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What Bourbon Are You Enjoying, Winter 2011/2012


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As with my other willet experiences, The 17 has a lot of fruit flavors - apricot perhaps is the best one I can come up with. The 17 seems to have a bit more rye in it than the 19, which makes for a nice burn/spice, but it dissapears quickly and you're left with a nice aftertaste.

PS: it seemed to taste better this week vs last week when I opened the bottle. Whether that was based on what I had to eat or just getting a little oxygen in the bottle, I'm not sure.

Let me know what you think.

My Willett 17 year old is a wheated bourbon, selected for the Party Source. I have heard of a few other wheaters for other retailers as well. I haven't heard of a 17 year Willett non-wheated bourbon. I'll post on it. but apples and oranges.

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I'm staying in with the wife and daughter this year. I started early with a little '09 Saz 18.

I am same as you but without the Saz 18. I started the evening a small sip of last nite's new wonder - a TPS 4R Pvt OBSQ...needs a little air methinks. So, although a minor blasphemy, I have switched for a short while to some Ciroc & OJ while I get the steaks & shrimp cookin. As soon as feasible, I will be moving into some '11 Stagg. Just did not want to get the high octane Stagg too close to the grill.

Though not a vodka freak...this Ciroc is some good stuff - a Christmas gift. Closer to midnight here in the CST zone, thinking about toasting a new year with Pappy...it don't get much better than that...Happy New Year to All!!!!

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TPS 4R OBSK, opened 45 minutes ago. Strangely, I don't get much of a nose, except some nice rye every now and then. On the palate I get lots of sweet corn, followed (as promised by the description on the bottle) by a stately rye explosion, so much that it tastes for a while like an old straight rye. On the finish it's all cotton candy and bubblegum with a bit of barrel char, and finally the rye again. Nice!

The "problem" is that it's way, way, WAY too easy to drink at 62.3%. I just had a PHC 2010 cut to 107 proof and it was harder to drink than this!

This is a conundrum. I might have to switch to beer when the party starts in 15 minutes. This one will have me talking in tongues in no time flat.

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Ridgemont 1792 via a Perfect Manhattan

2 parts bourbon

1 part sweet vermouth

1 part extra dry vermouth

3 dashes orange bitters

1 maraschino cherry for garnish

Still experimenting with manhattans, but this recipe is great, didn't think I'd get much for the bitters, but the orange adds a nice bit of complexity to the cocktail, and the mixture of vermouths helps cut down on the sometimes cloying sweetness that can come from just the sweet vermouth alone.

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I've been enjoying a recently purchased wheated Vintage 17 lately. I purchased my TPS Willett 14a 17 year wheater at the same time but saved it for New Years Eve. After reading about both, it would seem that the Willett is a barrel strength unfiltered Bernheim distilled wheater to V17's 94 proof filtered Bernheim distilled wheater. As much as I enjoy the V17, there is absolutely no comparison. There is so much more concentration of flavor with the Willett. It is also insanely easy to drink, even neat, at 130+proof (sorry, the bottle is not in front of me right now for the exact proof).

All of this being said, I also had a 1.7 oz mini bottle of Old Weller Special Reserve Louisville. It has a strip that stated tax paid - distilled spirit - something ATF. I don't remember exactly, no dates printed on the strip. I'm not sure of the age, all I can say was that it was the whiskey of the night. Karen had a taste and kept commenting on how "rich" it was compared to the other whiskeys tasted last night. Vanilla, caramel, more wood than expected for 7 years old, but not too much, creamy full mouthfeel. There was a chewy fruit thing going on, but I'm not sure how to accurately describe it, almost like a dark fruit/cherry sensation like dark Belgian beers have (think St Bernardus 12). Rich was the exact description that kept coming back to both of us, it was almost hypnotic. Once we tasted the weller, we kept talking about it for a half hour after it was gone. I drank some excellent whiskeys for New Years, but they were all overshadowed by the Weller. Ive never had this sort of experience with a bourbon before, even the ones I love.Incredible!

Also, this pour tasted much "bolder" than expected for 90 proof, if that makes any sense.

If anyone can shed light on the possible age of this Weller I'd appreciate it. I'm not up to speed on dating bottles, tax strips and such.

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Polishing off my 2010 OFBB, in anticipation of buying some 2011 in 2012.

(That sentence would only make sense to this bunch of weirdos.:lol: )

Happy New Year everyone!

