Guilty Pleasure

[TNbourbon]

I don't know if I'm just a cheapskate, or a great bargain shopper -- but I sure get a lot of pleasure out of finding an inexpensive bourbon I really enjoy, and there are several.

I've noted before around here that I really like Rebel Yell. Now, recently, I ran across a closeout basket that included some older Ancient Age 90-proof in the taller, slimmer version of today's squat bottles for around $10/750 ml, and I bought it all just on general principle. Good thing, too, because I find myself going back to it with some regularity. It's not quite up to the AAA 10yo (86 proof), but not far off, either -- a little tangier on the finish, maybe, a nice offset to the sweetness otherwise.

Now, I like Stagg maybe as well as anything, and I have open bottles of BMH, Hirsch, Noah's Mill -- so I've nothing against the dearer stuff. But I really feel like I've beaten the system when I pour my cheap AA.

[brian12069]

Tim, I find this post very interesting because I always thought the more expensive bourbons were better. Then one day I was in this bar that I frequent because he usually carries 30-40 different bourbons and I had a glass of something (which I really enjoyed) and I said "wow thats really good, I'm surprised because it's so cheap" and the owner looked at me kind of funny and said "forget about the price when it comes to bourbon" I think a lot of that is marketing and advertising. Hey...my favorite pour is 15 year van winkle...usually around 39 bucks around here...my VERY CLOSE second favorite pour is old fitzgeralds 1849 about 15 bucks around here!

[angelshare]

I ran across a closeout basket that included some older Ancient Age 90-proof in the taller, slimmer version of today's squat bottles for around $10/750 ml, and I bought it all just on general principle. Good thing, too, because I find myself going back to it with some regularity. It's not quite up to the AAA 10yo (86 proof), but not far off, either -- a little tangier on the finish, maybe, a nice offset to the sweetness otherwise. I really feel like I've beaten the system when I pour my cheap AA.

I'm inferring here, but I think you're saying that an important part of "beating the system" is being able to get the whiskey easily. AAA is easily available here in VA as well as cheap.

I think consuming from the Weller line (SR, Antique, 12 Year) or Old Fitzgerald 1849 (I agree with Brian - GREAT whiskey) would make me feel like I was getting away with something if I didn't have to drive over 100 miles to get it.

[Gillman]

Expensive isn't always better. Many expensive bottles are too aged, the wood has taken over. I don't mind age when deftly handled. For example, Weller 12 year old hits almost exactly the right balance of sweetness and charred oak character. Also, its woodiness is neither heavily tannic nor possessed of an "old wet wood" taste (what old-time distillers called a "punky" wood taste). (I find though Weller lacks something due to having no rye, which I remedy by adding a dash of rye whiskey or, say, Grandad 114; the improvement, to my mind, is quite evident). Some oldsters hit it just right: the earlier Hirsch 16's did, the round-tasting Black Maple Hill Randy brought to Gazebo last year did, and of course there are many others. I tend now to look for an ideal balance, not too old, not too young: Barton's Very Old (actually only 6 years old) is about perfect, so, it seems, are current batches of Woodford Reserve. Buffalo Trace is another example, also, EWSB 1994 (very high quality). All of these are good values.

It was only after many years of reading and tasting that I felt confident enough to accept that expensive does not always mean better.

Gary

[Dave_in_Canada]

Tim, I don't understand why you would feel guilty about such a great deal! I'd feel estatic

[TNbourbon]

I don't know -- maybe the guilt is that I also have some high-dollar bourbon sitting there w/out attention (opportunity costs, you know) while I'm drinking $10 bourbon.

[Bourbaki_Bourbon]

I was shocked to discover a GENERIC "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey" at a local Jewel-Osco supermarket/drugstore last night after I decided to glance at their stock for a laugh. Needless to say, I will NOT "do the experiment" to see if this stuff would rank as a guilty pleasure (and it definately would be one of the first-order, only just above things that involve breaking laws!).

It's enough to make you feel slightly queasy just looking at the stuff on the shelf. Very sickly coloring.

[OneCubeOnly]

I'm inferring here, but I think you're saying that an important part of "beating the system" is being able to get the whiskey easily. AAA is easily available here in VA as well as cheap.

That's a little quirk that's really never made any sense to me. Traditionally, VA ABC is a tax-laden whiskey nightmare. But our prices on AAA 10yo (the *REAL* thing...not the 10-Star!) are cheaper than in KY. ($9.90/750ml) Consequently, none of my bourbon-drinking friends have even considered the stuff because it's priced (and placed) with the bottom-shelf dwellers.

As far as I'm concerned, it's the perfect diamond-in-the-rough! AAA 10yo is superb!

