What bottles to buy in Kentucky

[Skinsfan1311]

We'll be in Kentucky for 4 days. The itinerary is posted in the distillery trips forum.

Other than a hand-dipped bottle from Maker's,  and personalized KC bottle, what can we buy in Kentucky, that isn't available elsewhere?  I'm already going to buy some HH BIB. 

  Please bear in mind that we're flying, so we will probably keep it to 6-8  bottles, inclusive of the aforementioned MM & KC.    We enjoy all styles of bourbon and rye, so any and all, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[BottledInBond]

45 minutes ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

We'll be in Kentucky for 4 days. The itinerary is posted in the distillery trips forum.

Other than a hand-dipped bottle from Maker's,  and personalized KC bottle, what can we buy in Kentucky, that isn't available elsewhere?  I'm already going to buy some HH BIB. 

  Please bear in mind that we're flying, so we will probably keep it to 6-8  bottles, inclusive of the aforementioned MM & KC.    We enjoy all styles of bourbon and rye, so any and all, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks!

There have been other threads on this if you search. Storesin KY tend to be worse than where I live. You can find the HHBIB, you might find Old Fitz BIB, the Old Bardstown BIB, etc. In my opinion, it is t really worth using limited space to pack those bottles home. They’re good whiskey at good prices, but they’re not great whiskey, 

 

Your best bets really are at the distillery gift shops for better/notable bottles. You can sometimes get good picks at the FR gift shop (remember they have 2 locations), Willett for WFEs, the HH heritage Center where you can get WHH/EC18/HHSS depending on when you go (maybe the new Old Fitz 11 soon too?). EC12 or 23 at the EW Experience. You might see one of the Russells at WT and you can get a bottle of RR signed. Many distilleries won’t have anything too special available though.

 

Also if you’re downtown Louisville and go to EW, remember that Peerless is really close and is actually their full functioning facility. And try the Hay Market

 

Have fun. Hard not to as long as you temper expectations of just being handed LEs everywhere in KY

[Mako254]

I’m sure some KY guys have the scoop on where to go for good store picks. That’d be my plan. 

[Skinsfan1311]

34 minutes ago, BottledInBond said:

There have been other threads on this if you search. Storesin KY tend to be worse than where I live. You can find the HHBIB, you might find Old Fitz BIB, the Old Bardstown BIB, etc. In my opinion, it is t really worth using limited space to pack those bottles home. They’re good whiskey at good prices, but they’re not great whiskey, 

 

Your best bets really are at the distillery gift shops for better/notable bottles. You can sometimes get good picks at the FR gift shop (remember they have 2 locations), Willett for WFEs, the HH heritage Center where you can get WHH/EC18/HHSS depending on when you go (maybe the new Old Fitz 11 soon too?). EC12 or 23 at the EW Experience. You might see one of the Russells at WT and you can get a bottle of RR signed. Many distilleries won’t have anything too special available though.

 

Also if you’re downtown Louisville and go to EW, remember that Peerless is really close and is actually their full functioning facility. And try the Hay Market

 

Have fun. Hard not to as long as you temper expectations of just being handed LEs everywhere in KY

Thank you!

[Dannabis]

Whatever you get, taste some asap so you know whether to get more. You don't want to go home only to decide you want a case of some KY only.

 

I'd say look for age stated stuff hard to find elsewhere 

 

Any particular distilleries or product lines you already prefer?

[kevinbrink]

I generally do bottom shelf shopping in KY since there are great bottles there that don't hit other states, HH BIB, HH Green 6, Old Fitz, J. T. S. Brown, Old Bardstown BIB if you want to see whats up with Willet distillate. Oh and Barton Chocolate Bourbon Ball, that stuff is a crowd favorite for my friends. 

[Skinsfan1311]

39 minutes ago, Dannabis said:

Whatever you get, taste some asap so you know whether to get more. You don't want to go home only to decide you want a case of some KY only.

 

I'd say look for age stated stuff hard to find elsewhere 

 

Any particular distilleries or product lines you already prefer?

 I have that covered. 

During football season I can stock up with "Kentucky-centric" juice, because a friend of mine, (who lives in Cincy), hits up the Party Source, across the river and picks up whatever I want, and brings it to our tailgates.  My immediate issue is that football season is 5 months away!

 

I have a soft spot for Heaven Hill & Buffalo Trace products. 

Edited April 16, 2018 by Skinsfan1311

[Skinsfan1311]

10 minutes ago, kevinbrink said:

I generally do bottom shelf shopping in KY since there are great bottles there that don't hit other states, HH BIB, HH Green 6, Old Fitz, J. T. S. Brown, Old Bardstown BIB if you want to see whats up with Willet distillate. Oh and Barton Chocolate Bourbon Ball, that stuff is a crowd favorite for my friends. 

That's pretty much the plan. 

"Kentucky-centric" juice. 

Thanks!

[flahute]

Not mentioned yet - Very Old Barton BIB.

