Good old days of bourbon

[393foureyedfox]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19075[/ATTACH]

Purchased today. Left two on the dusty ass shelf because I already have a case of it.

They threw the grime in for free on the old label WT, so that had to come home, too.

*edit* of course that uploaded sideways!

i wish that OHH8 was something i could find around here. I picked up one of those WT older bottlings in MI and can see why you guys were bashing on WT in the recent past. They seem to have gotten straightened out lately though, as I find current WT pretty nice.

[dcbt]

i wish that OHH8 was something i could find around here.

I don't think you're going to find HH8 anywhere anymore, hasn't it been discontinued? (Not that it was available in most places to begin with, though...)

[BootsOnTheGround]

I don't think you're going to find HH8 anywhere anymore, hasn't it been discontinued? (Not that it was available in most places to begin with, though...)

Only distributed in MN and RI (that I know) not even sold in KY.

And yes, not longer made.

[smokinjoe]

My last bourbon tasting was limited to bourbons from the 70's. Every member of our tasting group can say with assurance..."These old bourbons blow the doors off what is available today", and yes, that includes Van Winkle.

Joe :usflag:

Yes Joe, there were some very nice bourbons to come out of those years. But, I've tasted a lot of absolute friggin' dogs from then, too. Not tainted. Not corked. Not turned. Just, dog crap. The "everything dusty" is great idea being perpetuated, is a fallacy. There was a ton of poor whiskey produced in that era. And the reason that some of these old bourbons can still be found on the shelves today, is that nobody bought that crap, back then. Of course, I recognize that there were many stellar bourbons produced then...I simply contend, the same can be said for today. As bourbon drinkers, we've never had such consistently good to great bourbon available to us over as wide a range of ages and proofs, as we do today. These are very good times for bourbon drinkers, indeed.

[jonhalter]

I havent had any of the older stuff. My dad drank bourbon when I was growing up, but when he finished his bottle of Beam, he would replace it with another bottle of beam. No dustys to pass down. What I do know is that there is a lot of really good bourbon right now. Are the best bourbons of today quite as good as the best bourbons of the past? I doubt it. But, I would assume if you tried 60 bourbons, 30 from today and 30 from the past, the older bottles would be best and worst. Very few would fall in the middle. I feel that we have a consistency across the board right now. I havent had a bad bourbon. Some I like more than others, and many are overpriced, but none bad. Ill take todays situation because its all I have. The alternative for me is no bourbon, and that sounds like a sad situation

[camduncan]

Only distributed in MN and RI (that I know) not even sold in KY.

And yes, not longer made.

And also distributed in New Zealand believe it or not..... well until they stopped making it. I found it in a couple of shops last year.

[BootsOnTheGround]

And also distributed in New Zealand believe it or not..... well until they stopped making it. I found it in a couple of shops last year.

Wow. Amazing, mate. Never knew.

The kicker is that its really not that good. It's a $15 liter pour in its prime, but it was well loved and will be missed. Great OS label even with its outlandish, silly claims. (

[compliance]

These are both Beam bottles, 1999(right) and current bottling(left). Those were good old days, not even that long ago.

[393foureyedfox]

what a color difference! Id love to know the ages

[kaiserhog]

More bourbon options than ever before. I can get Four Roses Yellow Label for $12.98/750ml. If one thing has changed is that proof has gone down. I would love to see more BIB, too. 393foureyedfox: George Dickel is great whiskey and is still my favorite.

Edited August 4, 2014 by kaiserhog

[kjbeggs]

I'm curious about your observation. What's so different today than in the past? Is it the Water? Climate? Grain? Wood? Stills? Yeast? Rickhouse? Skill of the craftsmen making the spirit? I'm relatively new to his hobby and have not had the opportunity to taste the great old dustys. I keep rationalizing the incremental purchase today with the logic that I won't be able to get any more of a specific bottling in the future. But in reality, I expect that there will be a steady stream of great new bourbons as the distilleries catch up with demand in the future. Maybe I'm wrong. Will we conclude that bourbon 10 years from now be inferior to today's product?

[The Boozer]

Yes Joe, there were some very nice bourbons to come out of those years. But, I've tasted a lot of absolute friggin' dogs from then, too. Not tainted. Not corked. Not turned. Just, dog crap. The "everything dusty" is great idea being perpetuated, is a fallacy. There was a ton of poor whiskey produced in that era. And the reason that some of these old bourbons can still be found on the shelves today, is that nobody bought that crap, back then. Of course, I recognize that there were many stellar bourbons produced then...I simply contend, the same can be said for today. As bourbon drinkers, we've never had such consistently good to great bourbon available to us over as wide a range of ages and proofs, as we do today. These are very good times for bourbon drinkers, indeed.

