Your most disappointing purchase?

[BourbonDave]

I happen to be a fan of WR and OFS (Old Forerster Signature). It doesn't get alot of love on the sites, but it can be a bit one-dimensional. That metallic taste you mentioned is due to the fact that they use copper pots from Scotland.

If you want more flavor, get some OFS. You'll taste the connection to WR, but I think it has a little more personality and definetly more proof-90 vs 100. Another idea is to try OFBB.

To keep with the thread, my most dissapointing purchase has to have been Old Fitz 1849 (newest bottle charcoal filtered), it tasted like a sweet old stick. I'll also have to say Knob Creek didn't do it for me either, a bit too yeasty.

[BBQ+Bourbon]

The only really terrible bourbon I've owned is the Very Special Old Fitz I bought a couple weeks ago. It's a current bottling that has an awful taste that I can't explain. The nose and taste is so terrible I can't stick around long enough to decipher it. I mixed it 2:1 with coke and loaded it with ice but it was so bad I poured it out.

Another drink that's horrible is Yukon Jack. The local CVS put some stock on clearance at 75% off and I filled a shopping cart. Four or five bottles were Yukon Jack at $4 each. Drowned in Coke, it was tolerable. Small wonder they couldn't sell it at $16!

[ErichPryde]

The only really terrible bourbon I've owned is the Very Special Old Fitz I bought a couple weeks ago. It's a current bottling that has an awful taste that I can't explain. The nose and taste is so terrible I can't stick around long enough to decipher it. I mixed it 2:1 with coke and loaded it with ice but it was so bad I poured it out.

Is that the bottle that cracked? That could explain a lot.

[tommyboy38]

A fairly recent bottling of Cabin Still that totally blew. Had absolutely nothing going on. Blech! Is it still a wheater? I love most of them...not this one. It sucked.

[BBQ+Bourbon]

Is that the bottle that cracked? That could explain a lot.

It is, but I don't think it changed the drink. The bottle cracked on the bottom so I turned it upside-down and stored it that way. Within an hour of cracking the bottle I ran it through a coffee filter. To be sure there was no flavor contamination I ran the pot and filter housing through a full-on 'kill' cycle in my dishwasher. Then I put it into a clean glass bourbon bottle. This dishwasher is amazing, Whirlpool Estate, fwiw.

I wish you were closer to KC, I'd give you a sip of this stuff. It's really terrible- hence the sip. Even Evan Williams at $10/bottle is far, far better. Just now, I revisited this putrid bottle for the slightest of sips. It actually doesn't smell that bad- pure caramel/brown sugar/toffee with no alcohol. Taste it, and you'd think you just dragged your tongue down a dusty windowsill. I might have tried worse fare, but none that I can recall.

[ErichPryde]

Hmm. being exposed to air like that could have changed the flavor somewhat, but you're probably right- whiskey oxidizes all the time and doesn't taste as bad as you are describing...

[sailor22]

Two disappointments last week and weekend.

I opened an Old Taylor from '84 that I found last week and discovered it was nasty. Looked good, smelled OK but it was undrinkable - I tried two more times and even had a friend try it - we couldn't drink it. I found it in an old shop in South Georgia and I'm guessing it was stored for some time in an hot storage room and had been cooked somehow.

Also opened a handle of Old Grand Dad BiB from '81 that wasn't nearly as good as I had hoped. It was kind of metallic and dense tasting. I'l try it again in a few days and see if it opens up a little after it gets some air.

[BBQ+Bourbon]

The only really terrible bourbon I've owned is the Very Special Old Fitz I bought a couple weeks ago. It's a current bottling that has an awful taste that I can't explain. The nose and taste is so terrible I can't stick around long enough to decipher it. I mixed it 2:1 with coke and loaded it with ice but it was so bad I poured it out.

Another drink that's horrible is Yukon Jack. The local CVS put some stock on clearance at 75% off and I filled a shopping cart. Four or five bottles were Yukon Jack at $4 each. Drowned in Coke, it was tolerable. Small wonder they couldn't sell it at $16!

I worked up the courage to try this one again and it's just as terrible as I remembered. The odd taste was beets and dirt and it's overwhelming.

I want to dump it out, but feel compromised pouring out $30. I could have bought nearly two bottles of OWA for that money.

[sailor22]

After a few pours I gave the OGD another chance and with just a drop or two of spring water it opens up very nicely.

Big, smokey and layerd - very very nice.

Glad I gave it another chance.

[DeanSheen]

The Willett 7yr 121 I got from the D&M whiskey club has been wretched irregardless of price and taste. If I factor in those two metrics it gets even worse.

