Favorite Bourbon

[one-eyed fatman]

To be Bourbon, it's got to be made in Kentucky, that other stuff is just swill...

 

[junkaudio]

i like gentleman jack allot but not easy to get in germany


thinking of buying :http://cgi.ebay.de/Original-Jack-Da...249QQihZ020QQcategoryZ821QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[rlwagoner]

I have looked at all the posts, ain't many Kentuckian's here. Seein's how I is one, The OneEyed Fat Man is correct. If it ain't from the Commonwealth it ain't bourbon, I don't care what the dictionary says or don't. As far as cheap and good to just always have around, I prefer Jim Beam. Next tier up would be Maker's Mark.....broke my heart when they sold out and became just another mass produced bourbon. There was a time when you could only get it here, if you were lucky enough. After that, it's all personal preference with the "small batches". I prefer Woodford Reserve. Got to be more Kentuckian's here at AK! Where ya'll at? Oh, saying Jack is bourbon.....well....them's fightin' words.

 

[Grainger49]

I have looked at all the posts, . . . If it ain't from the Commonwealth it ain't bourbon . . .

That's true. If you had read all the posts, you would have seen that 6 posts down from the top, I mentioned that as well.

I'm not going to make a Kentucky joke here, I am from further South than you are, Georgia.

 

[Russellc]

want to know a secret? jw weller and van winkle is the same whiskey recipe, made by the same company. except that weller doesn't have the blessing of the vanwinkle family. vanwinkle is an orphan brand, meaning that it doesn't have it's own distillery. the only possible difference is that van winkle picks particular barrels to be labeled van winkle, but they all come from the same vat as weller, and weller is half the price. and neither is a single barrel. you'd be hard-pressed to pick between the two in a blind tasting. both weller and van winkle are wheated whiskeys, as is makers, old fitzgerald and 'rebel yell'. the wheat makes 'em a tad sweeter. and blanton's, van winkle, and jw weller are all made by the same distiller, buffalo trace. they also make a good vodka called "rain" which is distilled nearly twice as many times as stoli, at half the cost. one more thing while i'm drinking here, blantons is aged 6 1/2 years as i think woodford is, van winkle, aka weller is aged 12. woodford in my opinion comes in a nice bottle that you pay a heck of a lot for...blind tastings will save you a lot of money my friends. cheers!

Not exactly...There was once a van winkle special reserve lot B 12 year old, which was indeed made with Stizel-Weller bourbon, from which Pappy also derived, but now contains bourbon made at the Bernheim distillery in louisville. As for Weller 12 year old, that is now a Buffalo Trace product since they purchased the Weller labels from the former United Distilleries and Vintners (UDV). the Weller 12 did not exist during the brands stizel-Weller days.

Russellc

 

[rlwagoner]

My apologies, brother. My Tennessee brothers are always welcome in the Commonwealth. And by the way, the damn Lofton kid can flat ass play. And he's from Mason County. What the hell was Tubby or Darrin thinkin........

 

[Charles]

Burbon

I can't help but to prefer Jim Beam, it's cheap, available, & just a pretty good bourbon.

Might I suggest "Rebel Yell"? It has to be about the smoothest straight up whiskey I've ever tried. Has a different taste, kind of like carmel. Always a big hit south of the Mason Dixon Line.

For what it's worth.

 

[TocoTamer]

My favourite bourbon? The kind that someone else is buying.

For my Buck it's Jim Beam but what do I know I'm a Gin Drinker

Dark or Clear it all Downs the same!
Rick

 

[doyle]

I second the Rip Van Winkle 20 year old stuff, though I always seem to reach for the Knob Creek first.

 

[onepixel]

Pouring some Maker's Mark right now...mmm.

 

[Kamakiri]

For my Buck it's Jim Beam but what do I know I'm a Gin Drinker

Dark or Clear it all Downs the same!
Rick

My God I used to love gin. Nothing in the world beat a double Beefeater and tonic.

Then one night I thought I could drink my brother under the table (a gin drinker too, this is back in my mid 20s). After 13 doubles, I decided that I was hungry and ate 3 Arbys roast beefs. Bad mistake uke:

For years, I couldn't even tolerate the smell of green-label Scotch tape....to this day if I take a sip of gin, my body reacts violently.....

 

[madwing]

1992, kentucky derby day, at a party in state college, pa, at the home of one d. clayton smith, of newcastle, ky.

playing volleyball while waiting for post time, drinking this "new to me" bourbon called maker's mark. thoroughly enjoying it (having grown up on evan williams, not bad, but not maker's mark), and the volleyball (women in shorts, you see :thmbsp: ).

doug calls for post time, and we gather around the radio. only about six of the fifty people at the party are actually interested in hearing the race called, and we're all pretty tight. in the midst of chatting to doug's girlfriend, sipping my maker's mark, doug hands me another glass, a real glass, cut glass tumbler with a heavy bottom, with some pale brown, translucent liquid darkening its bottom third. eyebrows up, i look at him, and he says "don't drink until the race is over." i ask why, and he says "it's special stuff." special? "yeah. don't drink anything until the race is over. then we'll toast the winner with that."

ooookaaaaayyy, i say. what the *hell* :scratch2: ?

the trumpet sounds, the race begins, and it ends. we five, who have been given the abstinence injunction, look to doug. he smiles, says "to the winner", and we all toast, then take a sip.

