What whiskey are you drinking?

[Northeast Stinger]

The easiest way is 2 fingers of good bourbon and sip. Bourbon is sweet enough without any added sugar or other adulterations.

Neat is its own thing. I like it that way alone or with one or two friends for a long mellow, relatively quiet time. Even known to enjoy it that way with a Cuban cigar.

Old Fashioneds, to me, are for larger more social occasions when I’m either going to drink that or a vodka martini or a gin and tonic.

For me things have to have context.

 

[4shotB]

Oops, I’m in the dark here.

I make Old Fashioneds two different ways. The complicated way is really really good but if you mess up the ratios it kind of goes south. But after 2 1/2 ounces of bourbon you add Italian maraschino cherries, orange slice, bitters, sugar cube, lemon peel and club soda. It’s worth the effort if done right.

The other approach is just bourbon, the fruit options and Amaro Luciano. Easy, quick and predictable.

My brother is into old-fashioneds. His cocktail of choice year round. I tend to drink them (or a Manhattan) on occasion. He is exacting and even makes his own syrup.

I find that the pre-mixed ones by Bulleit are fine for me (although I tend to add another shot or two of rye to improve the ratio. I skip the fruit. Oddly enough, I can get a reasonable approximation (for me) with my standby drink, bourbon (Evan Williams) with just a hint of ginger ale and splash of club soda.

For those who are into bourbon neat, I just added this to my bar. I really like it enough to recommend. The manager at my local store, who is passionate about his trade, recommended it to me and poured me a sample in the store to taste. Note: I am by no means an expert or connoisseur on this topic. Also, for the hardcore, this is from Tennessee, not Ky.

 

[DecaturJacket]

My brother is into old-fashioneds. His cocktail of choice year round. I tend to drink them (or a Manhattan) on occasion. He is exacting and even makes his own syrup.

I find that the pre-mixed ones by Bulleit are fine for me (although I tend to add another shot or two of rye to improve the ratio. I skip the fruit. Oddly enough, I can get a reasonable approximation (for me) with my standby drink, bourbon (Evan Williams) with just a hint of ginger ale and splash of club soda.

For those who are into bourbon neat, I just added this to my bar. I really like it enough to recommend. The manager at my local store, who is passionate about his trade, recommended it to me and poured me a sample in the store to taste. Note: I am by no means an expert or connoisseur on this topic. Also, for the hardcore, this is from Tennessee, not Ky.

View attachment 17413

Love trying a good new bottle! Have heard good things about Leiper's Fork. Lost Lantern (group that releases single barrel picks from craft distillers across the country) did a LF bottle this year and it got really good reviews:

Lost Lantern 2024 Single Cask #11: Leiper’s Fork Tennessee Whiskey Review | Breaking Bourbon

An intensely unique whiskey that leaves a wonderful and lasting impression, shining light on a small unknown distillery, epitomizing what Lost Lantern set out to accomplish. Review and tasting notes for Lost Lantern 2024 Single Cask #11: Leiper’s Fork Tennessee Whiskey.

www.breakingbourbon.com

Green's did a small bourbon drop this AM and thought I may stop by since it's on my way to work. They were dropping Blantons, EC18, ETL, and baby Saz. I really only wanted the ETL, which they only had 8 bottles of at each store. Well, I drove by at 8:30 and the line was already 40+ deep for the 9am opening, so I passed. I did a few years of the "hunting" and I'm over sacrificing any amount of my day for a bottle of whiskey for the most part. Having allocated bottles is cool, but there's SO MANY easier to get bottles out there that perform just as well or at least close at this point.

 

[4shotB]

DJ, that review is pretty spot on. I was with a buddy (who is much deeper into this than I am) and our initial reaction was as described in the review. Our initial impression was "wow...what is this?" It's rather unique (maybe bold?) in that way. It's funny how hard it (taste) is to describe and how ridiculous it would be for me to describe but the reviewer's impression describes almost exactly my impression with this. I would say it's similar to an Islay scotch vs Speyside scotch in that regard if you are a scotch drinker. Seems like all scotch drinkers love Macallan. Or, put another way, if you don't like Macallan, you probably don't enjoy any scotch. But only some scotch drinkers like Laphroig or Ardbegh. I lean to the Islay side in scotches so prefer a "bolder" drink over a more mellow, perhaps even smoother one.

