What bourbon did you purchase today? Winter 2015-16 edition.

[Golzee]

Buying hiatus didn't last long, picked up a standard 4R Single Barrel for $38.  I have been working my way up from the yellow label.  I guess I will have to try all 10 recipes now...

[silverc]

EWSB 2006, EC12 age stated, and Hooker's House. Been looking for the Hooker's House pinot noir finished for a while. It's good, but not what I was expecting. It has a distinctive scotch/irish type flavor that I would expect for something with a higher barley content. The mashbill is not stated specifically, but it does say "high rye" so it can't have much barley. Not sure it's worth the $47 I paid for it in NC, but it is different and a good change of pace from the rest of my collection.

[tanstaafl2]

12 hours ago, silverc said:

EWSB 2006, EC12 age stated, and Hooker's House. Been looking for the Hooker's House pinot noir finished for a while. It's good, but not what I was expecting. It has a distinctive scotch/irish type flavor that I would expect for something with a higher barley content. The mashbill is not stated specifically, but it does say "high rye" so it can't have much barley. Not sure it's worth the $47 I paid for it in NC, but it is different and a good change of pace from the rest of my collection.

Hooker House, like most NDP's, is MGP whiskey so it would have at most 36% rye and 4% barley. I like the Pinot Noir finished bourbon better than the Hooker House Rye which is the MGP rye finished in Zinfandel which just didn't seem to work as well. Or do I have that backward??? Guess I need to try them again!

[dSculptor]

So ..me and the wife went down to Chicago for the Flower show, which was not that great, ..and is there anytime in Chicago when there is not a traffic jam? Anyway we stopped at the south loop Binny's and was looking in the high end locked spirits room, when I guy popped his head in and asked the dude that was in there with us how much for the Louis Remi ..something.. the sales guy says $2899. The guy says I'll take one. Who has that kind of change to buy a bottle like that? The armed guard took it up to the register. I also wanted to take my wife to Manny's for a sandwich, but they were close don Sunday's ...figures. Oh.. and I walked out of there empty handed! 

Edited March 15, 2016 by dSculptor

[dboland]

21 hours ago, Golzee said:

 I guess I will have to try all 10 recipes now...

If you drank the yellow label, you already have!

[Golzee]

11 minutes ago, dboland said:

If you drank the yellow label, you already have!

That's true, if we only knew the exact proportions of each recipe things could get interesting.  I am sure some people around here would love a barrel proof yellow label.

[tanstaafl2]

17 minutes ago, Golzee said:

That's true, if we only knew the exact proportions of each recipe things could get interesting.  I am sure some people around here would love a barrel proof yellow label.

Some of us make our own! Although I would have loved to have had Mr. Rutledge make me one.

[bill_B]

Bottle of Old Ezra 101 7 year

[bullitt]

ER10 $24.99 out the door.

 

[flahute]

Got an email today from Total Wine for Total Rewards members that gave me a priority window to purchase something from the Van Winkle line. Had to be done in store only so I left work early. Had my choice between the 12, 15, 20, and 23. I chose the 20. I'm pretty sure I like 15 better, but I've only had one taste of the 20 in the past (and I currently own a 15) so I decided to diversify.

Also picked up an OESK and an OBSQ since I was there.

[Paddy]

^^^Nicely played my friend...^^^  

[Richnimrod]

Good For You, Steve!     Each year the stuff will vary some, especially as the tanked stuff is all gone (or maybe blended in ever smaller amounts?), so who knows; the 'Twenty' may be the best of the bunch this time around.   Enjoy!

[flahute]

19 hours ago, Paddy said:

^^^Nicely played my friend...^^^  

 

18 hours ago, Richnimrod said:

Good For You, Steve!     Each year the stuff will vary some, especially as the tanked stuff is all gone (or maybe blended in ever smaller amounts?), so who knows; the 'Twenty' may be the best of the bunch this time around.   Enjoy!

Thanks guys. As hard as this stuff is to find already, it has gotten even harder since Total Wine mysteriously stopped selling it for the past two years. (They always got the biggest allocations). We've been wondering what they were doing with it all. The rumor was they were building up their stocks so they could do something like this to reward their best customers.

