Christmas Gifts/Blind Tasting

[b1gcountry]

I had an idea for a fun gift idea for my brothers/in laws. I want to give them all the bourbon they enjoy most, but they probably don't even know the bourbon they enjoy most. I want to bring five different bottles at different price points, open them, and pour 4oz of each into unmarked bottles.

Everyone tastes them and picks their favorites.

As an added twist, I am going to ask them to rank the bottles by price, and whoever gets it closest breaks the tie if two people choose the same bottle.

What do you think?

The five I was considering were

Evan Williams BIB 100 $11

Well rounded no frills

Old Grand-Dad BIB 100 $16

Rye heavy choice

Larceny $20

Nice wheater

Four Roses Small Batch $25

More delicate floral

??? $30 rr10?

[ramblinman]

Toss in some Rittenhouse or SAOSR for a straight rye option. Yeah, it aint bourbon, but during the holidays a lot of extra members of the family tend to be included even if they don't have the same pedigree

Edited November 17, 2015 by ramblinman

[Gunnar]

Not sure what the prices are where you're at, seems a bit lower then here, so I might be off a little. How about adding Eagle Rare 10yo or Knob Creek 9yo or Elijah Craig 12yo?

[b1gcountry]

Not sure what the prices are where you're at, seems a bit lower then here, so I might be off a little. How about adding Eagle Rare 10yo or Knob Creek 9yo or Elijah Craig 12yo?

[Sluggo]

Sounds like a splendid idea. I was thinking of doing something similar for my brother's visit this year.

[PaulO]

You could add Old Forester Sig., Makers, or WT 101 to the flight.

[b1gcountry]

At the moment, I'm leaning towards:

EW BIB

OGD BIB

Larceny

Rit Rye

4RSmB

I've never tried any of them either so double bonus!

[Richnimrod]

For the last of the choices, I'd toss in an Eagle Rare. 10-years old will give some wood to any that may like that. Besides it's the BOM!

[b1gcountry]

I just opened my bottle and I'm not sure I like it or not, so it might be a good place to get rid of it...although I do like the bottle

[PaulO]

At the moment, I'm leaning towards:

EW BIB

OGD BIB

Larceny

Rit Rye

4RSmB

I've never tried any of them either so double bonus!

I like all of those. You could also add Elijah Craig 12, if you want to taste some oak.

P.S. I agree with you about ER.

[fishnbowljoe]

Personally, I'd probably try to mix it up a little with something from different distilleries.

I like your choice of EW BIB from HH. I'd also probably go with:

FRSB

MM

BT

WT 101

Very mixed bag here, but I think it'd be fun.

Cheers! Joe

[bullitt]

Personally, I'd probably try to mix it up a little with something from different distilleries.

I like your choice of EW BIB from HH. I'd also probably go with:

FRSB

MM

BT

WT 101

Very mixed bag here, but I think it'd be fun.

Cheers! Joe

[b1gcountry]

WT101 is my brother in law's everyday bourbon. Otherwise it would probably be on the list.

BT is a strong candidate, but I'm tempted to keep the FRSB all to myself

[b1gcountry]

Okay, I decided to bring four bottles. EC12, BT, Larceny, and EWBIB.

I poured each into a 4oz Boston bottle with the name underneath on a sticker. I mixed them up and put tape around them with different colors. Then pulled the sticker off and put it on an index card next to the right color without reading the sticker. I decided gifting an open bottle was tacky, so I poured these out from my supply and bought new bottles to gift. I am bringing a bottle of FRSB in case of ties...

 

[Harry in WashDC]

Nice methodology.  If I'd thought this up, I'd be sure to print this out and put a hard copy in my wallet so I could figure out in a couple days what I'd done - NO WAY I'd remember during or after the tasting.  Just saying . . .

[b1gcountry]

The tasting went really well. EC12 got very little love. The Larceny was the consensus winner. I was surprised the Larceny was my favorite as well. The EW and BT were both second place for me. I left the larceny with my brother in law and my sister in law took the BT home. My brother decided he would not drink enough to bring any home.