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A friend had an 82 proof Dickel 15. He gave me a sample and it was outstanding. Amazing depth and concentration of flavor for only 82 proof.

If they would hang a 50ml 'airplane bottle' from the neck of a 700ml bottle, I would be perfectly happy with that.

“Shrinkflation “ - getting less for more. Not having to have a variable/two bottling lines makes sense. I understand it, I just don’t like it.

I would submit we should prepare to see many of our favorite bourbons, whiskeys move towards a 700ml bottle versus the 750ml bottle. I see this happening more and more these days. Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniels have done so with their higher end or aged offerings. At the same time, if bottles find their way to the European market, they have to be no more than 700ml. Now if the price comes down with it, so be it, but I don't expect to see this. This trend happens with other things too. Potato Chips, and Cereal brands have been doing this for years. Reducing the size of the offering but keeping the price the same. Just a sign of the times I suppose.

First let me say how I excited I was for this bourbon. If I could only chose one bourbon for my collection, it would be the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked. What would be better than a Double Oaked? Well conventional wisdom would say a Double Double Oaked. In reality, this was not what I concluded. $200 later, it is not a bad bourbon. That said, in a blind tasting, I picked the standard Double Oaked over the Double Double. For the price, I could have bought 4 bottles of double oaked, or 3 bottles of a store pick double oaked. So in this instance, the fear of missing out, coupled with the marketing overcame me. It happens, I'll give myself some grace. I won't be replacing this one when it's a dead soldier. I share this for any who are contemplating this one. Even seeing it now being discounted to $150, it's still too much for what it is, at least if you ask me.

I would submit this is the way to go. If you're a fan of the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, the store picks won't dissappoint

I went to my local Total Wine to pick up a bottle of Old Forrester Single Barrel - Barrel Strength Rye and rather than just go in and pick up my bottle (Mistake or best decision of the day?) I went and looked around. In the case I noted a lone bottle of the Woodford Reserve Master's Collection - 119.5 there. Having really enjoyed a prior year's variety of the 121.2 proof, coupled with it being discounted (yes discounted from $150+) to $130, I grabbed it. My only complaint on this bourbon is the same complaint I had with these higher end offerings, they have moved to a 700ml bottle now. This is a trend we will see more of, I am all but certain of it. As with any bourbon, the profiles vary from year to year and this one is no different. I really loved the nose and the palate was quite good. It is much sweeter, closer to the double oaked. At $130, I feel it was a good buy. Of course one could also get 2 bottles of lower proof double oaked at that price.

I had been looking for the Double Barrel for some time now since it was released, having come up empty until yesterday when much to my surprise it was sitting up on the shelf at a local Total Wine. At $50-$55 it is about half what I am used to paying for Barrell varieties. Let me say this is an excellent bourbon at any age, let alone at 5 years of age. It's just another win for Barrell. Love what they are doing.

Last weekend I noted a lone bottle of the Old Forester Single Barrel Rye - Barrel Proof sitting on the shelf at a local Total Wine. I grabbed a back up bottle of EH Taylor Small Batch instead, went back for the rye and it was gone. I confess I was overcome by the fear of missing out and spent the next few days looking for it. Another Total Wine had these in inventory, but didn't have them out on the shelves (oh the games even the big chain liquor stores play sometimes...) In any event, I brought home my 129.3 proof rye, knowing I am not really a rye (unless it is in an old fashioned), but I am challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone for wheated bourbons. Finally after a nice mother's day dinner, I tried a pour neat (no way I was mixing this in an old fashioned). Simply, I really enjoyed this whiskey. It was not too hot, was loaded with flavor. Spicy as one would expect but also didn't drink like a 130 proof pour.

OGD 114. Never a bad choice!

While I hope you're wrong about this, Kepler, it's likely that you aren't. Even with the current level of 'over-supply' that apparently exists in well-aged stocks of Bourbon around the nation, the 8-year age statement means "at least 8-years", while the un-age-stated version doesn't have to be nearly that old. Logic suggests that the 'regular stuph' will be less-aged than it has been. That doesn't automatically mean 'less quality', or even that it will be 'different' than it has been; but, over time I have to imagine it will slip into a less dynamic profile. WT101 has always (to my taste buddies, anyway) been a brand that had in-your-face Bourbon character that many other brands in the same price range did not. I have already been reading (here and elsewhere) of some slight-to-moderate dissatisfaction with WT101 over the last couple years or so. I can't speak to that, since I haven't needed to buy any since about 2022, having stocked up at good prices then. That indicates to me some variability that I believe did not exist in this brand before this time. So, the bottlers at WT seem to have some leeway in keeping to the profile. Time will tell, as usual.

Nice score. I've been keeping my eye open for one of those locally, but so far, they are not available here. I've heard good things. I'll keep an eye out for one.

I personally wouldn't sweat it. I've had better luck with the higher proof Dickel 15 Year single barrels. Anything around 96 to 105 proof are the ones I grab if the price is right. Most of those have been picked over in my neck of the woods. Most of the ones sitting on shelves these days are 80.00 proof bottles.

I haven't seen that one before. Have you ever tried the Redbreast PX edition? I'm a HUGE fan of RB PX for the price. If so, how does the Killowen compare?

Teeling is good quality Irish whiskey. I've liked everything that I've tried from them so far. Most of their stuff came from the Cooley distillery, I suppose (but I'm not an expert on Teeling, nor on on Irish whiskey in general, so take with a grain of salt). But it's excellent stuff. However, I do feel qualified enough to strongly recommend Powers John's Lane 12 Year and pretty much any Redbreast Irish whiskey (except for the RB 80 proof 12 Year -- just skip that one because it's way too thin). It's simply hard to beat Redbreast Cask Strength 12 year.

I know, right? What was I thinking. Lol

"Dry day" ?? ... at first I thought you were referring to the kind of liquor "dry spell" that @Anwalt and myself have been referencing lately, .... and then I realized it was you markandrex, .... and then I came to my senses. Just razzing you! Lol

Lol

Have you seen the retail price of RRSiB private barrel pick bottles lately? I'm not so sure I agree with you, but I do respect your decision

Good pull, thanks for finding and sharing that. Now I remember the picture of that smoker on the label; however I didn't purchase that release.

Oh dang, I was hoping for another entertaining tale of an accidental masterpiece. That Four Roses story of the mutant yeast as shared with the public by Jim Rutledge is perhaps my favorite story in recent bourbon history.

That's a fair take. The new WT8 is definitely meant to be simply an "up-sell" item. I do expect quality of the NAS 101 to go down due to less older aged stock in the blend though. I assume we've already seen the best of $19.99 Wild Turkey, ... for a good while anyway.

Good call

The more recent Birthday bourbons are higher proof. I have at least a couple that are over 100 proof. That bump up in proof helps them. But I get your point.

2 wsr at 33$ 1 ER at 45$ seeing these everywhere now, again, but at these new prices, and these prices were far better than i saw elsewhere