Empty Bottles Support Group

[cowdery]

Four Roses Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Crafted from Four Select Bourbons.

Definitely will replace.

[jspero]

Japanese Four Roses SB (this past Sunday). I'm hoping to pick up another one on a trip to Tokyo in June.

Jay

[CrispyCritter]

My first BTAC '06 casualty: ER17.

Interestingly, the Stagg will be the longest-lasting bottle of my first BTAC '06 set. Its sheer intensity results in smaller pours.

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

I have one of these on the go at the moment. I like it well enough, but am not overly impressed. It took a big dip this week when I wanted alcohol delivery more than a pour to savor.

Ed

[cowdery]

At my dad's this weekend, we finished off a bottle of Weller Special Reserve, an Everett's single barrel selection. Dad told me he liked the previous bottle I gave him, EWSB 1994, better so I have restocked his cabinet with that.

But he also told me that what he really likes is Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye, of which I have an unopened bottle, and nothing's too good for dad.

[SBOmarc]

Weller 107, and WTRB. They will be missed, they both served me well.

[CrispyCritter]

'06 Saz 18 is done for - one unopened bottle left in reserve.

Among my first set of '06 BTAC, the Handy and the Larue are both very low. I'm not yet sure which one I'll drain first. The Stagg is still about 40% full - aside from its intensity, there's also an open Fall '05 bottle which has helped keep the '06 one from evaporating too quickly.

[gothbat]

As I type this the last bit of my '06 GTS is making it's way through a coffee filter. I saved a tiny bit of '05 and it will likely meet the same end later this evening.

Do most people filter or not filter out the char? I know GTS was made in response to requests for an uncut and unfiltered bourbon and that char would be a natural occurrence in some bottles but on the other hand I find it overpowers the taste of the bourbon itself. It's not bad but I prefer to not have it. I guess to some it would be like the sour sugar at the bottom of a bag of Sour Patch Kids.

[TNbourbon]

As I type this the last bit of my '06 GTS is making it's way through a coffee filter. I saved a tiny bit of '05 and it will likely meet the same end later this evening.

Do most people filter or not filter out the char? I know GTS was made in response to requests for an uncut and unfiltered bourbon and that char would be a natural occurrence in some bottles but on the other hand I find it overpowers the taste of the bourbon itself. It's not bad but I prefer to not have it. I guess to some it would be like the sour sugar at the bottom of a bag of Sour Patch Kids.

While I don't want a glassful of it, I don't mind a few particles. Thus, if it's the last pour of a bottle, I simply pour with the bottle almost horizontal -- as you would decant a wine with sediment -- and stop pouring when the char seems to about equal the whiskey moving with it. (Then I mix the rest with diet Coke, which hides the char really well:grin: And, it doesn't take much Stagg to flavor a dab of cola.).

[Joeluka]

As I type this the last bit of my '06 GTS is making it's way through a coffee filter. I saved a tiny bit of '05 and it will likely meet the same end later this evening.

Do most people filter or not filter out the char? I know GTS was made in response to requests for an uncut and unfiltered bourbon and that char would be a natural occurrence in some bottles but on the other hand I find it overpowers the taste of the bourbon itself. It's not bad but I prefer to not have it. I guess to some it would be like the sour sugar at the bottom of a bag of Sour Patch Kids.

I slam it like a worm at the end of a bottle of Mezcal :bigeyes: :bigeyes:

[CrispyCritter]

I kind of like the last "charcoal-grilled" pours - but I tend to swirl the bottle before pouring once it gets about half full.

[JeffRenner]

At my dad's this weekend, we finished off a bottle of Weller Special Reserve

Chuck, you are a lucky man to be able to share bourbon (and rye) with your dad. I'm sure you know that.

I rediscovered bourbon about ten years ago, four years after my dad died. He wasn't a big drinker, but he liked a bourbon highball, and my mother says that he enjoyed manhattans as a younger man. It would have been nice to have shared a few, and maybe to have introduced him to unmixed bourbon.

But at least I do have the privilege and pleasure of sharing these with my own son (and son-in-law). Sadly, they both live 2000 miles away.

Jeff

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

Oh, I like the char at the end of a bottle of BTAC. I make sure to pour carefully at the end of the bottle so that there are lots of particles in the last pour.

