What bottle did you open today? - 2023

[mbroo5880i]

2 hours ago, fosmith said:

It used to be common.  Older Booker's (and Knob Creek) had wax that crumbled and made a mess all over the counter when you opened the bottle.  In the last few years, Beam has gotten its act together and started using a softer and less brittle wax formula.  2015 was definitely in the brittle wax era. 

 

The good old days when Beam's Small Collection bottles only experienced brittle crumbling wax of which occasionally a small piece of wax would make it into my glass.  I took to stripping all the wax off the bottle before pulling the cork.  I also had bottles where the wax pull strip ripped off and I had to uhmmm saw the wax off with serated butcher knive.  No worries.  I practiced safety.  I had my wife hold the bottle.  Just kidding. 

 

My current issue is the pesky cork stuck in the bottle that tears apart when you use man strength on it.  This has occurred on the last two bottles I have opened.  Since the two bottles came from the same case, I wonder if it was a storage issue.  The corks were stuck solid.  Pics below.

 

Unlike a wine bottle cork, cork screws don't work well on these bottles.  I tried that before. 

 

Fortunately, like using a screwdriver as a hammer, Channel Locks are a universal tool.  Yes, they can even be used as a hammer. Who needs a Leatherman when you have Channel Locks?  I have both just in case.

 

End of story...bottle now open and this bourbon, a 9 year old KSBW is spectucular as always.  

 

Enjoying it while watching the new Hallmark Safari Romance movie.  I am sure @fishnbowljoe and others can relate.

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by mbroo5880i

[IamMatt]

I opened my Ben Holladay BIB and am enjoying it.  It is a Missouri Straight Whiskey which means it must not only meet the federal standards for bourbon, but also be mashed, fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled in the state; aged in oak barrels manufactured in the state; and—beginning January 1, 2020—made with corn exclusively grown in the state.  There is something familiar about the nose and palate but I can't seem to lock on to what bourbon it reminds me of. 

 

It's 6 years old and is the 4th batch (out of 6) produced by this relatively new distillery, though the Holladay Distillery was founded in 1856, making it both the oldest distillery in the state of Missouri and the oldest distillery west of the Mississippi still operating on its original site. Their website has a Distiller's Journal that gives some details about each batch.  The Journal says:

 

"This month is the first time we’ve gotten to use a full blend from the 2016 fall distillation season. Before, all of the other bottlings came from the spring of 2016. This batch is interesting because it includes barrels from a couple of floors we haven’t pulled from before. The barrels were pulled from floors two, three, and five. In previous releases, we were restricted to floors one and five with barrels of age in the same distillation season.

"I was aiming for more complexity in this one. The characteristics in this batch are more diverse and became more obvious as I played with different ratios. I landed on 27% from the second floor, 55% from the third, and 18% from the fifth.

 

"One specific component I dialed in on was the finish. At first, I thought it was a relatively short finish, but the more I tasted it and played with it, the more I realized the final blend did offer the long finish I look for."

 

It has a lot of the traditional bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla, etc., but they are not as "sweetness-forward" as bottles like OF 100 or ET BIB, but are muted under notes I typically associate with age, like leather and wet cardboard.  My mind keeps going back to Remus Repeal V, but I don't have an open bottle to compare it to; I do have a Repeal VI open, and, after tasting it, I feel like the profiles are similar.  I find myself wanting to pour "just one more glass" so I think it is a keeper.   Now I am sorry I didn't grab a bottle of their wheated bourbon at the same time. 

 

[dcbt]

11 hours ago, mbroo5880i said:

My current issue is the pesky cork stuck in the bottle that tears apart when you use man strength on it.  This has occurred on the last two bottles I have opened.  Since the two bottles came from the same case, I wonder if it was a storage issue.  The corks were stuck solid.  

 

 

Not just the storage of the same case.  I've had the same issue with two KC12s from different places recently.  It's frustrating as hell.  I made a mental note to keep my next cork that actually survives to replace future problems.