Just a quick note to reiterate a point that often comes up when people new to the hobby ask how to find limited editions. Relationships. Don't be a jerk. And, don't act entitled. We often also hear about bad experiences with big box stores. This is the exception to that. I've developed a good relationship with the manager at one of the Total Wines and he's helped me out in the past. I found out this morning that he submitted my name to the master list of those who got the email about the priority window. He just officially earned himself a pour of this when I open it.

[Richnimrod]

6 hours ago, flahute said:

I've developed a good relationship with the manager at one of the Total Wines and he's helped me out in the past. I found out this morning that he submitted my name to the master list of those who got the email about the priority window. He just officially earned himself a pour of this when I open it.

A wise and generous strategy, my friend.    I generally do the same for my fave retailer.   'Cast your bread upon the waters' and all that.....

Besides my best source isn't a bad couple dudes, and mainly doesn't gouge, nor do they reserve much of the unicorns for themselves..... which I might do occasionally, in their shoes... Just sayin'.    Though having so saved it; I'd still share.    A large part of the enjoyment of the really special bottles is sharing 'em!

[squire]

As Leroy Jethro famously said, never work the system, work the people.

[kjbeggs]

Grabbed a store Pick SAOS 9-Year as a gift. Grabbed a Metze's and an OWA while i was there.

 

[PaulO]

Everything Steve said, plus it's nice to drop by a place early in the afternoon in the middle of the week.  Without a lot of customers, staff are able to chat a bit or check on something for you.  I usually at least buy a bottle of bonded bourbon or some beer. 

I'm not too interested in a most of the alocated stuff.  I did recently have the luck to pick up Pikesville and ECBP at retail.  All I'll say is it wasn't at Payless or Big Red.   

[Kyjd75]

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.  138+ proof.  Latest release, I suppose.  Packages & More in Elizabethtown, Ky.

[RussianBourbonLover]

Found this in Florida today, at ABC. Since I like ryes, went and grabbed it. Excited to try!

 

[tanstaafl2]

It would be interesting to know what constitutes "high rye" for BT/AB since none of their standard BT bottlings has much rye in it as far as I know. It didn't taste like it was particularly high rye as I recall but I certainly can't claim to be able to decipher the mashbill just on taste alone!

Edited March 17, 2016 by tanstaafl2

[Spur9]

Went crazy today.  SA Contradiction, SA 7yr rye, Russel's Reserve SB rye, Blade & Bow, Elijah Craig 12 year.  Kicker was Michter's 10 year SB rye.   

[MDBourbon]

22 minutes ago, Spur9 said:

Went crazy today.  SA Contradiction, SA 7yr rye, Russel's Reserve SB rye, Blade & Bow, Elijah Craig 12 year.  Kicker was Michter's 10 year SB rye.   

Great day!

 

[flahute]

6 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

It would be interesting to know what constitutes "high rye" for BT/AB since none of their standard BT bottlings has much rye in it as far as I know. It didn't taste like it was particularly high rye as I recall but I certainly can't claim to be able to decipher the mashbill just on taste alone!

BT has never confirmed it, but from what I've read from reliable sources, it's believed to be around 13%. Pretty low.

[tanstaafl2]

9 hours ago, flahute said:

BT has never confirmed it, but from what I've read from reliable sources, it's believed to be around 13%. Pretty low.

Yes, I suspect it was in fact low in the grand scheme of things, especially given their regular mashbills are likely below 10%. Not that they have revealed them to my knowledge.

[Harry in WashDC]

On 3/10/2016, 4:26:51, tanstaafl2 said:

17 hours ago, RussianBourbonLover said:

1 hour ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Yes, I suspect it was in fact low in the grand scheme of things, especially given their regular mashbills are likely below 10%. Not that they have revealed them to my knowledge.

Found this in Florida today, at ABC. Since I like ryes, went and grabbed it. Excited to try!

 

Just delivered yesterday.

 

Will be interesting to see how MGP puts together their own whiskey for the public.

 

When I asked Brian Prewitt, MD at ASBowman, what "high rye" on this bottle means to him, he said their policy is to not disclose mashbills.  He suggested it was about 5% above the BT new make they receive for redistilling and aging (or at least I think that is what he was suggesting).  I like basic BT's sweetside, and I've always found VG, the Fox, and the recent ASB products to be "drier" than basic BT.