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Booker's for $60 - should I do it?


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Hey all!

 

I was out at Costco yesterday doing the usual shopping and saw a bottle of Booker's for $60. I've never seen it at my local TW or any other liquor stores I've stopped into.

 

I've read good things about it, but never tried it.

 

My current wheelhouse is comprised of: OF1920, Larceny, WT101, KCSiB & W12. As you can see, I love sweet forward bourbons with some spice - higher proofs are also welcome.

 

Let me know if you guys think I should grab a bottle. I can't find it at any bars around me to try either.

 

Cheers! Jordan

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That is a lot to spend for a bourbon you don’t know if you like. I would pass. You can generally find Bookers at 60 bucks. One thing you might want to consider, since you like Knob’s Creeks, is to try the Knob’s Creek at 120 Proof to get a feel for higher proof. 

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1 minute ago, graftonbc1 said:

That is a lot to spend for a bourbon you don’t know if you like. I would pass. You can generally find Bookers at 60 bucks. One thing you might want to consider, since you like Knob’s Creeks, is to try the Knob’s Creek at 120 Proof to get a feel for higher proof. 

Thanks for the input. The 120 proof Knob Creek is the one that I prefer (single barrel is 120 proof and small batch is 100 proof).

 

Is Booker's usually readily available in AZ? I just think it's weird that I've never seen it anywhere around me until now.

 

Cheers!

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I don’t know the answer to that, so I should have been a little less cavalier in my response. I live Bookers, but the KC120 is very good. I’ll change my answer a bit (Bookers is readily available here in Mass.). If you got the 60 bucks, and you  want to try it, go for it. It is a nice comparison th the Knobs Creek. 

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30 minutes ago, Bourbon Fanatic said:

I was out at Costco yesterday doing the usual shopping and saw a bottle of Booker's for $60. I've never seen it at my local TW or any other liquor stores I've stopped into.

 

I've read good things about it, but never tried it.

I also read good things about it and picked up a bottle at my Costco late last year (at the time I think it was $55).  It was too hot for my liking and I ended up giving it to a coworker.

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$60 for Booker's around here is a good price.  I would go ahead and pull the trigger.  

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Seems like a fair price. Go for it. And look out for older KCSB store pix. They are usually, in my opinion, stunning & $40-45. Ive got several in the bunker, & Binny's is goung to have a whole slew of new ones soon (they buy 10-12 barrels each time, ranging from 9-13 yrs. I had a 13.5 yr this summer that was amazing)

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I obviously don't know whether or not if you're going to like it, but Booker's is an iconic American bourbon.  And, $60 seems a competitive price for it.  I'd recommend going for it!

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Definitely give it a try.

 

And if you don't like it at first, don't give it away. PUT it away for about 3yrs, then try it again.

 

By then your palate will have developed a bit and you'll also have learned how to add water to barrel proof whiskey. 

 

You'll probably wonder what you were thinking. Such was my experience anyway. -p

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Funny, I passed on a Booker’s at $60 today. Opted for another Blanton’s instead for $7 less. 

 

That said I have tried and not terribly enjoyed Bookers.  Plan to try it again at a bar in the near future and see if my tastes have changed.

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5 minutes ago, The Black Tot said:

Definitely give it a try.

 

And if you don't like it at first, don't give it away. PUT it away for about 3yrs, then try it again.

 

By then your palate will have developed a bit and you'll also have learned how to add water to barrel proof whiskey. 

 

You'll probably wonder what you were thinking. Such was my experience anyway. -p

This is great advice!! I actually did this with my first bottle bottle of MM cask strength - didn't like it at first, stored it away and came back to it like 2 years later and loved it!

 

Cheers! 

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Given the current prices for Booker's in my area, $60 is a very good price. If you like KC Single Barrel, you will likely like Booker's. I'd say buy a bottle and try it. If you don't like it at first, heed Black Tot's advice.


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1 hour ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

Funny, I passed on a Booker’s at $60 today. Opted for another Blanton’s instead for $7 less. 

 

That said I have tried and not terribly enjoyed Bookers.  Plan to try it again at a bar in the near future and see if my tastes have changed.

I would have done the same thing. I can never find Blanton's around me, if I do, it's $70-$80... I love the juice, though not sure I want to spend that much on it.

 

Cheers!

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Seeing how we are talking Bookers, is there any particular year that is better than others. I saw a 2015 Bookers last week for 70 bucks. I think I remember reading 2015 was one of the better ones???

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5 hours ago, Bourbon Fanatic said:

Thanks for the input. The 120 proof Knob Creek is the one that I prefer (single barrel is 120 proof and small batch is 100 proof).

