What bourbon did you purchase this spring season of 2025?

[PaulO]

On 5/8/2025 at 11:32 PM, MSB said:

Agree. I would have bought box set for that price. ( I have never had a chance to buy a BB, sadly) 

The BB is 10-12 years old and bottled at 90 something proof, changes by release.  It seems a drier profile compared to other versions of OF.  I get tannin like strong tea, dry wood like cedar cigar box.  At low 90 something proof, and not much sweetness, it can feel sort of thin.  It's ok, but not my favorite in the OF line up.  

[JT3NSB]

On 5/8/2025 at 12:29 PM, fosmith said:

Wow!  20 yo Dickel and nearly cask strength for $75 is unbelievable in today's market, and the whiskey is insanely good, even at lower proofs.  I've had some 17 and 18 yr ones that were outstanding.  What's the proof on your bottle?   I had a bottle at 84.x proof that had amazing concentration of flavor.  

 

What I heard (from someone who got it directly from Dickel) is that these barrels come from the lower floors of the rickhouse and lose proof as they age.  They have a range of target proofs for these so, at bottling, they proof them down by 1-1.5% or so in order to simplify the bottling and labeling process.  So, my most recent bottle of 15yr, bottled at 96.2 proof, probably came out of the barrel at around 97 proof.  That small amount of water is not going to impact the flavor to any significant degree.  

This one is 84.4.   I’m a dumbass. I went in there without my reading glasses.    It was the lowest proof 15 year I’ve ever seen.   But I was already down the road before I realized the age.   I certainly would’ve purchase more.  I like these occasionally…

[rzelinka]

On 5/8/2025 at 9:44 PM, Clueby said:

Went to a bourbon club dinner/lottery tonight that was Old Forester sponsored/centric. I was the 2nd overall pick and had to settle for 1924 as there was only ONE bottle of Birthday. Also picked up a store pick barrel proof. The food was really good and had good company and conversation.

Exceptional offerings by old forester 

[steven s]

2 wsr at 33$

1 ER at 45$

 

seeing these everywhere now, again, but at these new prices, and these prices were far better than i saw elsewhere

[Kepler]

15 hours ago, PaulO said:

The BB is 10-12 years old and bottled at 90 something proof, changes by release.  It seems a drier profile compared to other versions of OF.  I get tannin like strong tea, dry wood like cedar cigar box.  At low 90 something proof, and not much sweetness, it can feel sort of thin.  It's ok, but not my favorite in the OF line up.  

 

The more recent Birthday bourbons are higher proof.  I have at least a couple that are over 100 proof.  That bump up in proof helps them.  But I get your point.

[Kepler]

16 hours ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

Yup and, after the initial pour, it's very good but not much better, (if it all), than the standard offering.  I guess that I can to do a blind SBS, but I already know that it's not worth the extra $$.  

I don't regret the purchase, but will not be replacing these...

 

That's a fair take.  The new WT8 is definitely meant to be simply an "up-sell" item.  I do expect quality of the NAS 101 to go down due to less older aged stock in the blend though.  I assume we've already seen the best of $19.99 Wild Turkey, ... for a good while anyway.

 

 

Edited yesterday at 05:14 AM by Kepler

[Kepler]

9 hours ago, JT3NSB said:

This one is 84.4.   I’m a dumbass. I went in there without my reading glasses.    It was the lowest proof 15 year I’ve ever seen.   But I was already down the road before I realized the age.   I certainly would’ve purchase more.  I like these occasionally…

 

I personally wouldn't sweat it.  I've had better luck with the higher proof Dickel 15 Year single barrels.  Anything around 96 to 105 proof are the ones I grab if the price is right. 

Most of those have been picked over in my neck of the woods.  Most of the ones sitting on shelves these days are 80.00 proof bottles. 

[Richnimrod]

6 hours ago, Kepler said:

 

That's a fair take.  The new WT8 is definitely meant to be simply an "up-sell" item.  I do expect quality of the NAS 101 to go down due to less older aged stock in the blend though.  I assume we've already seen the best of $19.99 Wild Turkey, ... for a good while anyway.

 

While I hope you're wrong about this, Kepler, it's likely that you aren't.    Even with the current level of 'over-supply' that apparently exists in well-aged stocks of Bourbon around the nation, the 8-year age statement means "at least 8-years", while the un-age-stated version doesn't have to be nearly that old.   Logic suggests that the 'regular stuph' will be less-aged than it has been.   

That doesn't automatically mean 'less quality', or even that it will be 'different' than it has been; but, over time I have to imagine it will slip into a less dynamic profile.   WT101 has always (to my taste buddies, anyway) been a brand that had in-your-face Bourbon character that many other brands in the same price range did not.   I have already been reading (here and elsewhere) of some slight-to-moderate dissatisfaction with WT101 over the last couple years or so.   I can't speak to that, since I haven't needed to buy any since about 2022, having stocked up at good prices then.   That indicates to me some variability that I believe did not exist in this brand before this time.   So, the bottlers at WT seem to have some leeway in keeping to the profile.

Time will tell, as usual.

[fosmith]

17 hours ago, JT3NSB said:

This one is 84.4.   I’m a dumbass. I went in there without my reading glasses.    It was the lowest proof 15 year I’ve ever seen.   But I was already down the road before I realized the age.   I certainly would’ve purchase more.  I like these occasionally…

A friend had an 82 proof Dickel 15.  He gave me a sample and it was outstanding.  Amazing depth and concentration of flavor for only 82 proof.  

[Skinsfan1311]

6 hours ago, fosmith said:

A friend had an 82 proof Dickel 15.  He gave me a sample and it was outstanding.  Amazing depth and concentration of flavor for only 82 proof.  

The last one I bought was 80 proof and it's pretty damn good!

[NDN98]

In 2022, this stopped being distributed in Texas, but I guess they have enough stock to start distributing it nationwide again, because I just picked up a bottle on Saturday that was bottled in 2024.   Glad to see it on a shelf again, but always wished these were a little higher in proof.

[PaulO]

2 hours ago, NDN98 said:

In 2022, this stopped being distributed in Texas, but I guess they have enough stock to start distributing it nationwide again, because I just picked up a bottle on Saturday that was bottled in 2024.   Glad to see it on a shelf again, but always wished these were a little higher in proof.

I've started seeing those now and then on shelves.  A little higher proof ~ HMcK B.I.B. (seeing some of those too.)

[MSB]

4 hours ago, NDN98 said:

In 2022, this stopped being distributed in Texas, but I guess they have enough stock to start distributing it nationwide again, because I just picked up a bottle on Saturday that was bottled in 2024.   Glad to see it on a shelf again, but always wished these were a little higher in proof.

I too have been seeing those around. 

And I too wish they were a lil higher proof.

 

What price are they fetching in your area?

33-38 is what I've been seeing.

[rzelinka]

5 hours ago, NDN98 said:

In 2022, this stopped being distributed in Texas, but I guess they have enough stock to start distributing it nationwide again, because I just picked up a bottle on Saturday that was bottled in 2024.   Glad to see it on a shelf again, but always wished these were a little higher in proof.

really? Wow, I had no idea. I received this Evan Williams and the Bottled In Bond as a gift. I use them as mixers. I had no idea they were hard to find

[NDN98]

4 hours ago, MSB said:

I too have been seeing those around. 

And I too wish they were a lil higher proof.

 

What price are they fetching in your area?

33-38 is what I've been seeing.

Sounds like DFW is priced about the same.  This one was $34.99