The Place, The Time, The Drink...

[Gillman]

Place: Petrossian Paris bar at Bellagio, Las Vegas

The Time: 1:00 p.m. during a very busy holiday week in this town

The Drink: Hirsch 16 blue wax

The Inspiration: Randy Blank

The Price: $11.00 for what in Canada would be a double (to put this in further context, the bar was selling Booker's for $13.00)

The Upshot: A great value to put it mildly.

Gary

[Virus_Of_Life]

And they also sell Pappy 20 I think for $15!

If only you'd have stuck $10 in the video poker the drink would have been free!

But still $11 for an impossible to acquire bourbon... A bargain indeed!

How long you there for Gary?

[Gillman]

Free if you play, yes, but I'm not a player.

I leave Friday. Quite an extraordinary town, the energy and vibe are quite unique. The only thing I don't like is the traffic.

Thinking about it again, the offer of the irreplaceable Hirsch 16 (Michter's 1974) for a song defines a certain kind of American insouciance.

Gary

[tango-papa]

Free if you play, yes, but I'm not a player.

I leave Friday. Quite an extraordinary town, the energy and vibe are quite unique. The only thing I don't like is the traffic.

Thinking about it again, the offer of the irreplaceable, prime Hirsch 16 (Michter's 1974) for a song defines a certain kind of American insouciance.

Gary

Please excuse me while I go look up that ins... sumthin word.

My wife's been hinting at a Vegas trip for years... hmmm, perhaps now I have a reason to actually "want" to go...

[ratcheer]

My wife's been hinting at a Vegas trip for years... hmmm, perhaps now I have a reason to actually "want" to go...

I never wanted to go there, either. But about seven years ago, my wife's company had a business conference trip to LV and spouses were invited. All expenses were paid (and more), so I went. We had a blast.

There are plenty of things to do besides gambling, which we only did a very small bit of. There is the Boulder Dam, Lake Mead, and the Grand Canyon. Golf courses are everywhere. There are more great restaurants than you can imagine. And it is fun just walking up and down the strip looking at and in all the beautiful hotels.

I may not ever go again, but I am glad I went at least once.

Tim

[doubleblank]

Gary....Glad you're enjoying the Hirsch. Please leave a little for me and Rob (RedVette) as we're coming out in a few weeks for the CES show. Rob's company has businnes during that week.....me, I'm just a leach. My bud Jeff is also coming to Vegas.

Randy

[Gillman]

No problem Randy, I've only had one dram.

Thanks again for the recommendation.

I'll try to get one more in later tonight.

Gary

[kbuzbee]

Glad you enjoyed LV, Gary. I've been several times. First few were a tech conf. Last two times we just went for the trip. Never tried to drive "the strip" but we did rent a car to hit the dam, the canyon and red rock. Great trips.

We do gamble, a bit, just the slots, nothing too intense. It's fun for a bit. I'll drop $20 in about ten minutes and I'm done. Arlene can make $20 last for hours. I have no idea how she does it.... But there IS a lot to do there. I think we've seen three Cirque shows and Blue Man Group. Great town.... for a few days anyway.

My first time there (many years ago) I had my first Blanton's. At the time it wasn't available in Ohio. I thought "Man, this is good!" You can find almost anything in Vegas.... somewhere.

Congrats on the Hirsch. Very nice!

Ken

[Gillman]

Ken, I liked also the old town, which is the area around Fremont Street.

Although casinos dominate there too and the "malling" of Fremont Street obscures some of its origins, you still get a sense of what the original Las Vegas was like.

It was a Western town, like Reno still is and the core of Denver still is or the Canadian analogues are (Calgary, Saskatoon, etc.). There's rail and marshalling yards, old hotels, the court house, the line of stores selling all and sundry. Lady clerk in one of them liquor stores (where I'm spying my minis) says to a guy, "well, if yer talkin' tequila, I'd go for that one there with the yellow top because when I drink that one I have a headache for a week and I KNOW I drank tequila".

I ain't making that that up either, I heard it on Fremont Street 3 weeks ago. You wouldn't hear that in Petrossian's Bar 5 miles up the Strip.

The casinos downtown have an older, settled look with their brass chandeliers, dark bars, $5.00 tables and caged cashier's desks. You can sometimes think it is 1935 or 1915 in places like that. I liked them better than the hushed plush hangars in the fancy hotels, they seemed more real.

One of the old buildings off Fremont Street, now a handsome restored hotel, had a brewpub, Triple 7, which is one of the best I've ever been to.

