soulsea Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 (edited) Hi folks, Not sure why it's taken me this long to join but here we are. Started my American whiskey adventure about six years ago when we first moved to Charleston SC, before that I had a bit of a Mezcal phase and before that I didn't pay particular attention to what I was drinking. The last four years is when I started buying more than I was drinking, hence started a sort of collection, but more accurately I started buying stuff that was offered to me when I could find it. I was lucky enough to develop a great relationship with a small local liquor store that takes care of me, and like many of you I'm always on the lookout when I travel. For example just the other day I was in a random AZ supermarket at they had a bottle of Handy sitting on the shelf for $79.99. I also have a friend in PA who doesn't drink that enters the ABC lotteries for me and we get lucky every once in a while. So through the years I have been super lucky to get to drink a lot of good bourbon. I have several OCD issues and one of them is that I can't be a person who has twenty bottles open at a time and pick what I feel like on any given evening ... I wish I were that person. Instead I usually have two bottles open, a daily mid price range bottle like McKenna 10 or Heaven Hill 7 that I will drink till finished, and an open 'nice' bottle like a BTAC for when I want to treat myself or my guests. Whenever a bottle is finished another one gets opened. Anyhoot, it's that time of year again when I pull everything out to see where I'm at as pretty much everything, other than the TW auction in Feb, has been released and I take inventory of the acorns I have in store for the 'dry' season. So I thought it would be a good time to share. On a side note, as all of you are aware, with exceptions, much like wine the really pricey stuff is going to generally be good, and the dirt cheap stuff is generally going to be not so good. The hunt for me is to try to identify whiskeys that I find delicious on the $50-$100msrp range where some of the stuff is a revelation and some of the stuff can be undrinkable or overwhelmingly bland. I mentioned the McKenna and HH because I find them to be both delicious to drink and great value for the price, in that vain I have recently been introduced to Wilderness Train BoB bourbon and it has quickly become my go to daily ... I suspect like so many times before this will not remain a secret and it become impossible to find. In closing, happy to be here and to learn more from you boys and girls. To the pics! Last three years of OFBB: The Winkles: The BTOC: The Owls (2 bourbons and the dry state): The Michters with their cousins: The Parkers: Last four years of Roses: Wellers (FP might be my fave bourbon to date): Couple of Taylors: Assorted deliciousness: That's where Im at at the moment. Cheers! Edited December 5, 2020 by soulsea 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Welcome! Nice collection there. We all enjoy the LE's. Hang around here long enough and you will find many a bottom and mid shelf bourbon that you love that are always available and always inexpensive. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfoots Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 (edited) 26 minutes ago, flahute said: Welcome! Nice collection there. We all enjoy the LE's. Hang around here long enough and you will find many a bottom and mid shelf bourbon that you love that are always available and always inexpensive. You might even be willing to open and enjoy some of them. I’ll edit to add that my comment is a light hearted joke. We each can enjoy the bourbon “hobby” in different ways. Welcome to the board from another new member. Edited December 5, 2020 by webfoots Trying not to be a grump 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomLamb Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Welcome! Quite a collection you have! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulsea Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 This guy was hiding in the back. I do actually drink the good stuff, but my liver allocation is smaller than my bourbon allocation, so I can never catch up. Also the inventory goes down quite a bit from December to October, so this is as bloated as the liquor closet will get. I make it a point not to keep track of values, first because I have no interest in selling any of it, but also because I don't want to know. I made the mistake of looking up what Michter's 20 goes for and now I'm probably never going to drink it as guilt seeps into the equation. I know it sounds silly but at some point it just doesn't seem right even if I can afford it. But yeah, over the last year many bottles of Elijah 18, BTAC, Pappy, Weller FP, Micher's 10 Bourbon and Rye, Parker's Rye, Willet Rye, and others have been drunkered by me and my guests ... I'm pretty sure that's the only reason they visit. