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I had the last pour from my open bottle of BT. Time to fly.

Back with the herd tonight.

Well, didn’t want to walk out to my room in the shop where the collection lives tonight, so i hit the bottle of Knob Creek 9 that i keep in the house for the wife to make old fashioned’s. I always forget about that sitting in there.

I looked up what my local TW has available. Click on Single Barrel gets redirected, so they must not have it. They do offer: Old Scout 99 proof, Contradiction Rye, and Contradiction Whiskey. Not sure about the Old Scout. The Contradiction(s) claim to be blends of whiskies from WV (I assume their own), IN and KY. I have no idea what's going on with their own make nowadays. Given they seem to only use it as a component of for blending, what are the possibilities. They don't distill a lot. It's not good on its' own (or both). It sort of reminds me of HW. Great sourced barrels became hard to get, unavailable or expensive. Their own make not a factor when it eventually came along.

Yeah, I guess I just worded that incorrectly. They are not similar. What I was driving at was the quality/ price ratio, insofar as I can get a similar quality experience from the Sagamore as I can from the JD. In fact, my first tasting of the JD found it somewhat one-dimensional. It had a syrupy sweetness that was delicious, but I found nothing else that pushed through the heat and the sweet and boldly stated, "I'm here!" I will most certainly add a few drops of water at the next tasting and see where it goes. The neat pour may have been a mistake.

Really weird fall from grace. When i see a store pick i prepare myself for 7,8,9 year old bourbon on the label because thats where their barrels should be by now…but alas its always 5 years maybe a 6 occaisonally. Do they put older stuff out in other regions? Are they content being an also ran? I believe i heard they went back to MGP after they botched their own distillate… if true i wish they could recreate that old majik.

First brisket of the season. Best I’ve done.

Thanks much! Right now, I'm more focused on Bourbon and not Rye so much, but I will return to it. And, I'll add Elijah Craig to my "2nd Round" purchase group I mentioned in my introduction. I haven't decided on whether or not I want to start with the Small Batch or step it up to Single Barrel or Barrel proof. But since I'm also interested in the Woodford Reserve Double Oak, I might just go for the EC Barrel Proof. We'll see. The 18 year is a bit beyond my capabilities, Just a tad pricey. I'm watching too many "Bourbon Hunter" YouTube videos. I could be wrong, but I can't believe these people have tasted all the things they say they have. I'm also seeing, though, that some of the stores are carrying allocated stuff (Papy etc.) and secondary mkt prices ($2000 for a 23). Still, way out of my league, but.... At least, I now know how to get on email "drop" lists in my area, Even if I do nothing with the notifications, I'll get a sense of what the timing is so I can strike when ready. For now, some very basic 2nd string picks: 1) Buffalo Trace (std). 2) 1792 Std. 3) Elijah Craig (Barrel proof - maybe) 4) More Bulleit Bourbon 5) Woodford Reserver double Oak. I'll train myself on these, first, before I branch out.

Dad's Hat on a dreary afternoon...

Wow. Just wow…. Watch your back….

If you like that (and I do) there are a lot of different versions out there. Almost anytime you see "rye whiskey" and "distilled in Indiana" it was made by MGP in Lawrenceburg Indiana. They provide rye whiskey for many brands. The 95% rye mash bill has a distinctive profile.

The ECBP love affair continues with a private 10y at 130 proof. Intense, sweet, flavorful. I do so love those people at HH. This is the Sherman tank of my bottles. Minus the big Ronson Lighter explosions.

I have always found it to be so. But. For an extra 10 proof points, the Gold increases the flavor - and dramatically so. That was my instant reaction the first time I tried the two side by side. I can easily tell the difference blind. And I've practiced it on others (blind) with similar, consistent results. Take a look at the recent "Compare all the Blantons Review" at Bourbon Culture, they make the same point, repeatedly. Where I disagree with them: They rate the regular Blanton's ahead of the Red. Based on my sample size of one Blanton's Red (and a SiB at that, oh well), I think the opposite. But still - the difference 5% ABV makes really surprised me. I have more than one friend who has a separate Blanton's bottle that he fills with Blade & Bow and serves to visitors because he is ornery (or dislikes people going straight for That Bottle Every Time). He says no one has ever called him out on it. I believe him. Heck, now I feel the to SbS them!

A nice pour of MM last night.

Is it me or is Blanton's Sib losing its flavor. The last one I had opened was 6 months ago and it was bland. After that was done thought my taste buds were different. Figured I would wait awhile before opening another. Just opened another from the bunker and I think it's just as bad or maybe worse. Any thoughts? Are they just pushing it out because of the demand knowing it will not be questioned as to value?

Bulleit Rye for me.

