What was your "gateway" bourbon?

[camduncan]

I'd have to say mine was Jim Beam and coke.

I was about 19, living on the Gold Coast (work, surf, party lifestyle), and had had one to many big nights drinking (Australian Bundaberg) Rum and Coke. I'd gotten to the point where even the smell of rum was making me sick. I couldn't stand the taste of beer (and still can't), so a friend gave me a bourbon and coke to try.

Twenty years later, my bourbon tastes have evolved considerably, but a part from the occasional Southern Comfort night, I don't drink anything else except Bourbon.

[Jane]

I'd have to say mine was Jim Beam and coke.

I was about 19, living on the Gold Coast (work, surf, party lifestyle), and had had one to many big nights drinking (Australian Bundaberg) Rum and Coke. I'd gotten to the point where even the smell of rum was making me sick. I couldn't stand the taste of beer (and still can't), so a friend gave me a bourbon and coke to try.

Twenty years later, my bourbon tastes have evolved considerably, but a part from the occasional Southern Comfort night, I don't drink anything else except Bourbon.

And to what occasion would you drink Southern Comfort? (Just curious:rolleyes:)

[camduncan]

And to what occasion would you drink Southern Comfort? (Just curious:rolleyes:)

Usually no specific occasion - just when I feel like a change. Sometimes it makes a nice 'after dessert' drink as well.

My brother in law is a beer drinker, but when drinking spirits, only drinks Southern Comfort and coke. So I often get into a session with him at family get-togethers.

[HighTower]

Usually no specific occasion - just when I feel like a change. Sometimes it makes a nice 'after dessert' drink as well.

My brother in law is a beer drinker, but when drinking spirits, only drinks Southern Comfort and coke. So I often get into a session with him at family get-togethers.

Cam,

That's just wrong! Maybe you should make him drink bourbon!!

Then, I suppose if his taste is SC, you don't want to waste the good stuff on him!!

Scott

[rlovingjr]

Old Grand Dad - I blame my mother since that is what she was drinking.

I still enjoy OGD but now I buy the bottled in bond stuff and use it in my Manhattans. The rye notes make a wonderful Manhattan.

Mom likes my Manhattans as well

[mythrenegade]

I have been a wine drinker forever, and am one of the few people who liked beer the first time I tried it. When those weren't right, I used to pour Johnny Walker Black. After a while, my brother in law got me onto single malts, and I was drinking Glenmorangie 12 yo aged in Sherry Wood casks.

And then I found bourbon. For me it was an episode of Thirsty Traveler. The only bourbon I'd ever had was a bottle of Jim Beam White that I bought in 1992 or so. I used it basically as an egg nog mixer because I couldn't stand the stuff. Then I saw the thirsty traveler episode on Kentucky Bourbon, and decided to give it a try. There were three bourbons featured on that program: Maker's Mark, Elmer T. Lee, and Pappy Van Winkel 20 year old. Maker's was the cheapest and easiest to find, so I bought a bottle.

In short, I loved it. Then I hunted down the ETL and liked that as well. At first I didn't like it as much as the Maker's. Lastly, I landed a bottle of the PVW20. Since then I have tried probably two dozen bourbons or more. Not much compared to many around here, but it's the only hard stuff I drink.

I still have a small amount left in my last bottle of glenmorangie. It's been sitting there for years...

Joel

[SippinJim]

Maker's Mark

[Tennessee Dave]

Blanton's. Funny I don't even have it in my rotation now. At the time I thought it was equal to some of the cognacs I was enjoying. Aah, how time changes taste!

[Rake]

I remember really liking Knob Creek the first time I tasted it. Later, I bought a bottle of Lot B because of the review on the "shelf talker" below it. Loved that one.

But my gateway bourbon has to be Stagg '06. The day I took my first taste of that is when the madness really began.

