What was the first Bourbon you tasted and how old were you?

[jburlowski]

JBW, back when the earth was still cooling.

[Hondo]

Well... seems like it was Old Grand Dad and I didn't have a drivers license yet, so I'm guessing that i was probably 15. Wow... that was a while back!

[ILLfarmboy]

1986, 16 years old, WT 101. Funny thing, always drank it in shots and with coke, but couldn't really drink it neat or on the rocks without gagging until about 4 years ago when all of a sudden I could and haven't mixed any bourbon since. That's always seemed strange to me. All I could really taste before was the alcohol then one day a whole new world opened up to me.

Randy

That's interesting. I'm the same age as you and while I had encountered JD and drank Jack and Cokes for a year or so before coming across WT at a house party And trying it. I could never stand to mix it with Coke. I sipped it neat and would "do" the occasional shot from the get go. To this day I don't care for bourbon and Coke and I especially don't like high rye bourbon and Coke (WT and OGD)

[gblick]

I'm pretty sure my first bourbon was WT101, and I was probably around 17.

[Dramiel McHinson]

My first recollection of tasting bourbon was 1961. I was six years old. It was Christmas and I was at my grandparents house. During the holidays we had many visitors from our extended family and each night after a large meal the women collected in one room and the men in another. All the men were veterans of WWII and Korea and they drank Ancient Age back when it was 86 proof. I would sit with them and day dream of glory as they recounted their war experiences. After a while, I was designated as Drink Fetcher First class. I always sampled the pour to ensure it met mil-spec for quantity and quality. I discovered on Christmas 1961 the secret to their happiness. Ancient Age was good whiskey until Seagram's ruined it. Buffalo Trace hasn't brought it to its glory days yet but I still hold out hope. My grandmother was a fan of Maker's Mark and so these two whiskies led me to this forum some 47 years latter, still a fan of good bourbon and now, as a disabled veteran, I have memories of war and whiskey all my own.

Cheers to all you early adopters

[Dramiel McHinson]

Me, too! '61 and six years old! It was springtime, maybe the Easter holiday. My grandparents were visiting my house from out-of-town.

EDO,

I almost fouled myself laughing although it may not have been so funny in 1961. We are brothers of a very small group of early adopters:grin:

I have no regrets and now that my grandfather is 93, his mind is crystal clear. When I visit him, we still have a bourbon together after dinner. He claims strong family and good bourbon are the stuff of life and I can't find a any reason to doubt him.

I'm throwin back an Old Weller Antique 107 in your honor....

Yep! The fire hasn't gone out:icon_pidu:

[BourbonJoe]

My first bourbon was Old Grandad, I waited until 21 to drink hard liquor. I drank Grandad and water, exclusively for the next 20 years. Then I woke up.

Joe :usflag:

[Special Reserve]

EDO,

I almost fouled myself laughing although it may not have been so funny in 1961. We are brothers of a very small group of early adopters:grin:

I have no regrets and now that my grandfather is 93, his mind is crystal clear. When I visit him, we still have a bourbon together after dinner. He claims strong family and good bourbon are the stuff of life and I can't find a any reason to doubt him.

I'm throwin back an Old Weller Antique 107 in your honor....

Yep! The fire hasn't gone out:icon_pidu:

[sysrick]

I was 21 and the bourbon was Wild Turkey. My age was just a coincidence – what got me started down the path was reading Hunter S. Thompson’s product placement of Wild Turkey (among other things that are not relevant to this thread :crazy:) in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in Rolling Stone when it was first published in 1971.

[nor02lei]

101. I think I was around 30. Second one was EW 8 years.

Leif

[Martian]

Ancient Age when I was probably 19 in college. Mixed it with Coke and got drunk and sick. Took me several years to try bourbon again. I've never mixed it since.

[Dramiel McHinson]

Dan,

Treasure the time you spend with your Grandpa. My dad's dad died in 1932, 17 years before I was born. My mom's dad dies in 1955, he did get the opportunity to give his oldest grandson (me) some homemade hard cider before he died.

Even though I was just 5 when he died, I do have good memory of him. He was a successful farmer in the thumb of Michigan who loved his Detroit Tigers. I was sitting next to him when he died in Briggs Stadium at age 72. Enjoying life one second telling his grandson about baseball and dead the next. Please let me go that way (but give me 15 extra years).

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to bring up his memory.

Will

Will,

Heartfelt Thanx! I consider myself very fortunate indeed that I can sit down with my father and my grandfather and share a drink while they remind me of all the outrageous antics I performed as a child. From my perspective, they have shared their lives with me all of my life. Now that I'm a grandfather too, I plan to follow their example as long as the good Lord will allow it.

This is a great reminder that we don't know when our last breath will come but we can live our lives more fully by sharing it with the ones we love.

Cheers!