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markandrex Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Welcome to the forum. That is an impressive collection! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0895 Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 1 hour ago, soulsea said: This guy was hiding in the back. ... I'm pretty sure that's the only reason they visit. Ha, I have a buddy like that. Spends a lot of money on other life choices, but won’t buy any whiskey over about $40. Whenever I show up to a gathering, he comes running with an empty glass. Sometimes I like to bring good daily drinkers, just to see his surprise and disappointment... That Sam Houston is very good, btw. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeeTen Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 (edited) Welcome to SB.com! Has anybody told you about the initiation ritual and secrect handshake ceremony. I know it involves travel on our parts to get to you and your stash, but it's well worth our time! Alternatively, if you're not in a hurry to officially join, are you free the last weekend in April for a little road trip to Bardstown, KY??? Edited December 5, 2020 by GeeTen 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABVT Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Welcome! Collection looks great. Quiet the system you got for opening them. Glad to see your liqour store is treating you well! Should definitely post the entire bloated collection in the "show your stash" thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bourbon Boiler Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Welcome. That's a heck of a collection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 Indeed, quite a collection. Be sure to update us as to which fall short, meet, or exceed your expectations. Like you, I don't keep more than a couple bottles open at the same time. It's true, the overwhelming majority of the cheapest stuff is swill. On the other hand, some mid shelf brands punch above their weight - worth looking into. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulsea Posted December 6, 2020 Author Share Posted December 6, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, PaulO said: Indeed, quite a collection. Be sure to update us as to which fall short, meet, or exceed your expectations. Like you, I don't keep more than a couple bottles open at the same time. It's true, the overwhelming majority of the cheapest stuff is swill. On the other hand, some mid shelf brands punch above their weight - worth looking into. Sure I'm happy to go through some of the ones I've had in the above pics and some of the ones no longer there. I must note that my journey has been a solitary one. Not that I drink alone, although that does happen a lot as mrs soulsea doesn't touch alcohol, but more in the sense that no one ever sat me down and said 'this is what makes a great whiskey' or 'these are the things to look for' or 'this is the history of the thing and these are the names and barrels to look for' etc ... it is and has been a trial and error kind of thing of sorting out what I like and how to get to it. Also I don't have the lingo to properly describe a whiskey like an expert so my comments are going to be clumsy. The thing that drew me to American whiskeys is the breadth and range of tastes available through its distillation. Mezcal is a bit like that, because just as AW isn't limited to the geographical and distilling conformities of Scotch, it in turn isn't limited by the same vs Tequila. Not the best metaphor (even worse syntax) but I think it makes sense. Pragmatically it means that on any given day, whether I'm drinking rye, bourbon, sour mash, or unclassified whiskey like Old Potrero 18th Century Style which I am a fan of, I can have vastly different experiences, to the point that it is ofter hard to believe that some of these spirits can be classified in the same category. For example, a few years ago someone suggested something called Gold Miner Straight whiskey from a small distillery in AZ called Desert Diamond Distillery. You can only buy it AZ and it's not cheap ... iirc it was around $80 for a 375ml bottle. Holy crap that was a weird taste, to this day I can't decide if it was awful or genius, or both ... if I had blind tested it I would have never guessed it was whiskey. Anyway, that's the fun of the whole thing and why I have stuck with the AW journey, and I suspect I will never run out of spirits to explore within its umbrella. For my tastes, I have discovered that there are two ways a distiller can make whiskey in a way that I enjoy it: 1. Make regular proof whiskey substantive and complex. 