[Skinsfan1311]

5 hours ago, flahute said:

Not mentioned yet - Very Old Barton BIB.

Excellent.

  I have a bottle of the 90, which I really like.  Thanks!

[Richnimrod]

2 hours ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

Excellent.

  I have a bottle of the 90, which I really like.  Thanks!

If you "really like" the Barton 90, you'll go ape-sh_t over the BIB.    For my taste buddies at least, the BIB is on the order of twice as satisfying as the 90.    Grab one (or more) and proceed to decide for yourself.

[Jazz June]

I asked in another thread, but got only one response: where in Louisville would be most likely to have HH 6 BiB and Old Fitz BiB? Got an answer on the HH (which was appreciated), but is Old Fitz BiB hard to find at this point?

 

Is JTS Brown BiB readily available and worth getting? I like the HH bonded bourbons, but wasn't planning to track this one down. I can get Henry McKenna 10, EW, and JW Dant BiB here in my area, but have not seen the JTS Brown.

[Skinsfan1311]

34 minutes ago, Richnimrod said:

If you "really like" the Barton 90, you'll go ape-sh_t over the BIB.    For my taste buddies at least, the BIB is on the order of twice as satisfying as the 90.    Grab one (or more) and proceed to decide for yourself.

Will do!  Thank you very much!

[kevinbrink]

1 hour ago, Jazz June said:

I asked in another thread, but got only one response: where in Louisville would be most likely to have HH 6 BiB and Old Fitz BiB? Got an answer on the HH (which was appreciated), but is Old Fitz BiB hard to find at this point?

 

Is JTS Brown BiB readily available and worth getting? I like the HH bonded bourbons, but wasn't planning to track this one down. I can get Henry McKenna 10, EW, and JW Dant BiB here in my area, but have not seen the JTS Brown.

I like JTS Brown BIB, it has a different profile than the others, I find that each of the HH BIB are different enough that I have a couple of each except T.W. Samuels since I didn't see it on the shelf while I was in KY the last time. Pretty sure you can check to see what is in stock at Total Wine and the Party Source and even place your order in advance for pick up. 

[cdcdguy]

On my recent trip to Kentucky I found VOBBIB everywhere for 13.99. It has become my favorite. If you like the 90 you will love this. HH6BIB I found at Liquior Barn in Louisville, but didn't see it anywhere else, which is a bit unusual. I did find the 90 proof green label widely available. It's good at 11.99. JTS BIB at 9.99 was available hit and miss and is the best value out there. Old FITZ BIB was nowhere to be found, but many had their basic stuff, which I didn't pick up. 

 

I did find Early Times BIB for 20.99 for a liter. GET that if you see it. Finally, not Kentucky only, though maybe available in a few states, try Cabin Still. It's only 80 proof, but the best cheap bourbon I have ever had. Got it at Liquoir Barn in Louisville for 9.79.

[cdcdguy]

The Cabin Still was actually 7.79 

[Jazz June]

Is Old Charter 101 available in Kentucky?

 

[JTaylor]

Just go to every store you see and ask, "Got any Pappy?"

 

[Bambam]

When I was up there earlier this month I picked up a couple of WR Double Double pints and found an entire shelf of AE Rye (which I love).

 

After that everything else on the trip was just gravy. 

[0895]

On 4/19/2018 at 8:49 PM, Jazz June said:

Is Old Charter 101 available in Kentucky?

 

No.

IL & IN as far as I've heard.

[FasterHorses]

16 hours ago, 0895 said:

No.

IL & IN as far as I've heard.

Nashville TN as well. May have bought one in Ft campbell KY too. 

[cdcdguy]

18 hours ago, 0895 said:

No.

IL & IN as far as I've heard.

I have never seen it in Indiana .

[Skinsfan1311]

My Kentucky haul.  Picked up some HH BIB & Bardstown BIB too. I realize that you can get the McKenna10 yr BIB & the KCSB anywhere,  but the Distiller was at Evan Williams, and he signed the bottle for me.  The KCSB is one that I rinsed, watched them bottle it, then they dipped it and I put my thumb print in the wax, so I had to have it.

[PhantomLamb]

I have a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel right now, so tasty.  Good call.

[Jazz June]

Here's what I landed on:

 

 

HH BiB 6

JTS Brown BiB

2 KC SiB 13yr PS

 

As people said, no Old Fitz BiB. I passed on TW Samuels BiB because they only had handles. Early Times BiB (and to a lesser extent Old Bardstown BiB) was also tempting, but I left them for another time. It seems to me that BiB and PS are where to look when in KY because I have not seen any more availability of LEs or highly allocated stuff in KY stores than elsewhere. But lots of the BiBs with lesser distribution and lots of private picks. I will grant that the bars seem to have pretty good selections, but prices are all over the place (sometimes worse than DC!). I'm only disappointed I didn't have time to get to any of the distilleries, but there's always next time.