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Do you keep a decoy?


steve-in-kville
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In other words, your expensive and rare bottles are kept out of sight, but you keep a lower-shelf bourbon on the home bar so your upper-shelf stuff isn't wasted on your annoying brother-in-law? Does this make sense?

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16 minutes ago, steve-in-kville said:

In other words, your expensive and rare bottles are kept out of sight, but you keep a lower-shelf bourbon on the home bar so your upper-shelf stuff isn't wasted on your annoying brother-in-law? Does this make sense?

It kinda makes some sense, I guess.    ...If your B-I-L is the type to grab for your Pappy and pour a half glass of it followed by a top-off of Mountain Dew.   :o

 

On the other hand, showing off and sharing my hard-won treasures is a source of great pleasure for me; so I keep em in plain view.   :)

Of course I don't have such a B-I-L, or other frequent guest from whom to hide anything.

So, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

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Hah.  My wife has a friend who has this tendency to always drink my top shelf stuff (BTAC, Pappy, etc).  At first I was happy to share, that's what it's there for, but then when we asked her to send us some hot chocolate mix from her hometown in Colorado that we love and can't get here, and she sent us an invoice to pay her back the $20, well, it became evident reciprocity is not her thing.  So now whenever she comes to town I clear the bar of all the top shelf stuff and store it in a closet until she leaves.  I'm happy to share, until it becomes evident the counter-party operates differently.

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There are a couple of bottles that I would hide, but for now almost all of it is open to drink as they see fit.  The special stuff is already stored away for future occasions.

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I've not been faced with the Pappy & Coke problem.  But then, I have only a few really rare bottles.  The scarce top shelfers - 4R recipes for example - are out.  Neighbors who know I like bourbon occasionally will ask, conversationally, what I'm drinking lately.  I have had a couple actually refuse scarcities, saying they don't think they can appreciate them.  Hence, Blanton's and similar, better known mid-to-top shelfers are always out for company's tasting.

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I keep a pretty full bourbon bar, so there's always plenty of readily replaceable stuff available.  If someone I know really likes bourbon I'm more than happy to share the good stuff, but if they want to mix with Coke they can have some Crown Royal.

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1 hour ago, JoeTerp said:

I keep a pretty full bourbon bar, so there's always plenty of readily replaceable stuff available.  If someone I know really likes bourbon I'm more than happy to share the good stuff, but if they want to mix with Coke they can have some Crown Royal.

LOL at the CR.  I think I have a 750 of Black Harvest or Pure Rye or whatever that CR thing in the canvas bag/leather thong was - had one sip and put it someplace out of sight. I used to have EWB as my mixing bourbon so that's what they got for their Coke or ginger ale.  Lately, I've been using JB BIB in basic cocktails so that is what they get now.  HENCE, if someone is interested in tasting neat, I suggest newbies start with Blanton's and the JB BIB neat, but the rest of my opened bourbons and ryes are right there for the trying.  

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I have a teenage son, & his friends over often. Everything is locked up. Key is hidden. So I am always the gatekeeper.

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Yes but it backfired.  I had a bottle of Knob Creek in the front.  I noticed later, the "9 Years Old" statement was missing...he tried to replace it, and didn't know they went NAS...He got a lecture, after I beat myself up for forgetting to replace it myself lol.

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I'll likely refill my Pappy 23 when it's done with a generic OWA.

 

You'd have to be a proper jerk to get served from that bottle once that happens, but life does throw you some of those.

 

I don't think any of you here need to worry about it if you visit.

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I do not need to keep any decoys, but I do keep a couple of bottles of lower shelf bourbons to make mix drinks with for when the mood strikes.  If you are a guest in my house you are either offered a pour of anything you would like, or you are intelligent enough to understand when I tell you that some bottles are off limits.

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3 hours ago, Harry in WashDC said:

LOL at the CR.  I think I have a 750 of Black Harvest or Pure Rye or whatever that CR thing in the canvas bag/leather thong was - had one sip and put it someplace out of sight. I used to have EWB as my mixing bourbon so that's what they got for their Coke or ginger ale.  Lately, I've been using JB BIB in basic cocktails so that is what they get now.  HENCE, if someone is interested in tasting neat, I suggest newbies start with Blanton's and the JB BIB neat, but the rest of my opened bourbons and ryes are right there for the trying.  

The couple of bottles of craft that I ended up with for whatever reason serve this purpose. Here, try this. It was distilled in south carolina and spent 15 months in a not 53 gallon barrel!

 

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2 hours ago, The Black Tot said:

I'll likely refill my Pappy 23 when it's done with a generic OWA.

 

You'd have to be a proper jerk to get served from that bottle once that happens, but life does throw you some of those.

 

I don't think any of you here need to worry about it if you visit.

