Are you guys STILL drinking tonight??

[CL]

I was with the festival attendees in "spirit" this past weekend. On Friday evening, my wife and I sat out on the deck in the very pleasant post-Isabel weather while I enjoyed a pour of ORVW 12 yo. On Saturday evening, under the same circumstances, I enjoyed a pour of GTS. These drinks were significant because they are the first I've had in five weeks. I needed to step back for awhile, but Friday was the perfect time to tip my toes back in for a moment.

It's a good thing that I changed my plans about going to the festival this year. So many things came up this past week, including Isabel last Thursday, a rafting and camping trip last weekend with the men's group at church, and my church's end of summer party yesterday where my wife and two kids were baptized.

I got lucky with Isabel. The eye was about 100 or so miles east. There was lots of trouble there, of course. And there was over 6" of rain about 100 miles to the west that got an outer band of rain dumped on them. But here around Raleigh, we only had bursts of wind up to 45 mph and ONLY 1.5" inches of rain. A few trees here and there around town, but nothing much at all other than that. Whew!

[Paradox]

After going to the festival there is a great supply of bourbon to choose from. For tonight it is something that I really liked after trying it, and the price wasn't bad to boot... Ridgewood Reserve 1792.

[brendaj]

Chuck,

I was with the festival attendees in "spirit" this past weekend.

We missed you. Your name was mentioned by several folks over the course of the Festival. Wish you could have been with us.

Glad you dodged Isabel. It's amazing the difference 100 miles can make.

Bj

[WEG3]

Tonight it is Rock Hill Farms , I did not want to break in to my reserve of a minimum of 6 bottles at all times of ORVW 10yr 107.... and so I am letting the Rock Hill gently rock me ,,,, lol I do have an open bottle of EB 15y but did not feel up to the pepper finish ...

Salute All !!!

I go to my cup ..

Bill G.

[CL]

Are you sure it wasn't the other Chuck's name you heard? (Private joke that Brenda, Bobby, Bettye Jo, my sister and Grandma Bryant will get.)

On a more gracious note, thanks for missing me and thinking of me. I missed being there, not for the bourbon, but for the people.

[jeff]

Old Forester 100 proof Black Diamond label. I brought this, along with the WT12, to the gazebo on Friday night. No one touched it. I guess with WT12, Park Avenue Van Winkle and "Kentucky Crown" nobody wanted to waste time with this one. I don't have any of the old label left to do a direct comparison, but if memory serves me this is the Old Forester that I once proclaimed as my favorite bourbon. I picked it up at Toddy's. This is the only place I have seen it, and Mark tells me that Toddy's had to special order it in time for the festival. I'm glad they did!

[Paradox]

Popped open a bottle of Wathen's I bought at Liquor Barn during the festival earlier this evening. You guys were not kidding that this is some fantastic bourbon, I'm on my 4th pour now! Wathen's will definately see more of my business in the future. The finish just amazes me on this one...

[robbyvirus]

Popped open a bottle of Wathen's I bought at Liquor Barn during the festival earlier this evening. You guys were not kidding that this is some fantaastic bourbon, I'm on my 4th pour now!

Man, I totally agree. I picked up my first bottle of Wathen's while visiting Kentucky in June (I haven't found it out here in California) and immediately bought several more bottle after I tried it. A rich, sweet, smooth, distinctive taste!!

[jeff]

Evan Williams Millennium Single Barrel. I tried this for the first time Friday night at the Gazebo. My initial impression was that it was a good bourbon, but that was after a few drinks from various bottles on the table. Well, thanks to Cliff that bottle ended up in my collection and I am just now getting a good, unadulterated taste of it. I must say that this is one of the smoothest bourbons I have ever tasted. And blueberries; lots of blueberries in here. Fantastic stuff in a neat decanter. Not the best Evan Williams I have tasted but better than any of the single barrel vintages.

[SteelerFan]

I'm having some Old Rip Van Winkle Old Time Rye 12 y.o.

I found two bottles of this nectar, on a pass through

Kentucky.

[jeff]

Where? If you don't mind me asking. Is this your first experience with the 12yo rye? I wish I could find more. I have less than half a bottle

[MurphyDawg]

Tonight I had my first few swigs of Rock Hill Farms SB, and dare I say I notice a (quite favorable) family resemblance to one of the best whiskies there is, Eagle Rare 17 (?!??). It seems to have similar polish in taste and while I cant put words to it at the moment I seem to detect a lot of similarities (especially how the woodiness I taste balances of the underlying sweetness) I know all this sounds kinda snooty but the gist of it is, after my first glass I must say this shit is good.

TomC

[SteelerFan]

Jeff

I found one bottle in Paducah and the other in Louisville.

I bought them in upscale stores. One was liquor Barn on the east side of Louisville. Party Mart in the Paducah area. I only found two bottles. If i find another bottle i'll save it for you.

P.S. in the Paducah area, Roof Brothers stores have a good selection of spirits and they give a discount on 6 or more bottles, mix or match.

[CL]

Damn. I wanted to check the LB in east L'ville off 265 back in August. I just never got a chance to get out that way.

I checked other places in the Poplar Level, Eastern Parkway area, but found none.

[SteelerFan]

That's the store!! They had one lonely bottle on the shelf.