:jawdrop:

it tastes like heaven, the difference between drinking oxidised christian bros. brandy and the finest armagnac stored properly for 200 years. like going from a boombox to a vintage audio experience while listening to "aja". i took another sip, then another, rolling it around my mouth, never wanting to taste anything else.

i look up, and see doug looking at me, grinning. he picks up my maker's mark (in the plastic cup) and tosses it onto the lawn. for the rest of the party we six kept returning to the bottle, shaped a little like a design acoustics da-12, with the little gold jockey on the cork...blanton's, yessirree.

i've never tasted a better whiskey, let alone bourbon (i have tasted some mighty fine whisky's, but those are a completely different thing). all these boutique whiskeys (the knob creek, the woodford's, etc.) are just fine. but they're like kissing your sister, once you're given to blanton's.

current bourbon ride is a 20 year old bottle (bottled in the early-mid 80s) of evan williams reserve, very tasty. my standard for partying bourbon is maker's mark, still, and i bring out the blanton's for *special* friends. it never has the impact on me that first glass did back in 1992, but it still sends me flying...

 

[Kegger]

I'm cheap so it's usually 100 proof Grandad or Good ole Wild turkey!

 

[onepixel]

...Then one night I thought I could drink my brother under the table (a gin drinker too, this is back in my mid 20s). After 13 doubles, I decided that I was hungry and ate 3 Arbys roast beefs. Bad mistake uke:

That's pretty good Kam. I only got as far as 10 shots of Wild Turkey 101 and one Double Jumbo Jack. before I uke:

 

[whoaru99]

Hmmm.... a little OT from Bourbon, but....

I prayed for death after a big night on McMaster's. To this day it brings about severe goosebumps just to think of it. I shudder at the thought of actually smelling or, heaven forbid, tasting it.

Coming in a distant second was an early start to an early end with Bombay Sapphire...

All this talk has me thirsty. The decision is tough, will it be The Macallan, Bushmills, Maker's Mark, or Crown Royal... hmmm????

 

[onepixel]

Darn...I just ran of bourbon.

 

[Grainger49]

Ok, it isn't traditional for St. Patty's Day, but, my wife just bought some Knob Creek and brought it home. I think because there was "Door River" in Grey's Anatomy this week.

 

[Russellc]

thanks bongo- wouldn't it be fun to do blind audio tests? i saw your other post...
i've had pappy as well and frankly i prefer the cheaper 12 year old to the more rare and more expensive 20's. they are the same whiskey as weller too, just sit around in a barrel a lot longer. btw, unlike wine, once it's in a bottle, whiskey stops aging. so that fifty year old royal crown will taste the same today as it did the day it was bottled.
for anyone interested, i'd highly recommend a trip to kentuck for the annual bourbon festival. there's also an amazing shaker community nearby if you have an interest in architecture. the only odd disappointment with ky is that you can buy bourbon cheaper in chicago than right at the distilleries...

Not the same at all....similar flavor profiles, but the stitzel-weller distillery hasnt run since 1991.....buffalo trace does the deed for them now....The 12 year old and the 20 year old Pappy are all stitzel-weller bourbon. the distillery still exists, perhaps someone will crank it back up.....otherwise as of 2012 or so....nothing left to make pappy 20 yr from!

russellc

 

[Grainger49]

Not the same at all....similar flavor profiles, but the stitzel-weller distillery hasnt run since 1991.....buffalo trace does the did for them now....The 12 year old and the 20 year old Pappy are all stitzel-weller bourbon.

russellc

Russell, what have you been sipping? Were those English sentences?

Maybe it would read better if the elliptical sentences had precedents?
. :beer: :scratch2: :scratch2:

 

[Russellc]

Russell, what have you been sipping? Were those English sentences?

Maybe it would read better if the elliptical sentences had precedents?
. :beer: :scratch2: :scratch2:

Been sipping eagle rare 17 yr old.....more clear now? there is a myth that weller 12 yr and pappy 12 year are the same. They are not. The distillery responsible for the pappy 12 year and the pappy 20 year old WAS called the stitzel-Weller distillery. Unfortunately, it ceased production in 1992. the weller name was bought by buffalo Trace. Buffalo Trace is the distillery responsible for not only Buffalo trace, but Blanton's, elmer T lee, and numerous others. do you not speak Boubonese? By 2012, there will be no more of this fine bourbon to age 20 years! They would be insane to put any of it in sub 20 dollar bottles like Weller 12 year. Who knows what Julian Van Winkle ( of Pappy fame) Will do for whiskey, I assume it lwill be sourced from buffalo trace, but who knows? at least I have 2 spare Pappy 20 year olds in the bunker!

russellc