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I also had a 1.7 oz mini bottle of Old Weller Special Reserve Louisville. It has a strip that stated tax paid - distilled spirit - something ATF. I don't remember exactly, no dates printed on the strip. I'm not sure of the age, all I can say was that it was the whiskey of the night. Karen had a taste and kept commenting on how "rich" it was compared to the other whiskeys tasted last night. Vanilla, caramel, more wood than expected for 7 years old, but not too much, creamy full mouthfeel. There was a chewy fruit thing going on, but I'm not sure how to accurately describe it, almost like a dark fruit/cherry sensation like dark Belgian beers have (think St Bernardus 12). Rich was the exact description that kept coming back to both of us, it was almost hypnotic. Once we tasted the weller, we kept talking about it for a half hour after it was gone. I drank some excellent whiskeys for New Years, but they were all overshadowed by the Weller. Ive never had this sort of experience with a bourbon before, even the ones I love.Incredible!

Also, this pour tasted much "bolder" than expected for 90 proof, if that makes any sense.

If anyone can shed light on the possible age of this Weller I'd appreciate it. I'm not up to speed on dating bottles, tax strips and such.

As a sort of general placement, if it has a UPC code, it's likely after 1980. If the volume is listed in mls, it's also late-70s, early-80s, at the earliest. If it has a government warning, it's after 1988 or 1989 (I can't remember the exact year). I've heard a lot of different things about the tax strips, regarding color and numbers. I read in one post that if the strip has 8 digits, it's not later than 1983 or close to that.

Anyway, excellent find! I've been debating paying the Ebay price for a nice old Weller, since there's nothing like that around here. I didn't much like the Old Fitzgerald I found (1980-1983), but that's most likely because it was so young and wheaters need more time.

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Polishing off my 2010 OFBB, in anticipation of buying some 2011 in 2012.

(That sentence would only make sense to this bunch of weirdos.:lol: )

Happy New Year everyone!

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Just cracked open an '11 ER17. My first impression is: I'm not sure this bourbon has any redeeming value at all.

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Couple nice pours of FC while the Gamecocks handled the Cornhuskers. Moved on to 4RSB during the Rose Bowl. Glad the games were not in the reverse order. Much prefer to finish with the 4RSB.

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Its just a cold, nasty day in O H I O...Good day to watch football and enjoy some bourbon :

VSOF

WTRB

OGD114

VOB

FR1B's, OESO & OBSV

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Just had a little bit of 4RSmB, and then decided to open my bottle of Fleishmann's Rye that I just picked up on my recent trip to Wisconsin. Tastes quite young, but I would have to put it as a close 2nd or 3rd on my favorite rye whiskies.

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Having some BMH 23yr Rye that I picked up today...

Intoxicating nose filled with creamy caramel, rye spice, orange rhine, apricots and some oak

Pallet: Buttery entry with rye spice carried throughout and finishes with some driness and hints of dark chocolate.

Finish: The Rye Spice and the Wood balance themselves quite nicely on this pour...It's not quite as long in finish as some of the barrel proofers that I've been drinking of late but this is a nice representation of a old rye whiskey! Sky would love this pour! :cool:

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Weller 12 followed by EWBIB. I maintain that these are two of the most undervalued bourbons available, especially the Weller 12. Absolutely wonderful! :grin:

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I finished off my bottle of WSR and Old Scout last night. I also put a pretty big dent in my Saz 18 '09. That one's almost gone.

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Rang in the new year with PVW20 and VWFRR, what a pair!

Kicked a Binny's EC18 4/15/92 and the VWFRR on 1/1, and continued my weekend of decadence with some GTS '10, FRLESmB '11 and PVW15 from '09.

Yesterday I cracked a private barrel of BT. I wish I wish I wish it was barrel proof; at 90pr, it sips sweet, but so many subtle flavors are totally washed out.

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Enjoying a FR1B OESK from my favorite store in SF. Just cracked this open yesterday and I'm really enjoying it. Sweet, rich, and spicy with heavy barrel char flavors. A nice long caramel finish. I know I'm late to the party, but I'm falling in love with Four Roses.

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I bought a bottle of PHC Wheat a couple of weeks ago. The store I got it at had three bottles.

Then a few days ago I looked up at my bar and noticed that it was half empty, half full, whatever, it was going down quickly.

So I made the hour trip back to the same location and got their last one.

I must say that this version of PHC is on my top three list. WLW is another top fav.

I am looking forward to this year's PHC bottling.

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The last pour out of an old Pappy 15 yr old. It's never a regular pour for me, though every time I go to this bottle, I ask myself, self? Why is it you do drink this more often? Well it empty now, might be a little time before I open another.

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Some WSR that's been open for a while. I'm recovering from a cold though, and it's still not tasting quite right.

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