I have a bottle that I haven't opened yet, that clocks in at 133 proof. I always add a splash, or a small cube to the JD, and it really opens up nicely. I'm getting the candied pecans as well on the nose from the JD, but not at all from the Sagamore. I don't find them similar at all. Like you, I'm willing to bear the same burden, and revisit the Sagamore.

Honestly, after having the side by side, it felt like we really just paid for the bottle on the 10 year. It's great, but MSRP is probably double what it should be. The 19 year was probably my favorite lower proof pour I've ever had. Just the right amount of oak for me and a dark chocolate flavor really stood out. For the Weller, it's only the second full proof I've had. If these ever become more available it would be my every other day pour along with OWA.

How do they compare? I lack the 1st one and the SP on the 3rd one is of course different.

Freddie is a handsome fellow. Seems to be aware of it too, in a very Zen fashion.

The JDSBBPR is finally showing up with some degree of regularity in my neck of the woods. Picked one up yesterday in anticipation of today (Fryeday) for $65 plus tax. Just wrapping my lips around the neck pour as we speak. On the nose I've got overwhelming candied pecans. Not unpleasant at all. Mine clocks in at 131.9 proof. Jury's still out on whether or not this is a rebuy at this price. If I'm being honest (and I usually am), I get a similar experience from other high proof ryes at a price point around $50 (e.g. Alberta Premium Cask Strength and Sagamore Spirit Cask Strength). I will have to revisit this a few times to verify my findings. It's a burden I'm willing to bear.

OK, here's a challenge for y'all. I'm having a Devil of a time trying to import this spirit. And the ultimate "failure" for me is if I have to spend the $$$ to fly over to Europe just to pick some up. The spirit is called, Pere Blanc. https://www.pitz-schweitzer.lu/Uploads/270070/107.jpg It's a product of Luxembourg and produced by a company called "Pitz-Schweitzer." On my very first travel to Europe to attend the wedding of a close friend in Belgium, the family gave me some of this to drink. And I have to say, it was "Da Bomb!" Very sweet, syrupy, and a ginger like flavor without the tang. Just very sweet and slightly spicy. What I did not realize is that if you don't attend to the bottle cap properly (it's a screw on metal type), the alcohol will evaporate, eventually and you will be left with ginger flavored syrup. Very sugary. A year after the wedding, I returned to Belgium to follow up with my friend. Before I left for home again, I bought two bottles home with me, plus a Grand Marnier. That was 40 years ago. When I opened the fresh bottle you could definitely taste the alcohol in it, but those other sweet/spicy gingery like flavors were still there. Now, 40 years later, I'm down to my last shot on the 2nd bottle. Still some alcohol left in it, but I can tell it's running out of time. So I need to get some more. The problem being, the owner of the company, Jaques Pitz (and I've email him several times) will not export the product to the USA (some sort of bureaucracy/customs dispute with the US Govt or something). I don't understand that as lots of different spirits get exported by France without much difficulty (eg. Grand Marnier). I'd bet , if he wanted to, he could find a distributor in Luxembourg to do it and handle all that paperwork, etc. But it's probably not worth the trouble and not profitable enough for him. In fact, I've come to realize, now, that he doesn't even export it out of Luxembourg, save for a few smaller shops in nearby Belgium. I've also attempted to try and purchase it on-line via a Luxembourg base store that sells on-line, but no luck finding one of those that's willing to do it. Same Customs bureaucracy, perhaps. Thus, it would seem that the only way to get it in the USA is: 1) Choose the "ultimate failure" method and spend several thousand dollars to fly over there and pick it up; or. 2) Find a "retail buying service" that will buy the stuff, retail, package it up and then ship it to the US. It's what I'd be doing if I were to travel over there. I's ship two bottles and then bring two with me. I know Florida law allows me to import one gallon of spirits (379 cl) without needing a license. That's more than enough for me (1 bottle = 70 cl). I could bring 5 home if I wanted. Does anyone know of any such "retail buying service" or of an on-line distributor that can acquire the product and ship it too me? I'd be willing to pay all the costs... the product itself, the VAT, the packaging, she shipping (must be by private courier like DHL or UPS, not the PTT) and any customs duties, etc. Yes, it would be expensive, but that has to be way cheaper than spending several thousand dollars to fly over there. Therefore, the challenge. Find a way to get this stuff shipped to me in FL without me having to fly over there to get it. Any helpful suggestions on how to approach this are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Armagnac Garreau - Bas Armagnac - Vintage 1974 - 50YO - Cask 7499 - 51.2% it’s this if the link doesn’t work. I’m so clueless on Armagnac but want to buy a couple

This month's dead soldiers.

I've experienced the same.