[Dannabis]

I'd guess that demand is so up that the quality has had to change to meet production.

Older times had possibly less bourbon buyers and plenty of bourbon so prices dropped, quality maybe rose, and ages were probably older than stated.

Now, we're still pretty flush with luck, it's just not the bourbon glut of the past.

Bourbon seems trendy now, but hopefully it won't explode much bigger just yet.

These are the speculations of a young'un newb

[El Vino]

I think one of the major differences is that even the big labels had more of a "hand-crafted" workmanship years ago. More of the process was done by actual people and there wasn't as big a rush to get things out the door. Now, you've got computers controlling machinery to crank out whiskey all day. Of course, you probably get a more consistent product today.

All true, but I wonder if increased demand has lead to a situation where producers have allowed selection standards to slip? To hand craft production, I assume that the master distiller must have a pretty broad inventory of product from which to get to the target flavor profile. In periods of less extreme supply/demand imbalance, it had to have been easier to maintain/surpass a higher quality standard. Of course, the proportion of higher quality barrels in a year of production is probably a constant, but with less pressure on supply I would guess in the "good old" days the master distillers had more to work with to maintain brand standards - particularly for the top shelf brands.

[BootsOnTheGround]

Remember when farmers used to farm? Now it's GPS-guided combines while they sit on their fat asses collecting gvmnt subsidies.

The uban ecology and landscape has changed a lot. Mono-cropping, GMO's, ass-loads of every insecticide known to man are dumped with reckless abandon, and soil conditions are worse than ever. It's amazing anything actually can be physically grown anymore.

There's a reason for the "craft" movement beyond those wanting to get a slice of the "boom." Some small guys really don't like drinking the {garbage} put out these days. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling it that, but if you pay attention, there is a certain level of frustration on part of those that feel something is missing. Thank god more and more are actually doing something about it rather than just crying about it.

[393foureyedfox]

Boots, you are a man of opinion and conviction. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't, but I respect someone who speaks up

[flahute]

Thank god more and more are actually doing something about it rather than just crying about it.

It would be better if more and more actually did a good job at it instead of just "doing" it.

[Restaurant man]

Thank god more and more are actually doing something about it rather than just crying about it.

Yeah. Thank god. Which one are you boots?

[fishnbowljoe]

Ahhhhh, the good old days. :skep: IIRC, here's something someone posted somewhere on the site a while back. "In the not too distant future, these times will be what we consider the good old days." It is what it is, and there isn't anything you can do about it. No amount of bitching, moaning or whining will change a thing.

Also, and FWIW, technology is a wonderful thing. There are branches of my family tree that include a couple of farmers from way back when. I had one great uncle that had a small farm. He had a plain old, small, run of the mill IH tractor. I still remember some of the stories he told when I was a youngster. One story that stands out to me, is when he told me and my sister about how happy he was when he first bought that tractor. "I sure was glad I could give my good ole' mules a break, and let 'em have a well earned retirement. I got a whole helluva lot more done in the fields and such, and that gave me more time to get other things done around the place. My back didn't hurt me near as much neither. Made your aunt happier too. We started eating supper afore it got dark out."

Yeah I know. Thread drift. Thought I'd contribute some too. Hint. Hint.

[squire]

There's a reason for the "craft" movement . . . . . . Thank god more and more are actually doing something about it rather than just crying about it.

Yes, well make no mistake, they're in it for the money, pure and simple. None of them dropped out of Seminary to better serve humanity by stilling Bourbon.

Edited August 10, 2014 by squire

[Flyfish]

Yes, well none of them dropped out of Seminary to better serve humanity by stilling Bourbon.

Well, some seminarians would serve humanity even better as master distillers. I feel the spirit moving even now. And after a couple pours I become quite adept at speaking in tongues.

[squire]

The only thing that speaks all tongues is hundred dollar bills.

[ratcheer]

I started drinking bourbon around 1969. I am sure inflation has been about 10X since then. Bourbon prices are right in that ballpark. Maybe even slightly less.

Tim

[Halifax]

I think will start to see the "Good old days of bourbon" in about 7-8 years.

[squire]

You young fellas can pine about the past, I'm looking to the good days of the future .