 

Is Booker's usually readily available in AZ? I just think it's weird that I've never seen it anywhere around me until now.

 

Cheers!

TW&M in Goodyear has 5 batches of Booker's from $65 to $80.  Give their website a look, it has inventory for all the stores, except for the unicorn expressions.

Which Costco did you find Bookers?  They don't all have the same items.

 

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1 minute ago, Darwin said:

TW&M in Goodyear has 5 batches of Booker's from $65 to $80.  Give their website a look, it has inventory for all the stores, except for the unicorn expressions.

Which Costco did you find Bookers?  They don't all have the same items.

 

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up... I saw it at the San Tan mall Costco (I live in southeast Gilbert). I honestly didn't even look at which batch or anything - the fiancée was getting antsy and wanted to go :lol:

 

Cheers!

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To me Bookers is the best readily available bourbon on the market, it used to also be one of the best quality to cost wise but that is very much a thing of the past now. I will say that I can't think of a bourbon that costs less that I enjoy more though. Here a few places still have it at $65 but most are $75 and up.

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12 hours ago, Bourbon Fanatic said:

Thanks for the input. The 120 proof Knob Creek is the one that I prefer (single barrel is 120 proof and small batch is 100 proof).

 

Is Booker's usually readily available in AZ? I just think it's weird that I've never seen it anywhere around me until now.

 

Cheers!

It seems to be readily available here. I've seen a few different batches in the $60-$80 over the past few months, but just haven't felt compelled to try it yet. I just looked at TW's inventory online, and there should be the 'Front Porch' ($70) and 'Blue Knights' ($80) batches at the TW near you, 'Off Your Rocker' ($68) is near me, and I saw the 'Bluegill Creek' batch at an AJs when I was shopping not that long ago. Unless something crazy happens, it should be available should you decide to try it at another point. 

 

Side note - last month when I was in TW, a gentleman was in a full-on angry rant to an employee about the prices of Booker's jumping up haha. 

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I don't know if Booker's can hold this pricing level. I think we might see it back at 50 when the dust settles, inventories catch up, and we get past the now-inevitable $200 Booker's 30th. 

 

Present pricing is pushing their customers straight into the arms of Stagg Jr. 

 

The batches idea was good but I think they implemented it wrong. They did too many at too large a rate for people to keep up with. Had they done fewer, larger batches with more distinction in character I think they'd have done better. I care, but I couldn't be bothered to taste off between noe hard times, noe secret, bluegill and bluegrass. In the end I called it all "Booker's" and will wait until the hype is over and people regain the reality that this is 7yrs old (when we're lucky!) and not aged in diamond-studded casks.

 

Noe sale.

 

...but that's because I know already what the range of Booker's tastes are. People who haven't tried it won't find a much better price these days than 60 bucks, it IS great bourbon and worth learning to appreciate, and there are a LOT of worse values out there. 

Edited by The Black Tot
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The short answer is yes. 

It may not end up being your favorite, and if you are fairly new to bourbon it might seem a bit hot, but it is a quality bourbon for a fair price. They way I look at it, prices are rising and are unlikely to drop any time soon and this is a good representation of Beam's top shelf stuff so a good one to have on the shelf.

 

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My brother-in-law shared a dram of Bookers with me over this past 4th of July, and I loved it. I was able to find several different 2016 offerings at 49.99 in a local super market. They have since raised their price to around 60. After trying a few other barrel proof/strength varieties, some cheaper, some more expensive, I find that a lot of the mystique of Bookers has worn off. I  still have the three bottles occupying a place in the bunker, but I do not go to them as often. But it is an enjoyable pour, and worth the adventure.

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12 hours ago, Dango said:

Seeing how we are talking Bookers, is there any particular year that is better than others. I saw a 2015 Bookers last week for 70 bucks. I think I remember reading 2015 was one of the better ones???

I have had one pour from 2015 (not totally sure of the expression, four from 2016, and the first expression from 2017. I drank them neat. I find that with they generally all have the same profile to me. The benefit of that is that you may find a 2015 or 2016 at a considerably lower price.

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I would say try a pour in a bar first if you can. On the one hand I think Bookers is worth trying, on the other I find it to be an underwhelming bourbon, especially at $60 - its rough and hot for the proof (there are other barrel proofers that are a easier and more enjoyable to drink). It's not that $60 is a bad price for it (seems about normal), it's just that you can do better. For ~$40 you can find store picks of Knob Creek single barrel in the 11-14 range which I find superior. For $50 you get Stagg Jr which I find vastly superior. In the same price range you can get OF1920 which I also prefer over Bookers. A store pick of Four Roses single barrel is likely to be superior as well. Of course, that's all based on my palate, you may completely disagree.

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