2. Make high proof whiskey smooth to drink without the alcohol content overpowering the taste. Let me start with the high proof stuff because getting that right is incredibly hard from a distiller's pov. Generally speaking I buy very little high/barrel proof product for that reason. Most of it is physically unpleasant for me to drink because it burns my throat and I struggle to reached the nuances in the taste. I completely understand the pricing of the BTAC products, having tried all the bottles I am hard pressed to find any distiller that makes high proof whiskey taste so smooth. A couple of drops of distilled water in a glass to release the aromas and I can sip on them all night. Conversely, a couple of years ago I got a bottle of that Booker's Rye release that everyone was clamoring for and paying ridiculous amounts for, and it might have been the most undrinkable thing I ever tried ... basically brown Everclear. I'm not a fan of Booker's anyway as even their lower proof stuff is too harsh for my taste, but this was on another level. Ended up using most of the bottle for mixers. The regular proof stuff is where I spend most of my liver. There the market is awash with bland forgettable and overpriced whiskeys. Like the world needs another nondescript Jefferson's or Woodford release. If I want that classic fundamental bourbon experience I'll just go straight for the $35 Eagle Rare and call it a day. Beyond that may journey is spent identifying interesting and complex tastes that can be delivered by few distillers at that level of alcohol content. Like most peeps I am a fan of the Pappy's which make sense to me at msrp, 15 and 12 are my favorites ... they are for me as good as it gets in the classic bourbon taste. They are not particularly interesting, but they are imo the best at being what they are meant to be if that makes sense. That heaven Hill 27 is up there in this regard as well, one of the best I've ever had. Ryes are a little more hit and miss for me, the Pig 18, Parker's Rye, and Michter's 10 may be my faves to date. On a more reasonable price point I am a fan of Peerless, Hochstadter's, EHT, and Pig 10 or 12 are usually my go to ones at restaurants with limited choices. Dram and Owl rye are very good but overpriced imo. The issue for me with rye is that so many of them turn to that grain alcohol taste that is intolerable to me, almost like a 'gasoliney' taste. Pig 15 is that way for some reason and so are the Lock Stock renditions. It is a very particular thing that is unique to ryes which when present makes me feel like it's a $2 bottle, when in fact most of the time I've tasted this effect it's in expensive bottles ... maybe it's a byproduct of being barreled for too long, I don't know, I just dislike it a great deal. As far as my favorites from my current stock, other than what I have already mentioned, I would put the Birthday Bourbon 2019, Weller Full Proof, Michter's Toasted Barrel, at the top of my list. Some of my other faves not pictured with their bottles long drunk would be Cream of Kentucky, Parker's 11, Elijah 18 and probably many I forget. If you told me you can have only one sub $100 msrp whiskey for the rest of your life I would pick the Weller Full Proof and be eternally happy with that choice. I must also note that I can't speak to many of the bottles that are currently in my collection because I've yet to try them for different reasons. Generally speaking most of the bottles I'm referring to above are not what I drink every day, but more what I have to spoil myself. As I mentioned in my opening post I for the most part drink mid shelf whiskey, so my dailys are usually things like the McKenna 10, Piggyback, Heaven Hill 7, and recently Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel and the Wilderness Trail, and other complex and great tasting spirits discovered at reasonable (to me) prices. Sorry for the tldr. Edited December 6, 2020 by soulsea 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 I started with Bourbon back in the 1980s. Back then it was Jim or Jack. Pour a shot. Boom, down the hatch. When I turned 21, a friend gifted me a bottle of SW distilled Old Fitz 12 year. It got the same treatment, and my friends and I polished that off in just a couple sessions. Back then, I don't think people "bunkered" like nowadays. It was more like, finish and replace. I got into import beer, then craft and homebrew beer, then classic cocktails. Through the cocktails, I started evaluating more closely whiskey. I also started to notice availability issues with some brands. Sometimes buying a backup bottle made sense. Then stuff started to get crazy. Age statements dropped. Prices went up. Some expressions were discontinued. Other brands stayed in production, but hard to impossible to find. Thank goodness I tried most of the famous stuff before all that. One day I'll make a project of taking photos of my collection. A lot of it is old labels or discontinued stuff. There is only one bottle in there I've never sampled before - Old Charter The Classic 12 year. That was old when I found it, and doubt it can be replaced. The other stuff in the collection are old favorites for sure. Nowadays, in the current market, there are a couple higher priced bottles I would consider at MSRP. Mostly though, I'm quite satisfied with some solid mid shelf brands: WT, Barton, Four Roses, ... P.S. I used to think wheated Bourbon was the best. My tastes have changed more to rye forward. