flahute Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 2 minutes ago, WhiskeyBlender said: @Bbstout, I have to sheepishly admit that it has been years since I seriously collected finished Bourbon products. I'll occasionally buy something that seems interesting of course, but I haven't HAD to buy finished Bourbon products in years. I literally have a whole basement full of barrel samples, ranging from new make to over 20 years old, which are uncut, unfiltered, and at cask strength. Once I'm finished with the samples for work purposes, the samples then become fair game for personal enjoyment. Sometimes I do home blends with them, and other times I just enjoy them as single barrel expressions, especially if they're honey barrels. Interesting what you say about the website owner that said they preferred the latest batch of Stagg Jr to the '19 Stagg. While I absolutely adore GTS, for whatever reason I just haven't warmed up to Stagg Jr. I've bought several expressions of it and just haven't been that satisfied. Heck, I even gave a bottle of it away to a friend not too long ago! I haven't tried the '19 Stagg yet, so I'll reserve my opinion on that. Next time I'm in Louisville, KY, I'll probably try to get a pour of it. Cheers, Nancy If you find yourself in Seattle, I got you. Alternatively, the next time I travel to San Rafael for my project down there, I can hand deliver a sample. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiskeyBlender Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 1 minute ago, flahute said: If you find yourself in Seattle, I got you. Alternatively, the next time I travel to San Rafael for my project down there, I can hand deliver a sample. Steve @flahute, watch what you promise, 'cause I'm gonna hold you to that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Just now, WhiskeyBlender said: Steve @flahute, watch what you promise, 'cause I'm gonna hold you to that one! I would not make that promise if I wasn't prepared to honor it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncork_it_already Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 I wouldn't spend $290 on this past release. It's a nice whiskey, but not in the same stratosphere of past released (2015 and earlier). I'd pay that premium for an older release, when Stagg was still STAGG. I thought 2018 was really nice, even at 124.9 proof, but still a lot of great options for cheaper (than secondary). You very well may love the 2019 and have no regrets spending that, but it's definitely not an expression on the same level of what made GTS the king. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepler Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 19 hours ago, GeeTen said: $119.99 OTD. Same for the rest of the available BTACs (WLW, THH & ER17 - no Saz18 in sight this year, tho'). But it did seem that there was more GTS around this year than the last several allocations. That's the pretty much the same as it is here, well except for sales tax of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthQuake Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 (edited) $290 is a big fat nope. I paid $130 for the '18 bottle (my wife won a lottery at a local store) and even that was too much if I'm being honest with myself. It didn't help that I found '18 to be an unremarkable year for GTS (barely any better than Stagg Jr). I haven't tried the '19 but haven't heard anything that would persuade me to go over retail for it. For a '17 (perhaps other years too, I haven't tried most of them), which I think is significantly better than '18, I might pay a little more, maybe up to $150. I traded an EC18 for a '17 last year that cost me about that. But even then, there are a number of things that I enjoy as more or more for much less money that are way easier to find. Like Four Roses and older Knob Creek store picks. The store down the street just got in a 14 year Knob Creek pick, its $40 and I'm not sure that GTS would come out on top in a blind. Don't get me wrong, I love GTS, it's just not a magical, transcendent bourbon experience (the more bourbon I drink, the more I realize this simply isn't a thing). At the end of the day it's important to know what you're paying for. If you're buying a whiskey to drink that you will appreciate solely due to how it tastes, none of the BTAC collection is worth more than $100 or so, and there are exceedingly few bourbons that legitimately are worth more than $100 - again for drinking, not rarity / hype / etc. If you're buying a special bottle to cherish because it has sentimental meaning, to brag about because it is rare, or because your fear of missing out is out of control, well, your value proposition may be entirely different so it's hard to advise. Edited January 12, 2020 by EarthQuake 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 17 minutes ago, EarthQuake said: (the more bourbon I drink, the more I realize this simply isn't a thing). It may not always be a thing with GTS (or even any limited), but it IS a thing. There are some rare batches/barrels that are so amazing that you can't concentrate on anything else. In practice this will have a lot to do with matching your taste preferences, although every incredible bottle I have had has been fairly generally revered. It doesn't happen often. Some of the old barrel picks before the bubble hit were like that. And I think they were better than GTS. But GTS is pretty consistently great. If I could get it at retail every year, I'd never miss it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EarthQuake Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 (edited) 26 minutes ago, The Black Tot said: It may not always be a thing with GTS (or even any limited), but it IS a thing. There