Edit-fixed quote mechanism

[jeff]

Hey, you want a guilty pleasure? How about EWSB '94 for $17 at the Florida ABC just outside of Disney World in Orlando? It's about $23 here in Lexington, so I picked up 3 bottles while there. Everything else was a bit more expensive than I pay here, but the EWSB was a steal

[wrbriggs]

Bumping this for all the new folks, as I found it an interesting conversation. To add my $0.02, my favorite "guilty pleasure" bourbon is Old Grand Dad BIB. 100 proof, tasty, and $13 in my neck of the woods.

[sharkman]

I'm glad this thread was revived. I found a few bottles of Old Fitzgeralds 1849 at a store in Michigan a year or so ago and they still had the old tax stamp on them! The guy sold them to me for $10 each and I still have one unopened. Not sure of the year, but hasn't it been 15-18 years since they stopped using the tax stamp? (Also, found some Old Charter Classic 90 in NC at an ABC store for $13) Anyway, great whiskey at $10. Blows me away everytime. Also, and no one mentioned this. McAfees Benchmark 8 yr. I like it! Great long, sweet finish with the wood taking over about a minute later. Really awesome for $7.90/750ml in Ohio!!!! Also, one of the best "cheapos" (can't get in Ohio) is WL Weller 12 year old. This stuff just kicks! All this talk about "expensive" bourbons is great, and I have my share (I have over 75 opened bottlings), but most of my favorite come from the "under $20" range. Like AAA 10yr, AAA BIB, Elijah Craig 12 year, Wild Turkey 101 (need I say more). Plus the Ryes that are out there cheap, Wild Turkey Rye (great rye), Rittenhouse, Pikesville Supreme, none of them suck! Let's face it, who wants to drink a bottle of Distilliers Masterpiece Port wood finish ($200+) when playing cards with friends? Not me guys...

Barry

[jeff]

You know, if all I could have for the rest of my life was Weller 12yo and AAA 10yo, I would die a happy man.

[sharkman]

Throw in ANYTHING by Wild Turkey and I'd be right beside you drinkin' our beloved bourbon on our death beds.

Barry

[cowdery]

Congratulations, Sharkman. That authentic Stitzel-Weller 1849 would have been a bargain at several times the price.

Tax stamps went away in the early 1980s. Can't pin it down closer than that because although companies weren't required to use them, many continued to until they came up with an alternative tamper-evident seal. The requirement ended early in the Reagan administration, but I don't know exactly when. However, you can safely assume that anything with a tax stamp on it is at least 20 years old.

[Ken Weber]

Okay, this is hard for me to do, but here goes. I think Old Forester is a fine everyday bourbon for the price. Ah, now that wasn't so bad.

Ken

[sharkman]

Congratulations, Sharkman. That authentic Stitzel-Weller 1849 would have been a bargain at several times the price.

Thanks Chuck! Guess I should have bought all of them. He had about 10 boxed bottles left. If I gave you any info on the bottle, could you help me nail down the age? The spirit in these bottles is pretty good I might add. I'm enjoying a nip right now as a metter of fact.

Barry

[cowdery]

If the tax stamps do not have dates on them, then it is near the end of the tax stamp era. It really doesn't matter, though, because it's Stitzel-Weller whiskey. That's the point.

[bourbonv]

Actually Chuck, Old Fitzgerald 1849 was not a bonded bourbon, so there would not be any dates on the red tax stamp.

Mike Veach

[sharkman]

Chuck, you keep making me want to taste this again and again. You really think highly of SW, huh?

Barry

[cowdery]

You really think highly of SW, huh?

Yes.

[Wade]

Safeway Select for $7.99 on sale is a hard one to beat. Picked up the first bottle just to have something around for the whiskey and coke folks, but I find myself drinking it more than them. I'll be picking this one up every time I see at this price. BTW, does anybody know who makes this for Safeway? As mentioned in an older post it's bottled in San Jose but nobody seemed to know for sure who distilled it.

Wade

[TNbourbon]

I fully concur here with the couple of votes for Old Fitz 1849. And I've come to think of Evan Williams 1783 as 'EWSB Jr.' -- if you could strip the outer veneer off of EWSB, the 1783 is what you'd get.

[gr8erdane]

Chances are it's HH from my experience with grocery chain house labels. One here in St Louis even says that it was HH bourbon bottled by David Sherman here in St Louis. I wonder if you can get Piggly Wiggly Bourbon?

[lakegz]

I just went to mexico for a quick day trip and picked up a 1 Liter bottle of Wild Turkey 8yo for 13 bucks. im guilty for living so close to the source of this great deal.