New from VA

[sdawg]

Hey Folks,

Guess I'm about as new as they come here, my bourbon experience started about 2 months ago on an impulse to make my own egg nog . I came across this site and read a good bit, and figured makers mark would be a good beginner's bourbon. I tried it neat, over ice, and with water and hated it every which way! To my taste buds it was like bark-flavored rubbing alcohol . I drank about half the bottle over a month or so, hoping it would become more palatable, but no luck. Finally, I had pretty much decided bourbon was not for me, but for some reason I wanted to see if I liked a different brand any better. I picked up a mini bottle of Knob Creek and loved it! And the rest is history. I'm now working on bottles of KC and Eagle Rare 10, and enjoying both quite a bit. I even went back to the makers after a pour of KC, and found I liked it much better....I guess my taste buds are already damaged . Or maybe it will just be my "dessert" bourbon!

Just a bit about myself, I'm from Atlanta and went to UGA. Now in graduate school at UVA in Charlottesville. Looking forward to expanding my drinking horizons (could there be a better hobby?!). Happy holidays to all...hopefully I'll be sipping on something new while I watch my dawgies in the Sugar Bowl!!

Cheers,
Steve

[Tennessee Dave]

Welcome man. I am a huge Georgia fan myself. That makes for a little hard time here in Eastern Tennessee. But I grew up in Georgia and that has always been my team. Welcome. You will like it here. GO DAWGS!

[ACDetroit]

Steve, welcome and great story...I to started on MM and moved to the Small Batch collection. Your 2 current offerings are also very good. Try the EC 12 yr. I found it very good for the money as well.

Enjoy you stay here it's a fun ride.

Tony

[Sijan]

Welcome! I attended Berry College for undergrad and now live in Northern Virginia.

Ignore the Makers and move on to better things. Cheers!

[smokinjoe]

Welcome! I attended Berry College for undergrad and now live in Northern Virginia.

Ignore the Makers and move on to better things. Cheers!

Nah, don't ignore the Maker's. Dan's just jaded. I mean, have you seen his bunker!!?? Drink it all. It's all good!



JOE

[LarryG]

Welcome, Steve, from another (relative) newbie.

When I first tried Maker's Mark, maybe two years ago, I didn't dislike it; but I did find it notably different from my usual and familiar pour of Wild Turkey 101, which I really like. I later tried Knob Creek and found I liked it rather well, too. Since I've been hanging around here on SB.com, I've come to understand that perhaps the single biggest difference between one bourbon and the next is whether the recipes contain rye or wheat in addition to the required 51% minimum of corn. Learning this explained instantly why I took to KC so well: both it and WT use rye in their recipe, whereas MM uses wheat. (Not that there's anything wrong with wheat: I've just started working on my first bottle of Weller 107, which is also a wheater, and it's just superb.)

Anyway, since you found Knob Creek to your liking, your next logical step among the "mainstream" bourbons is probably the Wild Turkey line. A couple fingers of WT Rare Breed and the Sugar Bowl would go very well together, I'm thinking ...

Larry

[Sijan]

Anyway, since you found Knob Creek to your liking, your next logical step among the "mainstream" bourbons is probably the Wild Turkey line. A couple fingers of WT Rare Breed and the Sugar Bowl would go very well together, I'm thinking ...

Larry

Yes, or Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond (100 proof)

[sdawg]

Dan, I attended a wedding on the Berry campus, it is a beautiful place.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have seen minis of Rare Breed, perhaps I'll give that a try next. I've also considered trying a rye, although I've not found any in the ABC stores I have visited despite seeing a few (beam, sazerac 6, overholt) available on the ABC online price list. Haven't got around to calling the local manager yet, but I plan to soon....I'm also new to state-run liquor stores, have you found the VA ABC to be helpful/cooperative in ordering?

Cheers,
Steve

[F399SF]

Dan, I attended a wedding on the Berry campus, it is a beautiful place.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have seen minis of Rare Breed, perhaps I'll give that a try next. I've also considered trying a rye, although I've not found any in the ABC stores I have visited despite seeing a few (beam, sazerac 6, overholt) available on the ABC online price list. Haven't got around to calling the local manager yet, but I plan to soon....I'm also new to state-run liquor stores, have you found the VA ABC to be helpful/cooperative in ordering?

Cheers,
Steve

Hello to a fellow Virginian bourbon lover. I'm in Richmond and the ABC certainly doesn't bend over backwards for its customers. I asked them to call me when they got in more Pappy 20 year old, but they didn't. They were also unwilling to help be procure some 2007 George T. Stagg so I ordered it online. Once in a while I'll see a Wild Turkey Rye in the special order case at the ABC near me in Carytown, but other than that it's only Jim Beam, Sazerac, or Overholt for ryes.

[LarryG]

Once in a while I'll see a Wild Turkey Rye in the special order case at the ABC near me in Carytown, but other than that it's only Jim Beam, Sazerac, or Overholt for ryes.

For Alabama residents, that'd be a significant widening of the available selections. We have a choice of Jim Beam Rye, Jim Beam Rye, or Jim Beam Rye.

Larry