[scratchline]

The first would have to be ND Old Grand-Dad BIB enjoyed in Montgomery, Alabama. After that, the green label WT Rye which kept off the chill in the Catskills. And then the Russell's Reserve 101 which headed me down the bunker road for real. I still enjoy all three but the RR 101 less than the others.

-Mike

[Empty_One]

And then I found bourbon. For me it was an episode of Thirsty Traveler. The only bourbon I'd ever had was a bottle of Jim Beam White that I bought in 1992 or so. I used it basically as an egg nog mixer because I couldn't stand the stuff. Then I saw the thirsty traveler episode on Kentucky Bourbon, and decided to give it a try. There were three bourbons featured on that program: Maker's Mark, Elmer T. Lee, and Pappy Van Winkel 20 year old. Maker's was the cheapest and easiest to find, so I bought a bottle.

In short, I loved it. Then I hunted down the ETL and liked that as well. At first I didn't like it as much as the Maker's. Lastly, I landed a bottle of the PVW20. Since then I have tried probably two dozen bourbons or more. Not much compared to many around here, but it's the only hard stuff I drink.

That show did it for me also. But since I had Makers before, I went straight to the ETL, and fell in love. Haven't purchased a second bottle yet, still too many to try in my price range, but I'm thinking of picking up a bottle this week.

[Gillman]

Maker's Mark, Old Fitzgerald and Old Yellowstone - had you asked me in 1980 what my faves were as a tyro bourbon sampler, I'd have said those.

If they tasted now like they did then, they still might be my picks.

Gary

[Josh]

Like half the folks on here it seems, my first was JBW. I haven't had it for a while but I do order it when I go out from time to time, usually neat, then I put an ice cube or two in it from my icewater, since if you ask for it on the rocks, those turkeys always give you a glass of ice with a splash of whiskey.

This dates me pretty precisely, but my first more upscale bourbon was Jacob's Well. I don't remember much about it except thinking, "Oh, I like Beam, and this seems to be made by the same folks. And I do have some money in my checking account left over from my student loan check..."

[scopenut]

Used to drink JD socially. Then found Knob Creek on my own. Then found this site. Lord help me now......

-Kevin

[Treeguy]

About twenty-years ago I woke up late one night, turned on the tube and watched a movie called Where The Buffalo Roam with Bill Murray as Hunter Thompson. He was drinking Wild Turkey from a bottle hooked up to an IV stand.

It looked like a good idea.

So I started reading HST's books and drinking Wild Turkey. Been happier ever since.

[jwevan01]

My gateway bourbon was also Maker’s Mark. I was a junior in high school in the Seventies and came home one evening after a high school play dress rehearsal to find my father and Jorge (the fastest woodcarver in Ecuador) polishing off a fifth of MM. My father was a wood worker who had managed to bring Jorge to Kentucky on a small educational grant to demonstrate his carving skills. They had just returned from an afternoon workshop where Jorge been featured and been presented with 2 fifths of MM.

My dad told me to sit down and have a drink which was much more appealing than my usual method of stealing from and then watering all the bottles in his liquor cabinet. He poured me a shot and I braced myself for the pain I knew was coming based on my previous experiences with the awful pilfered liquor cabinet mix. Went down mighty smooth with some good heat at the finish and I eagerly helped them through the open bottle and then on through another fifth. I had no idea that any liquor could actually taste good, but that smooth warmth of my first taste of MM is what I still associate with bourbon (still a pretty rocky morning at school the next day). :grin:

My favorite part of the evening besides being poured a drink like a man by my dad was watching the two wood workers talk. Jorge spoke no English and my father spoke no Spanish, yet they were still able to communicate vociferously using the magical translational fluid encased in those bottles. Somehow the differences in culture and geography were rendered trivial by the shared commonality of all humans and drinking bourbon together was the catalyst. I stuck with MM (when I could afford it) for a long time based on the memories of that evening.

