a certain level (half or less) in the bottle. Others will say that whiskey can actually improve by the exposure to air. However in most cases these changes, if they exist at all, will be minor in scale and would not be noticed by many people.

For practical purposes (i.e., unless you intend to keep bottles opened for a very long time with significant air space), this is really not an issue (unlike with beer and wine, for example).

Gary

[EvanB]

Thank you

[Gillman]

Thanks and I hope you enjoy your visits to the board. In inviting the use of the search function, this in no way is intended to preclude questions you want to ask and the newbie thread of course is designed to help people feel comfortable who don't necessarily have the same knowledge level as some who have been here for a while. I have been told though by people who use the search function that it does help a lot and even to frame questions they want to put here. SB is a great resource for bourbon knowledge and again hope you enjoy your visits here.

Gary

[Sweetmeats]

Let me go ahead and second the suggestion of Elmer T. Lee. It was the first bourbon I purchased and I always make sure to have a bottle of it handy.