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soulsea Posted December 11, 2020 Author Share Posted December 11, 2020 Between finding some nice things locally, getting a couple of xmas presents from friends, and receiving an internet order, it's been a good last couple of days. Really interested to see what the the Peg Leg and Three Chord are like. (posting new acquisitions here so I can keep track of the comings and goings) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marekv8 Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 1 hour ago, soulsea said: Between finding some nice things locally, getting a couple of xmas presents from friends, and receiving an internet order, it's been a good last couple of days. Really interested to see what the the Peg Leg and Three Chord are like. (posting new acquisitions here so I can keep track of the comings and goings) I wouldn't get your hopes up on the Peg Leg bottle-- did a LS SBS last week against “The Justice" (Dickel liquid with similar maturation and proof specs) and the PLP came up well short. I'm a Cascade Hollow fan and it was a disappointment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fosmith Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 On 12/11/2020 at 10:43 AM, soulsea said: Between finding some nice things locally, getting a couple of xmas presents from friends, and receiving an internet order, it's been a good last couple of days. Really interested to see what the the Peg Leg and Three Chord are like. That Wilderness Trail high rye BiB is really good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven s Posted December 14, 2020 Share Posted December 14, 2020 how's that kentucky owl dry state? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Zinfandel Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Fun collection Just transitioning from mere drinker to a maybe collector. Not sure if I can keep from drinking everything I buy, at least until I have consumed at least one of everything. But I just found a new shop, tiny, cramped with shelves going up to the 15 foot ceiling, with a seemingly endless supply of fine bourbons. But I will clearly have to travel to really find the widest variety of collectibles. We are planning a coast to coast distillery hopper trip next summer after I retire. I will be making inquiries in this forum along the way to get recommendations as to where to stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry in WashDC Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 On 4/6/2021 at 5:59 PM, Jasper Zinfandel said: Fun collection Just transitioning from mere drinker to a maybe collector. Not sure if I can keep from drinking everything I buy, at least until I have consumed at least one of everything. But I just found a new shop, tiny, cramped with shelves going up to the 15 foot ceiling, with a seemingly endless supply of fine bourbons. But I will clearly have to travel to really find the widest variety of collectibles. We are planning a coast to coast distillery hopper trip next summer after I retire. I will be making inquiries in this forum along the way to get recommendations as to where to stop. Just to reassure you - Some choices are neutral in effect. Years ago on an other thread, SBers were asked to comment on whether their bunkers were for keeping or for drinking or some combo. One of us (name withheld by Royal Censor) responded, "I have several hundred in my bunker, and I intend on drinking EVERY SINGLE ONE." Me, too. I admit to GIVING (no strings, no trade, no expectation of reciprocal gift) several dozen over the years, but I have NEVER traded, sold, bartered, swapped doodly squat. Not only is it illegal, I do not like the smell OR the taint of guilt. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webfoots Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 I currently have about 50 bottles in my “collection” and two are unopened. An OF 150th which I’m waiting for a “special” occasion to open since I opened all my other special occasion bottles on random Tuesday’s, and a Jefferson’s Reserve I got as a gift (and haven’t bothered to try). I have a bad habit of opening and drinking all the rare things I’m able to get because I like enjoying whiskey rather than looking at whiskey bottles. I’ve quite enjoyed a couple glasses of 2019 GTS tonight to ease my back pain and it’s doing a dang good job. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.B. Babington Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 12 hours ago, webfoots said: ... I have a bad habit of opening and drinking all the rare things I’m able to get because I like enjoying whiskey rather than looking at whiskey bottles... Kudos. It's meant to be enjoyed!!! 