One bourbon distillery only please!

[fishnbowljoe]

I may be a bit long winded here, so please bear with me.

 

First off, I have to say that I don't really get into the "favorite"  type of threads much. IE: What's your favorite bourbon, what's your favorite glass, what's the one bourbon you'd choose if you were stranded on a desert island and could only choose one, etc.....  Now here I find myself thinking about my choice if I had to pick offerings/products from only one distillery.  Yeah I know. Been there, done that. So sue me.  I'm a movie buff, and I can't help but remember in one of my favorite movies, The Hunt For Red October, when Captain Ramius/Sean Connery tells Captain Borodin/Sam Neill, "Give me a ping Vasiliy. One ping only please."  In most favorite threads, including the favorite distillery thread, folks pick their favorite, their second favorite, and third, and so on and so forth, and then go on with what ifs and where fors. That's not what I'm looking for here, so I'm going to quantify this by asking y'all to only choose one distillery, and no others. You can most assuredly tell why, but please, please, please don't digress. "One distillery. One distillery only please."

 

I know my answer, and most of y'all probably do too. Buffalo Trace. Yes I'm a Weller whore, but I pretty like most of what BT has to offer. BT, ER, ETL, Stagg Jr, Blanton's etc..... Thank goodness I can still find most of their products around here at fairly reasonable prices most of the time. Operative word in both cases, most. 

 

So here goes! If you were limited to buying bourbon products from only one distillery, which distillery would you choose?

 

 

Cheers! Joe

 

 

 

[kevinbrink]

Heaven Hill, but damn would I miss Wild Turkey and Beam products.

[Jackinbox]

Wild Turkey for me.  

[Richnimrod]

Hmmmmmm, that is a very tough call, Joe.    I'm torn between HH & BT, thinking only about the buying part. 

So.... in order to choose between the two, I have to give the nod to BT for the touring part. 

Nobody beats The Buffalo for atmosphere, and if one gets Freddie, hands down... the touring wins it.     Plus, the best wheaters are for sure from BT.

Soooo Buffalo Trace wins!

[Harry in WashDC]

THIS was tough.  Beam Suntory if only for the breadth of their portfolio which includes OGDs.  [ASIDE: Joe & Rich, PM me re: trades for BT products.  Ditto Kevin on HH and Jack on WT.  If no trading is allowed, in the immortal words of Eric Cartman, "Screw you guys, I am going HOME."]

[Swamp55]

BT.  Yep, BT.  I can usually find the standard BT, Blanton's, and CEHT SmB or SiB.  Harder to find ER10. or Stagg, Jr.  Very, very hard to find ETL.  Impossible to find Wellers.  And, don't even get me started on BTAC or Pappy selections.  Those are long-shot lottery possibilities only.

 

If I could have access to the entire BT lineup, I could be a pretty happy camper.  There are others that I'd miss, of course.  But,  if I could have only bourbon from one distillery, give me BT or give me death!

Edited August 8, 2017 by Swamp55

[kevinbrink]

11 minutes ago, Harry in WashDC said:

THIS was tough.  Beam Suntory if only for the breadth of their portfolio which includes OGDs.  [ASIDE: Joe & Rich, PM me re: trades for BT products.  Ditto Kevin on HH and Jack on WT.  If no trading is allowed, in the immortal words of Eric Cartman, "Screw you guys, I am going HOME."]

I'm in, I need some KC and Bookers let me know what needs to come back your way!

[EarthQuake]

Buffalo Trace as well and it's not even remotely close. CEHT, Blanton's, ER, Stagg JR all readily available, not to mention BTAC, Weller and Pappy.

 

Beam Suntory is an interesting choice, the entire Beam lineup plus Hibiki, Hakashu, Yamazaki, etc. I know those aren't bourbon, but that's a hell of a lineup.

[Paddy]

If I would have access to the full portfolio, my choice would be Buffalo Trace.  Given my current access (available wheaters, standards and rye's), my choice is Heaven Hill.

[flahute]

Inasmuch as I'm a card carrying member of and disciple for the cult, bring limited to one distillery makes this a tough choice - I need my wheaters and ryes as well.

I'm loving Wild Turkey these days as well - the entire portfolio (outside the 81's) are regulars in my rotation and I love their ryes. The Turkey profile in general has really come on in the past year or so and has become a favorite of my palate. But.......no wheaters.

So, like Paddy above, this is going to come down to BT versus HH. BT is an obvious choice for me for the same reasons as Paddy. If I have access to the whole portfolio it's an easy choice since Stagg is my favorite bourbon. If limited to current access - would HH come out on top? Not sure. I don't like Larceny but do love OWA (and I can get it). 

BUT, since we operate in fantasy land here, if I can get access to all the various things aging in the vast array of HH rick houses like that 16yr old wheater, those honey barrel destined for this year's Parkers, WHH, Select Stock, Pikesville Rye at ages above 6yrs, ECBP, .........whatever, anything, and everything aging at Deatsville. Yeah......I'm gonna say Heaven Hill.

[HoustonNit]

Talk about Sophie's Choice!

