What Bourbon Are You Drinking Today (Summer 2020)

[smokinjoe]

All Hail, Friday and 5 o’clock!!!  I can think of no better way to celebrate than sitting on the front patio swing with a fine pour of Buffalo Trace over a big f’n cube in the Yeti.  

[smokinjoe]

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Edited August 15, 2020 by smokinjoe
Dumbass double post...

[JGriff]

WFH Happy Hour has arrived.  Cheers y’all.  

[JCwhammie]

40 minutes ago, smokinjoe said:

All Hail, Friday and 5 o’clock!!!  I can think of no better way to celebrate than sitting on the front patio swing with a fine pour of Buffalo Trace over a big f’n cube in the Yeti.  

I would've thought you'd go the cocktail route for a Friday happy hour, Joe. Or maybe I just hoped you would so I could get some creative ideas on what I should be drinking. 

[TwoFingers]

WT101 and loving it.  Nuff said.

[JCwhammie]

This is my first bottle of Bakers Sib. I picked it up today for $50. I like the spice on the backend. It doesn't dethrone KC12 as my favorite current Beam product, though. 

[smokinjoe]

3 hours ago, JCwhammie said:

I would've thought you'd go the cocktail route for a Friday happy hour, Joe. Or maybe I just hoped you would so I could get some creative ideas on what I should be drinking. 

Ha!  I did get to a Boulevardier eventually!  

[StarSurfer55]

14 hours ago, Phil T said:

While I don't any Willett or Blanton’s Jeff...FRSB, Bowman, EC, WTKS, or Weller would certainly be easy pickins.

 

Prost!  Phil

I really like the old style WTKS bottle. 

[0895]

Edited August 15, 2020 by 0895
*see empty bottle support group for the rest of the story.

[PaulO]

So, I opened the VOB 100 and it's really hitting the spot.  I haven't had this for some time.  It seems like a good batch.  It has a nice viscous mouth feel, and drinks well below its' 100 proof.

[Kepler]

Blanton's tonight to kick things off. This one was bottled last year and it's the oakiest Blanton's I've ever had.

Could just be coincidence but in my experience lately there's more variation on these than I remember from a few years ago.

[Kepler]

On 8/13/2020 at 9:15 AM, StarSurfer55 said:

So I have been working out of my RV this Summer as we at least can be out of the house and still stay safe.  As I consequence, I have been hitting my RV stash which consist of about a dozen bourbons/whiskeys.  Unfortunatlely, my stash outgrew the limited cupboard space and I had to move it to the bottom of my closet.  Now the closet has a light but it is pretty much useless.  

 

Last night I reached in to get my bottle of longbranch and afterward realized that I could identify every bottle in my stash by their shape alone.  So my question is “Should I take this a sign of a problem or as an opportunity to advocate that bourbon makers make more distinctive bottle shapes?”  

 

Frankly, I think it is the latter but am willing to be told differently.

 

 

I'm just amazed that you haven't already converted your RV to a fully loaded overflow bourbon bunker.  No square inch to go to waste...

[IamMatt]

WT101 before dinner, and finishing the evening with OF 100.  My son is having a Michter's US-1 SB.  Best part of the evening is when my wife said she was having brunch with her sisters and my son asked me if we could go to some liquor stores while she is out.  21 years old and already appreciates a wee dram.

[Kepler]

The Blanton's oak bomb (unusual for Blanton's) was fine but not what my palate is asking for tonight.

So I just poured some Barrrell bourbon batch #22.  This is the 5 year blend from KY and Indiana distillate. Usually a Barrell fan but this is one of the more disappointing Barrell bourbons I've purchased (not because it's not good but rather because I had higher hopes for something special), ... but this is still a solid step up from the Blanton's.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Kepler

[Jazzhead]

I'm sipping tonight out on the deck  in a wee hours breeze,  with a Remus Repeal Reserve (Series II),  a pour that oozes well-aged balance and sophistication.    If Johnny Walker blended a bourbon,  it might well taste like this.  

[Kepler]

5 minutes ago, Jazzhead said:

I'm sipping tonight out on the deck  in a wee hours breeze,  with a Remus Repeal Reserve (Series II),  a pour that oozes well-aged balance and sophistication.    If Johnny Walker blended a bourbon,  it might well taste like this.  

I have a bottle of that series II that I quite enjoy.  I have no idea about the Johnny Walker part, but I agree with you in that it's a very nice MGP bourbon variant. Worth picking up at retail considering today's prices. 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Kepler
typo

[fishnbowljoe]

I’m having a couple of pours from the ps BT that I bought earlier today. To quote Arte Johnson from Laugh In, “Very interesting.” It’s earthy, with a vegetal/ corny flavor and more oak than I usually find in BT. There’s also a bit more spice to this one too. Nutmeg possibly, with maybe a tiny pinch of cinnamon. This one’s almost the opposite of the picks this store manager normally makes. In the past, some of their BT picks have been a tad on the thick and sweet side. Vanilla and candy corn, with a hint of bubblegum/cotton candy. This is a pretty decent bottle, but I have to admit that it caught me a bit off guard.
 

