New Favorite Bourbon

[kickert]

I just got around to having a pour of ERSB tonight...and I'm already on number 2. :grin:

While BT is very good and I found the 2 bottles shared quite a bit in common, ER seemed to be smoother. I believe I once again have a new favorite bourbon, but then again, I still have a lot to try.

Justin

I read the above post in another thread and it reminded me of my early days of bourbon tasting when it was easy to rank different bottles and when my quest was to find my "favorite." I think this is a noble goal -- especially for someone just getting started -- but I think most of us get to the point where we realize there are plenty of excellent bourbons out there and different ones are "best" for different times.

I tried to think back to what pours held the crown as "Ben's Favorite" and how they were replaced. Here is what I came up with.

1.) Maker's Mark - It "won" my personal 6 way taste test so it had to be the best.

2.) Four Roses Small Batch - The first bourbon that made me say "Wow, that is great"

3.) Eagle Rare Single Barrel - The oldest (and most expensive) bourbon I had had to date. It set a standard for "richness" and thus earned my top spot.

4.) Elmer T. Lee - Similar to Eagle Rare for me, but eventually displaced ER when I did several side by side tastings and found I preferred ETL. My avatar on SB.com was created around this time.

5.) George T. Stagg - This bourbon changed my world. I remembering being giddy the first time I tried it. I didn't know bourbon could taste this good. It was my first $50+ pour, my first uncut/unfiltered pour, and my first cask strength pour. Its march to the top of the BCS (Ben's Champion Spirit) was dominate.

6.) Pappy 15 - A gift in honor of the birth of my daughter from a member here at SB. I found it had everything I liked in GTS, but was more rounded and balanced. I realized it was #1 after someone asked me what the best bourbon for $75 was and I said Pappy 15 without hesitation.

After about a year of dedicated tasting, I realized rankings -- even my own -- were subjective and only relatively helpful. I no longer have a single favorite, but am thrilled to know of a good number of bourbons that make me exceedingly happy when I have the opportunity to sip on them.

So what about you, what were your favorites and how did they change.

[spun_cookie]

Same here. I went on a "Taste every Bourbon Known to Man" crusade and I was getting pretty close i quit taking notes when I was well over 500 tastings.. only posted about 350 of them on BE - use to do that so I coud corilate what I liked and what others did when looking at new buys to find folks with similar and diferent tastes...

I was not worried about a #1, but finding all the ones I like and then buying those... then the bunker hit 600 bottles... I have dozens and dozens of bourbons I love at different times for different reasons.

[imbibehour]

the joy is in the hunt, but not to really get to the goal...

If you look at it this way... what if you find the perfect bourbon.. I mean that's all you're going to buy? forever...?

Well then drinking bourbon just kind of gets pointless after that doesn't it?

For me... variety is the spice of life... Recently I am craving the Weller's, I jump on Makers, I think of the basic OF, ... I still fondly grab ETL when someone comes over... There's a right bourbon for the right occasion too. And I know there's much much more bourbon for me to try (can't wait!).

A good example in contrast... someone said to Chris McMillan (one of the, if not the best bartender on the planet right now) "What's your favorite cocktail?"

And he doesn't have an answer. What time of the day is it? What season? Is it a before or after drink... etc... all these factors... I look at bourbon in the same way to some degree (not in terms of dining perhaps), but what is the right occasion.

As Chuck said there is no BEST bourbon... and heck we're all not going to agree either. So I'll leave it at that.

[kickert]

I think it is interesting to look back at my own understanding of what the best was as my experiences broadened.