What Bourbon Are You Drinking Fall 2024?

[Kepler]

Tonight I dug into some port finished rye whiskeys over in the American rye thread. 

But I still wanted to dip my toe into a bourbon, so I hit a compromise ... High West Bourye it is.  FWIW this one is "limited sighting"  batch 17L71.  I've never compared different batches myself.  It's pretty good.

[fishnbowljoe]

HH7 BIB in the glass tonight. 

[Anwalt]

Obree's walk (yes, “walk”) to board his cruise ship from our door: 5 minutes, 32 seconds. PR has its upsides!

 

Today's samplings, before his cruise left, we agreed on rankings with ease:

 

As a friend here in PR says, “GTS is what bourbon should be”. Obree likes cherry, so he picked GTS over everything we've tried these last few days, including King of Kentucky (I need to catch up on posting). This is the '23, he guessed 115 proof (135 actual). I did the same when I tried it, drinks way below proof. Glorious stuff.

 

LB Infinite and Lux Row 12, distinct, same league, very good. Could drink them all day and be quite happy. Does anyone know when the LR12 will stop being HH distillate?

 

Old Fitz 10y came in 4th. I like it a good bit, Obree likes it more than I did. It did drink hot for just 100 proof. 

 

For all the nice reviews, Lucky Seven 14y was oddly underwhelming, we both agreed on this. Good, but rather plain. Maybe it'll be different next time we try it, it wouldn't be the first time that either the booze or the palate changed. I'd like to try it SbS against OWA.

PS: Obree makes a mean risotto.

 

 

[Anwalt]

On 12/2/2024 at 6:59 PM, Jazz June said:

The 93s are 11 years old so about twice the age of the current product. 

 

Tried a Old Fitz 10 from the 80's or 90's (I'd have to check the sample bottle, don't have it at hand). Then the modern incarnation. Night and day. Waaaaay more oak/older distillate in the earlier version. I probably could not have told you they were even the "same" whiskey. This comparing older stuff to modern version of the same thing could get interesting. Blew my mind.

[smokinjoe]

Beautiful cool day here, making it ideal to put up the outdoor Christmas decorations.  I’m bushed.  Relaxing now in the front patio Adirondack chair with the Sun going down and a JD bonded that is well earned.  The Ritz Holiday crackers go well with it!  Dawgs

and Horns on the radio playing in the background.  

[mbroo5880i]

3 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

Beautiful cool day here, making it ideal to put up the outdoor Christmas decorations.  I’m bushed.  Relaxing now in the front patio Adirondack chair with the Sun going down and a JD bonded that is well earned.  The Ritz Holiday crackers go well with it!  Dawgs

and Horns on the radio playing in the background.  

 

Dawgs pulled it out in OT.  The GBS Goat must be happy tonight.

[mbroo5880i]

KC9 while watching the Hallmark Christmas movie.  Yeah, I know but the KC9 is really good tonight and the Christmas movie is better than most.

[Kepler]

1 hour ago, mbroo5880i said:

KC9 while watching the Hallmark Christmas movie.  Yeah, I know but the KC9 is really good tonight and the Christmas movie is better than most.

Nice bourbon choice, but the college football games are better TV ... just sayin'

[Kepler]

1 hour ago, mbroo5880i said:

Dawgs pulled it out in OT.  The GBS Goat must be happy tonight.

 

Just glad they beat the Longhorns.  (I'm a Sooner fan).

[Kepler]

BBC Origins BiB 6yr wheated bourbon tonight while watching the college football games.  I really like this bourbon ... fresh youthful doughiness in a glass.  And very crushable.

[PaulO]

7 hours ago, Anwalt said:

 

Tried a Old Fitz 10 from the 80's or 90's (I'd have to check the sample bottle, don't have it at hand). Then the modern incarnation. Night and day. Waaaaay more oak/older distillate in the earlier version. I probably could not have told you they were even the "same" whiskey. This comparing older stuff to modern version of the same thing could get interesting. Blew my mind.

Back when hunting dusty bottles was a possibility with occasional success, I recall similar observations, did some myself.  There are two reasons why what you say is so.  The older Old Fitz was made at a different distillery (different house style).  And during the whiskey glut era, there were some much older barrels getting dumped into batches.

[Kepler]

7 hours ago, Anwalt said:

 

Tried a Old Fitz 10 from the 80's or 90's (I'd have to check the sample bottle, don't have it at hand). Then the modern incarnation. Night and day. Waaaaay more oak/older distillate in the earlier version. I probably could not have told you they were even the "same" whiskey. This comparing older stuff to modern version of the same thing could get interesting. Blew my mind.

 

9 minutes ago, PaulO said:

Back when hunting dusty bottles was a possibility with occasional success, I recall similar observations, did some myself.  There are two reasons why what you say is so.  The older Old Fitz was made at a different distillery (different house style).  And during the whiskey glut era, there were some much older barrels getting dumped into batches.

 

I was going to say, the reason the current and old versions didn't taste like the "same" whiskey is because they aren't.  Different distilleries entirely.  Just the same label.

