What Bourbon Are You Drinking Fall 2022

[fosmith]

13 hours ago, Kepler said:

Back home and sipping on some Colonel Taylor Small Batch.  I don't care that this stuff is tatered to death; I get plenty of it at msrp or I don't buy it, and I have always been a very big fan.  To me, it's worth the $15-18 upcharge over regular BT.

I'm with you.  CEHT SmB is way better than BT or ER.  It's getting hard to find here these days but I can still get it occasionally from $40 to $50 and it's well worth it IMO.  Always feels like a special occasion pour. 

[Jazz June]

For Bourbon Heritage month, I decided to try to do a bit of a tour through the breadth of North American whiskey (couldn't limit it to just bourbon). I attended a bottle share and another event that had whiskey tastings, in addition to getting to some graciously given samples and a few dusties I have. For the month, I tried:

 

Sazerac 18 (Fall 2008)

Wild Turkey 101

Elijah Craig SmB PS

Jack Daniels SiB BP PS

Jack Daniels Green Label (bottled 1973)

Old Forester BP PS

Four Roses Yellow

Tom Moore BiB (bottled 1994)

Remus Repeal Reserve Series III

Wathen's SiB PS

Four Roses PS OESF

Four Roses PS OBSO

Weller Full Proof PS

Wild Turkey PS - Single Cask Nation 2021 9yr BP

Jack Daniels Tennessee Tasters BP rye

Jack Daniels SiB LE rye (2020)

Wilderness Trail 8yr

John J. Bowman PS

Kentucky Gentleman KSBW (bottled 1978)

Lucky Seven The Proprietor PS

Four Roses SiB

Knob Creek SiB PS 14yr

Weller CYPB (2021)

Wild Turkey American Spirit

Old Scout SiB PS

1792 BiB

Colonel EH Taylor SmB

Jefferson's Reserve Twin Oak Custom Barrel PS

Willett Family Estate rye 3yr

Blanton's Straight from the Barrel

Maker's Mark

The Ambassador

Elijah Craig BP PS

Starlight rye

Blanton's Straight from the Barrel

Wild Turkey 101 rye

WhistlePig 10

Fistful of Bourbon

Wilderness Trail rye recipe bourbon PS

Woodinville SBW

Woodinville port finished

WhistlePig Boss Hog IV

Michter's 10 rye (2018)

Lock Stock & Barrel 18

 

Most of these I'd had before, but it does drive home the point that there is a ton of great bourbon and rye out there right now. While there are certainly frustrating aspects to the current boom, we are light years better off than the bad parts of the glut. They might be hard to find, but the premium and LE products largely didn't exist before the boom. Yes, the few that did were way easier to get, but still. And the high proof options were few and far between, whereas now it seems every brand has a cask strength expression. If your daily drinker has disappeared, doubled in price, lost its age statement, or otherwise been negatively impacted by the boom, then yeah that sucks, but there is so much else on the shelf that tastes great,

 

 

[Jazzhead]

OF1897 sipping really, really nice tonight.   What a velvet fog of vanilla and oak.  The Mel Torme of bourbons.

Edited October 1, 2022 by Jazzhead

[markandrex]

A glass of ER before dinner.

[Jazzhead]

Here, here, @Jazz June.    There is more good bourbon out there than ever before.  Take the OF1897 I'm sipping.  Beautiful stuff, at a well- nigh perfect proof for me.   But if I want a cask strength version, it's out there, as is a double barrel variant.  OF now now puts out a rye too.   And the tried and true originals at their value price point are still available and delicious.

 

It's an embarrassment of riches out there.

[CaptTim]

Couple fingers of Sazerac Rye for me tonight.   After a great day on the water..

[mrray13]

KC9 over a cube with some cherry smoke is the current pour. First was a 1792 old fashion. 
 

This current glass is good…

[Anwalt]

Had a nice sampling over 5 hours.  As one of you aptly said, "an embarrassment of riches" (great book by the way).  This is what happens when one visits a Kentuckian who moved to Puerto Rico.  

 

 

[TwoFingers]

WT101 watching Washington lose to Dallas.  

[markandrex]

RR-CNF while relaxing.  

[JT3NSB]

 Opened a Guero.  Tastes exactly like 17yr old 100 proof Dickel, which I happen to enjoy… oak, dark fruits and a little tingle on the tongue.  

[mbroo5880i]

After an unsatisfying pour of WP12 Old World Rye, I need to set my palate straight.  First, a nice helping of my wife's super fresh made Apple Crisp.  I could smell it baking this afternoon but passed on a serving until Sunday Night Football and bourbon.  I am following up with my weekend drink cap of OE7.

[Thomm]

Opened the recently acquired OF Statesman and did a SBS with OF 1920.  I still have a mad crush on OF 1920, so it would have been tough sledding for the Statesman anyway, but because the two bottles are similarly priced, I thought the comparison was warranted on that level, at least. 

OF Statesman, to my palate, has more of the characteristics that I enjoy in OF 100. Soft vanilla and maraschino cherry are the prominent flavor notes I get from both. The mouth feel is rather thin, however, and the finish too short and almost astringent in Statesman. 

I find 1920 to be fuller and more viscous in the mouth. Dark brown sugar, maple syrup and creamed corn come to the forefront mid-sip and linger near the back of the throat for a ridiculously long time. 

