The absolute WORST bourbon I ever tasted was......

[flahute]

12 minutes ago, High Flyer said:

From a soda gun.

 

I celebrate April 15th (Tax Day) by going to a bar with friends, ordering the cheapest whiskey they have, and sitting on the floor to enjoy "tales of tax woe" and the scar-producing burn of cheap whiskey.

 

Several years ago I happened to have been in Vegas for Tax Day, and we ended up at the lowest-rent Casino we dared go into for the "ceremony".  We asked for the cheapest whiskey straight, and he poured shots from what looked like a soda gun?  Oh my Lord.  We were bound by the Tax Payers' Creed to finish it, but I must say that there's better Windex-n-Lysol martinis out there than that!

Now that is pretty dang funny. I don't think I could do it. 

[garbanzobean]

Willett Pot Still Reserve back when it was a single barrel.  Absolutely not to my tastes.  There are so many $10-$20 bourbons I would happily drink instead, and I am pretty sure I paid $30-$40 for that winner.  I remember Ralfy's review of that bourbon ended up with him suggesting making a lamp out of it after the fact.  I say the bottle was definitely the more valuable of the two included assets.

Edited July 26, 2016 by garbanzobean

[Flyfish]

Ok, so it looks like I just don't understand the concept behind this thread. I do understand de gustabus non est disputatum--there's just no arguing about taste. We all have different preferences but some of the "worst" bourbons mentioned here are high quality, highly reputable iterations. Not "rotgut" by any objective standard--if it is possible for there to be such a thing. I have a bottle of 4R OBSF that is about 80% consumed. It is probably the least favorite bourbon in my cabinet which also holds such lower shelf stuff as EW White that I like better. I am not ready to call it a "worst" bourbon because I appreciate what 4R is trying to do with their combinations of mashbills and yeasts. But I certainly don't plan to drop another $70 or so on OBSF to find out if my palate has matured enough to enjoy this stuff.

[Kepler]

22 hours ago, Flyfish said:

Ok, so it looks like I just don't understand the concept behind this thread. 

I understand what you are saying.  I find trying to rank a worst bourbon a waste of time because I instinctively forget the worst stuff and file all those truly bad ones into a single mental "trash bin" and I don't care to rank which one was worse.  Just don't care.  Therefore I chose to answer this thread by listing the bourbons I found most disappointing based on expectations.  Just my 2 cents.

[Bourbonmakesmepoop]

I have posted on the worst bourbon review thread and gone back to taste that bourbon and changed my mind, so I hear what you're saying too. Don't knock down a whiskey until you've sampled it multiple times, which you're unlikely to do if it's "the worst bourbon you've ever tasted".

[flahute]

On 8/6/2016 at 2:27 PM, Flyfish said:

Ok, so it looks like I just don't understand the concept behind this thread. 

I think you understand it just fine. I think some of the posts you mention don't, or, they lack sufficient experience to know when they're having a bad palate day or just haven't tried enough bourbons overall to really understand how to slot them in an overall personal ranking.

Someone who has only tried mid to upper shelf offerings may find that the RR10yr is their least favorite by a large margin and therefore call it the worst when there are clearly many other far inferior bourbons out there. (I happen to like RR10yr by the way, it's just an example I pulled out of the hat.)

 

I once had a pour of PVW15 that my brother-in-law brought over. I know what it tastes like, but this day was a remarkably bad palate day and it tasted horrible. (Bad palate day was confirmed by trying a couple others I know well and finding them to also by way off.) If this had been my first ever taste of PVW15, and I wasn't experienced enough to recognize the possibility of a bad palate day, I would have definitely put the PVW15 as among my worst ever bourbons tasted. 

 

As said above, overall experience and multiple tries of the bourbon in question over time are really necessary to know for sure.

[BDanner]

I've been able to find something positive in almost every bourbon I've tried (even Beam White and EW Black), even if I didn't particularly care for it. The exceptions were Ancient Age, Evan Williams Green Label, and Old Forester.

[Clueby]

Not bourbon, but have a bottle of Rich & Rare Whiskey. It is neither.

[Golferpimp1]

Not bourbon, but have a bottle of Rich & Rare Whiskey. It is neither.

Ha...this is what my father in law uses as his mixer at his house. It's a bit rough by itself.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[RussianBourbonLover]

Newest Black Maple Hills - Just awful stuff, almost seems to be diluted with water and tea leaves.

 

Not bourbon, but these 2 are awful, as well:

 

JP Wisers 18 yr Canadian Whiskey - sharp, tart, similar to soco-lime

Mastersons 10 yr rye - like a young scotch

[Louisiana]

This ain't Bourbon either, but HWMWND is the worst whiskey I've had to date. Never drank a port wine (which this rye was finished in a port barrel), but apparently I don't like it! This whiskey broke me of buying before I taste! Bought 5 bottles of Act 2.7 because of reviews and still have 4 left.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Louisiana
Clarifying the port finish of this Rye

[jbutler]

It was a bottle of Fighting Cock 103 proof I opened with a couple friends about fifteen years ago. Absolutely the most foul bourbon to ever pass my lips! The bottle may very well have "turned" somehow, I don't know. We poured the entire thing down the drain, cheering in the process. Seems likely we didn't really need any more bourbon right about then.