[Anwalt]

11 hours ago, IamMatt said:

It has a lot of the traditional bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla, etc., but they are not as "sweetness-forward" as bottles like OF 100 or ET BIB, but are muted under notes I typically associate with age, like leather and wet cardboard.  My mind keeps going back to Remus Repeal V, but I don't have an open bottle to compare it to; I do have a Repeal VI open, and, after tasting it, I feel like the profiles are similar.  I find myself wanting to pour "just one more glass" so I think it is a keeper.   Now I am sorry I didn't grab a bottle of their wheated bourbon at the same time.

Useful review & comments - thanks for taking the time.

[bayouredd]

3 hours ago, dcbt said:

 

Not just the storage of the same case.  I've had the same issue with two KC12s from different places recently.  It's frustrating as hell.  I made a mental note to keep my next cork that actually survives to replace future problems.

Very interesting. I just finished a KC12 that I had stashed at least 2 years & that cork is synthetic.  I think I'll keep it.

[Grady330]

OF 1920. Had a severe evaporation problem with the last one. Going to do the outside with the dog thing again, see if I can get that candy corn thing going!!

[Anwalt]

1 hour ago, Grady330 said:

OF 1920. Had a severe evaporation problem with the last one. Going to do the outside with the dog thing again, see if I can get that candy corn thing going!!

 

Had the same thing yesterday. It's just plain good.

[bayouredd]

I have really liked/loved everything from Old Soul as of yet. Decided to try this one even tho reviews were mixed.

Let the neck pour stabilize! Will review in summer pours...

 

[Kepler]

On 8/12/2023 at 7:52 PM, mbroo5880i said:

....

My current issue is the pesky cork stuck in the bottle that tears apart when you use man strength on it.  This has occurred on the last two bottles I have opened.  Since the two bottles came from the same case, I wonder if it was a storage issue.  The corks were stuck solid.  Pics below.

 

Unlike a wine bottle cork, cork screws don't work well on these bottles.  I tried that before.

...

 

 

On 8/13/2023 at 7:49 AM, dcbt said:

Not just the storage of the same case.  I've had the same issue with two KC12s from different places recently.  It's frustrating as hell.  I made a mental note to keep my next cork that actually survives to replace future problems.

 

On 8/13/2023 at 11:42 AM, bayouredd said:

Very interesting. I just finished a KC12 that I had stashed at least 2 years & that cork is synthetic.  I think I'll keep it.

 

I thought all Beam bottles of recent vintage had synthetic corks?  Personally, I hate synthetic corks.  They don't provide that satisfying "thunk" sound of real corks, and they are unnecessarily inconvenient and difficult to open in comparison to a natural cork or a well-designed plastic screw cap.

 

Give me a good quality natural cork.  If the company is too cheap for that basic requirement, then they should just bite the bullet and go with a plastic screw cap (not a metal screw cap -- those truly suck).

 

 

[IamMatt]

I opened my first Heaven Hill BIB.  It may take a few nights til I decide how much I like it.  I definitely would not pay the $60 I have seen it at.  Wish I could find one of the old bottles.

[MM818]

My intention was to kill a couple bottles tonight. I got ahead of myself and opened this store pick I’ve been sitting on for several years.  Cinnamon on the nose. Oak, leather, vanilla on the taste. Looking forward to our time together. 

[jvd99]

Last night, a bottle of Stage Jr.

 

Hadn't seen this one on the shelf in a few years. Walked into my local Binnys and it was sitting on a display for something else near the entrance, with a tiny tag that said 1 per customer. It was nowhere near the bourbon aisle. It was in direct line of sight to the customer service desk at the front of the store. I think the managers play a little game of how fast someone can spot a single out of place bottle of allocated bourbon. Pretty funny, but I know their tricks and where they hide them, so I'm always on the lookout when I do my lap in the store. I scored a hidden Blanton's the same way.