 

[DecaturJacket]

DJ, that review is pretty spot on. I was with a buddy (who is much deeper into this than I am) and our initial reaction was as described in the review. Our initial impression was "wow...what is this?" It's rather unique (maybe bold?) in that way. It's funny how hard it (taste) is to describe and how ridiculous it would be for me to describe but the reviewer's impression describes almost exactly my impression with this. I would say it's similar to an Islay scotch vs Speyside scotch in that regard if you are a scotch drinker. Seems like all scotch drinkers love Macallan. Or, put another way, if you don't like Macallan, you probably don't enjoy any scotch. But only some scotch drinkers like Laphroig or Ardbegh. I lean to the Islay side in scotches so prefer a "bolder" drink over a more mellow, perhaps even smoother one.

Does the bottle say anything about the mashbill?

 

[4shotB]

Does the bottle say anything about the mashbill?

70% corn, 15% rye, 15% barley ETA; same as the bottle reviewed in your link

 

[DecaturJacket]

70% corn, 15% rye, 15% barley ETA; same as the bottle reviewed in your link

Interesting. That is a pretty unique mashbill. The closest to that (of the big boys) is Beam and Wild Turkey use a 75c/13r/12b on a bunch of their stuff and I typically like a lot of those (Bookers, Beam Single Barrel, Knob Creek Single Barrels, Rare Breed, etc).

 

[Northeast Stinger]

Interesting. That is a pretty unique mashbill. The closest to that (of the big boys) is Beam and Wild Turkey use a 75c/13r/12b on a bunch of their stuff and I typically like a lot of those (Bookers, Beam Single Barrel, Knob Creek Single Barrels, Rare Breed, etc).

Wild Turkey and Knob Creek are definitely in my taste profile.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Wild Turkey and Knob Creek are definitely in my taste profile.

My first two choices when I'm traveling is to pick up a 101 or KC9. There are plenty of good choices, but these are usually at a price point I'm willing to pay.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Interesting. That is a pretty unique mashbill. The closest to that (of the big boys) is Beam and Wild Turkey use a 75c/13r/12b on a bunch of their stuff and I typically like a lot of those (Bookers, Beam Single Barrel, Knob Creek Single Barrels, Rare Breed, etc).

Go with the Old Elk. 25% malted barley. so good.

 

[DecaturJacket]

Go with the Old Elk. 25% malted barley. so good.

I tend to like lower barley. I have a Boulder Spirits Cask Strength group pick (ADHD Whiskey and Justin's House of Bourbon if you're familiar) that gets rave reviews. It's a single barrel of the bourbon that got top 10 on Fred Minnick's list two years ago and top 25ish last year. It's 51c/44mb/5r. I don't really feel particularly strongly either way about the taste - don't love it, don't hate it - but it just does not sit well in my stomach for whatever reason.

The 2024 batch version recently came out and is available for direct shipping if high barley is your thing

Boulder Bourbon Cask Strength 2024

Aged for 7 years in new American oak barrels and bottled at cask strength - a whopping 64.2% ABV, this whiskey is for the experienced palate, a bon vivant. Aromas of candy fruit chews and brûléed brown sugar; almond oil on antique walnut; faint honeysuckle, big vanilla and apricot cobbler dance...

www.boulder-spirits.com

Both Cam (Drums and Drams) and Matt (ADHS Whiskey) have two of the more reputable palates around and I'm usually very much on board with their takes/reviews, but I just couldn't get on board with this one.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I tend to like lower barley. I have a Boulder Spirits Cask Strength group pick (ADHD Whiskey and Justin's House of Bourbon if you're familiar) that gets rave reviews. It's a single barrel of the bourbon that got top 10 on Fred Minnick's list two years ago and top 25ish last year. It's 51c/44mb/5r. I don't really feel particularly strongly either way about the taste - don't love it, don't hate it - but it just does not sit well in my stomach for whatever reason.

The 2024 batch version recently came out and is available for direct shipping if high barley is your thing

Boulder Bourbon Cask Strength 2024

Aged for 7 years in new American oak barrels and bottled at cask strength - a whopping 64.2% ABV, this whiskey is for the experienced palate, a bon vivant. Aromas of candy fruit chews and brûléed brown sugar; almond oil on antique walnut; faint honeysuckle, big vanilla and apricot cobbler dance...

www.boulder-spirits.com

Both Cam (Drums and Drams) and Matt (ADHS Whiskey) have two of the more reputable palates around and I'm usually very much on board with their takes/reviews, but I just couldn't get on board with this one.

