Not Really Worthy. The Drain Pour Thread.

[Kepler]

On 7/7/2022 at 7:21 AM, yobber76 said:

I have never dumped a bottle. I give it to my sons and let them drink it, I use it in marinades and sauces, like cooking wine, I try blending it in small quantities with another bourbon to use it up, or make cocktails with it. And every once in a while, after sitting on my shelf for months/years, I take a taste and say, "That's better than I remember" and end up drinking it.

I experiment less now than I use to, my stash now is more multiple bottles of bourbons that friends and family like to drink. Less waste that way

you obviously haven't bought enough bottles yet like the rest of us.  Like, I mean hundreds of bottles you can't possibly ever drink yourself in a lifetime.  C'mon man, get with the program here! ... <hiccup>  ...

[Kepler]

Trying to recall my drain pours in the past. 

- Cotton Hollow bourbon

- Bird Dog 10 Year bourbon

- Backbone Bourbon (off-brand 5 year MGP.... all you newbie taters out there, trust me, all MGP is NOT created equally)

- a tainted ETL from 2015 (known issue with 2015 ETL)

 

On the chopping block:

- Wathen's store pick SiB cask strength (I have a bottle from one store that is fantastic and a different one with a barrel funk note that makes me think it may end up as a drain pour)

- Smooth Ambler Contradiction (first pour was not good ... I'll come back to it later for another chance)

 

 

[berto]

I’m more a give it away or leave it at a gathering kind of guy.  Let somebody else see if they like it or do the dumping.

[fishnbowljoe]

31 minutes ago, berto said:

I’m more a give it away or leave it at a gathering kind of guy.  Let somebody else see if they like it or do the dumping.

I have to be honest and say that @Galvin0791 has been the recipient of a few of my ne’er-do-well bottles. The same with some samples too. Of course I do share some decent stuff with him too. 
 

Biba! Joe

[FasterHorses]

11 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

I have to be honest and say that @Galvin0791 has been the recipient of a few of my ne’er-do-well bottles. The same with some samples too. Of course I do share some decent stuff with him too. 
 

Biba! Joe

I have a friend that thinks every bourbon, whiskey, or scotch no matter how bad… is pretty dang good. He gets everything that I wish i hadnt bought (i hook him up with plenty of good stuff as well). I guess he just finds the good in all of em. One exception… He loved the george dickel bottled in bond until i mentioned that people say it has a vitamin taste. He cant drink it now because of that. 
 

Starlight store pick is one that sticks out as a nasty bottle that got to meet the drain. 

[GaryT]

On 7/6/2022 at 9:33 AM, Marekv8 said:

Queued up for the next round…

 

 

Wow - I rather enjoyed the Alberta Premium CS - but everyone's tastes vary (and glad that they do!  Can you imagine if we all liked exactly the same stuff??)  And kudos for sharing with the local LS guy!  May save him from some bad decisions (or help him find something he really digs - and now knows it!)

 

I haven't kept track of everything I dumped.  I used to keep bottles for barrel experiments, but learned that putting whiskey I don't like in a barrel didn't change it enough to where I liked it.  Some that I remember dumping include WT Rye 81 and Old Overholt.  I just dumped half a bottle of McConnell's 5yr Irish which wasn't horrible, but asked myself when I'd reach for it over anything else in the cabinet . . . and if I have to think that hard about it, time to dump.  Just not worth the caloric hit if I'm not enjoying it that much.

[Anwalt]

5 minutes ago, GaryT said:

Just not worth the caloric hit if I'm not enjoying it that much.

 

Bingo.  If I'm gonna suffer the consequences, it'd best be worth it.

 

I save the "not worth the heart disease/diabetes/etc." stuff for cocktail nights.  The civilians never notice.

[Kepler]

14 hours ago, berto said:

I’m more a give it away or leave it at a gathering kind of guy.  Let somebody else see if they like it or do the dumping.

 

Remind me to think twice before I ever invite you to one of my parties!