My dad who was from the old country would say the following proverb when it comes to your love of your children, "children are like fingers it hurts the same if you cut one off".

I love HH for HMCK10, EC12 and especially ECBP, RY10 wheater distilled by them. Also really like JB KCSB and Booker's along with OGD. WT standard 101 and RR are so great as well.

All that said especially if I had a chance at an occasional Stagg and BTAC, I'd go with BT. Standard BT is so good, ER10, ETL. Also Weller!

[NDN98]

Buffalo Trace for me, no doubt.  I would be a happy man if I only had Blanton's, ETL, Weller 12, Weller Antique, Eagle Rare, EHTBP, and the occasional hard-to-come-by bottle.

Edited August 8, 2017 by NDN98

[Kane]

Another vote for BT.

 

PS. I'm appalled to not see any mention of 4R so far! (EDIT: Ah, so it was well hidden)

Edited August 8, 2017 by Kane

[DCFan]

BT. That was an easy one.

[dcbt]

Yet another vote for BT.  Their flagship was my gateway bourbon, but I may like the mash #2 products even more.  And being in Texas I'm partial to the Wellers for my wheaters since they used to grow on trees down here.

Edited August 8, 2017 by dcbt

[Richnimrod]

10 hours ago, Harry in WashDC said:

THIS was tough.  Beam Suntory if only for the breadth of their portfolio which includes OGDs.  [ASIDE: Joe & Rich, PM me re: trades for BT products.  Ditto Kevin on HH and Jack on WT.  If no trading is allowed, in the immortal words of Eric Cartman, "Screw you guys, I am going HOME."]

 

ABSOLUTELY Trades are allowed (cuz I just said so)!    PM me whatever you're looking for and I'm sure I can trade you some BT brands for some OGD BIB & 114, KC, Booker's, Baker's... I'm sure we can reach some accommodation(s)! 

Now I'll need to partner up with some other folx with whom to trade for HH Brands, and 4-R, Barton, Maker's... as well as ... well ...Everything!

[Mako254]

13 hours ago, flahute said:

Inasmuch as I'm a card carrying member of and disciple for the cult, bring limited to one distillery makes this a tough choice - I need my wheaters and ryes as well.

I'm loving Wild Turkey these days as well - the entire portfolio (outside the 81's) are regulars in my rotation and I love their ryes. The Turkey profile in general has really come on in the past year or so and has become a favorite of my palate. But.......no wheaters.

So, like Paddy above, this is going to come down to BT versus HH. BT is an obvious choice for me for the same reasons as Paddy. If I have access to the whole portfolio it's an easy choice since Stagg is my favorite bourbon. If limited to current access - would HH come out on top? Not sure. I don't like Larceny but do love OWA (and I can get it). 

BUT, since we operate in fantasy land here, if I can get access to all the various things aging in the vast array of HH rick houses like that 16yr old wheater, those honey barrel destined for this year's Parkers, WHH, Select Stock, Pikesville Rye at ages above 6yrs, ECBP, .........whatever, anything, and everything aging at Deatsville. Yeah......I'm gonna say Heaven Hill.

 

Right there with you. I love four roses but HH has the depth of product. I'd no doubt try and bootleg some 4R private barrels in though. 

[kevinbrink]

I will say that I'm not surprised by all the folks picking BT/Sazerac, even if it is not in my top 3 they certainly make great products and lots of them.  I also wan't to point out that based on the title of the thread, I didn't include Rye in my decision since it only said Bourbon, I feel I can buy whatever rye I want to. If I did include Rye I would still pick HH though, if anything it would make the decision easier.

[beasled]

Tough choice... 

 

Heaven Hill I think. 

 

EC12

ECBP

McKenna

PHC

Rittenhouse BIB

Pikesville

Old Fitz 12 / Fitz BIB / Larceny

Evan Williams (especially the 23...)

 

And not forgetting... Mellow Corn. 

 

 

[Paddy]

^^^^^plus all the HH stock (quite a portfolio in itself)....

[BigRich]

If I would have access to the full portfolio, my choice would be Buffalo Trace.  Given my current access (available wheaters, standards and rye's), my choice is Heaven Hill.

This ^^^^

Exactly. Word for word.


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[CardsandBourbon]

I like something from all of them HH, MM, Beam, but if I have to choose one it's going to have to be BT.  Like Joe I've got to have my WSR, OWA & W12 and then if you add in CEHT, Blanton's, Stagg Jr. . . . then there is really only one choice.

[Radioyada]

It has to be Buffalo Trace for me. With a few exceptions my favorites come from this distillery. GTS, Stagg Jr, CEHT, Blanton's, and the complete Weller line.  They even have a great vodka selection too. 

[CardsandBourbon]

1. And I forgot ETL, yeah, definitely BT.

[Charlutz]

 BT. Too many of my favorites across too many price points:

 

WLW

GTS (only bottle on this list I haven't managed to have on my shelf)

THH (Yes, I snuck a rye in there. Sue me.)

Blanton's SFTB

RHF

Stagg Jr. 

ETL

W12

EHT SmB

ER

OWA

BT