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Empty Bottle Support Group 2011


fishnbowljoe
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A few bottles bit the dust this week... A WTRB, 4R yellow, just now a Jefferson's rye... Soon to polish off a Weller 12 tonight as well

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Finishing off a bottle of Bulleit Rye as I type. I like it's minty flavor so it will be replaced. It will never replace Ritt but it's better than Beam and I can get it locally unlike the Ritt that I have to order. My area sucks for choice.:hot:

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Weller 12 is now a goner and Buffalo Trace has but a sip left. I've enjoyed both but only plan on replacing the Weller 12. It's so damned good and you can't beat the price.

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What's your Old Fashioned method/recipe?

I like Robert Hess (drinkboy)'s version: simple syrup and bitters stirred with ice, bourbon and large slice of orange peel (squeezed to express oils) added, filled with ice and stirred again. Cherry as garnish at the end; nothing muddled, no club soda added.

The experimental variables (in addition to the base whiskey) were the amount of simple syrup and bitters: Angostura regular, Angostura orange, Fee Bros. whiskey-barrel-aged and Stirrings blood orange.

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finished a rittenhouse bib rye this week, and a weller 12 recently. trying to clear out all the bottles i have left open... i just opened a pappy 15 though, which is going fast! trying to keep myself from drinking more of it after hearing from other SBers about how it gets better with time/oxidation, like most wheaters. I think that's probably true, given my experience with a ORVW 10/107, which just got better as time went on.

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Said goodbye to a GTS 2010 last night. Very good, especially the last few pours, I likes me some barrel chunks.

I have paced myself well with the GTS vintages, I'm not quite worn out yet, as some people seem to be.

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Said goodbye to a GTS 2010 last night. Very good, especially the last few pours, I likes me some barrel chunks.

I have paced myself well with the GTS vintages, I'm not quite worn out yet, as some people seem to be.

I agree that it's good bourbon Sky...I just don't think it's $80 good especially when 2 years ago it was $55-$60...that's some serious inflation! I think some of the Willett bottling’s that have been done are just as good or better and most of the time come in at a lower price point. That being said, it's easier to pick an excellent SB then it is to produce a good batch of GTS so I do give BT their props there as they seem to be able to deliver a very consistent GTS year over year. I tend to find the GTS bottling’s more alike than different when comparing year to year so I don't really feel compelled to go out and get the 2011 bottles when I have an ample supply of the 2006-2009 in the bunker.

Oh yeah, I did manage to kill a bottle of Ritt BIB last week...that stuff is so good when mixed with ginger ale! :yum:

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Well...I stretched it as long as I could, my dusty OGD BIB handle with the real tax stamp went dry last night, as well as an Ezera B a couple nights ago.

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I just don't think it's $80 good especially when 2 years ago it was $55-$60

Around these parts, they are priced a lot less than that.

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I kicked a bottle of Willet 17 year old I got from TPS. Single-barrel, barrel-proof, unchillfiltered, although I don't see that written on the bottle. It must have been in TPS notes on it.

What's funny is that the tasting notes here include the description "Comprised of a grain bill of corn and malt and another grain occasionally used in Bourbon distillation, it is a rare bourbon indeed." They refer to 'another grain' without calling it out by name.

The other clue out there is here on the K&L Wines site where they say, "For fans of the Pappy style, this will surpass your expectations of what a great, full-bodied bourbon can be."

An occasionally used bourbon grain and a reference to fans of the Pappy style? What could this possibly be pointing towards?

Now, I bought the bottle after tasting a 17 year old Willet at Longman and Eagle here in Chicago and being completely blown away by the sparkling rye spice on the back end. Suffice it to say, this bottle from TPS was not the same.

I saw a video linked on Twitter with Drew Kulsveen and another guy tasting some Willet. There was no mention of the 17-year bourbon, so I sent a tweet to Drew asking if the 14A barrel from TPS was wheated. To my surprise and delight, he responded that it was indeed - no big surprise considering the hints from TPS and K&L, but it was nice to get direct confirmation from the horse's mouth, especially when the horse in question is not exactly known for his forthright demeanor (here or on his labels, anyway).

It took me some time to find my sweet spot with the bottle - letting it open up and experimenting with how much water to add - but I found it, and what a luxurious sweet spot it is! Similar to the PHC10, but denser and more full-bodied. IMO, worth the $20 premium over the wheated PHC10.

I've seen hectic and some others write about a private bottling wheated 17 year Willet on here. I have to wonder where this was distilled. I don't imagine anyone here would have info on the matter, but I was under the impression that there were a limited number of distilleries that produce wheated bourbon, so I can't help but wonder at the pedigree of this stuff.

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I kicked a bottle of Willet 17 year old I got from TPS. Single-barrel, barrel-proof, unchillfiltered, although I don't see that written on the bottle. It must have been in TPS notes on it.

What's funny is that the tasting notes here include the description "Comprised of a grain bill of corn and malt and another grain occasionally used in Bourbon distillation, it is a rare bourbon indeed." They refer to 'another grain' without calling it out by name.