So if you stop by my house again this spring and bring in a bottle of Pappy should I be worried. ;):D

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I keep handles of 4R yellow label, BT, MM, WT101 and OFitz BiB on my "handle shelf" of the regular cabinet for mixing.  Most will find one they like from that group and leave the upper cabinet and bourbon table alone.  Those that I know appreciate a good pour get invited to sample the rest. 

 

@Postal Grunt, we need to drink a few sips of the good stuff soon...

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Honestly most of the bourbon drinkers that are in my house are neat or rocks drinkers.  The few that are not big bourbon geeks I'll usually ask them what they like and if they want it with something like ginger ale I'll suggest something like FRSmB, Old Fitzgerald BIB or something similar.

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3 hours ago, musekatcher said:

Yes but it backfired.  I had a bottle of Knob Creek in the front.  I noticed later, the "9 Years Old" statement was missing...he tried to replace it, and didn't know they went NAS...He got a lecture, after I beat myself up for forgetting to replace it myself lol.

That's at least a pretty good effort.

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I keep all my bourbons in a cabinet that is always shut. I have several types of friends that get different answers when they ask. There’s the whiskey drinkers that have no clue what they’re drinking but enjoy it, they get offered $20-$30 bottles. There’s the whiskey drinkers that do enjoy it but are not too particular so I offer them decent stuff in the $50 range and they are always appreciative. Then we have the borderline drunks. These people will drink anything with alcohol content without hesitation and I used to try and get them to sip a glass, but down the hatch it would go. No matter what I would pour for them, they would all shoot it down so obviously they get the EWB. I have one singular friend who is on the same plane of bourbon drinking as me, and he is left alone to drink whatever he feels like that night. He also shares everything of his without discrimination. I hate to be this way but my finances are not well enough to constantly replace the $40+ bottles when we have dinner guests or my wife’s friends feel like drinking here for free. As I see it, it’s exactly the same as how much hospitality you share with certain guests. There are some visitors that are limited to the living room and kitchen, and others you would treat as your own brother and offer them a room to stay.

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My wife and I don't really entertain, so hadn't had this be a problem.  I have all of my whisky (that will fit at least) in one cabinet (with some spillover now to a hutch).  But many years ago I had a neighbor who was a really nice guy but definitely liked to drink (quantity over quality).  At that time, CR Reserve was the top shelf at our house - and if he stopped by, he could easily put away 5-8 shots in a sitting.  He's since passed - but if he still lived across the street, I'd have to take a similar approach (keeping a handle of AAA10* in the kitchen in plain view).  

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Couple years ago, my friend came up and he loves rum and cokes. I told him to try the Ron Zacapa with just a splash of coke. I also left out a bottle of Capt. Morgan. He killed the bottle of Zacapa by drinking rum and cokes. Lesson learned. His next visit I simply told him I didn't have any mixing rums, so he took himself down to the Publix liquors and bought his own. Kind of over helping people get drunk. 

 

On that note, I keep a handle of JB white around for people who don't know the difference. I do have a nice group of guys where we exchange samples from time to time.

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The pappy bottle out front is actually OWA, the one in the back is actually 2009 Pappy.Most people who come in want to taste "Pappy" but really don't appreciate it. If they ask why two bottles I explain the one if the back is rare and and all I have (actually have 9 more bottles bought on clearance in 2010) and the one out front is current. 

20180216_091702.jpg

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I can’t say I’m cool with the practice of filling a high-end bottle with another bourbon.  Deceiving friends and others to get them to think they’re drinking something they’re not, does not seem Kosher in my book.  If you don’t want them hogging your good stuff, don’t put it out, or just man up and tell them not to hog your good stuff.  Really lacking in integrity, IMO.  

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1 hour ago, smokinjoe said:

I can’t say I’m cool with the practice of filling a high-end bottle with another bourbon.  Deceiving friends and others to get them to think they’re drinking something they’re not, does not seem Kosher in my book.  If you don’t want them hogging your good stuff, don’t put it out, or just man up and tell them not to hog your good stuff.  Really lacking in integrity, IMO.  

^^^ This.    I'm with Joe.

While I CAN sorta understand the 'reasoning' behind this recently posted example, I feel that it is outright lying just to preserve your stash, and this is not a good practice.    Hide it, serve it, or be honest about not offering it.

...And, re-filling high-end bottles with some other distillate is denying anyone who tastes from it (whether or not they have an educated or discerning palate) the 'genuine' experience they're being led to believe they've had.

Who can say?   This may be their only opportunity to sample a unicorn such as Pappy (or fill in whatever else).    What a shame if it's a falsehood perpetrated by you... on purpose.

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12 minutes ago, Mule Skinner said:

Nothing I have is too special to not share with family or friends.  

Agreed, in fact I tend to prefer sharing, I find it harder to open limited bottles when drinking by myself ;)

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