[dcbt]

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2016 at 5:39 AM, dcbt said:

Herman Marshall. Tasted just like scotch.

I'm going to quote myself on this to reiterate how bad HM is.  I read at some point the mash bill is corn and barley.  That's it, no rye, no wheat.  No wonder it tastes like scotch. 

Just found the link to that: http://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/reviewing-herman-marshall-whiskeys-bourbon-rye-and-single-malt-7400776

[JTaylor]

Beam Bicentennial, broke the tax seal this weekend. Wow... took one swallow and dumped the rest of the pour down the drain...

[Canarse]

2 hours ago, JTaylor said:

Beam Bicentennial, broke the tax seal this weekend. Wow... took one swallow and dumped the rest of the pour down the drain...

 

Huh.  I have a bottle and I like it.  Great mouthfeel.  Straightforward, but tastes like a bourbon should, IMO.

 

Seeing that this is some pretty old stuff I wonder if yours has some kind of contamination?  

[Canarse]

From my college days in the 80s, Hiram Walker's Ten High.  Man, that was rough stuff.  I still remember the aftertaste and hangovers....Ugh....

 

I drank a lot of that stuff.

[Canarse]

Worst non-bourbon was Catocin Creek rye.  Almost spit it out I was so surprised at the taste.  It came recommended at a liquor store.  I didn't realize it was under 2 years old.  Basically colored white dog to my tastes.  I will not buy a craft whiskey unless I have already tasted it or the reviews have been very good from multiple sources that are respectable.  There is some real crap out there.

[JTaylor]

8 hours ago, Canarse said:

 

Huh.  I have a bottle and I like it.  Great mouthfeel.  Straightforward, but tastes like a bourbon should, IMO.

 

Seeing that this is some pretty old stuff I wonder if yours has some kind of contamination?  

 

I wonder too... I didn't dump the bottle, I plan to try once more just to make sure. But my mind starts wandering... the tax seal appeared to be intact, but then you wonder what the stuff has been through over the past 40 years... I was already prepared to spit before I ever took a sip so it may have just been in my head too... My cousin finished his pour and he despises all things Beam so maybe it was just that I was prepared for nasty so I got nasty.

[foster016]

I know some people may jump on me for this, but I thought Tom's Foolery (2 yr I believe) that I purchased in February of 2015 is the worst bourbon I've ever had.  I tried to like it, I really did, but the bottle is still 3/4 full.  I only use it for tastings for people just getting into bourbon.

[Charlutz]

46 minutes ago, foster016 said:

I know some people may jump on me for this, but I thought Tom's Foolery (2 yr I believe) that I purchased in February of 2015 is the worst bourbon I've ever had.  I tried to like it, I really did, but the bottle is still 3/4 full.  I only use it for tastings for people just getting into bourbon.

 

I've not had Tom's Foolery yet, and this is not a comment on their whiskey specifically, but you give bourbon you hate to people just getting into bourbon? Brilliant! I knew there had to be a strategy out there for all of us to do our part to stifle the bourbon boom!

[Thig]

 

I've not had Tom's Foolery yet, and this is not a comment on their whiskey specifically, but you give bourbon you hate to people just getting into bourbon? Brilliant! I knew there had to be a strategy out there for all of us to do our part to stifle the bourbon boom!

I was thinking the same thing when I read that, great way to turn off others to bourbons.

[PaulO]

On 11/1/2016 at 11:34 PM, Canarse said:

...  I will not buy a craft whiskey unless I have already tasted it or the reviews have been very good from multiple sources that are respectable.  There is some real crap out there.

I'm right there with you on this.  A funny thing, I saw a review on Youtube from a liquor store.  The guy gave not a very good review.  I think it was something from Stein.  One of the comments was "like craft whiskey".

[GeeTen]

On 10/19/2016 at 11:08 PM, Louisiana said:

This ain't Bourbon either, but HWMWND is the worst whiskey I've had to date. Never drank a port wine (which this rye was finished in a port barrel), but apparently I don't like it! This whiskey broke me of buying before I taste! Bought 5 bottles of Act 2.7 because of reviews and still have 4 left.

 

Please feel free to send these detestable, vile and utterly useless bottles to me for disposal.  I'll be happy to send a couple of sets of Wineskins to you for their journey.  Heck, I'll even pay for your shipping costs.  "Now if that's not inter-agency cooperation, I just don't know what is!"    

[JDB]

I'm reluctant to hate on craft distillers. They have an uphill battle. However, the glass of Glenns Creek OCD bourbon was tough to get through. On the same level, I was disappointed with Old Potrero 18th century style rye.

[Golzee]

Rod & Rifle has recently taken the crown for worst bourbon that I have had to date.  Bought a bottle for $9.99, thought that it could be a halfway decent bottle, being a 4 year Tennesse straight bourbon (most likely Dickel).  Came in a box, upon opening the box it looked like there was stuff floating in it.  I am blaming this on the worst/cheapest filtration in the industry. Tasted vile.  Not sure how an 80 proof bourbon could taste so bad.  Mix everclear with apple juice, then dump it through kingsford charcoal and you might be able to replicate it.  Not proud to say we finished the bottle regardless, the election may have had something to do with that...