Ed

[cowdery]

Right you are, Jeff. Dad is 87, in very good health, and I very much recognize how lucky I am to have had so much time with him.

[Special Reserve]

Right you are, Jeff. Dad is 87, in very good health, and I very much recognize how lucky I am to have had so much time with him.

I got a lot of octogenarian wisdom from my dad. I really enjoyed that time with him and I look back to that time (and other times) with great fondness.

[CrispyCritter]

Well, my Binny's single-barrel BT didn't survive tonight. Surprise, surprise. :drink:

[gothbat]

I had my last pour of 2004 GTS last night, I think I enjoyed it more than any other pour I’ve had from this bottle. While I was sipping it I made an attempt at notes:

Hints of vanilla, honey, and maple syrup in the nose. The most noticeable thing about the taste is the vanilla. It may just be the alcohol but there is also a bit of spice in the “background†as well, there’s something else familiar here too but I cannot quite put my finger on it. Light char in the finish despite the total absence of it in the bottle. Although it doesn’t have the same complexity of the other GTS’s I’ve had, with those I almost always find myself noting something to the effect of “Wow, there’s a lot going on here!†but this one was a fine pour all the same. Who knows if I will ever acquire another one.

I also finished the last of my EC18, another bottle that just had 1 last pour in it.

[angelshare]

The empty bottle is still a little ways off, but we have about 2/3 of a 1.75 of the 8 yo Fighting Cock left. We can't drink it! We just have a hard time believing we'll ever find any more. We're more likely to pour Stagg of any year than this. Not that FC is better (though we've never done a head-to-head), but no one at HH is looking to continue that flavor profile. Once it's gone, it's gone.

We're paralyzed by the thought of an empty bottle!

[cowdery]

The empty bottle is still a little ways off, but we have about 2/3 of a 1.75 of the 8 yo Fighting Cock left. We can't drink it! We just have a hard time believing we'll ever find any more. We're more likely to pour Stagg of any year than this. Not that FC is better (though we've never done a head-to-head), but no one at HH is looking to continue that flavor profile. Once it's gone, it's gone.

We're paralyzed by the thought of an empty bottle!

We understand, guys, and we feel your pain.

[T47]

Thomas H Handy has hit the recycle bin. I have enjoyed this bottle to the sad end.

As I journal the end of this one, it had so much more than just wonderful flavor. I recall sitting on the computer at work and doing a quick check of the SB.com site and discovering a message from a generous and thoughtful SB'r that she had a "few" bottles of this available and would I be interested?

Myself and 2 of my work friends were the lucky beneficiaries. This site has so much more than great information...A melting pot of great people from so many places. I digress; such is the result of quality last pours. There was just enough in the bottle to debate one big one or 2 little ones. I choose the one big one, fitting of the many nice memories this bottle has brought.

I love hot spicy food. Maybe that’s why I lean to these high proof bottles? The nose reminds me of one of those clove stuffed oranges. The Taste is oily, full of cinnamon. The finish has a slight and pleasant burn; it does not let me forget for a long while that it has passed.

:toast:

[tango-papa]

The empty bottle is still a little ways off, but we have about 2/3 of a 1.75 of the 8 yo Fighting Cock left. We can't drink it! We just have a hard time believing we'll ever find any more. We're more likely to pour Stagg of any year than this. Not that FC is better (though we've never done a head-to-head), but no one at HH is looking to continue that flavor profile. Once it's gone, it's gone.

We're paralyzed by the thought of an empty bottle!

Your post inspired me to grab the only bottle of Fighting Cock 8 year I've ever seen. Purchased the somewhat dusty (750ml) bottle yesterday for $16.

Oh yeah, and my bottle of regular old WT 101 is a pour or two from the end.

~tp

[jburlowski]

Finished off a bottle of GTS "Hazmat"... always sad to see one of the irreplaceable Staggs go by.

[SBOmarc]

Saz Jr. hit the pile last night. It will be missed. I did however finally find the Rittenhouse BIB. I look forward to the first taste.

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

I didn't empty a bottle last night, but I did, finally, throw away all the empty Blanton bottles I had. There were nine of them, Gold, Silver, Regular and Straight from the barrel. I kept the horsies though. Interestingly, the corks had dried out in the empty bottles.

Ed

[CrispyCritter]

A bottle of ETL went empty last night... it sure was good, though!