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


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I do not believe I have ever found a bourbon I hate.  If I find something I do not like straight just means I have something for cocktails.

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I will not even try to recall whatever may have been the worst cheap bourbon I've ever tasted; there have been too many of them in 45 years or so.

But, the worst supposedly "good" whiskey I've had in the past 10 years or so was Bulleit bourbon. It had a sick-sweet flavor that I just couldn't take. I have never dumped a bottle down the drain, but this one came close.

 

Tim

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As I reported last year, my worst bottle purchased ever is Old Bardstown 101 proof "Estate Bottled".  It STILL is; I taste it now and then just to remind myself not to drink too much.  I can't even find something to vat it with, and adding vanilla extract, Diet Coke, apple sauce, ginger ale, etc., (each alone or in combination) has no effect.  I will NOT use it on food in a basting sauce.  OF Sig is a close second which is strange because I like OF Birthday a lot.

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Not exactly bourbon, but Collier & McKeel TN whiskey.  Tastes like water from an abandoned aquarium was filtered through ten feet of plywood sawdust.  

 

I did have an old bottle of Dickel black label that sat on my bar for about 7 years until I poured the remaining 1/3 down the drain.  All I could taste was moldy corn.

 

Town Branch bourbon was pretty nasty the last time I tasted it. Never been dumb enough to buy a bottle. 

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I bought some HMcKBIB last year, bottled in 2011. Smelled and tasted really hot and didn't seem to have much flavor beyond sour.

Up there for me would also be WSR which I only use for cooking now and Dickel 12 which I don't recall what turned me off but it was just unpleasant to me.

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17 hours ago, Tony Santana said:

 I think Hudson Baby Bourbon is my worst ever.  Won't even honor its badness by giving tasting notes.  Just garbage.

I'd agree with Tony on the Hudson Baby Bourbon. Corn was all I could taste. Overpowering anything else.

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For a one-off, I'd go with a dusty handle of Old Charter that has unfortunately spent a decade or more in the sun - and tasted like wet cardboard with a hint of dog (or maybe wet dog with a hint of cardboard?  I didn't spent a lot of time with it!)

I'd also say the Hudson Baby Bourbon to me didn't taste like bourbon - and for the money, it felt like a law somewhere must have been broken. 

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Worst? Hm. I don't care for Buffalo Trace or Larceny, but others swear by them. One that I clearly remember not liking was one I tried some 20 years ago: Ancient Age Barrel 107. Today I think I'd pawn a nostril for a bottle of it! 

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The worst was a bottle of old Taylor "aged 4 years" I found from 1968+. It was probably tainted from being in the basement that long, and the neck level was low.

The worst modern bourbon I've tried was Bulleit Bourbon. I have to agree with ratcheer on that one. It takes everything I hate about wt101, and removes all the good parts. Jim Beam white isn't good, but even that doesn't taste NASTY like Bulleit.

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5 hours ago, bullitt said:

I'd agree with Tony on the Hudson Baby Bourbon. Corn was all I could taste. Overpowering anything else.

I haven't heard anything good about this stuff. Are there any other bourbons being sold today besides Hudson Baby Bourbon that also have a mashbill comprised of 100% corn and no secondary grain? Seems like this bourbon answers the question as to why other distillers mashbills include a little rye or wheat along with the corn... which leads me to wonder if anyone has EVER produced a decent bourbon using only corn.

Edited by Night Gallery
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1 hour ago, Night Gallery said:

I haven't heard anything good about this stuff. Are there any other bourbons being sold today besides Hudson Baby Bourbon that also have a mashbill comprised of 100% corn and no secondary grain? Seems like this bourbon answers the question as to why other distillers mashbills include a little rye or wheat along with the corn... which leads me to wonder if anyone has EVER produced a decent bourbon using only corn.

 

I'm of the opinion that there are some good corn whiskies worth trying.  I have a bottle of Mellow Corn BiB that's not bad at all.