Biba! Joe

[Kepler]

I was really loving the Barrell bourbon batch #22, so I poured two more short pours and it has been superb  tonight. It just goes to show that our palate may be almost as important as the whiskey itself, because in several sessions previously I was a little underwhelmed by the batch 22 in comparison to other Barrell bourbons. But tonight it's really nice.  Go figure.

 

I wanted to tamp down the proof for a final pour tonight so going with Tom Moore BiB, a Barton product.  Yes I'm a fan of this one.

Edited August 15, 2020 by Kepler

[flahute]

On 8/12/2020 at 6:46 AM, PaulO said:

That's all good Joe.

If we're going to be in charge of BT - bring back the 7 year age statement and single barrel selections for Antique.  ETL was originally 107 proof, and aged a bit longer too.  We want the availability and prices to be what they were back in the day.  Adjusted for inflation is alright. 

Cosigned.

[flahute]

On 8/13/2020 at 1:52 PM, Chuckles said:

What I'm going to be drinking tomorrow.... Been digging deeper into the bunker since March. This Saz 18 is next up on my rye list. Has been in a back corner with a couple of other BTAC releases from 10 years ago. I almost certainly purchased it at Binnys; its little white rectangular store sticker has the number 196989 on it. I think this Saz must have been bottled in 2009, 2010, or 2011; I am sure that I purchased it in one of those three years. I understand this juice was tanked then and these years were similar in taste. According the notes I've found, most folks like these years quite a bit but no one was doing backflips over them.  Can anyone decipher the "Bottled" date on this label? Maybe you have/had one with a messy date just like it. It's Fall 20something, but doesn't resemble any number I think it should be. I'd just like to know the bottled date, you know? Thanks. 

2011.

[flahute]

On 8/13/2020 at 6:03 PM, B.B. Babington said:

Getting soused (or drunk) on EC18 tonight.  Later 2015 but just as good as the early stuff.  Adventure eve.  Went out to stone wall I like to lean against while stargazing, sipping, enjoying the night.  A bear stood 10' away looking at me like what are you doing.  I looked at it.  It slowly ambled off.  Then I went in to check my ebay bid still winning for a 1870's key wind watch.  Headed back out with another glass to see where the bear went.  Live is good.

Where the heck do you live that you can walk out your front (or back) door, lean against a stone wall, and drink with bears?

[flahute]

18 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

All Hail, Friday and 5 o’clock!!!  I can think of no better way to celebrate than sitting on the front patio swing with a fine pour of Buffalo Trace over a big f’n cube in the Yeti.  

The thing I miss about the midwest and the south is all the porch sittin'. It's not a thing out here on the left coast.

[B.B. Babington]

2 hours ago, flahute said:

Where the heck do you live that you can walk out your front (or back) door, lean against a stone wall, and drink with bears?

Virginy mountains.  Coyote, turkey, pesky racoon, copperhead, pileated woodpecker, all in my backyard.  One of the funniest was I put up a bird feeder and squirrels kept getting in it.  I added a fancy squirrel protector to keep seed safe, secured with stout bolts.  Went out one day and squirrel protector pushed low towards ground.  What the???  There were teeth gouges in nuts and bolts where squirrel undid the thing.  What the???

[Rhettro]

Happy Saturday fellas!

 

Doing a little sbs tonight. That's OGD BiB on the left, and OGD 114 on the right. Both are really quite tasty, and hit well above their price points.

 

Its hard to pick a winner, but if I must, I'd say it's definitely me. 

[Clay34]

The wife, the son and I did a small blind tasting together this evening.  We are not very experienced at this but it was still a good learning experience.  We had two 100 proof bourbons:  Old Forrester 100 P & Old Tub and then we poured one of the bourbons that is a regular pour in the house - just an inexpensive Henry Mckenna 80 P. 

 

In all three of our tasting, the OF 100 won with the best and most complex flavors.  The OT came in 2nd and for a bourbon that we drink regularly I wasn't really surprised but the other two very much outclassed the HM. 

 

While the OT was a 750 and actually costs more than the OF, we all picked the OF as the best of the small blind tasting.  Fun excercise and while I have had OF 100 in the past it will become a very regular pour in my house. 

 

I have to do a blind between OF 100 and WT101.  The OF product is actually a little less expensive than the WT101 in our market.