I have some friends who live in the swank Red Rock area (Summerlin) and I liked being there of course and coursing the nice hotels but I could be just as happy downtown.

Gary

[kbuzbee]

I hear you. I was never able to get Arlene away from the South Strip.... Oh well, lots to do there too. Just "over produced".

Ken

[Solomon2]

It wasn't complimentary? MGM served me WT on the house while I was playing Blackjack a couple of years ago.

[FlashPuppy]

It wasn't complimentary? MGM served me WT on the house while I was playing Blackjack a couple of years ago.

WT and Hirsch Blue are a far cry from each other. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my WT. I am having some as I type this even. However, what if I offered you a car. I'll GIVE you a Yugo, but you gotta pay for the Ferrari...

[Barrel_Proof]

Lady clerk in one of them liquor stores (where I'm spying my minis) says to a guy, "well, if yer talkin' tequila, I'd go for that one there with the yellow top because when I drink that one I have a headache for a week and I KNOW I drank tequila".

I ain't making that that up either, I heard it on Fremont Street 3 weeks ago.

Gary

Priceless, simply priceless. Thanks for being in the right place at the right time and sharing it with us in a great post, Gary!

[Virus_Of_Life]

It wasn't complimentary? MGM served me WT on the house while I was playing Blackjack a couple of years ago.

WT and Hirsch Blue are a far cry from each other. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE my WT. I am having some as I type this even. However, what if I offered you a car. I'll GIVE you a Yugo, but you gotta pay for the Ferrari...

Gary stated earlier in the thread he wasn't gambling; therefore it wasn't complimentary. The Hirsch is complimentary if you are gambling trust me, and Randy is probably taking advantage of that.... Yeah right about this very minute!!......

[Gillman]

Why, thankee Cliff.

Yeah, I didn't play in Las Vegas, so I paid for the drinks I had.

Saved money and calories all round, I think.

Gary

[mythrenegade]

I too love Fremont street. The casino you are thinking of is Main Street Station. The 777 bar is indeed a great place to go for a good beer, and the hotel is glorious.

My favorite casino there is Golden Gate, primarily because it seems to best capture the vegas of old. The slots still take coins, they have cheap shrimp cocktail in the back, and the finest bourbon available is WT80...

Last time I was there we sat in the back where an old black lady played jazz on the piano. It was awesome! (we tipped her well)

I can enjoy being in the Wynn or the Belagio, but there is something about the old places on Fremont street that have a unique charm about them. Except for the Plaza. That place is just a freakin' dive.

Joel

[MrAtomic]

Hello All,

Apologies for resuscitating a month-old thread, but I just returned from Las Vegas and having been inspired by Gillman to make my own pilgrimage to the Bellagio for Hirsch 16 Blue Wax, I thought I'd post some impressions:

First off, the carpets in the Bellagio are about 4 inches deep. I suppose this contributes to the general air of cheerful opulence, but I use a manual wheelchair and the stress of pushing myself through a half-mile of oatmeal-like carpeting to reach Petrossian's Bar almost popped my shoulders out of their sockets. Petrossian's turned out to be closed for a private party related to the NBA All-Star Game held in Las Vegas the next day, so I sampled the Hirsch 16 at one of the smaller, no-name bars in the Bellagio. No matter -- I went for the whiskey, not the seating.

I ended up drinking two generous pours of the Hirsch Blue Wax, and to be honest, I was left a bit puzzled. Granted, I was in a casino full of smoke, noise, and various other distractions, and yes, my palate isn't terribly developed, but I didn't detect an enormous amount of difference between the blue wax Hirsch and the gold foil version sitting in my kitchen closet. I would really like to try the blue wax version again, in a quieter, less insane setting but even so, it was a fantastic time. I got a chance to explain a bit of American whiskey history to my friends (history that I absorbed from this website), and talked about 6 of them into joining me for the trip to the Bellagio. I was the only one who tried the Hirsch 16, but others sampled the PVW 15 and the VWFRR 13 available at the bar. My friends are not typically interested in bourbon/whiskey, so it was quite nice to share the experience.

[Jazzhead]

Count me as a fan of Fremont Street, too. That, to me, is "my" Las Vegas, where with luck a C note can get me a couple hours play (and free beer ) at a $3 blackjack table. The Bay City Diner at the Golden Gate is great for a prime rib at three in the morning. A couple months back I discovered the Irish pub across from the Neonopolis, which had a great band and tasty Makers Mark.

