Underrated Bourbons

[Xevious]

My vote goes to Old Forester Signature. I've never tried the old BIB, but this one is just delicious to me. Liquid caramel in a bottle. I even enjoy the 86 proof version. They aren't overly complex, just affordable and damm good.

I'll give some love to standard Knob Creek also. Most ignore it because it's everywhere, myself included. I never buy bottles, but every time I have a pour in a bar I enjoy it immensely. 

[BourbonGuy]

My vote is for Evans Williams single barrel.  I just opened the 2005 last night.  It is available in every local (years vary) and <$30 by me.  2004, 2005 and 2006 were different, but all good.  Outside of these boards, 90% of the causal guys have ever tried it.

[PaulO]

I also have to agree with Fighting Cock and Charter 101.  To me, Charter 101 tastes a lot like Stgg Jr., only a little less proof.  I probably wouldn't drink Stagg Jr. straight anyway.  I'm also a fan of Old Forester Sig., but the latest batch tasted a bit too young compared to what I was used to.

[OldDrinker1978]

Rare Breed doesn't get the love it deserves. Best under 50€ Bourbon to me. 

[dmarkle]

Agree on the MM 46, but certainly the most underrated has to be OGD, especially OGD BIB.  It's to the point where quite a few people will turn up their noses at the mere mention of OGD.  They'll suggest that you and I, the Old Grand-Dad drinkers, have only recently emerged from under a bridge where we've been living, our meager savings enough only to buy a safety-orange colored bottle twice a day, as they, the great sophisticants, snarkily sip their dram of Basil Hayden's....

 

[flahute]

Sometimes when a thread gets long the original question, or details from the question, get overlooked. Joe's original question asked what bourbons were overlooked "here on SB".

A lot of the answers given so far are true for the population outside this forum, but not for here. OGD is well loved here. A lot of people try it for the first time upon joining the forum because they read so much about it here. Others such as OFSig, WTRB, WT101, KC, EWSB, Larceny, and OWA have quite a few fans here and most if not all of these regularly show up on the "Top Five" lists we periodically compile.

So, with that in mind, does that change any of the submissions?

[b1gcountry]

I can only tell ogdbib and bh apart because the ogd has so much more flavor :)

[Madhatter]

It is difficult to quantify 'underrated'.  So, I'll suggest bourbons that are undermentioned given what I perceive to be their quality.  Part of the 'undermentioned' may be due to 'not widely distributed'.

Bowman Brothers (Single Barrel and Small Batch)

Old Ezra 101  [Virgin 101]

Makers 46

Smooth Ambler Cask Strength

Woodford Double Oak

I've tasted all and think them all worthy of their msrp.  However, the most extreme ratio of quality to undermentioned is the Bowman Brother's offererings.

[GTD]

Underrated is an individual thing(no right or wrong answers) IMO.

Better question might be best value bourbons that don't seem to get as much "publicity"or hype. I.e.Pappy, ETL, Wellers,etc)

My favorites are OGD BIB, AA10 star, Weller SR, and Buffalo Trace.

 

Thanks for the thread because some mentioned here I have not tried but did get added to my list!, 

Edit to add Bulleit.  

Edited January 10, 2016 by GTD

[SebastianLloyd]

My vote would go for EH Taylor SmB. People buy it but I find no one really talks about it.

[SebastianLloyd]

14 hours ago, b1gcountry said:

I can only tell ogdbib and bh apart because the ogd has so much more flavor

I was always curious why BH was 40%, especially since it's a "premium" bourbon.

[dmarkle]

18 hours ago, flahute said:

Sometimes when a thread gets long the original question, or details from the question, get overlooked. Joe's original question asked what bourbons were overlooked "here on SB".

So, with that in mind, does that change any of the submissions?

Fair enough.  Here at SB, I tend to think the only things that get "low" ratings from the bourbonists are:

1) Anything young

2) Anything under 90 proof

3) Anything that misses the mark from a value perspective (high priced, gimmicky)

Anything else comes down to personal taste.  So that basically means most of the "craft" stuff, and most of the watered down, mass market stuff.  Even some of the lower proof offerings here get love because of their accessibility.  Maybe I'll say that an oft-maligned dram that I personally like, which has gotten some (but by no means universal) hate would be Barterhouse or Stagg Jr, many people thinking that those were overpriced or gimmicky?

[petrel800]

21 hours ago, flahute said:

Sometimes when a thread gets long the original question, or details from the question, get overlooked. Joe's original question asked what bourbons were overlooked "here on SB".

A lot of the answers given so far are true for the population outside this forum, but not for here. OGD is well loved here. A lot of people try it for the first time upon joining the forum because they read so much about it here. Others such as OFSig, WTRB, WT101, KC, EWSB, Larceny, and OWA have quite a few fans here and most if not all of these regularly show up on the "Top Five" lists we periodically compile.

So, with that in mind, does that change any of the submissions?

So as I was reading through the thread your post came to mind. I kept thinking the cats out of the bag on SB for a lot of what I was seeing. 

 

So I'll throw one out for SB . . . BTAC ER17. Seems to get lost in the mix and over shadowed over the years by the BTAC heavy hitters here on SB. Add in the fact that conversation about the LEs has gone from discussing the bourbon in the bottle to the craziness of the marketplace and you see it brought up very little. Sure, these days, no one says no when given the opportunity to buy because it's BTAC, but just a few years ago it was one that would linger on shelves for awhile.

 

For me, it's always been one I've enjoyed. Great balance of Oak, sweetness and what I like to think of as Rick house funk. It's a great cigar bourbon at 90 proof and always dangerously drinkable. It will never punch with GTS and WLW, but I've always loved it.