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For me -Kinnickinnic whiskey - got it in exchange for a woman hitting me with her mini van at a show. Must coincide with the getting hit part of it. I'm still dealing with problems as a result of that.

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Same answer I always have... Garrison Brothers.

Bought into the Texas thing and wasted $75 on a bottle.

Then got suckered again into the second Cowboy Bourbon release they did.

Just awful stuff.

 

 

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13 hours ago, Harry in WashDC said:

As I reported last year, my worst bottle purchased ever is Old Bardstown 101 proof "Estate Bottled".  It STILL is; I taste it now and then just to remind myself not to drink too much.  I can't even find something to vat it with, and adding vanilla extract, Diet Coke, apple sauce, ginger ale, etc., (each alone or in combination) has no effect.  I will NOT use it on food in a basting sauce.  OF Sig is a close second which is strange because I like OF Birthday a lot.

I bet you get the same flavor from that one that I got from the Johnny Drum black label. (Likely the same source after all.) Horrible stuff.

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5 hours ago, shoshani said:

Worst? Hm. I don't care for Buffalo Trace or Larceny, but others swear by them. One that I clearly remember not liking was one I tried some 20 years ago: Ancient Age Barrel 107. Today I think I'd pawn a nostril for a bottle of it! 

A bar near my office has this (Ancient Age Barrel 107) and I really like it. 

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18 hours ago, koRn said:

Booker's 2015-3 Center Cut. It's just undrinkable for me. Tastes like I'm chewing hay. 

Carling Black Label beer tasted this way to me - like chewing hay.  Ah, the memories.  I could order a pitcher and NOBODY would want any of it.

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8 minutes ago, flahute said:

I bet you get the same flavor from that one that I got from the Johnny Drum black label. (Likely the same source after all.) Horrible stuff.

Yup. Those Willett offerings are really spotty.  I guess the spirits that won't work in their "premium" offerings end up in Johnny Drum and Old Bardstown.  I have had an occasional Rowan's Creek I liked, but at the price, it's just not worth the gamble IMO.  Guess I'm just not a risk-taker. LOL.

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Opinions vary folks. Some swear by a certain brand, others swear at them.

 

I don't get on with EC12 or Evan Williams but I'd never call them bad stuff - they're not to my well informed taste. FR is good stuff alright but doesn't make me whoop with delight. There's enough love for all these fine products on here, just not from me. I think I see a bridge... Yes they've got over it!

Only one is a "never again" that I can remember and it's Jefferson's entry level. Smelled like baby sick and tasted simply horrible. I was very surprised and disappointed.

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Interesting  as  Garrison Brothers Cowboy Bourbon was in my top 5 favorite bourbons of the year and 

HMcKBIB is one of my go to value bourbons. So to each their own I guess. 

 

My worst experience was with the Woodford Reserve Sonoma Cutter . I payed $25 for a glass and was rewarded with what tasted like Robitussin. 

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I don't like OGD BIB nor Hancock's PR and won't buy again. I know they get love here. I do love OGD 114 and Blanton's so go figure. The little brothers are completely different to me than their siblings.

I don't know if anyone likes these but my top 3 can't understand what anyone saw in them whiskeys are:

KC smoked maple - tastes like maple syrup, but not in a good way

Corsair triple smoke - been a long time, but tasted unaged

Michter's American whiskey - horrible after taste of pistachio. Managed to finish the bottle by mixing it with Coke  

 

Edited by Charlutz
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I had a bottle of EW 1783, back in the early 2000s, that tasted of asparagus and boiled cabbage. I still shudder to remember how bad it was. Could have been a bad bottle or batch, as I've had it more recently and it wasn't bad at all. YMMV

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Actually, I'd like to supplement my earlier post.  It wasn't a regularly available product, but, some years back at WhiskeyFest Chicago, I went to a presentation by some of the guys from Heaven Hill, and Craig Beam had brought with him a 20-something year old bourbon he'd found somewhere in a warehouse, to graphically illustrate how age does not always equal quality.  That stuff had gone WAY around the bend; it was repulsive.

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