What are you drinking this moment?!? (continued)

[Gillman]

Yes and the other recent comments on Hirsch 16 are very valuable. We must remember: Hirsch, 16 or 20 years old, represents the rare surviving stocks of Michter's, a Pennsylvania distillery whose roots went back to Revolutionary times (making originally straight rye whiskey). Michter's sadly closed in the early 1980's. It was, odd as it may sound, before its time, or before its most recent time. Had it endured it would deserve the iconic status of Jack Daniels and in fact more so (from the point of both pedigree and, not least, taste). The distinctive taste must be put down to the unique Michter's mash bill (and aging in the colder Penn climate): just 50% corn, a big 38% rye grist (which blends in most smoothly at 16 and 20 years) and the rest barley malt. A very fine American whiskey representing a style and name almost lost forever except for those lucky to have some Hirsch in their stash. For historical background on Michter's, Michael Jackson's "World Guide To Whiskey" (1988) is essential reading..

Cy

[jeff]

Started tonight with a couple of pours of KY Spirit to go with my newfound Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signatures. Now I am drinking a glass of Rare Breed to try and calm down a bit from a nailbiter of a game. It wasn't pretty, but it was still a win!

[ratcheer]

Wathen's single barrel, straight. I didn't originally care much for this whiskey, but I am enjoying it more and more every time I try it.

Tim

[ratcheer]

Rare Breed. Straight.

Still my all-time favorite. To me, the perfect bourbon flavor, plus it is big and bold. My version of bourbonic bliss.

No GTS is available for me, so I can't personally compare. But, I can always get RB and I'm 100% satisfied with it.

Tim

[bluesbassdad]

Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve, from an oddly shaped WT Rare Breed rocks glass that was part of a boxed, special promotion (RB plus two glasses) around Christmas time.

RR has regained the candied orange-peel taste that eluded me the last few times I drank it. However, the finish is still rougher and drier than I remember from when I first tried it. Maybe the Hirsch 16 has spoiled me forever in regard to finish.

***

BTW, Moderators, would you consider starting a new continuation of this thread for the second quarter of 2003? (I still haven't sprung for DSL, and this thead is getting a mite slow to load.)

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[jeff]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />

from an oddly shaped WT Rare Breed rocks glass that was part of a boxed, special promotion (RB plus two glasses) around Christmas time

Dave,

Those glasses have become my favorite glasses to drink with. I love the heaviness and the tappered top. Unfortunatly one of my two broke in a dishwashing mishap and now I only have one . And of course those gift-sets aren't available now. I sure hope I will see them again next year.

[jeff]

Weller 12yo. Just love this stuff. Did it really only cost $14.99? I think I will finally pick up a bottle of the Centennial next weekend

[bluesbassdad]

Jeff,

I was recently underwhelmed by my bottle of Weller 12, which I had let a salesman talk me into buying.

However, at about that time I suddenly couldn't find anything to like in Russell's Reserve after I had raved about it hereabouts for months.

Recently I have regained at least some of my fondness for RR; so maybe it's time to give the Weller 12 another shot. As you say, the price is certainly appealling.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[bluesbassdad]

Jeff,

If I ever accidentally break one of mine, what say we each bet our one remaining glass on a coin toss? No sense in having two orphan glasses, eh?

On a serious note, I have worried that on a humid day the tapered shape combined with a little condensation would make the glass slippery and hard to hold. It's hardly an issue for me because I drink neat 90% of the time, but I assume it was intended to be a rocks glass. Have you ever had any mishaps or near-misses?

Your comment about the heaviness gave me a wild idea. How hard would it be to turn the bottom three inches of an Eagle Rare bottle (also heavily weighted) into a rocks glass? Would the diameter be too large? Would the side be too thick?

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[mike1]

I have a bottle of Wathen's. No mention of 12 years old on it. I did not think a great deal of it. Do you know where he gets his stock from?

[jeff]

Jefferson's Reserve 15yo bourbon. I must admit that I am getting more enjoyment tonight out of this one than I have in a while. Something strange is happening though. Tonight I am picking up a subtle earthyness that until now I have only atributed to BT boubons. Hmm.

[tommy]

Tonight I had some Elija Craig 12 year old for the first time. It was delicious! The weird lip makes swigging right from the bottle pretty hard though, so I had to be civilized and use a sort of snifter(?) glass.

Tommy

[bluesbassdad]

I mentioned Weller, not Wathen's, in the post to which you replied.

Did you mistype?

In contrast to the Weller 12 the one bottle of Wathen's I've had was very enjoyable. I can't tell you where the stock for either comes from.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[MurphyDawg]

Well I FINALLY got to crack the seal on my very own bottle of Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit last night. . . .

BLEEE!!!

TomC

[bluesbassdad]

Congratulations! I hope that in due course you tell us your perceptions of it.

In the meantime, wouldn't it be marvelous to drink a KS toast to the inauguration of the 2Q2003 iteration of the "What are you drinking this moment?" thread? Hint, hint... (The current thread takes over a minute and a half to load on my modem connection, which never comes close to the claimed speed.)

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[jeff]

Hope you enjoy it Tom, I sure do. BTW, I expect a glowing report from this bottle. No more of that "not the best bourbon in the world" Stagg stuff