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This will be missed !

Four Roses Single Barrel has once again graced my drinking vessel. Every single time I drink this I imagine a dystopian scenario wherein I am only allowed one bourbon for the rest of my days. This would suffice.

I received a nice sample of Benchmark Full Proof-125 proof from @Galvin0791. That’s what’s in the glass tonight. Pretty hot, so I added some water. Much better.

Fantastic!

Looks great!

Wife cut up a perfectly good lemon for something trivial today, so… it’s Sazerac time!

Did you misspell that word, Will? It makes perfect sense to me spelled either way . . . 'panty' or 'paint'. HA!

Excellent! Thanks so much. I'll see about the WRDO Store pick.

THis is the link to the bottle graphic I wanted to show above.

Words of advice, but not to take as gospel: Try to hold out for a WRDO - store pick. They have been sooo much better than the shelf, IMHO. I have seen a "big-time" progression on the Bulleit 10 year as of late. I do like the regular Bulleit but the 10-year is a step up. If you do a regular EC, try grilling a steak. It goes quite well with it...

I know this is an older thread, and I apologize, but have many of you tried the Oak and Eden? It was a choice one qtr from my SiB club, it was the reason I quit the club. It tastes like a combination of bourbon, licorice and sweat socks. Whatever Amburana wood is, I hope there aren't too many trees left. I tried to give this bottle away, no takers.

I'm taking a break from blending and solera bottles, and sipping some Pikesville as the day winds down. So pleased to find this again. With the usual reservations of authority to amend, this is quite simply my favorite whiskey.

The color on this one looks amazing. Never met a Balvenie I didn't like.

Picked up a Bardstown Discovery #11 on the recommendation of a friend. It's pricy, but I will be getting another. Bardstown hits the mark on this one as well and it's another impressive batch in their Discovery series. I noticed this one even has some of their own distillate in it.

I’m having a MM Monday waiting for the rain to roll in. Not a bad way to start the week.

I've had several SAOS 5yr cask strength store picks that were quite tasty. They seem to be trending at 6yrs now and I recently got one but haven't opened it yet.

Probably only works in Germany though…

I also picked up a KY exclusive gem in the form of Copper & Kings bourbon. Shortly before the trip I heard about the Louisville brandy distiller (which I have visited in past years and enjoyed their output) sourcing 15yr HH, 10yr Barton and 5yr BBC in the percentages of 12% HH/24%Barton and 64%BBC which then aged for a year in C&K apple brandy barrels and NCF bottled at 111p. Well they had me at Barton...so I found this at the Bardstown Kroger marked down from 70ish SRP to 40 bucks and change. I got 2 and opened one at the GN where it was pretty well received, especially for 40 BUCKS!! I find this 12mos finishing worked very well and it has a really nice apple aroma and the palate is integrated nicely with those 3 bourbons. This is exactly what I look for these days, something different from what I already have, something delicious and preferably not at a ransom level price. I would have liked this just fine at the 60ish price I saw it for prior to purchase but at 40???....its a home run in my book. A damn tasty and fine addition to the bunker.

A very rare appearance in the purchases thread. The annual KY trip yielded a Yellowstone SB select from the giftshop. There seems to always be one of those single barrels that I taste and can't leave without. This year was a delicious 102p. I normally do not buy NDP products and while they claim its house distilled these days, it wasn't long ago that Barton and or HH were rumored to be the source. Bottom line...I don't know who made it but I damn sure loved it and will savor every drop. If it IS Limestone branch then WELL DONE!! if its either Barton or HH, I am already a fan of both and one could do a hell of a lot worse than those 2.

I always thought of Jagermeister as panty remover.

I have been buying less lately as I try to drink through my current backups, but this weekend I went to 2 stores and I passed on: Larceny BP Elijah Craig BP Elijah Craig Toaste Barrel Henry McKenna 10 Weller SR Buffalo Trace

Right now, I'm going with a mix of what I have. I have a lot of Woodford Reserve (std - not double oaked), Bulleit Bourbon (std) and MM. In fact, I have a 1.75L bottle of WR. I need to get a 1.75 Bulleit. As for trying new things, I'll see if I can find some of the 50mm or 375 mm of the stuff I want to try (WR Double Oaked, etc.) and we'll go from there. And, if I do come upon MSRP based BT or EC, I'll snag that.

Basically victims of their own success and the boom finally hitting MGP. For better or worse, they did a really good job of procuring good MGP barrels "back in the day" and successfully sold almost ALL of them prematurely. Meaning that their plan had originally intended for that whiskey to last until they got their own distillate aged and salable. So as a cult following for the good MGP stuff quickly developed and really took off (around 2016-2017 IIRC), they sold through it very quickly as hunters scooped them up for basically bargain prices. The last remaining barrels of 12y+ bourbon and rye were sold periodically through releases at the gift shop with people waiting in line to buy them at much higher prices than they previously retailed for (market correction if you will). In 2016 Pernod Richard bought the SA distillery. No idea if this had any effect on their actions or products. After that well ran dry and the price on MGP aged bourbon was at an all time high/unavailble, they began to do some creative blending with their own wheated distillate, as well as younger sourced bourbon from a few different places. This is basically how the Contradiction bourbon started. Store picks were sold as american whiskey I believe and were blends of various whiskey. More recently (2020), we saw a wave of young bourbon start to become mass available again from MGP. Most of this stuff was 4-5 years old and thus started the current wave of seemingly thousands of different younger MGP brands on the shelf right now. Smooth amber brought back the Old scout labels and announced they would be continuing to use that label to sell "procured whiskies" Old scout store pick single barrels returned at 5-6 years old, along with the 99p blended standard shelf bottle of Old Scout bourbon most commonly seen today. On their website it appears as though they have brought the old 7 year label back as well, but I have not seen any bottles yet. Their own distillate (wheated bourbon) has been getting released since 2014 I think (memory). First in small releases of 2-3 year aged in 375 half bottles, marketed under the name "yearling" The first 750ml release was WV only and sold with a green label named "wheated bourbon". It was 5 years old. The following year it was released nationally under the "Big Level" label and is 6 years plus. It doesn't appear that the wheated bourbon is currently being released on its own anymore....just blended into contradiction bourbon. A couple years ago new recipes of house distillate started being released under the Founders Cask Strength label. There is currently a rye recipe straight bourbon and a straight rye whiskey. Both seem to be labeled around 5-6 years. The rye is quite good IMO. Info about all their current products can be found on their website. They are pretty straightforward with information, mash bills, etc. In short, they didn't really create the old "majik". MGP did. There were so many labels selling that same really good older MGP bourbon from all over the US during that timeframe (SAOS, High West, Belle Meade, Blaum Bros, Boone County 1833, OKI, Widow Jane 12y, James E Pepper, Barrel Bourbon, etc. -just to name a few). It was really a matter of just educating yourself and knowing what to buy, but the bourbon was all pretty much the same/similar delicious profile, regardless of who's bottle it came in. People eventually tracked it all down... The simple fact of the matter is that it's gone now (or in collectors basements). The new wave of MGP out there just doesn't seem the same. Not just in age, but you can tell it has a different profile and will likely age out differently. Maybe I'll be wrong and it will be incredible again in another 4-5 years. I guess we'll see.

Always a great one! Anytime I see a bottle I pounce on it. Finished off the last one. Thankfully if I really want it when I don't have any it's always on the bar at two bars within walking distance...and The Dog House (Mount Horeb WI) has $5 doubles on Wednesdays after 6.... Couple BT doubles and one of their amazing burgers...life is good.

MM101, jazz, and chill...