Bourbon of the Month Club

[camduncan]

Or a total legal option.... you can follow Joe's Bottle of the Month threads and buy the bottles when they interest you, participate in the conversations and have some fun

[nd2005]

Like this? http://caskers.com/clubs/

-- Ravensfire

Haha didn't know it was up already! I admittedly haven't looked at their site in a long time.

[berto]

I'd avoid. They couldn't get enough stock of hard to find limited bottles and the other months would be filled mostly with stuff I didn't need or didn't want. Shipping one bottle is also a deal killer. $10-$20 to ship a bottle of EC12 or the like 8-10 months of the year doesn't make sense. There are local stores with clubs but the selection issue remains problematic. There are bottles I don't want at all.

[Flyfish]

I think it's pretty obvious this was a thought experiment for everyone to create a quality lineup on a budget.

Thanks for clarifying, Yeti. I didn't bother to come up with my own list before the OP but what I had in mind was an offering of bourbons in different styles while maintaining the best overall average quality. No point in offering limited editions of which you would have difficulty finding even one bottle. Twelve months might include:

1. Booker's $46 2. EC BP $39 3. KC SB $36 4. WT RB $33 5. 4R SB $30 5. ETL $30 6. EW SB $24 7. OGD 114 $22 8. OWA $22

9. BT $22 10. OE 101 $16 11. VOB BIB $13 12. EW 1783 $12

The prices reflect what I have actually paid. Nothing on the list I would not gladly drink.

[Harry in WashDC]

. . . but what I had in mind was an offering of bourbons in different styles while maintaining the best overall average quality. No point in offering limited editions of which you would have difficulty finding even one bottle . . .

Want a good list? Do what I did - make copious notes on Chapter 8 - An American Whiskey Sampling Guide in Chuck Cowdery's 'Bourbon,Straight'. It encouraged me to try some lower shelf and mid shelf brands I had ignored for years or (as in the case of OldFitz & McKenna) I'd never tasted. It might be obvious to some of the longer term SBers, but trust this old faht newbie, in spite of the cocktail revolution and the recent resurgence of interest in brown spirits, getting impartial, objective info on bourbons and particularly WHY one may be "better" than another is tough to find. Persons new to bourbon (or more likely to the broad differences and nuances in bourbonS) will quickly catch on to what we SBers already know: If it's bourbon and you like it, drink it and pay no attention to price high or low.

AND, I'm hoping you all have some idea how much the rest of us treasure your insights. BOTM, virtual blind tasting, tasters' descriptive terms, etc. - all these help us enjoy and learn about this wonderful stuff and new ways to appreciate it.

[WhiskyRI]

Some local retailers already do this for local residents so nothing has to cross state lines. They are often given as gifts, especially corporate gifts.