Show Us Your Stash -- Version 2

[TNbourbon]

The Woodford Reserves are from Batches 1 (liter), 9 (375ml) and 66 (gift 750ml). Two each of all 4 OFBB expressions:

[TNbourbon]

Bourbon Heritage Collection -- in the cases of VSOF, OCPR and WC, which have both Stitzel-Weller and Buffalo Trace/HH bottlings, all of mine are the earlier ones with S-W bourbon:

[TNbourbon]

Wild Turkey:

[TNbourbon]

The orange-topped bottles are the 1989 version bottled in 1998 in honor of University of Tennessee's football national championship. The other EWSBs are 1993 and 1994. The flask is the basic (not 10yo) HH BIB:

[TNbourbon]

The RR1792s are from the original -- now outlawed -- bottling. Yep, that bottle on the right means I'm drinking $100+ bourbon (according to Ebay, anyway):

[TNbourbon]

Van Winkle. The Pappy 20 and one of the Pappy 23s are from Lawrenceburg:

[TNbourbon]

As you can see, I like JB Black -- the one on the upper right is the older 7yo, 90-proof version. I emptied the Jacob's Well right after taking this picture and am sipping it as I post these. I know a store that still has a stock, however:

[TNbourbon]

Although it's hard to tell in this picture, the blue-wax one in the middle, alas, is NOT the 20yo but the first bottling of the 16yo (with the script label), as are all the others:

[TNbourbon]

I have several full Michter's whiskey decanters, for which the King Tut 1.75L in the middle is representative. The old Old Charter is a 7yo. The Black Maple Hill is the newer version of the 16yo:

[TNbourbon]

The Old Fitzgerald BIB is Stitzel-Weller, the Ezra SB is 15yo, the Benchmark liter is New Orleans Sazerac, the Olde Bourbon is, well, olde:

[TNbourbon]

Most of these minis are old, tax-stamped examples. I'm seriously considering bringing them to the Gazebo during the Sampler in April for, um, sampling:

[squire]

Tim I'm a man not easily impressed. I'm impressed.

Regards,

Squire

[dgonano]

Tim, your all set. Great Pics. On my next trip to Tenn.,

I'll be stopping in for a pour.

[TNbourbon]

Squire, Dave (or any other member of this board), you are welcome to come by and share anytime -- first, we'll open one of Dane's WT Jimmy Russell Tributes I also have in that closet waiting for him.

[angelshare]

Most of these minis are old, tax-stamped examples. I'm seriously considering bringing them to the Gazebo during the Sampler in April for, um, sampling:

Tim you're one thoughtul, generous guy, but I have to say that, although we've always said that whiskey is for drinking, if there is any whiskey that can be collected, it would be minis. I'm surprised you would bring them to the Sampler. I'm also jealous I won't be at the Sampler.

What minis represent whiskey that is otherwise unrepresented in your bunker?

Tim, thanks for finally sharing your bunker pix. I'll just say...WOW.

[TNbourbon]

What minis represent whiskey that is otherwise unrepresented in your bunker?

Well, that would be most of them -- either they are obsolete entirely or differ in their current forms.

Some examples: the minis representing Stitzel-Weller brands -- Old Fitz, Weller, Cabin Still -- contain S-W bourbon, some of it barrelled when Pappy still haunted the place. The Old Crows are from the era we tasted from the Chessman at the Gazebo. Old Taylor was distilled in Louisville; Wild Turkey is a 7yo, 86.7 proof; there's Stillbrook from Illinois; even Crab Orchard (about 30% evaporated) from American Medicinal Spirits Corp. -- it's all of 15 months old, and couldn't be called bourbon today.

And, you're right, they are collectible and fun to collect -- but, as you can see, they take up space in which I could lay out some other things if they weren't spread out.

It'll be fun, too, to share them with folks who will both appreciate them and recognize their historical significance -- in other words, folks to whom it isn't 'just' bourbon.

[gr8erdane]

Couldn't you put them in shadow boxes on the wall? I mean I'd love to taste some of them but you have a lot of history there. Bourbon: It's for Wallcoverings too.

[TNbourbon]

Update of the day (not yet photographed):

Got a substantial rebate check in the mail today from a purchase made so long ago I'd forgotten about it. Since I wasn't expecting it, it was like found money and I decided to treat it that way. My first thought was to travel to the most reliably Stagg-stocked store in my area, in a neighboring county. But, on second thought, I decided to go (literally) another direction, to another neighboring county with a small, rural-ish county seat and a few liquor stores. While one never has enough Stagg, I do at least have a reasonable supply already. Figured I might glean some surprises.

I had a mid-'90s Old Forester BIB liter in hand when I discovered a couple of dusty old 1.75L W.L. Weller Special Reserve bottles on the bottom shelf. As it happens, this was my first 'favorite' bourbon. And, as it happened, these were distilled and bottled in Louisville, KY. They are Stitzel-Weller stock. I put the OFBIB back. And y'all know how I feel about duplicates -- I bought 'em both.

