The Swamp

teeteebee wrote:Have an unopened bottle of Angels Envy, been sitting there for months. Heard great things.

Might be time...

Tried it once. It is finished in port casks, so it tasted like desert drink.

Currently following AB's advice and drinking bourbon and ginger beer. Fentiman's ginger beer is something special. Great drink.

The Sybian wrote:

teeteebee wrote:Have an unopened bottle of Angels Envy, been sitting there for months. Heard great things.

Might be time...

Tried it once. It is finished in port casks, so it tasted like desert drink.

Currently following AB's advice and drinking bourbon and ginger beer. Fentiman's ginger beer is something special. Great drink.

Glad to help! I like that drink a lot too.

AB_skin_test wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

teeteebee wrote:Have an unopened bottle of Angels Envy, been sitting there for months. Heard great things.

Might be time...

Tried it once. It is finished in port casks, so it tasted like desert drink.

Currently following AB's advice and drinking bourbon and ginger beer. Fentiman's ginger beer is something special. Great drink.

Glad to help! I like that drink a lot too.

You are my bourbon guru. Will definitely be getting more ginger beer. Fentimans is great, but I couldn't drink more than one bottle of it. Ginger and juniper were too much by the end. So good, though. Haven't had a mixed drink in a ling time.

The Sybian wrote:

AB_skin_test wrote:

The Sybian wrote:

teeteebee wrote:Have an unopened bottle of Angels Envy, been sitting there for months. Heard great things.

Might be time...

Tried it once. It is finished in port casks, so it tasted like desert drink.

Currently following AB's advice and drinking bourbon and ginger beer. Fentiman's ginger beer is something special. Great drink.

Glad to help! I like that drink a lot too.

You are my bourbon guru. Will definitely be getting more ginger beer. Fentimans is great, but I couldn't drink more than one bottle of it. Ginger and juniper were too much by the end. So good, though. Haven't had a mixed drink in a ling time.

i like regatta. doesnt have as much of a bite as fentimans.

So I tried some Old Tub Bourbon the other night. It is apparently the "original" Jim beam recipe but I am always skeptical of those types of claims and figure it is more for marketing than anything else.

I did think it was really really good. Definitely reminiscent of Jim Beam, but different enough to notice. Basically an upscale Jim Beam, which is fine by me. Jim Beam is one of my home "well" bourbons. Which means it's cheap enough for me to buy regularly but isn't total shit. Let the record show that I also enjoy Old Fitzgerald, so while I can certainly enjoy a good bourbon, I am by no means a snob.

Really, the only bourbons I avoid are: Maker's Mark - not my bag; Wild Turkey - way better 101s out there (specifically Knob Creek); Four Roses - though the single barrel is decent; and Buffalo Trace - which is odd because their "premium bourbons" are very very good and Eagle Rare is a favorite of mine and is just Buffalo Trace aged longer and the pappy is from the same place)

Received a bottle of Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye (not a bourbon) from a photographer I use a lot. Looking forward to trying it out. 99 Proof. Will report back.

Yo, bourbon dogs. We're doing a tasting at our office on Friday and I need to bring a bottle. Any recommendations for something good and not terribly common for ~$30?

I drink Makers or Knob Creek (both excellent) but I'd probably defer to someone else for something more unique.

Does Hudson make its way out west? It'll cost around $30 but its a smaller bottle.

P.D.X. wrote:Yo, bourbon dogs. We're doing a tasting at our office on Friday and I need to bring a bottle. Any recommendations for something good and not terribly common for ~$30?

Bakers, Basil Haydens, Elijah Craig 18 might be around that price point, maybe a bit expensive. We have a nice one available here local called William Henry Harrison but it may not be widely available.

If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

Sabo wrote:If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

Unless you've been given an explicit price cap, this is probably the way to go. Baller move. (Only like 10 percent joking.) Always best to splurge a little on these work type things. Better to be thought extravagant than cheap or unoriginal.

It's pretty informal. Just a handful of us doing it, rather than a sanctioned "company" thing. If I go the nicer bottle route it'll be because I want something quality to go home with me.

Sabo wrote:If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

How do you pronounce that?

Jerloma wrote:

Sabo wrote:If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

How do you pronounce that?

It's just "bullet".

brian wrote:

Jerloma wrote:

Sabo wrote:If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

How do you pronounce that?

It's just "bullet".

Although you can call it Boo-lay if you are feeling douchey

"Byoo-Lee-It"

Bensell wrote:

brian wrote:

Jerloma wrote:

Sabo wrote:If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

How do you pronounce that?

It's just "bullet".

Although you can call it Boo-lay if you are feeling douchey

No, I'm happy. Exactly the scenario I was trying to avoid.

P.D.X. wrote:It's pretty informal. Just a handful of us doing it, rather than a sanctioned "company" thing. If I go the nicer bottle route it'll be because I want something quality to go home with me.

