For those of us who can't find (or afford) PVW......

[Painkiller]

what fairly easily obtainable juice is out there that most closely resembles the "taste" and "ambiance" of the holy grail?? Surely there is something out there that gets close...? I've not had the stuff in quite a while and would like to see what all the fuss is about, in a more reasonable nature. There has to be something to quench my desire. Come on, my fellow bourbonerds, throw me some suggestions. I am all ears and ready to drink! The palate is waiting........

[Tico]

JPS 18 is probably the closest

[squire]

Painkiller, I would certainly agree Pappy is the holy grail of hype but that is current thinking, often from those who were not drinking Bourbon as recently as five years ago. Those of us who were buying and consuming Bourbon in the 1970s, made when the Van Winkle family still owned the Stitzel-Weller distillery, recognized their product as just one of the quality labels and routinely passed them over while reaching for a rye recipe brand.

If what your are asking for is a highest quality wheat recipe then the Parker Heritage 10 year cask strength comes to mind but anything like that may be hard to obtain.

If you are looking for highest quality Bourbons generally I'll be glad to list some for your consideration.

[Phil T]

I've had some OWA SB's that are just mind blowing delicious. And have never paid more then $23 a bottle. Stick that in your pipe VW hipsters.

Just to be fair, my tasting of the VW's has been very limited. But what I've had, has very good. Just not worth the effort to find.

[BradleyC]

Another Pappy thread. SWEET!

These usually make for some interesting reading.

[squire]

Oh no Bradley, this is a what other than Pappy thread.

[squire]

You're right though, could be fun.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

Weller 12 year. Not always available at every store but should be able to find it most of the time.

[BradleyC]

Oh no Bradley, this is a what other than Pappy thread.

We'll just have to wait and see where it goes I guess. To answer the OP's question I would have to say the OWA/Weller 12 blend.

[HighInTheMtns]

holy grail

I wish people would stop thinking this about VW whiskeys. I think people are just setting themselves up for disappointment. They're good whiskeys. There are lots of good whiskeys.

There is no holy grail.

Bradley's suggestion is a good one.

[Parkersback]

What Eric said. If you'll look around the site a bit you'll discover that Weller 12 is a kissing cousin of Van Winkle Lot B, and Old Weller Antique is something like the runt little brother of Van Winkle 10/107.

You could also make what is referred to here as the "SB Blend", which is equal parts Weller 12 and Old Weller Antique. Lots of folks do variations on that, using different proportions, or using Weller Special Reserve, or even Larceny, Old Fitz BIB or Makers.

I also like what Squire said, which is to call in to question the Holy Grail-ness of PVW. I've had quite a few bottles of PVW15 and PVW20, and they were all great, some sublime. But I've had lots of other bottles that were just as good, some of which are rare and/or expensive (Parker's Cognac, ND Old Taylor BIB from 1972, EC18, Saz18) and some of which can be found just about anywhere. For example, I've had some standard Four Roses Single Barrel, Rittenhouse BIB or some Ancient Ancient Age that were amazingly delicious. Of course nobody is going to gasp with awe when you pull out any of those bottles, two of which are about $20, and all three of which can be found pretty easily (Ancient Ancient Age is a little tough to find, but it can be ordered by the case from the Party Source.)

Finally, for what it's worth, the one restaurant pour I had of Jefferson's 18 was not really all that great. Way too tannic for me. YMMV.

Edited March 30, 2013 by Parkersback

[squire]

I'm spotting a trend here.

[BFerguson]

Try the recent Vintage 17yr if you can find it.

B

[Painkiller]

Just to make myself clear (and save face here) I use the words holy grail with a bit of dark sarcasm. I love how something is so hyped up, it gets to the point where it loses it's original glory, if that makes sense. Now it's bought as much to say " Hey, look what I have! " as it is to drink it. Maybe more so. Supply and Demand. And yes, I have the Weller 12 and the OWA. Really like them alot; plenty of bang for the buck. Hard to beat.

[Gentleman Racer]

JPS 18 is probably the closest

Agreed. As soon as I saw the OP I thought JPS 18.

[WsmataU]

Well, two points...1) JRPS 17/18 are pretty much the same juice that Julian selected his PVW 20 from. However, he did cherry pick the best honey barrels. So PVW has a distinct advantage. I don't know that I could differentiate a hand selected single barrel of (for example) OWA vs the "standard" OWA in a blind taste test....that may be a good experiment !

The second point is that calling PVW a "holy grail" is a complete overstatement (you alluded to this in another post). There are several other bourbons that are considered far beyond what is currently in the Van Winkle line, including; ORVW 15, A.H. Hirsch 16 (blue wax) or 20 (red wax), any of the VVOF line. Of course these are all "dusties" but they are still out there in people's collections.

I think you've been given some good suggestions. The one I haven't seen mentioned yet is any of the BTAC WLW. It is different than the PVW 15 but both are from Buffalo Trace.

[PaulO]

Whenever the VW thing gets started, I remember that one of my favorite stores always had several different versions of Pappy in their display case. They only wanted the regular retail price. I don't know what the turnover was like, but I saw it there for many years. Nowadays, it seems the display case is only high priced Scotch. It doesn't bother me. I like OWA, and Weller 12. I don't feel like I'm missing out.

[tigerlam92]

Drink whatever that you like as bourbon is very subjective. One may love PVW another may not as much.

I am obsess because I love the taste but if I have not had it and didn't know I love it I won't really bother.

I would recommend WLW as similar in profile. Also, Lot B is quite good and is my daily pour although it is PVW, it may be slightly easier to find.

Cheers

Hugh

[ebo]

Having finally had the chance to taste PVW Bourbon..................... it's good. It's very good. But it isn't so good I would take the time it takes to find it, or pay the price asked for it. I'd honestly just as soon drink OGD BiB rather than jump through hoops for any PVW.

[sailor22]

You can get in the same general zip code as Pappy with two parts Weller 12 and one part Weller Antique with a very small splash of Knob Creek barrel proof. Also some JPR 18 barrel picks I have tasted have been very similar.

This one is kind of out there but if the new Michters 25yr single barrel is anything like the sample bottle they let us drink locally its a dead ringer. Probaly no less expensive and no less difficult to find.

[squire]

WsmataU do you have any verification Jefferson has access to the same whisky stock Julian chooses from?

[WAINWRIGHT]

I would say experimenting with a vatting of W12,V17 and JPS 18 would be your most likely combination for success.I mean you would then have all key components including Bernheim,BT and SW should be pretty close with a little tweaking of ratios.

[T Comp]

You can get in the same general zip code as Pappy with two parts Weller 12 and one part Weller Antique with a very small splash of Knob Creek barrel proof.

[squire]

I like what I'm hearing here. If one want's something a bit different or to reproduce a flavor profile vatting is the way to go rather buying a more expensive bottle.

[GaryT]

I wish people would stop thinking this about VW whiskeys. I think people are just setting themselves up for disappointment. They're good whiskeys. There are lots of good whiskeys.

There is no holy grail.

Bradley's suggestion is a good one.

Well said. I bought my first PVW last year and was unimpressed for the hype and dough. I would take a WLW over PVW.