are some rare batches/barrels that are so amazing that you can't concentrate on anything else. In practice this will have a lot to do with matching your taste preferences, although every incredible bottle I have had has been fairly generally revered. It doesn't happen often. Some of the old barrel picks before the bubble hit were like that. And I think they were better than GTS. But GTS is pretty consistently great. If I could get it at retail every year, I'd never miss it. So let me start by saying that I really like a good vintage of GTS. It's up towards the top in terms of quality for bourbon for sure. I've had a handful of bottles that I like significantly more than GTS - a really special Four Roses store pick, various years of Four Roses SB LEs, some other stuff I'm probably forgetting. But no matter how good the bourbon is, it doesn't make me shit rainbows or feel compelled to dump hundreds or thousands of dollars on it. I like bourbon, so I get a lot of enjoyment out of drinking very good bourbon. Luckily, very good bourbon happens to be very easy to find. Getting beyond very good is quickly a matter of diminishing returns, it's a lot harder to find the bottles, they're generally a lot more expensive, and usually they're a bit of a let down when I consider the effort and cost to drink a spirit that is at most few percent points better than what I usually have in the cabinet. Now, it's likely that I'm simply too young and have missed out on all the legendary, amazing, glut area whiskey that some of the old timers here are accustomed to. But I also doubt that if I had a glass of Black Maple Hill 16 or whatever the consensus is for a truly exceptional bourbon, that it would be a life changing event for me. More than likely, it would just be some rather good bourbon that I would enjoy and then piss out shortly afterwards. There's a tendency in communities like this to worship and idolize some of these bottles, but at the end of the day it's just bourbon. It's like we've got our very own little cargo cult - the god in this case is whatever bourbon is hardest to find on a particular day. Now, if anyone here has a religious experience when they imbibe their unicorn de jour, all the power to them, but I'm at the point where I don't get much out of chasing the elusive magical experience. (Saying all that, if GTS was readily available at retail I would probably always have a bottle in the bar too.) Edited January 12, 2020 by EarthQuake 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 2 minutes ago, EarthQuake said: So let me start by saying that I really like a good vintage of GTS. It's up towards the top in terms of quality for bourbon for sure. I've had a handful of bottles that I like significantly more than GTS - a really special Four Roses store pick, various years of Four Roses SB LEs, some other stuff I'm probably forgetting. But no matter how good the bourbon is, it doesn't make me shit rainbows or feel compelled to dump hundreds or thousands of dollars on it. I like bourbon, so I get a lot of enjoyment out of drinking very good bourbon. Luckily, very good bourbon happens to be very easy to find. Getting beyond very good is quickly a matter of diminishing returns, it's a lot harder to find the bottles, they're generally a lot more expensive, and usually they're a bit of a let down when I consider the effort and cost to drink a spirit that is at most few percent points better than what I usually have in the cabinet. Now, it's likely that I'm simply too young and have missed out on all the legendary, amazing, glut area whiskey that some of the old timers here are accustomed to. But I also doubt that if I had a glass of Black Maple Hill 16 or whatever the consensus is for a truly exceptional bourbon, that it would be a life changing event for me. More than likely, it would just be some rather good bourbon that I would enjoy and then piss out shortly afterwards. There's a tendency in communities like this to worship and idolize some of these bottles, but at the end of the day it's just bourbon. It's like we've got our very own little cargo cult - the god in this case is whatever bourbon is hardest to find on a particular day. I understand and agree with most of what you're saying. But I have definitely shat rainbows The bourbon that made that happen for me all came out of the collections of some people who were serious barrel pickers before anyone else cared. And we're talking maybe four times this has happened. I've never OWNED such a legendary bottle, although I have managed a few 9s. I was thinking about one of these yesterday. I only had two pours of it, in 2012, at my first sampler (I think 2012 was my first sampler, if not, it was 2013). Some flavors might be gone forever given differences in processes and materials, but it is still my dream to pick a few perfect 10s after the bubble bursts. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTen Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, The Black Tot said: But I have definitely shat rainbows TTIWWP! Is that past tense of a verb or is it an Anglican thing? I didn't even know it was a word and I passed ESL with flying colors (see what I did there?). I gotta' stop posting after a night of bunker bottle emptying. Edited January 12, 2020 by GeeTen 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 1 minute ago, GeeTen said: TTIWWP! Is that past tense of a verb or is is an Anglican thing? Past tense. And I'm not religious 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam777 Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Did I miss the resolution of OP’s decision? You get it or not?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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