Long story short, I think Statesman will be better compared SBS with 100, and I will need to do it blind.  Also, although I am not sobbing uncontrollably about paying $50 for this bottle, it certainly won't happen again. 

[FasterHorses]

5 hours ago, JT3NSB said:

 Opened a Guero.  Tastes exactly like 17yr old 100 proof Dickel, which I happen to enjoy… oak, dark fruits and a little tingle on the tongue.  

Remember when Dickel sold those 375s of Dickel 17 for a ridiculous amount of money (back then at least). 

[steven s]

current Bourbon rotation:

 

[flahute]

Pre anniversary dinner out at The Canoe House on the Big Island. Back at the hotel with a pour of’21 WLW that I brought and it is unsurprisingly stellar.

Got some GTS cued up for tomorrow for the big day.

[JCwhammie]

I'm not an all knowing BT guy, but this seems more like a mash bill 2 than mash bill 1 barrel. 

It's elegant and rich, yet soft. Those guys in Eastern MA got themselves a winner with this one. And a HUGE cheers to Frank  @GeeTen 

[GeeTen]

41 minutes ago, JCwhammie said:

I'm not an all knowing BT guy, but this seems more like a mash bill 2 than mash bill 1 barrel. 

It's elegant and rich, yet soft. Those guys in Eastern MA got themselves a winner with this one. And a HUGE cheers to Frank  @GeeTen 

 

Aww, shucks.  Sometimes it's really "nice and easy" (thank you, Tina Turner) when you have a local mule to do deliveries.  

 

 

[fishnbowljoe]

Many years ago, I was able to procure a ps ER from this store. (?) It was really good. Then I heard that they’d also bought a second very short barrel, and they didn’t put the bottles out on the shelf. Thanks to a member here, I was also able to get a bottle from the short barrel. I’ve had numerous ps ER’s over the years. To cut to the chase, the bottle from the short barrel was THE BEST bottle of ER  I’ve ever had. Thick, chewy, rich and surprisingly sweet. “ Mahhvelous!”

 

Biba! Joe

[Anwalt]

My 2 oz last night were EHT SmB, thanks to a member here.  Solid, nice & sweet.  I really like that one.

[Jazz June]

8 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Many years ago, I was able to procure a ps ER from this store. (?) It was really good. Then I heard that they’d also bought a second very short barrel, and they didn’t put the bottles out on the shelf. Thanks to a member here, I was also able to get a bottle from the short barrel. I’ve had numerous ps ER’s over the years. To cut to the chase, the bottle from the short barrel was THE BEST bottle of ER  I’ve ever had. Thick, chewy, rich and surprisingly sweet. “ Mahhvelous!”

 

Biba! Joe

My understanding is that prior to a pause in Eagle Rare picks a few years ago there were often much older barrels available for ER selections (like 13-14 years old). Nowadays ER picks are so marked up around here that I’m unlikely to buy one. Regular ER at MSRP remains a great value though.

[markandrex]

Finishing off a 2019 RC6 on a beautiful afternoon in the Bluegrass.

[mbroo5880i]

My wife is watching the Voice so....I am watching the Voice but not really since I am surfing the internet and....drinking bourbon.  I saw Eagle Rare so that is the pour.  It is a solid bourbon.  I think I will have a second pour and hunt out some music on YouTube.

[JCwhammie]

And a good day to you, my little baking spiced friend. 

[fishnbowljoe]

22 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Many years ago, I was able to procure a ps ER from this store. (?) It was really good. Then I heard that they’d also bought a second very short barrel, and they didn’t put the bottles out on the shelf. Thanks to a member here, I was also able to get a bottle from the short barrel. I’ve had numerous ps ER’s over the years. To cut to the chase, the bottle from the short barrel was THE BEST bottle of ER  I’ve ever had. Thick, chewy, rich and surprisingly sweet. “ Mahhvelous!”

 

Biba! Joe

 

14 hours ago, Jazz June said:

My understanding is that prior to a pause in Eagle Rare picks a few years ago there were often much older barrels available for ER selections (like 13-14 years old). Nowadays ER picks are so marked up around here that I’m unlikely to buy one. Regular ER at MSRP remains a great value though.

 

Every coin has two sides. Not long after I purchased the “good ER’s”, I found and purchased a ER 10 101 mirror on eBay. It was in the Milwaukee area, so I went to pick it up rather than have it shipped. Today’s habits started long ago. No smart phone back then, so I printed out a list of liquor stores in the area. We picked up the mirror and stopped at a liquor store. Jackpot! They had some Pappy, and several other nice things. I grabbed a Pappy 15, a gift set, two or three other bottles, and headed to the checkout. By the checkout on the end cap were cases of a private pick ER they did. On sale for $21.99! I so loved my other ER’s, I got really excited. I asked if there was a discount if I bought a case. The checkout person shook his head and said it was already on sale at a really good price and couldn’t give me a case discount. I looked at my wife. She gave me the look. She matter of factly said that I already found some good bottles, and suggested we call it a day. She added that if I really liked the ER, I could comeback up and buy a case later on. I gave in. I’m so glad I listened to her. That ER was awful. To this day, it’s the worst ER I’ve ever had.

 

Biba! Joe