[Kepler]

I enjoyed the 2nd halves of the Big Ten and ACC championship games a lot more than the first halves.  Both games looked like they would be blowouts, but were good close games in the 2nd half.

 

I also enjoyed my BBC Origins BiB wheated bourbon.  So much so, that I decided to try some other wheat options. 

Journeyman "Corsets, Whips & Whiskey" 100% wheat whiskey in my glass now (how's that for a whiskey name).  This is a very unique pour unlike any other bottle I have. (I've had other straight wheat whiskies but this one is different, in a good way).

 

I really enjoy this one.  If you enjoy wheated bourbon or straight wheat whiskey, you should seek this one out and give it a try.  I paid $57 for this one at 117 proof, so the price is reasonable.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2024 by Kepler

[Anwalt]

6 hours ago, PaulO said:

Back when hunting dusty bottles was a possibility with occasional success, I recall similar observations, did some myself.  There are two reasons why what you say is so.  The older Old Fitz was made at a different distillery (different house style).  And during the whiskey glut era, there were some much older barrels getting dumped into batches.

 

6 hours ago, Kepler said:

I was going to say, the reason the current and old versions didn't taste like the "same" whiskey is because they aren't.  Different distilleries entirely.  Just the same label.

 

Ahhhh, makes even more sense. Thanks for the history & insights gents!

[Skinsfan1311]

We attacked this 3-day weekend...the Christmas tree is up and and decorated.  I spent an afternoon at my favorite brewery's 29th anniversary party.   We picked up  an elderly friend of ours from the assisted living home and took him out for a nice dinner and visit.

I got a few  meals prepped for the week...hunting clothes washed, dried and put away.

It doesn't sound like it, but the bye week has been very relaxing with  no home games for a couple of weeks.  

 

Cheers!

[flahute]

Waving to @smokinjoe from the ATL sky club. 

[Jazz June]

On 12/7/2024 at 4:26 PM, Anwalt said:

 

Tried a Old Fitz 10 from the 80's or 90's (I'd have to check the sample bottle, don't have it at hand). Then the modern incarnation. Night and day. Waaaaay more oak/older distillate in the earlier version. I probably could not have told you they were even the "same" whiskey. This comparing older stuff to modern version of the same thing could get interesting. Blew my mind.

An Old Fitzgerald from that era should be Stitzel-Weller distillate, so a little different from the Blanton's situation where it was the same distillery for both the "old" and the current version. Another interesting point is the age - bonded age statements are fairly exact as the distillate must come from a single six-month distilling season. Most Old Fitzgeralds (but certainly not all) were bonded, but if that "old" one wasn't bonded, it could certainly contain significant amounts of older bourbon (and likely did as a glut era bottling). A bonded product could be significantly older than the age statement if they didn't bother to clear a new label (and Americans weren't thought to care so much as to justify a new label), but it is less likely. Either way, totally agree that it is fun and informative to try dusty versions of still existing/modern bourbons.

[Anwalt]

Just now, Jazz June said:

An Old Fitzgerald from that era should be Stitzel-Weller distillate, so a little different from the Blanton's situation where it was the same distillery for both the "old" and the current version. Another interesting point is the age - bonded age statements are fairly exact as the distillate must come from a single six-month distilling season. Most Old Fitzgeralds (but certainly not all) were bonded, but if that "old" one wasn't bonded, it could certainly contain significant amounts of older bourbon (and likely did as a glut era bottling). A bonded product could be significantly older than the age statement if they didn't bother to clear a new label (and Americans weren't thought to care so much as to justify a new label), but it is less likely. Either way, totally agree that it is fun and informative to try dusty versions of still existing/modern bourbons.

 

Thanks for the insight! You guys make this better, and it was pretty darned good to begin with.

[fishnbowljoe]

Sigh…….. This seems so long ago.

 

3 hours ago, Anwalt said:

 

Thanks for the insight! You guys make this better, and it was pretty darned good to begin with.

Sigh….. This seems like so long ago.  

 

 

[Anwalt]

8 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Sigh….. This seems like so long ago.  

 

You tease.

[StarSurfer55]

Got my Christmas present early this year.  My wife knows how much I enjoy Weller.  SR is one of my favorites but  I have never had the 12 y/o before.  I had finished off my last bottle  (an antique 107) a couple of days ago.

[smokinjoe]

23 hours ago, flahute said:

Waving to @smokinjoe from the ATL sky club. 

Cheers!

[Kepler]

3 hours ago, StarSurfer55 said:

Got my Christmas present early this year.  My wife knows how much I enjoy Weller.  SR is one of my favorites but  I have never had the 12 y/o before.  I had finished off my last bottle  (an antique 107) a couple of days ago.

 

Nice!

[ebo]

I'm still on the sweeter side tonight, so... OF 1910. The nose on this is killer. 

[mbroo5880i]

6 hours ago, StarSurfer55 said:

Got my Christmas present early this year.  My wife knows how much I enjoy Weller.  SR is one of my favorites but  I have never had the 12 y/o before.  I had finished off my last bottle  (an antique 107) a couple of days ago.

 

Spectacular! I have never seen a WL12 box.  That's a nice touch.