 

 

 

 

[IamMatt]

I am slowly working through some of the bottles I picked up on my recent road trip.  Cracked the 13th Colony Southern Bourbon Whiskey tonight.  70/21/9mash bill;. 4-6 years old; 95 proof.  I am tempted to say all the hype is nonsense and nobody should buy it cuz that might leave more for me, but I can't. 

 

Fresh crack and it is delightful.  The distillery states notes of sweet corn cobs, leather, cinnamon, tobacco, cherry, and they are right.  Imagine a Sci-Fi movie where someone has a metallic contraption on their head with electrodes into the brain connected to some sort of memory thing and they have flashes of different memories.  Now imagine that those flashes are memories of tastes of other bottles.  I get flashes of OF 1920, Heaven Hill BIB, Remus Repeal VI, and not sure what else.

 

Dangerously easy to sip.  I can tell it would be good on a large ice cube.  Medium finish.  .  I like.

[IamMatt]

Continuing to work through the bottles I picked up on my recent road trip.  Opened the Blue Note Juke Joint UCUF 120.1 proof barrel pick (barrel #18,222).  70/21/9 mash bill, aged 4 years.  Nose with classic caramel and vanilla notes. maybe creme brulee but not overly sweet; the proof and some barrel notes and age notes like leather and wet cardboard mitigate the sweetness.  Mild baking spice like a spice cake.  Some sort of dried fruit I can't pin down--not raisin; less sweet like maybe dried pear.

 

The nose mostly transfers to the palate, though the "age' notes and proof are a much greater percentage of the overall palate experience.  The finish is decently long, and the vanilla and fruit notes taper off to be mostly leather ans semi sweet pipe tobacco.  Surprising amount of age notes for a fairly young bourbon.  I'll be interested to revisit after it is open for a month or two.

 

[dcbt]

Well well well.  Back to the KC 12 cork / cap issues, third time this has happened recently.

 

Step 1 - cork breaks from cap

Step 2 - remove cork with pliers

Step 3 - use goofy looking El Tesoro tequila cork instead (actually fits perfectly)

 

Lather rinse repeat.

 

[flahute]

On 8/7/2023 at 4:09 PM, Skinsfan1311 said:

I saw Metallica on Sunday night at MetLife Stadium.  Last time I saw them, (and I dating myself here), was during the Monsters of Rock tour, '89.

They haven't lost a step. The show was incredible.

Nice! I saw them in 2017 on the Hardwired tour from the snakepit and then again in September 2019 for S&M 2 show at Chase Center in San Francisco. Been watching videos of performances on this current tour and agree that have not lost a step.

[IamMatt]

Continuing to work my way through the 15 bottles I picked up on my recent road trip.  I am going through them more or less in the chronological order in which I acquired them, though I did open the Ben Holladay BIB first which was the third bottle I bought.  So far I am 4 for 4, none of these bottles had I tasted before (Ben Holladay, 13th Colony Southern Bourbon, and Blue Note Juke Joint UCUF, and this one).

 

Tonight it is a Knob Creek Single Barrel store pick from the Hy-Vee Supermarket in Springfield, MO.  It's another hitter.  I don't have any other KC SiB's open to compare it to but it hits all the right notes.  Like the better KC SiB picks, it drinks below its 120 proof and is richer in flavor.  All the familiar KC SiB notes, though the nose has a rich citrus note, not bright like lemon or lime but more like a deep orange that is sweet but not cloying.   Nice finish that bounces around between age notes like leather and wet cardboard and muted vanilla/caramel.

 

 

 

[markandrex]

You got me with cloying, I had to look it up.  Nice!

[0895]

Finally had some extra space on the shelf for one of these.  The best part is I was able to get the cork out without breaking the wax ring, so I can just refill it with Ancient Age and give it to someone I hate for Christmas. 
 

Oh, and PSA:  This is why you don’t buy Blanton’s on the secondary.

