breaking news: replacement troops have arrived in Austin

[DowntownD]

gaze into the honey-caramel afternoon glow of Phase II:

<big thanks to everyone here and of course Binny's...>

[Phischy]

That's Elmer on the left, right? I've got a funny story about how Elmer kicked my buddies ass one night. video to prove how dee-runk he was. Odd part is that we both drank the same all night and I was drunk, but I didn't pass out on the bathroom floor. To this day he refuses to be Elmer's friend. And I love that bourbon!

[spun_cookie]

Nice Pic... I need a new pour now

[shyster512]

If only the Alamo had been so lucky!

[drunkenjayhawk]

Very nice selection, I look forward to reading your thoughts on them!

[DowntownD]

having gotten an early start this afternoon I've since had the chance to enjoy one pour of each with some space in between.

in short, I like them all and would have either again without hesitation. nothing clearly unlikeable about them, no gotchas other than, perhaps, not being able to snatch all at a local store... anyway, given that I'm such a novice, I'll spare you a shotty set of detailed tasting notes. my lay summary after a first pass is:

the Weller 12yr looks great, rich in color, has a very mild nose to me, and a nice smooth taste without sacrificing flavor. goes down easily, especially after adding a couple of ice cubes and swirling it around to get it cold (I added no water). pretty cool bottle, FWIW, and an excellent bargain indeed; the $18-$20 bottles out there better be really good and/or unique to supplant this as my inexpensive regular.

the FR SmB is a gorgeous lighter color, and more orange/coppery than the yellow tint the photo shows. also a cool bottle if you care about that sort of thing, and another one that has a mild nose to me, though with a more pronounced zing of an aftertaste... a good sort of bite, fuzzy in a way... also goes down easily, especially after adding a couple of ice cubes and swirling it around to get it cold (I added no water here either).

the GTStagg is from Fall 2007, weighing in at a whopping 144.8 proof, and it's a richer darker color than the rest of the group, more molassesy/red-wine looking. when really inhaling a smell straight from the bottle I can pick up the obviously stronger alcohol content - but otherwise can't and it doesn't taste medicinal at all. I tasted a tiny sip neat, then made a ~4:1 mixture with water and three ice cubes. smooth as fuzzy butter at that diluted point. I'll continue to experiment with the water ratio. very tasty overall.

the ETL SB also has a great color, darkish, pretty cool bottle too, nice nose to me, more so than the Weller 12yr and the FR SmB but less than the GTS, and, honestly, not as sweet as I was expecting. I was likely suffering from a syrupy expectation - which it wasn't. still good though, and clearly sweet, but not overly so - to me - and I like sweet things in moderation. overall quite good. added two cubes, swirled, drank easily.

my ten cents after round one... thanks again for the suggestions.

I'm now going to have a couple or three pours of the Weller 12yr after an hour break from my last sip of the ETL SB.

tomorrow the Four Roses, and so on.

[mgilbertva]

Nice pic and nice review! Those bottles should provide hours of pleasure and maybe an incentive to fall further into our particular brand of insanity.

[DowntownD]

FR SmB - two days and six pours later:

to my surprise I'm least impressed with the FR SmB so far. it's generally thin by comparison (in all senses), at least in present company, and after six pours in two days - I'm sort of underwhelmed. granted - it's not bad, just, frankly, not that interesting / special / inexpensive either...

I liken it (not taste-wise) to ER 10yr SB, in the sense that it too was pretty good, but in both cases there's nothing outstanding about them (irrespective of price) and when I factor in the cost (much less the fact that it's hard to get FR SmB) - I doubt I'll buy either again, especially when other better (IMO) and less expensive examples are out there.

in all fairness, again, there's nothing at all wrong with it and I don't regret buying this bottle - plus, I'm certainly no expert, nor will I turn my nose to a pour if were offered to me in the future. I'll finish this bottle with pleasure, but it's unlikely to be what I choose again, specifically in the face of so many other choices.

of the eight bourbons I've bought bottles of in the last month and change, both the FR SmB and ER 10yr SB are ones I'll definitely pass-over next time. it makes me curious if it's something indicative of this price bracket (~$28/750ml) - being that it's somewhat in the middle between such clearly better (IMO) ones like the WLWeller 12 and ETL SB (and cheaper, since these are only ~$22/750ml) and the likes of VW Lot B (at ~$40).

granted, for those whose emphasis lies in variety, then I see no reason not to recommend either the FR SmB or the ER 10y SB as both aren't bad. I'm about to order a bottle of the FR SB, and I'm eager to see if it leaves me with a different impression. anyone else have/had similar feelings about these two?

[DowntownD]

color matters, I think, as my favorite two (taste-wise) also look the best:

[mgilbertva]

I think you'll be favorably impressed by the FR single barrel. I've never met a bourbon fan who didn't like it, and like it a lot.

As for ER, I agree with you about the 10yr - it's ok but not something I would spend money on. However, I'm not a fan of any of the ER products - too much candied fruit and sweet for me. Still, you owe it to yourself to try the BTAC ER 17yr and the older ER 10yr / 101pf as they are significantly better products than the 10yr, IMO.

[DowntownD]

I think you'll be favorably impressed by the FR single barrel. I've never met a bourbon fan who didn't like it, and like it a lot.

I hope so. I'm looking forward to it.

As for ER, I agree with you about the 10yr - it's ok but not something I would spend money on. However, I'm not a fan of any of the ER products - too much candied fruit and sweet for me. Still, you owe it to yourself to try the BTAC ER 17yr and the older ER 10yr / 101pf as they are significantly better products than the 10yr, IMO.

thanks for the advice Mark, I'll be sure to check out the BTAC and older 101p versions.