What is on your list of bad bourbon?

[Curtisc84]

Joe,

Have you tried the Sweet Mash?

Additions:

Woodford Reserve Masters Collection Sonoma Cutrer and Cody Road

[TheNovaMan]

Ezra Brooks and HH BIB 4-year (gold label) have both been mentioned as undrinkable. I disagree. I think EB (black label, 90 proof, looks alot like Jack Daniels) is very drinkable with an ice cube or two, and no problem at all in a mix. I just tried the HH gold BIB a couple nights ago, and I thought it was very nice, especially for the price. I'll even drink HH 80 on the rocks and enjoy it. The bourbons I avoid are Old Crow (my dad and I call it Old Croak Kentucky Straight Embalming Fluid), and Mattingly & Moore. The Old Croak I had (several years ago) was just rotgut, and I'm not even a Beam hater. It even ruins a 7UP. The Mattingly & Moore is suspiciously sweet, which makes me think something is being covered up with sweetness.

[DBM]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my question with engaging, thoughtful responses. I'm relatively new to bourbon (long time scotch and wine fanatic) and was puzzled by the almost universal acceptance and respect of bourbon at every level of quality and price, and now I know why.

While I did not intend it to be a personal preference thread, I have to give LostBottle credit for the most direct and amusing response.

Not a bourbon, but Wild Turkey Rye 81 is f*ck*ng horrible.

Even if I liked WT Rye 81, I can't argue with this.

[BFerguson]

Joe,

Have you tried the Sweet Mash?

This is one on my not good list. it started out somewhat ok, but then got weirder as i got into the bottle.

B

[wadewood]

Corner Creek Reserve tops my list.

[T Comp]

Agreed also. I just pray to the bourbon gods that Beam uses substandard juice to blend with their cherry swill. I would hate to think that some of the bourbon used for Red Stag could have become a Beam Black or Knob Creek. Evan Williams cherry is just as awful but it is actually not blended with bourbon. HH uses american whiskey beause it talks about "grain neutral spirits" being a large percentage on the label. Again it is awful but at least they ruining less bourbon.

I have to feel certain that Beam uses their substandard barrels for making Red Stag. For what it's worth, I actually thought it was ok when I tried it. Obviously not something I would drink often, but on ice for a change of pace it wasn't bad.

Come on now guys (I'll assume guys :grin:). Being a discussion board, speculation happens on SB here but the notion that Red Stag is batched from a big dump of substandard barrels...I'll politiely call nonsense. Stag is labeled straight bourbon whiskey. Beam represents that it is 4 years old and the same whiskey as the White label. It is going to be the same distillate that will be Black or KC or Bookers. The barrels are dumped to obtain a consistent taste profile before the infusion and from common sense, how you going to do that with a whole batch of substandard barrels. If they even do a separate dump for Red Stag (I doubt but who knows) it would have the same amount of substandard barrels as for any dump...just enough to be hidden by all the standard ones.

Nothing wrong with disparaging Red Stag, as this is a discussion board :cool:, but hopefully the more they sell the more capital they have to put out what we want.

And someday I can tell you a story about what not to do with a bottle of Red Stag but have to hold off for now .

http://www.shankennewsdaily.com/index.php/2012/04/25/2937/flavored-whiskies-leading-spirits-market-growth-in-2012/

[squire]

I met a girl who liked Red Stag with cola and she led me astray.

[GaryT]

I met a girl who liked Red Stag with cola and she led me astray.

[squire]

Dude, we lack the strength to fight girl power.

[Flyfish]

Add me to the list of those who don't believe there is "bad" straight bourbon whiskey, just those that don't appeal as much as others. Most SBers would likey find Blanton's and OGD 114 well within the acceptable range but I have had guests sip them and say "Blech!" It seems to me that their response says more about them than about the bourbon. (Not to mention what it says about the manners their mammas failed to teach them.)

[jburlowski]

Other than one or two bottles that had cork taint, the only truly bad straight bourbon I've had was the infamous WR4G. :puke:

[Parkersback]

OF Prime

JW Dant (80, not the BIB)

WR Maple Finish

Basil Hayden's certainly isn't "bad" by any stretch, but it's annoying.

[fishnbowljoe]

Other than one or two bottles that had cork taint, the only truly bad straight bourbon I've had was the infamous WR4G. :puke:

How coincidental. After my experience with the WRMC Sonoma Cutrer, I donated my WR4G to a worthy cause. Seriously.

[marco246]

Just visited my brother in Texas and had a drink of Garrison Brothers. Two years old, B to the third power (Bad Beyond Belief), and very expensive. I suppose it is for the Texan who must drink something distilled in Texas--maybe a loyalty thing.

[SFS]

How coincidental. After my experience with the WRMC Sonoma Cutrer, I donated my WR4G to a worthy cause. Seriously.

[SFS]

I suppose it is for the Texan who must drink something distilled in Texas--maybe a loyalty thing.

[MauiSon]

Novice that I am, still happy to proclaim, 'I've yet to meet a bad bourbon.'

[TheNovaMan]

JW Dant (80, not the BIB)

[393foureyedfox]

most anything under 100 proof and everything under 90 proof.

im a newbie to bourbons but have already discovered bookers is my favorite....

i didnt like OGD 114 when I first tried it, but it has either started to grow on me, or it got a bit better after air exposure

Ive had limited exposure to ryes, and have to just say....indifferent

Edited May 13, 2013 by 393foureyedfox

[Young Blacksmith]

I always go back in my memory as to what I've poured down the drain:

Dusty JTS Brown 86 - cardboard skunk taste

Rock Town Baby Bourbon

Everything else I've been able to either mix with or at least figure out something to do with it!

[Trey Manthey]

I don't mind standard Woodford Reserve, but I had to try the Sonoma-Cutrer at the Houston meetup this weekend. Probably the worst I've had.

[Balcones Winston]

I wish I was at liberty to say.

Actually I guess there's nothing wrong with saying that I had a 1980's JW Dant "Olde Bourbon" 80pr that was really, really bad.

[Balcones Winston]

Just visited my brother in Texas and had a drink of Garrison Brothers. Two years old, B to the third power (Bad Beyond Belief), and very expensive. I suppose it is for the Texan who must drink something distilled in Texas--maybe a loyalty thing.

[DrinkSpirits]

I have a long list of 'craft' bourbons that are unpalatable, but I hate to shame little guys who are really trying. Having said that I think the Whistle Pig 111 is off the mark (although that's a rye).

[OscarV]

Disliked bottlings will likely fall into these categories:

Too young (easy to list)

Finished whiskey that misses the mark (WR and BT have candidates here)

House styles that some dislike (BT grassiness, Beam yeast funk, metallic Woodford, HH mint)

Gimmicks (quick aged, etc)

[QUOTE][/QUOTE]

I think you covered it nicely, looks like I am not needed around here.

The sad part is the "to young", there are so so many falling into this catagory.