[fishnbowljoe]

I do have to comment about my previous post. In all the sample swapping and what not between me and @Galvin0791, I sometimes forget what I’ve given him. In all fairness, I did message him and tell him I ended up pouring the bottle of Rush Creek down the drain, and if I had given him a sample of it, he could pour it down the drain even if he hadn’t tried it yet. 

 

Biba! Joe

[yobber76]

On 7/8/2022 at 9:22 PM, Kepler said:

you obviously haven't bought enough bottles yet like the rest of us.  Like, I mean hundreds of bottles you can't possibly ever drink yourself in a lifetime.  C'mon man, get with the program here! ... <hiccup>  ...

I have 2 sons in their  20's, with friends in their 20's. Give them a bottle of anything when the weekend comes........it's gone. 

At that age, you either drink it with ginger ale/seven up, or you do shots of it to show your a man. 

Another good way to get rid of bourbon. Bring it to someone's party and leave it at the end of the night. It probably becomes 100 proof fruit cake, dropped at the next home for eternity.

[BigRich]

On 7/8/2022 at 11:12 PM, berto said:

I’m more a give it away or leave it at a gathering kind of guy.  Let somebody else see if they like it or do the dumping.

I've crop dusted a few whiskey turds over the years myself.  

[IamMatt]

2 hours ago, yobber76 said:

I have 2 sons in their  20's, with friends in their 20's. Give them a bottle of anything when the weekend comes........it's gone. 

At that age, you either drink it with ginger ale/seven up, or you do shots of it to show your a man. 

Another good way to get rid of bourbon. Bring it to someone's party and leave it at the end of the night. It probably becomes 100 proof fruit cake, dropped at the next home for eternity.

My son moved out on his own at 18.  He came home for his 21st birthday but it was during Covid so I couldn't take him out to a bar for his first (legal) drink.  I asked if I could make him something at home instead.  He perused the liquor cabinet and said, "Knob Creek neat."  That's my boy.

[mal00768]

The most memorable drain pours for me were a bottle of Eagle Rare and one of HMK. Both were over-oaked in a bad way. I'm sure that's tater sacrilege.

[PaulO]

23 hours ago, mal00768 said:

The most memorable drain pours for me were a bottle of Eagle Rare and one of HMK. Both were over-oaked in a bad way. I'm sure that's tater sacrilege.

It's not sacrilege to me.

Back when I could buy ER at around $25 whenever I wanted, I came to the conclusion it's selected for a profile just not in my wheelhouse.  Some bottles were better than others. None were better than just blah, boring to me.  Mostly it seemed like the standard BT, with the additional age manifesting itself as the aroma of wet basement or decaying wood (not an improvement).

Early on, my first bottle of HMcK that was too strong on tannin.  I stayed away a long time.  Following bottles were the spectrum from OK to very good.  Then the prices and availability went crazy.

[Kepler]

On 7/11/2022 at 7:33 AM, yobber76 said:

....Bring it to someone's party and leave it at the end of the night. It probably becomes 100 proof fruit cake, dropped at the next home for eternity.

 

Eternity!    Fruitcake can be like  encasing in amber! 

[bourbon-n00b]

Another member of the "no dump" club.  I've been lucky enough to not have a ton of horrible bottles.  If I bought it and opened it, I will see it through.  

 

It might be drowned in Coke or relegated to "last drink of the night" status, but I will finish it.  Helps me to make a better decision the next time.

[BigRich]

I tried a new bourbon glaze on my salmon last night.  A little higher bourbon component (1/2 cup vs usual 1/4 cup) that's then cooked down longer.  It was pretty darn good.  I think that I may have an outlet for future drain pour bottles. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by BigRich

[StarSurfer55]

I have only ever dumped one bottle.  It was a Smooth Ambler Big Level.  The mustiness was just overpowering.