[Harry in WashDC]

Got to thinking about this "underrated" thing.  If underrated means "ignored", then I have something to say (like - when has NOT having something to say stopped me from speaking????).

Baker's - like somebody posted a couple of pages ago (was that you, Paddy?), it does get lost between KC and Booker's.  Maybe it, too, is due for some "promotion" by BeamSuntory.  Last time I had it, the bar in the restaurant we were in (partaking of the lobster special at lunch) was out of Booker's and HH6BIB, and the bartender offered me a hefty Baker's to finish off the bottle.  I can't remember the last time I bought it - unlike KC and Booker's which I buy almost every time they are on sale.

VOB BIB - I find it so consistently above average (if a trifle sweet on some days) that I'm really not surprised people take it for granted.

[smokinjoe]

1 hour ago, petrel800 said:

So as I was reading through the thread your post came to mind. I kept thinking the cats out of the bag on SB for a lot of what I was seeing. 

 

So I'll throw one out for SB . . . BTAC ER17. Seems to get lost in the mix and over shadowed over the years by the BTAC heavy hitters here on SB. Add in the fact that conversation about the LEs has gone from discussing the bourbon in the bottle to the craziness of the marketplace and you see it brought up very little. Sure, these days, no one says no when given the opportunity to buy because it's BTAC, but just a few years ago it was one that would linger on shelves for awhile.

 

For me, it's always been one I've enjoyed. Great balance of Oak, sweetness and what I like to think of as Rick house funk. It's a great cigar bourbon at 90 proof and always dangerously drinkable. It will never punch with GTS and WLW, but I've always loved it.

That's a great example of an underrated, under-appreciated, bourbon, Mark.  A super elegant and wonderfully balanced uber-aged whiskey, that just doesn't get the love.  When folks announce what they got during BTAC release season, the ER17 folks sound like Charlie Brown telling his fellow Trick or Treaters, "I got a rock..." 

[Vosgar]

Back in 2012 I was fortunate to find 2 bottles of the '07 ER17 (at $49.99 each). Since these were the first ER17's I'd ever bought, had to open one right away and see what I'd been missing. I remember thinking it was a pretty decent whiskey, very dry, however nothing too earth shattering. But somehow that bottle seemed to disappear rather quickly so apparently it was better than I thought

Edited January 11, 2016 by Vosgar

[Paddy]

I can't believe someone hasn't mentioned Kentucky Owl! 

[squire]

That one flew by me Paddy.

[squire]

10 hours ago, SebastianLloyd said:

I was always curious why BH was 40%, especially since it's a "premium" bourbon.

A bid to woo over the single malt crowd and in large part I think they succeeded.  Tone down the OGD flavor profile, age it a full 8 years, upmarket package and priced as a premium from the start.  I've tried to reproduce the Basil Hayden profile by watering down OGD and couldn't match it.  For years BH was my standard gift to malt drinking friends who wanted a Bourbon that didn't remind them of an unfortunate incident back in college.

[PaulO]

I hope I'm not sorry for saying this (in case it suddenly vanishes or gets a price hike).  Henry McKenna bonded is: 100 proof, a full 10 years old, single barrel, and under $30 near me.  It's really hard to beat.  I think of it as a much better version of EWSB, or EC 12 with the oak dryness a bit less prevalent.   

[Spade]

6 hours ago, PaulO said:

I hope I'm not sorry for saying this (in case it suddenly vanishes or gets a price hike).  Henry McKenna bonded is: 100 proof, a full 10 years old, single barrel, and under $30 near me.  It's really hard to beat.  I think of it as a much better version of EWSB, or EC 12 with the oak dryness a bit less prevalent.   

When I saw this thread title, this is the first thing that popped in my mind. Especially if we define "underrated" as "not mentioned often on SB". While I agree with everything you said, one thing I'd add is that it's more variable, in terms of taste not quality, than any other regular release single barrel I know of. And, I think this is a good thing! Some are quite grassy/earthy, while others are cherry bombs.

[Sean Bond]

I don't think I have any favorites that are totally underrated here; I like MMCS a lot, and it gets pretty positive attention, as does Stagg Jr. (later batches), which is one of my faves. I would probably say Larceny is the closest, because it's damn good for the money.

 

I'd also add in Heaven Hill BiB, but I haven't seen a bottle of it in a year +, so it effectively no longer exists in Chicago.

[b1gcountry]

Well,I've never been a big Woodford reserve fan, but I poured some last night in the hopes of finally finishing the bottle soon, and it really hit the spot. It actually reminded me of the Jefferson's reserve store blend I really liked that I mentioned a couple posts back.

[ken_mays]

Funny about the Baker's comments.

Baker's is something I've tasted several times but for some reason I never felt like I had to buy a bottle.   I did pick up my first bottle two weeks ago and I enjoy it well enough.  However, I do agree with the idea that it's book-ended between two better bourbons.  I've drunk a few cases of KC and somewhat less Booker's but I would always opt for another bottle of either vs. one of Baker's.

 

[TunnelTiger]

On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2016‎ ‎11‎:‎16‎:‎11‎, PaulO said:

I hope I'm not sorry for saying this (in case it suddenly vanishes or gets a price hike).  Henry McKenna bonded is: 100 proof, a full 10 years old, single barrel, and under $30 near me.  It's really hard to beat.  I think of it as a much better version of EWSB, or EC 12 with the oak dryness a bit less prevalent.   

You are fortunate to have such a great price.  Locally I can buy all I want at  $59-69  a bottle for over a year now so I overlook it fairly easily.