Bottle that kick started your bourbon obsession?

[geereg]

For me, it was a bottle of JPS18. I had enjoyed bourbon before and sipped some delicious offerings, but I went through a bottle of JPS18 quickly a few years back and my wallet has never been the same since.

[Lazer]

It was probably PHC 1st ed.

[callmeox]

Plain old Four Roses single barrel started it all for me.

[whiskeyagonzo]

For me it was a couple of Ryes. Whistle Pig & Handy. I was hooked and then migrated to bourbon. The first bourbon that gave me the fever was a private Willett offering and Angel's Envy CS.

[michaelturtle1]

Lot B at a friends house, which led to purchasing Mckenzie Bourbon during a visit to Finger Lakes Distilling...

[Wryguy]

BT and Rittenhouse BiB.

[Yeti]

Lagavulin 16 led me to chase the Scotch dragon for a while. The cost brought me to bourbon, and the flavor kept me here. If I had to nail down one particular bottle that heralded the transition it would probably be William Larue Weller or George T. Stagg.

[portwood]

Glenlivet 12yo was the first "serious" whisky.

From there, a wide range of Scotch

From there, some Canadian whisky - the vast majority of which don't do anything for me - even as a Canadian!

From there, a wide range of Bourbon & Rye - the first of which was EC12

[squire]

Drinking Old Grand Dad with the men who reared me.

[wadewood]

I always liked bourbon, but what started me collecting and bunkering was ORVW 15/107 ordered from Binny's around 2001.

[ChainWhip]

Ardbeg 10 started it all but I got into bourbon with the help of Baker's, FRSB, & Jefferson's Reserve. Rye introductions done were by Whistlepig, RittBiB, & WTR101.

[HP12]

Scotch and Highland Park 12 got me pulled in to whisk(e)y world. Transitioned to bourbon with the PHC line inspiring further exploration. And as they say... the rest is history.

[docbible]

Weller 19 was a favorite and always on the shelf. I gave a bottle as a gift to land owners who allowed me to hunt on their property and always had a bottle open at home. The next thing i knew, it was out of production never to return. I realized I should start researching and stocking up on bottles I enjoyed. I keep telling myself the duck and goose hunting was worth the $50 - $60 I spent on weller 19, hirsch 16, pappy 15, etc... Who could have predicted the insane prices and demand in today's market. tim

[dustyj]

Old Charter Proprietor's Reserve. Got it home and my wife and I thought it was the best bourbon we had ever tasted. So I went back to get some more and it was the only one they had. The store Mgt. told me she could order some more. Well it had long been a dusty at that point......so the HUNT WAS ON!!!!!!! Still haven't given up.

Edited June 3, 2013 by dustyj

[squire]

Who indeed Tim, a decade or so back we were estimating when Julian would run out of the stock he was using for his Old Commonwealth and Van Winkle brands.

Edited June 3, 2013 by squire

[SMOWK]

Stagg, ORVW 15/107, OGDBIB

[Variable]

Late last year, I bought a bottle of ER 101 purchased on sale at my local liquor monger. I was quite saddened to find out later via this forum that particular juice is no longer being made. I have since cleaned him out of his last bottles. I am not a dusty hunter, but I must admit I always keep an eye out for ER 101

[Kalessin]

In the spring of 2001, I was laid off from my full-time computer job. By 2003, I was working in theater doing sets and stage lighting, and little bits of computer consulting if I could find it, but money was super-tight and I had slowly consumed most of my stash of scotch. When out looking for less-expensive scotches, I passed by the American whiskey section, thought of my grandfather (who liked bourbon and blended scotch), and bought a bottle of EC12 on sale for $15.99.

It was a very good choice. I've found variation in the EC12, but the first few bottles that I bought were all just sublime...

Edited June 3, 2013 by Kalessin

[VT Mike]

ORVW 10yr 107, it was the one that made me realize there was more out there than Maker's Mark and Knob Creek back in 2003 or 2004.

[stiffchainey]

OGD, back in 2000, I guess. I was 22-23. Before I just had JB and JD ...

[ChicagoFlyer]

My first project on the road sent me to Bardstown for the summer of 2008. A couple of my teammates and I took in a number of the tours that summer and enjoyed pours of Buffalo Trace and Four Roses. In the last week of my stint I went into Liquor World and asked for something that would be a good souvenir and wasn't available in Chicago. I walked out with 3 bottles of Willett Family Estate bottled for the store, one for me and 2 for my buddies as gifts. I got home, opened that bottle and the rest is history. The two friend bottles never made it out of my house but they were always available for sharing. To this day I still always have a Willett open for sharing and story telling.

[qman22]

Blanton's at a cigar event. Didn't really know what I was drinking at the time, just knew that I liked it. My bourbon drinking snowballed from there.

[Trey Manthey]

I used to drink MM and Jameson and didn't think it could get much better. A friend gave me a taste of Saz 18 back in 2005 (he was WAY ahead of the rye revival), right before Katrina. When I was displaced in Jackson, MS afterwards I started looking for the Saz 18 and found WLW instead. I remember savoring the hell out of that bottle and wondering if things just tasted better for some psychological reason or if it was just the best whiskey I'd ever tasted. I think it was a little bit of both.

[tigerlam92]

I always liked bourbon, but what started me collecting and bunkering was ORVW 15/107 ordered from Binny's around 2001.

[boneuphtoner]

For me, it wasn't a bottle per se, but the visit to the Woodford Reserve distillery for me that really kicked started my habit. Then a year or so later and I tried FR Single barrel. And life has never been the same!