The other clue out there is here on the K&L Wines site where they say, "For fans of the Pappy style, this will surpass your expectations of what a great, full-bodied bourbon can be."

An occasionally used bourbon grain and a reference to fans of the Pappy style? What could this possibly be pointing towards?

Now, I bought the bottle after tasting a 17 year old Willet at Longman and Eagle here in Chicago and being completely blown away by the sparkling rye spice on the back end. Suffice it to say, this bottle from TPS was not the same.

I saw a video linked on Twitter with Drew Kulsveen and another guy tasting some Willet. There was no mention of the 17-year bourbon, so I sent a tweet to Drew asking if the 14A barrel from TPS was wheated. To my surprise and delight, he responded that it was indeed - no big surprise considering the hints from TPS and K&L, but it was nice to get direct confirmation from the horse's mouth, especially when the horse in question is not exactly known for his forthright demeanor (here or on his labels, anyway).

It took me some time to find my sweet spot with the bottle - letting it open up and experimenting with how much water to add - but I found it, and what a luxurious sweet spot it is! Similar to the PHC10, but denser and more full-bodied. IMO, worth the $20 premium over the wheated PHC10.

I've seen hectic and some others write about a private bottling wheated 17 year Willet on here. I have to wonder where this was distilled. I don't imagine anyone here would have info on the matter, but I was under the impression that there were a limited number of distilleries that produce wheated bourbon, so I can't help but wonder at the pedigree of this stuff.

The Willett 17yr that I have is a Bernhiem distilliate and IMO just as good as the majority of the SW stuff I have tasted. SW has is loar about it due in part to the hype created by websites like this...IMO the Bernheim stuff that I have tasted (Binny's W12, Willett 17/18yr, etc) have been on the same level as a lot of the SW stuff that I've had. If you're ever in the area you're welcome to come by and taste some for yourself. ;)

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Last night a Col EH Taylor hit the recycling bin.

This last glass was nothing like the previous pours. It's been sitting untouched for probably the last month.

What surprised me was the finish. After the first sip, it came sneaking up and really surprised me. Black cherries. I was really taken aback by this "where did this come from" taste that i had not seen in past pours. But a good surprise.

This flavor is something with I also consistently get with Lot B.

It livened up what had been a previous slightly above average pour to something much more enjoyable.

B

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Killed another bottle of Baker's over the weekend. I will replace it, as I really like this juice. I know it's pricey, but IMHO it doesn't seem to get the love I think it deserves, here on SB and elsewhere.

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So long to Powers Gold Label, a truly fine (and affordable) Irish whiskey. Will soon crack open the Powers 12 to see how they compare.

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Killed another bottle of Baker's over the weekend. I will replace it, as I really like this juice. I know it's pricey, but IMHO it doesn't seem to get the love I think it deserves, here on SB and elsewhere.

I happen to agree with you on this point. My last bottle was quite good and another lurks in the bunker.

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The Willett 17yr that I have is a Bernhiem distilliate and IMO just as good as the majority of the SW stuff I have tasted. SW has is loar about it due in part to the hype created by websites like this...IMO the Bernheim stuff that I have tasted (Binny's W12, Willett 17/18yr, etc) have been on the same level as a lot of the SW stuff that I've had. If you're ever in the area you're welcome to come by and taste some for yourself. ;)

Thanks for the insight! There is a 'je ne sais quoi' about S-W juice (that I half blindly assign to yeast ID), but it's good to know that Bernheim is capable of producing that luscious caramel black cherry skin character in their wheater.

If my info is correct (from LikeItWasSodaPop) you're a bit of a drive from the city, but I look forward to driving out next time you have a gathering!

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I just polished off a bottle of EW Black. I haven't tossed it in the recycle bin yet as it was purchased on a memorable night with my girlfriend and I'll let her make that call.

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I just polished off a bottle of EW Black. I haven't tossed it in the recycle bin yet as it was purchased on a memorable night with my girlfriend and I'll let her make that call.

If your girlfriend is anything like my wife, I'd get rid of the bottle before she has a chance to get on your case for not picking up after yourself. Personally, I like to keep empty, memorable bottles as souvenirs. My wife, on the other hand, has other ideas...

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If your girlfriend is anything like my wife, I'd get rid of the bottle before she has a chance to get on your case for not picking up after yourself. Personally, I like to keep empty, memorable bottles as souvenirs. My wife, on the other hand, has other ideas...

Haha, good advice. My girlfriend has actually started encouraging me to go dusty hunting. And the other day while we were in a liquor store she grabbed a pvw20 and a lot b because she was tired of waiting for me to research another bottle I was looking at.

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Went down to the basement bar the other night, started to peruse the open bottles to select my evening libation, and D'OH—I'd forgotten my favored glass upstairs in the dishwasher. Then my nearly depleted Pappy 20 spoke to me: "Save a trip and bring the bottle to the glass." I was glad I did. That last healthy pour looked amazing in the autumn evening light. And hit the spot.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Last night I bid farewell to a smooth brown top WTKS bottled on 3/29/04. I thought this bottle was good to the very last, and luckily have another bottle from this barrel in reserve.

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