Find a mini shawl neck sweater to put on the bottle.

Bring a bottle of Elmer T. Lee. BSF named some good ones, but they are all in the high $40s or $50s here.

Blanton's is great bourbon and has a cool bottle. I am also a big fan of Booker's.

sancarlos wrote:Blanton's is great bourbon and has a cool bottle. I am also a big fan of Booker's.

Blanton's is great, but it's gotten pricey in the last few years. IIRC, it's between 40 and 50 for a fifth.

Sabo wrote:If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

thirded.

also a fan of the four roses single barrel. probably around $35

cerrano wrote:

Sabo wrote:If you don't mind going into the $40 bracket, the 10-year Bulleit is an excellent bourbon.

thirded.

also a fan of the four roses single barrel. probably around $35

If you're gonna buy Four Roses (which I wouldn't recommended, presonally) then the Single Barrel is the way to go.

The line-up:

Hudson Baby Bourbon
Four Roses Small Batch
Redemption High Rye
Redemption Straight Bourbon
Woodford Reserve
Elijah Craig 12 Year
Bulleit
Corner Creek

If it ain't kentucky, it's crap.

In hindsight, you should have gotten a garbage brand as a control for the group.

P.D.X. wrote:The line-up:

Hudson Baby Bourbon
Four Roses Small Batch
Redemption High Rye
Redemption Straight Bourbon
Woodford Reserve
Elijah Craig 12 Year
Bulleit
Corner Creek

The results?

I had Bulleit for the first time at my office holiday party. Despite ordering it neat, it came with a full glass of ice. I quickly scooped out the ice, but wasn't a fan. My friend told me it is a completely different drink neat, so I ordered another (can't beat an open bar with quality booze). Amazing how much better it was warm. Not one of my favorites, but pretty good. I feel like it would make a great Manhattan though. The price is usually surprisingly low, so probably one of the best values on the shelf if you don't want to pay much.

Maker's 46 showed up late, and was the unanimous winner.

The worst was Hudson Baby Bourbon.

Everything else in the middle was pretty close, and really came down to personal preference. As for Bulleit, I went back to it after trying everything and I could find nothing to complain about. It stacks up pretty well.

Anti-New York racists.

Some dingus brought a bottle of Redemption Rye, which of course no one liked (except me, because I like rye, even though it doesn't work well up against bourbons) so I may just walk home with it.

Just learning to appreciation quality bourbon - grew up referring to whiskeys like Old Turkey as "liquid violence."

Guy at the liquor store recommended Woodford Reserve and it is great stuff.

Since it isn't my dime, I tried the most expensive Bourbon on the menu. Widow Jane. It is the smoothest bourbon I've ever had, but not the best or most flavorful. Awesome stuff, but not worth the money IMO. It is typically the same price for a 375 ml bottle as decent bourbons go for 750 ml. It is made in Brooklyn, so AB will probably have a problem with it. Long story short, if you can expense it, go for it. If not, not worth it.

Been working on a bottle of Blanton's at home. Fucking love it. So good. I really like AB's ginger beer with Bourbon, but Blanton's tastes too good to mix.

Yeah, blanton's doesn't need a mixer. I put ginger beer/ale in my cheap weekend bourbon, not good drinking bourbon. That gets rocks or just a splash of water.

And I actually don't mind NY making bourbons because they have the limestone water to make it right as well. I would like to try that one for sure.

AB_skin_test wrote:Yeah, blanton's doesn't need a mixer. I put ginger beer/ale in my cheap weekend bourbon, not good drinking bourbon. That gets rocks or just a splash of water.

And I actually don't mind NY making bourbons because they have the limestone water to make it right as well. I would like to try that one for sure.

Wow, I figured you for a Kentucky purist. I wrote something in there about being drunk, which I took out. I just sat down at the computer and realized I never actually sent that post last night. Like I said...

My preference will always be for Kentucky Bourbon, but I'm not going to turn my nose up at good whiskey! One of my favorite is Westward from Oregon. It's more like a scotch, but i think it holds up against most every scotch I've had.

Isn't it not bourbon if it's not from Kentucky, or am I just thinking of champagne?

govmentchedda wrote:Isn't it not bourbon if it's not from Kentucky, or am I just thinking of champagne?

Bourbon must be at least 51% corn and aged in new charred oak barrels. The idea that it must be made in KY is a misnomer.

govmentchedda wrote:Isn't it not bourbon if it's not from Kentucky, or am I just thinking of champagne?

Yeah. If it's not from Kentucky, you have to call it Sparkling Whiskey.

You think champagne comes from Kentucky? Fucking redneck.

Yeah, the Kentucky bourbon com[anies are usually careful to put Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey on there for marketing, but new barrels is the main thing.

I got to try Pappy about a month ago and I'm pretty insecure about whether or not I would have known how good it was. Like it was smoother, but would I have known that without knowing it? You know?