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What bourbon are you drinking now?


jeff
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Tim, you're always such the philosopher-poet.

This evening I am also going with a prohibition theme for my consumption. I'm choosing the pre-pro fav: rye whiskey. The rye of choice this evening: Wild Turkey.

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I'm marking Prohibition Repeal Day (Dec. 5, 1933) with an 'old-and-new' pairing.

Another Holiday!!! thankyousign.gif BTW, I love the Bernheim!

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I just opened a bottle of EW Single Barrel. My first taste of an EW bottle and I am less than impressed. Not much of a taste to it.

As luck would have it my reqular store also had a couple bottles of Kentucky Spirit on the shelf today (a rare find up in my neck of the woods). So like and good WT fan I picked it up along with a bottle RB and an RR101. I think I'll have to get a few local bourbon devotees to come over for a holiday tasting soon!!!

Tim toast.gif

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Must agree with your EWSB evaluation, but at the same time I took a chance that cost only $21 and that is okay with me.

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OH, I'll drink it, no question about that. It just seemed to offer more and didn't come through. I think that is my impression from tasting as well as the marketing/packaging side.

Tim

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FWIW, I didn't get much of anything from the 1994 EWSB edition, until the bottom third of the bottle, when I started to enjoy it more. Have had a couple of drinks of the 1995 (2005), and wouldn't be surprised if I feel the same about it. I don't know if I'll buy future bottlings, but am certain I won't be one who waits in anticipation; more a curiosty thing.

Bob

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Last night was a tribute to the Van Winkle family for me. I started with a long pour of the ORVW 15 and followed it with pour of the ORVW 10. Both are fantastic, following with the younger of the two made me feel like I had a steak dinner with desert...that 10 year is just fantastically sweet to me.

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I thought EWSB 95 was a little thin too, so I'm not the only one. Last night I had a Weller Antique followed by an ORVW 10 yr 90 proof. BTW, yesterday at our largest liquor store, they were out of Old Grand Dad 114. They had a sign stating out at distributor.They did have plenty of 86 proof and the BinB. Hope that's temporary!

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Tonight I began with a nip of EWSB 1995 and I've now moved on to a nice pour of VOB 90. The EWSB tasted very nutty tonight with a bit leather on the back end, while the VOB is like candy with lots of caramel and maple. Both are nice pours and great values. toast.gif

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I'm reading this tonight with a pour of Elmer T Lee. It was a hard choice tonight between this one and Eagle Rare. After only 3 pours of Elmer off this new bottle, I think may have become my stock bourbon to keep around. It's at a nice price point and really has a lot of good character and no drawbacks that I can discern. Very well mannered.

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I had a pour of Pappy 20 followed by two pours of WT 12 at the bar. I am now sipping a bit of Rare Perfection Rye 11 yo. Pretty good night!

Ed toast.gif

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Last night in the interest of finishing off an almost-empty bottle I had a couple pours of Old Overholt rye. Bearing in mind that it is a cheap, young, low-proof whiskey, it was not bad at all. I would love to see what Old Overholt (or Beam's yellow-label rye, for that matter) would be like at a higher proof or with a little more age. Too bad they don't have a rye in the Small Batch collection!

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Last night a fellow bourbon crazy coworker dropped by and I treated him to an all-star lineup. I poured wLw, Stagg F05, Tribute, and ORVW 15/107 for each of us. I think he'll be dropping by a bit more often now....

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I think Old Overholt would be wonderful with some age (and proof). Not a fan of JB rye, but would certainly buy abottle of any attempt to make a better whiskey out of it.

Bob

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Out at the distributor? I'm probably just being paranoid, but I'll pick up a couple of bottles this weekend. I've always been a little worried about JB's committment to the OGD line (for instance, it has no website that I can find), and even if sales of OGD 114 are steady, I'm sure it looks like an absurdly low volume to them (I wouldn't be surprised if they sell more bottles of a couple of their "small batch" collection). I can just see them deciding it would be more profitable to put that whiskey into 86. Or worse.

I like the BIB, but would realy miss the 114. Aside from its merits for drinking around the house, it's my backpacking bourbon.

Bob

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Not a fan of JB rye

You are far from alone here and elsewhere, but it has its fans, enthusiastic fans, even, and I am one. I understand it's a steady seller (of course, so is JB White). It's been in the JB stable for years.

I think to appreciate it, you have to shift gears from expecting a rich, full bodied, well aged fat whiskey. It is young but not too young. By this, I mean that all of the raw, feinty notes are aged out, but the character of the original spirit is still evident.

It is lean (but not mean), with not a lot of barrel notes. Instead, the rye comes through as firm, focused and tight, with, fruity, with some floral notes (lavender, especially, which I often get from rye) and some esters from fermentation and aging. I find it really complex and enjoyable. It's my standard rye pour, by which I mean that it's the one I keep in my rye decanter.

It's all what makes horse races.

I think it's interesting that Old Overholt reportedly has a higher rye content (65% vs. 51%), yet I find it somewhat more bourbony on first impression. More of the barrel richness, I guess. It's only with the second sip that I can begin to recognize that there is lots of rye present. Definitely different rye styles - perhaps what Gary has characterized as Pennsylvania vs. Maryland.

Jeff

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Tonight, I'm embarking on a Stagg vertical - with smaller-than-usual pours. At the moment, I'm on my first pour, the Fall '05 "Hazmat II" version. Having had the '04 and Spring '05 versions before, once again the new bottling is amazingly drinkable neat. I then tried just a few drops of water in it, and it opened up quite nicely - it's beautifully rich. Like the Larue and the Saz, it also has an extra-long finish. I'm glad I got one of each! bowdown.gifyum.gif

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Well, I'm now finishing up on the Stagg vertical (plus a nice helping of Scorched3D - a great game to play while drinking - especially in networked multiplayer mode grin.gif). It seems like the '04 version is the sweetest of the three - in some ways the flavor makes me think of spiced-up maple syrup. The Spring and Fall '05 versions have a hotter cinnamon spiciness to them - they're very close in character, with the Fall version fittingly being just a bit stronger. Which is the "best?" It's hard to say - they are all wonderful! They all share both extreme intensity and accessibility - provided you sip them, of course. bigeyes.gif

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Out at the distributor?... I like the BIB, but would realy miss the 114. Aside from its merits for drinking around the house, it's my backpacking bourbon.Bob

Good news Bob, Today I went back (Jim Beam 8 y.o. w/cigar holder flask combo on sale $13.99)and lo and behold, there was 4 bottles back on the shelf! Now, as far as the JB8, I thought it was OK. To me it had more bite than the OGD 114. But last night, I did a very interesting mix. I started with a Glenlivet 15 y.o. French oak finish (surprisingly bourbon like)followed by Weller Antique 107. They fit!! We have had discussions on other posts as to a good bourbon/scotch bridge; well, here it is! Chaz

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I'm drinking Evan Williams 7 year old because I was drinking Elijah Craig neat, it was a little hard to drink so I added ice, then I still was making an effort to drink it so I added a splash of seven up but thought I sinned. So the next drink was just Evan Williams and 7UP. Tastes darned good!

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Many people here prefer their Bourbon neat, including me. It is generally the only way I drink it, and that's fine. But if you like it with ginger ale, 7up or Yahoo, that's fine too. However you enjoy it is what's right for you. Don't let anyone convince you there is only one right way to enjoy Bourbon. There are infinite many ways and you may like different things different ways and those ways may change over the years. Enjoy the journey.

Ken

By the way - shocked.gif Kentucky Spirit for me tonight shocked.gif

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