[sailor22]

AGREED! Of all the Willett's I have had the D&M is the most disapointing.

[independant]

My most disappointing bourbon still stands as the Blantons SB. It is not undrinkable it is just so plain jane to me. Maybe I got a funny bottle but at 50.00 I will probly never know because I have better bourbon to buy with that money.

[DeanSheen]

AGREED! Of all the Willett's I have had the D&M is the most disapointing.

Good to know I am not alone. It gave me instant heartburn. Bad selection, but I guess it's their first time trying to pick American hooch.

[Phantos]

Four Roses Small Batch.

blah. red hots and blah.

[ratcheer]

I have been thinking about this question for several weeks, since it was first posted. There have been several candidates for my answer for several different reasons. I have made my decision.

My most disappointing bourbon purchase was Bulleit. I had read varying comments about it on sb.com, but it was fairly expensive (everything is in AL) so I hadn't pulled the trigger. But, one day the clerk in the ABC store noticed me carefully perusing the bourbon section and came over to talk. I had several items I was considering and he put in a strong recommendation for Bulleit. So, I decided to try it.

My tasting notes can probably be found here, somewhere. But, briefly, it was far too sweet for my taste and I didn't much care for the rest of the profile, either. By the time I had gotten through about half the bottle (over a period of weeks), I basically decided it was undrinkable.

About $35, wasted.

Tim

[PAspirit1]

I've only bought two bottles that took a long time to finish. One was Evan Williams 1783 and the other was my second bottle of EC12. I enjoyed my first bottle of EC12 but I actually poured out the last 150ml or so of the second one to use the bottle as a deacanteur. I never thought that would happen but the flavor was way off.

[ILLfarmboy]

My most disappointing bourbon still stands as the Blantons SB. It is not undrinkable it is just so plain jane to me. Maybe I got a funny bottle but at 50.00 I will probly never know because I have better bourbon to buy with that money.

Plain Jane is just how I would describe the only bottle of Blanton's I bought. Then after I let it sit for several months, perhaps because of cork taint, it took on an odd note, a cafeteria smell. It was in the nose far more than the taste. It wasn't strong but once I picked up on it, It may have been there all along and not caused by a cork issue, I couldn't focus on anything else.

[unclebunk]

I once bought a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 10/90 that was absolutely horrendous. The juice literally smelled like a dirty ash tray and was undrinkable. Could that have been the result of cork taint? Any theories?

[B1bomber]

For me it has to be the Tuthilltown Hudson bourbons, both the four-grain and the baby. I wanted to like them both being that they're relatively local to my area and the bottle style and label both caught my eye. Unfortunately, neither works for me and both sit on my shelf waiting for someone to come along and mercifully take them away.

Two others on my black list:

Wasmund's (I know, it's not a bourbon)-- wanted to like this one also, but couldn't choke it down. Tried to pass it off on some (not so favorite) houseguests in mixers and that didn't even work. Wound up pouring it down the drain.

Kentucky Vintage-- (not to be confused with the superb Vintage Bourbon 17, 21 or 23). Another one I sent down the drain. Maybe I just got a bad bottle, I dunno, but it was rank stuff, IMO.

[Martian]

Rittenhouse Rye 80. The stuff gave me an immediate headache. I tried it again a few days later and got the same headache.

[happy hooligan]

elijah craig was mine.

tasted like watered down flat cola.

[snakster]

Maybe because my expectations were high, but Pappy 20 was disappointing for me. So much oak in the taste, it was like I was drinking from a wooden cup. I wouldn't buy it again at half the cost. Or even a quarter.

[Rughi]

Maybe because my expectations were high, but Pappy 20 was disappointing for me. So much oak in the taste, it was like I was drinking from a wooden cup. I wouldn't buy it again at half the cost. Or even a quarter.

I think that's the second time in my life I've seen that reference. The other from Chuck Berry:

Way down South they gave a jubilee

Them country folks they had a jamboree

They're drinkin' home - brew from a wooden cup

The folks dancin' got all shook up

And started playin' that rock'n'roll music...

I'm thinking some homebrew might benefit from a bit more woodiness - Pappy 20, perhaps not so much.

Roger

[p_elliott]

Maybe because my expectations were high, but Pappy 20 was disappointing for me. So much oak in the taste, it was like I was drinking from a wooden cup. I wouldn't buy it again at half the cost. Or even a quarter.

That's strange because I find it to be almost too sweet.

[snakster]

That's strange because I find it to be almost too sweet.

Actually I found Elmer T Lee too sweet. I guess I couldn't get past the oak flavor to make judgments on any other aspect.