I was surprised to find one bottle, let alone two. I was looking for Stagg and OFBB, I found neither.

[CL]

I came home from work early today, as I worked late last night. My diet says not to drink for another week, but the heck with it. They must mean beer when they say no alcohol.

My one drink for the day is Ezra B Single Barrel 15 yo. I really took a shine to this bourbon at the Galt House in early July during one of the 3 small samples for the price of one drink specials I had. I followed up with ample sampling at Furlongs in L'ville in early Aug after I cleaned them out of Pappy 20 yo and ORVW 12 yo. Ahem, that was over several visits.

Any bourbon that doesn't leave you disappointed when you drink it after the last drop of ORVW 12 yo is a very good bourbon, indeed.

As you can tell, my ample sampling above has slowed to a crawl in recent weeks, for good reason. But, damn, do I now look forward to my very limited libations. My wife is getting sick of me proclaiming how good that single drink for the week tastes. I sniff it, swirl it, taste it, and plain just won't shut up about how sweet it is.

[Paradox]

After all the talk some threads ago about Makers mark I decided to finally open another bottle. Well, after having the 95 proof Japanese Black wax makers (and the 101 Proof that Mike brought even though it was from 1980), I can say w/o a doubt I like Makers at a higher proof. For me it is more enjoyable, I like the extra bit of 'bite', and it just seemed more flavorful at the higher proofs... I'll say this, it's an ok bourbon the red wax we have here, but it is more like a $15 bourbon and not a $21 one. The 'Ambassador's' out there who take their title to heart really need to get out, experiment more often with other bourbons, and then see if they still tout Makers like they do now. If MM marketing did anything, it was sucker in whiskey drinkers who want to seem more upscale, but still don't know a whole lot about bourbon in general...

[CL]

I just posted on another thread about snobs. But, then I read your post and had an idea.

We do need Maker's Mark to stay the way it is. Let it attract the bourbon-challenged masses who think MM is da bomb so that they stay away from OFBB, GTS, Hirsch,....

If MM ever produced a higher end here in the US, it would be snatched up by the same bourbon-challenged folks who now buy the red wax. We would never get a shot at it if it were in limited quantities.

Sometimes we have to throw one away to be able to keep the rest.

[Paradox]

, very good points Chuck. But I bet if they did release the 95 or even the 101 proof product here and the MM 'Ambassadors' bought it, they would either hate it since it more resembles what a good bourbon is or they would still tout it, even if they did hate it, just because it is a MM product haha. Either way you are right, the 'same bourbon-challenged folks who now buy the red wax' would snatch it all up leaving us nothing if it were available in limited quantities.

[jeff]

As a card-carrying MM ambasador I must step in here. MM goes well beyond any other distillery in taking care of its members. Seems like every week I am getting something in the mail or e-mail regarding a new event or occasion. I even have a set of business cards that they sent me. Must cost a fortune to send this stuff out free of charge. Every other distillery with which I have become a "member" makes me wait 6mo to a year for my first contact. I know this is all fluff, but they really do go out of their way to include the consumer and make you feel appreciated.

Another thing about Maker's Mark is this: A good number of us began our better bourbon experimenting with MM. I think it is a very approachable good bourbon. I don't think I would have made the transition to better bourbon as quickly if I had to start with Stagg. I would have been scared

BTW, I never buy MM at more than $15. Just look for it on sale (in Lexington at least).

[Paradox]

I know this is all fluff, but they really do go out of their way to include the consumer and make you feel appreciated.

You touched on what bothers me with about Makers Mark. Alot of what they do is fluff. Yes, alot of the crap they do is at no cost to you but in a way it is... Maybe if they didn't mail out business cards that are kinda corny and other stuff like that, their bourbon would sell for less, closer to what it should sell for. And I mean when it's not on sale. Around here you never really see Makers on sale. Outside of KY, especially here in NY, all your KY pricing goes out the window unfortunately.

I'm with you about MM being a starting place for alot of us. It was for me, and I have said it before.

Oh and the business cards haha. Yeah, got them too along with the weekly emails and such. The cards though, went right in the trash. My name with Makers Mark and my ambassador number... Let MM sell MM, not me.

In the end though, I'm not saying it's a horrible bourbon or stomping their name into the ground... It's a good place to start and even sometimes revisit. It's the other stuff they do that I find out there.

[jeff]

I know all the PR stuff is insignificant to the enthusiast, but I do believe that it help to keep up the bourbon following in those not as serious as us. I know we hate the idea of the "yuppie" consumer buying into our beloved product, but truth be told we need them to support the overall industry so that we, the true boubon lovers, can enjoy the fruits of prosperity: Stagg, OFBB and the like. Now this is somewhat of a moot point with Maker's, since they only produce one style of bourbon, but their success, and they ARE VERY successful, helps out the entire bourbon industry.

[Forbes]

bourbon-challenged folks ??

[Paradox]

We do need Maker's Mark to stay the way it is. Let it attract the bourbon-challenged masses who think MM is da bomb so that they stay away from OFBB, GTS, Hirsch,....

bourbon-challenged folk

I think he meant it like those who stay with one brand and do not stray; trying new bourbons to expand their horizons. That's how I took it...

[SteelerFan]

When i'm not sure what i want, i'll have a pour of Ezra B.

It never disappoints me.