In the next store pickings were slimmer, but I did manage to find (and buy) both a 750ml and a 375ml bottle of AAA 10yo (both tax-stamped), which is no longer marketed in TN. I also spotted three Old Fitz (also no longer marketed here, for some reason) liters, but they were 80 proof, not BIB. They, too, were distilled in Louisville and I think are S-W, but a ridge ran through what looked like an '88' marking on the bottle bottom and I couldn't be sure it wasn't '98'. So, question -- did Heaven Hill distill in Louisville prior to its distillery fire (and when did HH buy the Old Fitzgerald label), or would even a '98 bottling have to be Stitzel-Weller Old Fitz? Are these worth going back to get?

Anyway, 'found' money put to use, I drove home happy.

[Gillman]

Tim, that tax-stamped Triple A should be superb. I have had Triple A a couple of times in the last two years, and while a good dram it didn't seem as good as what I recall from the 1980's. I recall the older one as soft and rich, with scents and flavors of pipe tobacco and dark apple butter. If you are minded to open it I'd be interested in your commentary, especially if you happen to have a current AAA to compare it to. By the way, I think AAA may be lesser than it was because the best older whiskeys of Sazerac are going into (I am guessing) its super-premium lines such as Rock Hill Farms, Elmer T. Lee and Trace. In the 1980's, those brands did not exist - Blanton did but Blanton was and is not 10 years old. I speculate that the older luscious whiskeys went into AAA because that was the only home they had at the time.

Gary

[chasking]

Here's my whiskey collection. It's not displayed to best effect---until we move, this is about all the space I can devote to it---but I've at least got most of the bases covered, I think. The middle shelf is the American whiskeys; Scotch malts are below, and the top shelf has some overflow and things that don't go anywhere else (the Old Potreros, and Irish whiskeys).

[chasking]

Here's a closer shot of the left half of the American whiskey shelf. Not everything is visible, so:

Front row: Elmer T. Lee, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2004, Elijah Craig 12yo, Buffalo Trace, Very Old Barton 86 proof.

Middle row: Wild Turkey Russel's Reserve, Old Grand-Dad BIB, Bulleit and Knob Creek (they're skinny enough I could fit two in one row), Lot 40 (okay, so it's a Canadian... sue me), George Dickel #12, Jack Daniel's black label.

Back row: George T. Stagg 2004, Hirsch 16yo, Woodford Reserve, Basil Hayden's, Van Winkle Family Reserve 12yo, Booker's.

[chasking]

Here's a better shot of the right half of the American whiskey shelf. Some overlap.

Front Row: Buffalo Trace, Very Old Barton 86 proof, W.L. Weller Special Reserve, W.L. Weller 12yo, Old Rip Van Winkle Rye 12yo, Classic Cask Rye 15yo.

Middle Row: Lot 40, George Dickel #12, Jack Daniel's black label, Evan Williams Single Barrel 2004, Rittenhouse Rye BIB, Michter's Straight Rye, Michter's Rye 10yo.

Back Row: Van Winkle Family Reserve 12yo, Booker's, Hirsch Rye, Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye, Old Overholt, Rittenhouse Rye, Sazerac Rye.

[TNbourbon]

Oddly enough, the one that jumps out at me -- and the one I've about given up on finding since I believe the distillery recently went defunct -- is the Littlemill Scotch. Is it the 8- or 17-year-old? I've heard/read great things about it. I believe it was/is imported domestically by Henry Preiss' outfit, which also owns/distributes the remaining stock of A.H. Hirsch 16yo.

Sure enough -- Littlemill burned in September after laying idle for 10 years:

Littlemill burned

[chasking]

That is an 8yo Littlemill, which is still on the shelves at Sam's in Chicago. An interesting dram: other Lowlanders have a "grassy" element to them, but with this Littlemill, the grassy quality is the overwhelming characteristic. Like drinking new-mown hay (or so I imagine). We like it, but it's certainly atypical. I've seen some bad reviews of Littlemill, but the two versions I've tried were both good; I suspect that the criticism is due to the unusual "house style". And, the overpowering grassy flavor has mellowed a bit since the bottle was opened.

I have also had a Signatory bottling from Littlemill, which was, I believe, 10 or 11 years old, and which I liked a little better than this distillery bottling.

As you point out, Littlemill has been closed for more than 8 years, so the whiskey in the 8yo bottles is really older than that.

[wrbriggs]

I was pointed here by bluesbassdad, figured I would add a post. I feel kinda inadequate compared to most of the pics I see here, but I'm steadily expanding...

The bar was built by my wife, who also did all of the painting, including the gold trimwork on the ceiling. My contribution was the shelves, and you can see how well that turned out given that most of them are sagging