The Golden Gate is my favorite spot on Fremont, too, Mythrenegade. It's the old Vegas vibe - I dig the antique slot machines in the lobby and the Frisco-style saloon piano. Main Street Station, where the Triple Seven is, is easily the most ornate joint on the Street, filled with mahogany and antiques. And don't forget the El Cortez, which not only looks like old Vegas, it truly is -the facade on Fremont Street looks identical to the way in did in the late forties. A smoky time warp.

[TNbourbon]

...with luck a C note can get me a couple hours play (and free beer ) at a $3 blackjack table...

Whoohee! I don't mean to be derogatory, I promise -- but a C-note, on average, ought to get you a whole lot more than a couple of hours of $3 blackjack!

A solid basic-stratagy player, on a standard-rules game, has only a half-percent disadvantage to the house. In other words, in a 'reasonable' 60-hand hour, even averaging $5 per bet, you're expected loss is $1.50 per hour. Even if you make occasional basic-strategy mistakes, your average loss shouldn't top $5 per hour.

Sure, I've experienced (as has everyone) streaks of 10-12 straight losses and 15-45 hourly win-loss ratios -- but those are as abnormal as win streaks of that length.

But, in short, if you're losing $100 in a couple of hours playing $3 blackjack:bigeyes: , maybe you ought to try the slots...

Just sayin'...:skep:

(My favorite 'seedy joint' downtown -- at least until Lady Luck reopens -- is the Gold Spike, which is actually on Ogden, I think. I even stayed there once. Had a four-poster bed. Wasn't bad for $25 a night. I can tolerate the cigarette smoke for that.)

[cowdery]

Did someone say the Hirsch 16 blue wax was significantly different from the Hirsch 16 gold foil? No reason to think they would be, they were just bottled at different times. They're the same whiskey and if there's any difference at all, the gold foil might be a little older. But, basically, the gold foil was dumped into stainless about when the blue wax was bottled. So there's really no difference.

Obviously, there should be a difference between any of the 16s and the 19 and 20, which are just the same whiskey left in the wood a little longer. I think the blue wax and the gold foil may be different proofs, but that's the only difference.

[MrAtomic]

Did someone say the Hirsch 16 blue wax was significantly different from the Hirsch 16 gold foil? No reason to think they would be, they were just bottled at different times. They're the same whiskey and if there's any difference at all, the gold foil might be a little older. But, basically, the gold foil was dumped into stainless about when the blue wax was bottled. So there's really no difference.

Chuck,

I don't know how to link to threads on straightbourbon, but I searched for "blue wax" and found multiple posts in which members describe the blue wax and gold wax versions as more desirable than the gold foil version. I'm far from an expert, but it seems as though some members believe the gold foil version has suffered a bit from its time in stainless steel tanks. I've finished off one bottle of the gold foil and enjoyed it quite a bit, so I was curious about whether I'd be able to discern real differences between it and the blue wax version available at the Bellagio. I wasn't, which led me to question my tastebuds and the smoke-filled casino environment. At this point, I'm glad I was able to taste and enjoy the blue wax version and even happier that I also enjoy the gold foil, as that is what's available to me.

[Gillman]

Any differences are relatively minor. It is all historic whiskey and any bottling still available to anyone should be treasured since this is a finite supply and getting smaller all the time..

Gary

[TNbourbon]

Having tasted the Hirsch 16 blue wax and gold foil side-by-side at the Gazebo during last fall's festival, I'd state that a difference was obvious -- the older bottling was richer in both nose and taste. However, that is not to say that the gold foil version was 'bad', or even significantly lesser -- but they clearly were not identical.

Having said that, I'm sort of agnostic about the Hirsch 16 aura, anyway. While I've always found it enjoyable enough, I doubt that I'd find it worth the money were it not for its history, significance as a Pennsylvania whiskey relic, and increasing rarity. Good bourbon, yes -- but I've never quite figured out why critics acclaim it as an all-time great, better than so much of what came before it.

[smokinjoe]

Please excuse me for digging up this old thread, but seems to fit here. While in LV last week, I came upon an ad for "Twincreeks Restaurant" at the Silverton Casino Lodge. I have no clue as to what the Silverton is, but this new restaurant, scheduled to open this month, is being promoted for "boutique bourbons, wine, food", with an emphasis on the bourbon . Don't know what they will carry, but sounds interesting. A quick google of Silverton, shows them to be south of the airport, off of Blue Diamond.

BTW, while in Vegas, just mentioning that you know Randy Blank, gets you comped everywhere!

Cheers!

JOE