How quitting my bourbon hobby made me love it even more

[corpse_welder]

Bourbon has been a cornerstone of my night for years now, when I finally get to sit down and relax in front of the tv for a few minutes and I still love that time of night, let me clarify that first-off. That being said, my wife gave birth 10 weeks ago and she's been out of work per her doctor's orders since the first week of January. I am glad to be able to provide for my family by myself now, but I must admit I was a bit worried about my bourbon hobby. I've always been a lower-middle shelf drinker, usually any Wild Turkey expression, OGD BiB and 114, George Dickel, Four Roses and more but usually topping out at Blanton's. I also have always loved trying anything new, even if I've heard it was underwhelming and that's what I didn't want to give up. So I did what any sensible bourbon drinker would do and I bunkered up on WT101, any Weller I could find, and my new right-hand man, Evan Williams. $15 for a handle of that and I'm golden. It isn't too complex but it's great on ice in this desert weather of mine, great in coke and it even goes down well neat. The WT101 is $30 for a handle and Wellers are all around $20 for a 750. What's the point of all this? Well, after the few months have gone by, my tastes have changed and I don't even reach for the ~25 open bottles of "better" stuff like Blanton's or Rowan's Creek or Four Roses. I reach for that EWB or Turkey almost every night and Weller less frequently and I feel liberated. That's not to put down you true aficionados, not at all, but I believe I was made to enjoy the cheaper stuff. Cheers to all the budget bourbon warriors and please share a story or two with me about maybe how you had to quit the pricier stuff or if you never liked it much to begin with

[JPBoston]

Amen... love my EWB $15 handles and reach for that more often than anything else. Also have a handle of WT101 on hand at the moment as well, along with a handle of BT. Used to always have Weller in the cabinet at $18 per 750ml.... but that's no longer in stock here for the last year+.

Anyway... fully agree with your rant. I live off the value pours, treat myself to the fancier stuff when the mood strikes me... but they never seem to be good enough to draw me away from EWB and a couple mid shelfers for variety.

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[jmj_203]

Any differences between EW and Ezra Brooks? I just bought a 750 of EB for 9.99 on sale. Still searching thru the value pours for no-nonsense nights. While shopping I noticed the handles of EWB are on sale at 21.99. May have to try both as value pours.

[TunnelTiger]

Amen . Love my AAA, EWBIB, OGDBIB, OGD114, and 4RYL

[Restaurant man]

Congrats on the baby dude.

[Richnimrod]

Hey, a great many of us don't drink "only" the "finest Bourbon D" (to quote Bob Seger) every pour.

Lots of the folks, on 'the board' and off, drink lesser cost drams on a pretty regular basis. Me for sure!

And, I will further state that I enjoy every drop.

The satisfaction of knowing that very near the same quality is there, even at pretty reasonable prices, is one of the reasons I get to feel 'superior in every way' to some of the snobs (not many on this board, thank goodness) that only pour Pappy 23, or whatever unicorn they fancy will impress the less discerning folks out there. Not having to impress those fools: Priceless.

[Flyfish]

Any differences between EW and Ezra Brooks? I just bought a 750 of EB for 9.99 on sale. Still searching thru the value pours for no-nonsense nights. While shopping I noticed the handles of EWB are on sale at 21.99. May have to try both as value pours.

[kjbeggs]

CW, I'm right there with you on the desire to try "new" things, because you just never know what might tickle your personal fancy. Luckily, there's plenty of great pours in the under $30 range.

I'd never tried OGD114 until a couple of months ago, and it's one of my current favorites at any price.

[RWBadley]

Hey, a great many of us don't drink "only" the "finest Bourbon D" (to quote Bob Seger) every pour.

Lots of the folks, on 'the board' and off, drink lesser cost drams on a pretty regular basis. Me for sure!

And, I will further state that I enjoy every drop.

The satisfaction of knowing that very near the same quality is there, even at pretty reasonable prices, is one of the reasons I get to feel 'superior in every way' to some of the snobs (not many on this board, thank goodness) that only pour Pappy 23, or whatever unicorn they fancy will impress the less discerning folks out there. Not having to impress those fools: Priceless.

[squire]

OGD is reliable, cheap, and readily available.

[ChainWhip]

Congratulations to your family on the addition of your little one. On the rare occasion that I reach for bourbon these days, OGD is near the top of the list for me too.

[squire]

It's actually at the top of mine.

[ChainWhip]

VOB is up there for me too...

Cheap pours with high QPR - that's all I need from Bourbon

Edited May 1, 2014 by ChainWhip

[TunnelTiger]

Do they offer OGD114 in a family size? That's what I need.

Edited May 1, 2014 by TunnelTiger

[squire]

I've never seen one and if I did wouldn't buy it if it's a larged up version of the 114, which already has an ungainly big opening. I bought one of the Elijah Craig 1.75s (once) and found it a bit of an effort to pour easily.

[flahute]

VOB is up there for me too...

Cheap pours with high QPR - that's all I need from Bourbon

Where do you get your VOB? I looked and it's not distributed here.

[TunnelTiger]

I've never seen one and if I did wouldn't buy it if it's a larged up version of the 114, which already has an ungainly big opening. I bought one of the Elijah Craig 1.75s (once) and found it a bit of an effort to pour easily.

Good point. I don't lift heavy items as well as I used to. Matter of fact I go out of my way not to.

[squire]

Makes a good piggy bank though, easy to pour out loose change.

[Richnimrod]

Pappy 23 and ginger ale are excellent, and I take my unicorns over ice... :slappin:

Good for you, dude! Watch out for the bones and that damned horn.

Ginger ale is good with any age Pappy; but 23 is beat, for my money, with Mountain Dew.

[Paddy]

Congratulations Corpse, on both the new addition and reaching, what I believe, is bourbon eutopia!

[GaryT]

Congrats on the kiddo CW! I enjoy the whole range, and typically like to change it up. Once in a while I'll go on a tear where I drink the same thing for several days running, but more often than not, I'll pour something different every night. I find that keeps me from getting bored with any of it, including EWBL. I think if I drank nothing but GTS or ECBP for a while, I'd probably find EWBL preferrable as a nice change in pace (although if someone would like to stock me up on those two, I would take one for the team and undergo this experiment - maybe drink through a bottle of each before switching to EWBL )

[ebo]

My main stays are WT101, EWB, OGD BiB, Old Ez101 and Dickel #12. I drink OGD more than anything else.

[JonRob]

Old Crow Reserve is out house bourbon. We go through a handle every other week or so. Can't be beat for $18

[Harry in WashDC]

Do they offer OGD114 in a family size? That's what I need.

What!! You guys never heard of straws?

[393foureyedfox]

I bought one of the Elijah Craig 1.75s (once) and found it a bit of an effort to pour easily.

same with the jugs of Larceny in the 1.75 size. Im a pretty stout fella, but its an awkwardly large and heavy bottle.

Makes a good piggy bank though, easy to pour out loose change.

precisely what Ive been planning on when the day comes that i finish it.

If the rebate on the 1.75 wasnt such a stupidly rediculous value, Id just get the 750's