View attachment 17420

I don't like Fred Minnick. He's the reason I can't hardly find my favorites or why they're significantly more expensive than they used to be. Plus he's a pretentious douche.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

I don't like Fred Minnick. He's the reason I can't hardly find my favorites or why they're significantly more expensive than they used to be. Plus he's a pretentious douche.

Hope you can get in touch with your feelings someday

 

[DecaturJacket]

Hope you can get in touch with your feelings someday

To be fair, a lot of folks feel that way about him (Minnick that is). I could go either way on him. He doesn't bother me, but isn't one of my favorites either. I do think he has a wealth of whiskey knowledge and makes for a good listen here and there. His top 100 is pretty wild just bc he sips them all in one sitting which is crazy. He doesn't drink it, but spits it out. I watched some of it one year and it's pretty wild to watch. While it's pretty crazy to take the order seriously after that (nobody's palate can survive that even if you are spitting it out), I do think the whiskey's on the list do represent a pretty good selection of the best of the year.

 

[Northeast Stinger]

To be fair, a lot of folks feel that way about him (Minnick that is). I could go either way on him. He doesn't bother me, but isn't one of my favorites either. I do think he has a wealth of whiskey knowledge and makes for a good listen here and there. His top 100 is pretty wild just bc he sips them all in one sitting which is crazy. He doesn't drink it, but spits it out. I watched some of it one year and it's pretty wild to watch. While it's pretty crazy to take the order seriously after that (nobody's palate can survive that even if you are spitting it out), I do think the whiskey's on the list do represent a pretty good selection of the best of the year.

I haven’t watched in a while but there was a father / son bartending team on YouTube (don’t remember their name) who would do blind tastings as well as put their favorite five up against each other. Entertaining and fairly informative.

 

[DecaturJacket]

I haven’t watched in a while but there was a father / son bartending team on YouTube (don’t remember their name) who would do blind tastings as well as put their favorite five up against each other. Entertaining and fairly informative.

SLB Drinks? I enjoy them.

Bourbon Junkies, ADHD Whiskey, and Drums and Drams are probably the ones that I watch the most. I used to watch Brewzle, but he got a little annoying.

 

[DecaturJacket]

Got probably my bottle of the year (granted I've bought probably half the amount I bought last year) last week.

Sagamore 9 year. Absolute banger of a rye whiskey. I absolutely loved the 8 year last year when they released it las year (was probably a top 5 pour for me last year) and this is somehow completely different, but even better. It's a blend of 95/5 and 51/45/4 MGPs. The 9 year is somehow LESS oaky than the 8 (and I loved the oak on the 8), but even more viscous.

I never saw the 8 year anywhere in GA and haven't seen this here either. I got both of them off a buy/sell/trade group. But ABSOLUTELY pick either/both of those up if you see them. Incredible incredible whiskey.

 

[MidtownJacket]

2024 was a boring year whisk(e)y wise for me, Sticking with OF 1910 and Talisker 10 / Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

Do wanna get a hold of this bottle at some point:

 

[DecaturJacket]

2024 was a boring year whisk(e)y wise for me, Sticking with OF 1910 and Talisker 10 / Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

Do wanna get a hold of this bottle at some point:

Can't go wrong with 1910. I always keep a bottle of 1910 and 1920 on the bar. I wanted to grab a bottle of 1924, but never ran into one. I did get a few more OF Single Barrel Barrel Strengths, another OF Single Barrel Barrel Strength Rye, and my first OF Single Barrel 100 proofer. I'm a fan of most Brown Forman juice.

I don't do much scotch, but that does sound interesting.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Can't go wrong with 1910. I always keep a bottle of 1910 and 1920 on the bar. I wanted to grab a bottle of 1924, but never ran into one. I did get a few more OF Single Barrel Barrel Strengths, another OF Single Barrel Barrel Strength Rye, and my first OF Single Barrel 100 proofer. I'm a fan of most Brown Forman juice.

I don't do much scotch, but that does sound interesting.

Try the 1910 with some dark chocolate.