What makes (or always has made) Bourbon such a unique drink to you?

[ILLfarmboy]

The taste and of course the aroma. Like the alluring aroma of a tobacco shop (tobacco can smell wonderful, so long as it isn't burning.:grin:

It is a uniquely American beverage. Its history. And the fact that if it says "bourbon" on the lable you know exactly what you are getting for your hard earned dollar.

[nor02lei]

Al row I’m not drinking any other whiskey at home than bourbon and other American straight I am an former single malt drinker and I still drink it at tasting events in our local whisky club. There for I want to compare the 2 from my personal preferences on this thread.

For me it works the way that the more bourbon I drink the better it taste. With single malt it did work that way just in the beginning but not any more after that.

Since my small town have the biggest single malt club in Sweden with over 220 members I get a lot of opportunities to taste high quality and expensive single malts. This has had the effect on me that I think many standard single malt don’t have much to offer. When it comes to bourbon it works different. Now that have tasted relatively much high quality bourbon and sometimes go back to cheaper standard bottles I often find much more nice qualities and flavours in them compared to what I found when I was less experienced.

Another difference is that despite the fact that bourbon is generally heavier flavoured than single malt its still easer to drink. That has had the effect on me that the level in open bourbon bottles lowers faster then single malt bottles. That could seem like an advantage economically to malts but the lower prices on bourbon kind of evens this out.

The difference in drink-ability also have the effect on me that I hardly never get drunk if I drink malts as the mane drink a drinking evening. When it comes to bourbon I don’t get drunk that often but it do occasionally happen. I would say that the occasion and mood settles if this is an advantage or disadvantage.

Leif

[ghostwolf]

I was born with Bourbon runing thew me. My father worked for Segram's for 36 years at the plant on 7th street in Louisville and then the Four Roses plant in Lawrenceburg. All the kids i knew took cold medicine i had hot toddy's. It's been with in me ever since

[Dramiel McHinson]

As a very young boy growing up in the deep south watching my grandfather and uncles sitting around a crisp fall afternoon talking shop (all were cops)drinking jim beam or evan williams. I guess it's in my blood.

I had a similar experience. My extended family made their own whiskey and when I came along in the 50's, whiskey was a natural part of every family gathering. I was infatuated by the glitzy and charismatic whiskey adds in magazines and on TV. Every great actor threw down some whiskey and had a smoke as the movie drama unfolded. It was as much a part of American culture as anything else. Now I drink single malt and blended scotch and good ole American bourbon and whiskey. Few people outside the US get it when it comes to the bourbon or whiskey experience. It's a man's drink, it's complex, strong and flavorful. Don't get me wrong, my taste for whisk(e)y is broad and far ranging but the foundation of my passion for whiskey is rooted in good ole American sour mash. I've lived in Europe, Southwest Asia and the Orient and had myself a drink or two of their stuff and liked it but when it was time for real men to drink real spirits, I want a bottle of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. I drank bourbon with a French soldier once and he was very adept at finding ways that French spirits were better. In the end he was drunk, on his knees and crying for his mommy. I was pouring myself another glass of America's finest and cleaning my M16 for the next days work. Strong and proud it is, with a heritage like none other in the world; just like the people that make it and drink it.

[adirondack]

I think it all boils down to the 'enjoyable burn'. Though I have had a couple pours that don't fit that description (negatively or positively), the enjoyable burn is what hooked me.