 

 

[PowderKeg]

Here are my current 4 should-be drain pours (just can't get myself to make the final dump) - I can't believe how awful the Port Finish I. Bowman is even though I'm not the biggest wine finish fan anyway (Minor Case is one exception, Doc Swinton's Alter Ego the other), I still didn't expect IB to be soooo bad!  The SA Big Loser really soured me on spending $60+ on anything I haven't done extensive interweb surfing on beforehand - I'll hit it every now & then to punish and refresh my memory.  I suckered myself on the Bluegrass because it was just under that $$, so I said what the heck (and lost again).  Pretty much knew what I was buying on the Giant but did it anyway - LS currently has it at 1/2 off for $20, I casually commented to one of them that they're still $20 too high (he snickered an agreement).  

 

Only two I"ve done an actual drain dump with was a Wadelyn Ranch (1/2 pint maybe? bought because of the neat little barrel-shaped bottle) and a mini of one of theTerraPuke "bourbons" - such an horrific experience my mind has blanked out the label, it actually got knocked off the hotel nightstand in my sleep, guess my subconscious REALLY didn't want to risk another errant swig.

[IamMatt]

1 hour ago, PowderKeg said:

 The SA Big Loser really soured me on spending $60+ on anything I haven't done extensive interweb surfing on beforehand -

I also have too many $50-plus bottles that are just not that great.  I'm lucky enough that there are a couple of whiskey groups locally who host events.  Last one I went to the participants brought about 80 bottles to share so I got to try a bunch of stuff I had heard good things about but had never tasted.  Glad I did.  Wasn't that impressed by most of them.

 

I passed on one lunch event recently that was $50 and "bring a bottle to share" but I later realized I am better off in the long run paying $50 and trying maybe 6-10 bottles than just spending $50 at the liquor store and hoping for the best.  I am much more reluctant to buy something I haven't tried unless the pedigree has some sort of track record with me.

[PowderKeg]

1 hour ago, IamMatt said:

I also have too many $50-plus bottles that are just not that great.  I'm lucky enough that there are a couple of whiskey groups locally who host events.  Last one I went to the participants brought about 80 bottles to share so I got to try a bunch of stuff I had heard good things about but had never tasted.  Glad I did.  Wasn't that impressed by most of them....

Yeah, my results have been very similar, with few exceptions most anything over @ $60 just hasn't been worth the premium enough to go back and buy another (I'm a proud cheap @ss).  SmW UC/UF has been one very pleasing outlier to that limit, haven't been disappointed yet no matter what batch is on the label.  

 

I really oughta search out a local group to do the same, but I'm of the George Thorogood Old School of Thought on enjoyin' KY Kool-Aide...

[IamMatt]

1 hour ago, PowderKeg said:

Yeah, my results have been very similar, with few exceptions most anything over @ $60 just hasn't been worth the premium enough to go back and buy another (I'm a proud cheap @ss).  SmW UC/UF has been one very pleasing outlier to that limit, haven't been disappointed yet no matter what batch is on the label.  

 

I really oughta search out a local group to do the same, but I'm of the George Thorogood Old School of Thought on enjoyin' KY Kool-Aide...

One bourbon, one scotch and one beer?

 

$60-plus I am glad I bought and would buy again:  Joseph Magnus, Calumet 15, Remus Repeal Reserve, most ECBPs. 

 

$60 bottles I would not buy again:  Barrel Dovetail, Obtanium store pick, Pursuit United.

[flahute]

Seems a lot of us have poured out the Big Level!

[fishnbowljoe]

37 minutes ago, flahute said:

Seems a lot of us have poured out the Big Level!

 

I liked the SAOS’s I tried a few years back. Being a Weller/wheater whore, when I heard they were gonna come out with a wheater, I got a little excited. I didn’t see any around here for quite a while after it was first released, which is probably a good thing. The reviews from folks here that tried it weren’t very good. Pretty much no one here liked it. When I first saw a bottle on the shelf, I reached for one, then I remembered the reviews I’d read here. Pass. Much thanks to all the folks here that saved me a few bucks anyway.

 

Biba! Joe

[PaulO]

17 hours ago, flahute said:

Seems a lot of us have poured out the Big Level!

I can't recall how long ago this came out.  The initial release seemed one and done.  Anyway, recently it reappeared in a store near me, not a good sign.