Good times,

Joel

[dave ziegler]

My First Bourbon and still my Favorite was and is when I have it Old Hickory 80 & 100 Proof. I also liked the Haller's County Fair 100 proof back in the day. This year when Kurt Gave me that bottle of Old Hickory the first sip was like a trip down the Bourbon hall of Fame. These are before most peoples times on here but in their time they were awesome and the shelves of the State stores then were filled with these and another Good Continental one Charter Oak Bourbon Bottled in Bond 100 Proof. Then You could get so many Bourbons and the first time I tasted Old Hickory I liked Bourbon!

Dave Z

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

=---------------------------------------------=

[shelly]

Someone mentioned Bookers. A friend of mine, who is a former bartender, took me to a bar and bought me a glass of Bookers (good bar!). She told me I would be amazed, and I was skeptical. She was right. I'd been a whiskey drinker (first George Dickel which my parents favored, then Weller) for some time, but never really taken it seriously until I tried the Bookers.

[PhilsFan]

Maker's Mark was my first, and for a long time my only bourbon.

I don't have any MM at the present time only because I'm trying a lot of different brands recommended by the knowledgeable board members.

I have some more I want to buy (Booker's, PHC, PVW 15 & 20 and GTS) but I'll probably revisit MM down the road.

-Joe

[spun_cookie]

The fact that wine cost too much now=a=days

[billthewoodguy]

when I moved to kentucky back in 94 I bought a bottle of mm, this was enjoyed on the rocks sitting on the front porch in the evenings, this went on for several years, actually till fall of 07.

That is when I met the dog; Dougdog that is; I invited him over for a cookout , I think it was the day before thanksgiving, and he brought with him a case of assorted bourbons to taste, among them was geoge t stag, I really dont recall anything else that was in that box.

stag had made a tremendous impression on me, I have been sipping bourbon neat ever since, and my "bourbon shelf" has grown considerably.

Bad dog!!!

Bill

[nor02lei]

My â€gateway†American whiskey was JD when it still was 90 proof and my â€gateway†bourbon was 101 when it still was 8 years.

Leif

[Isoflex]

Mine was more a gateway experience than a bottling.

I was introduced to Bourbon when I was about 16 and it was W. L. Weller SR. No other spirit ever came close to Bourbon and I still like the SR and other Weller bottlings.

What got me started about 4 years ago was when someone said how great JD was and I said it was not great just advertised well. He asked what I liked and I said WLW. He said it was rot-gut. And it got me to thinking.... I hadn't really had any experience with other bourbons except a couple of shots of Maker's (which though good didn't change my liking of the WLW). SOOO, a search of the internet led me to SB.com and the rest is history (used to drink a bottle of whiskey every 3 years or so - now it is more like 2 bottles a month).

Now I have so many favorites and very few dislikes, but WLW will always be a special pour for me. Thanks to SB.com the bourbon experience so far has been GREAT!!

[scubie02]

i'd have to credit Blanton's as being my "gateway" bourbon. Before trying it I don't believe I had ever tried any "higher end" bourbon's, and they didn't seem that "special" to make one choose them over some other, like Scotch or Irish. One day while perusing a new store I saw the distinctive bottle, and as I have a favorite old aunt with the last name Blanton I thought "what the heck". It was the first where I thought "this is something special and worth a premium", and after that I was hooked...probably pushing a dozen open bottles of higher end bourbon's at any given time now.

[chefnash51]

For me , a craft beer drinker for several years. It was a combination of things.

First higher alcohol beers, that were best enjoyed sipped from a snifter got me thinking about trying a port, or cognac, or whiskey.

Then I saw the Kentucky episode of Three Sheets. I knew I wanted to try a Van Winkle bourbon.

Being the researcher I am.. I found this site and decided to learn as much as I could before making a purchase. Love this site.

After searching many a places in my area, I could find no Van winkle.. and decided to try EWSB 98. Enjoyed it very much. then to my luck, I found a stash of Lot B! My goodness, it was so good I went back out and bought the last 3 bottles there!

To answer - I would credit Lot B as my gateway.. but I am still at the enterence as far as I am concerened. I just know I am here to stay.