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by 0895

[Anwalt]

Celebrating my pilot-client's thoughtfulness. Decided to open something nice.

 

 

[Davesnothere]

I opened the Woodford I picked up Saturday at the ABC drop. It's very nice on the nose, and sips with a subtlety of oak and mild sweetness up front, with a nice full mouth feel. The 124.7 proof doesn't show up for me until the finish, which is very pleasant. All in all a very good bourbon.

 

Having said that, it's a strong do not buy (again) for me. 

At $50 or so it would be on my shelf all the time, but at the state minimum of $149.99, ain't gonna happen, wouldn't be prudent...

For the price it should be a WOW sipper, not simply a pleasant sipper.

[Grady330]

On 8/28/2023 at 4:21 PM, Anwalt said:

Celebrating my pilot-client's thoughtfulness. Decided to open something nice.

 

 

Had one of those. That's the good stuff, enjoy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Double C's]

On 8/12/2023 at 9:14 PM, IamMatt said:

I opened my Ben Holladay BIB and am enjoying it.  It is a Missouri Straight Whiskey which means it must not only meet the federal standards for bourbon, but also be mashed, fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled in the state; aged in oak barrels manufactured in the state; and—beginning January 1, 2020—made with corn exclusively grown in the state.  There is something familiar about the nose and palate but I can't seem to lock on to what bourbon it reminds me of. 

 

It's 6 years old and is the 4th batch (out of 6) produced by this relatively new distillery, though the Holladay Distillery was founded in 1856, making it both the oldest distillery in the state of Missouri and the oldest distillery west of the Mississippi still operating on its original site. Their website has a Distiller's Journal that gives some details about each batch.  The Journal says:

 

"This month is the first time we’ve gotten to use a full blend from the 2016 fall distillation season. Before, all of the other bottlings came from the spring of 2016. This batch is interesting because it includes barrels from a couple of floors we haven’t pulled from before. The barrels were pulled from floors two, three, and five. In previous releases, we were restricted to floors one and five with barrels of age in the same distillation season.

"I was aiming for more complexity in this one. The characteristics in this batch are more diverse and became more obvious as I played with different ratios. I landed on 27% from the second floor, 55% from the third, and 18% from the fifth.

 

"One specific component I dialed in on was the finish. At first, I thought it was a relatively short finish, but the more I tasted it and played with it, the more I realized the final blend did offer the long finish I look for."

 

It has a lot of the traditional bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla, etc., but they are not as "sweetness-forward" as bottles like OF 100 or ET BIB, but are muted under notes I typically associate with age, like leather and wet cardboard.  My mind keeps going back to Remus Repeal V, but I don't have an open bottle to compare it to; I do have a Repeal VI open, and, after tasting it, I feel like the profiles are similar.  I find myself wanting to pour "just one more glass" so I think it is a keeper.   Now I am sorry I didn't grab a bottle of their wheated bourbon at the same time. 

 

Glad you enjoyed this bottle. It is a solid sipper. I have a cask strength store pick of this that I have yet to open. I also have a bottle of the wheated version and it is nice as well. I have a local store or two that is getting a pick of the wheated version soon and I am planning on grabbing a bottle of that also. 

[IamMatt]

53 minutes ago, Double C's said:

Glad you enjoyed this bottle. It is a solid sipper. I have a cask strength store pick of this that I have yet to open. I also have a bottle of the wheated version and it is nice as well. I have a local store or two that is getting a pick of the wheated version soon and I am planning on grabbing a bottle of that also. 

I'm so jealous.  We have a friend in Springfield so next time we visit I will have to bring an extra suitcase.  AND hit you up for the store that has all the picks.  You mentioned another MO 100-proof wheater you like; is that the Boxing Bear you posted?

[smokinjoe]

Got a hankerin’ for Knob Creek.  Picked one up and opened this afternoon.  
Clean tear, no broken wax, and cork pulled easily.  Makes the whiskey taste even better!