12 hours ago, webfoots said: ...I’ve quite enjoyed a couple glasses of 2019 GTS tonight to ease my back pain and it’s doing a dang good job. Yep, GTS will cure what ails ya, even liver disease. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bourbon_Jeeper Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 On 12/5/2020 at 2:59 PM, soulsea said: Hi folks, Not sure why it's taken me this long to join but here we are. Started my American whiskey adventure about six years ago when we first moved to Charleston SC, before that I had a bit of a Mezcal phase and before that I didn't pay particular attention to what I was drinking. The last four years is when I started buying more than I was drinking, hence started a sort of collection, but more accurately I started buying stuff that was offered to me when I could find it. I was lucky enough to develop a great relationship with a small local liquor store that takes care of me, and like many of you I'm always on the lookout when I travel. For example just the other day I was in a random AZ supermarket at they had a bottle of Handy sitting on the shelf for $79.99. I also have a friend in PA who doesn't drink that enters the ABC lotteries for me and we get lucky every once in a while. So through the years I have been super lucky to get to drink a lot of good bourbon. I have several OCD issues and one of them is that I can't be a person who has twenty bottles open at a time and pick what I feel like on any given evening ... I wish I were that person. Instead I usually have two bottles open, a daily mid price range bottle like McKenna 10 or Heaven Hill 7 that I will drink till finished, and an open 'nice' bottle like a BTAC for when I want to treat myself or my guests. Whenever a bottle is finished another one gets opened. Anyhoot, it's that time of year again when I pull everything out to see where I'm at as pretty much everything, other than the TW auction in Feb, has been released and I take inventory of the acorns I have in store for the 'dry' season. So I thought it would be a good time to share. On a side note, as all of you are aware, with exceptions, much like wine the really pricey stuff is going to generally be good, and the dirt cheap stuff is generally going to be not so good. The hunt for me is to try to identify whiskeys that I find delicious on the $50-$100msrp range where some of the stuff is a revelation and some of the stuff can be undrinkable or overwhelmingly bland. I mentioned the McKenna and HH because I find them to be both delicious to drink and great value for the price, in that vain I have recently been introduced to Wilderness Train BoB bourbon and it has quickly become my go to daily ... I suspect like so many times before this will not remain a secret and it become impossible to find. https://i.ibb.co/K51KJSF/IMG-6022.jpg In closing, happy to be here and to learn more from you boys and girls. To the pics! Last three years of OFBB: https://i.ibb.co/X5P4ZwW/IMG-6008.jpg The Winkles: https://i.ibb.co/ryr1qfR/IMG-6009.jpg The BTOC: https://i.ibb.co/258jdCV/IMG-6010.jpg The Owls (2 bourbons and the dry state): https://i.ibb.co/bPZ1qcc/IMG-6012.jpg The Michters with their cousins: https://i.ibb.co/fC54V9Y/IMG-6013.jpg The Parkers: https://i.ibb.co/tZ0NtLv/IMG-6014.jpg Last four years of Roses: https://i.ibb.co/JzMDgxx/IMG-6015.jpg Wellers (FP might be my fave bourbon to date): https://i.ibb.co/D5J53Jq/IMG-6016.jpg Couple of Taylors: https://i.ibb.co/Kj3gGWy/IMG-6017.jpg Assorted deliciousness: https://i.ibb.co/k11jQM7/IMG-6018.jpg https://i.ibb.co/ypVvv0j/IMG-6019.jpg https://i.ibb.co/Gt4nxQq/IMG-6020.jpg https://i.ibb.co/JpyBtsZ/IMG-6021.jpg That's where Im at at the moment. Cheers! That collection embarrasses mine. It is really impressive. I open most of mine, so as of now I'm not considered a collector, just a hunter/drinker. Lin. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 6 hours ago, Bourbon_Jeeper said: I'm not considered a collector, just a hunter/drinker. That means you are doing it right. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0895 Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 6 hours ago, Bourbon_Jeeper said: That collection embarrasses mine. It is really impressive. I open most of mine, so as of now I'm not considered a collector, just a hunter/drinker. Lin. You should fit in just fine around here. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepler Posted April 11, 2021 Share Posted April 11, 2021 On 4/8/2021 at 12:34 PM, B.B. Babington said: Yep, GTS will cure what ails ya, even liver disease. Well, in the interest of public health & safety, maybe GTS doesn't cure liver disease. But it sure makes you forget everything else that ails ya! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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