Posted on 07/20/2021 4:39:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
My “top shelf” is Angel’s Envy, straight up. Not for sharing.
My “daily driver” is Woodford Reserve, either straight up, or in highballs or cocktails. Shared with friends and family.
My BYOB is Jim Beam, or whatever’s on sale.
Without a doubt, was kicking back with some Belle Meade Reserve last night, it might be bottle by Greenbriar, but its sourced from MGP.
Good stuff, at least to me.
PFL
A lot of my friends prefer the Japanese whiskeys - for the record - they are not called Scotch - I’ve purchased a number of them (I prefer Glenlivet, Balvenie, or Macallan personally if I’m not drinking bourbon). They are simply compared to Scotch since they have the same flavor profiles.
Good low-priced bourbons include Wild Turkey 101, Evan Williams Bottled in Bond, and Gentleman Jack.
There is a documentary on Netflix about Pappy and Rep Van Winkle Bourbon, called Heist. 3rd episode. Pretty good.
And I know Netflix is a 4 letter word around here.
Woodford Reserve double oaked is to die for. We just enjoyed a bottle recently. I usually use Wild Turkey 101 for Manhattans.
Some of the Japanese Scotches are really good. The original couple that learned in Scotland and a couple others. Then there’s the clones. Japan is adding laws on what can and can’t be called Japanese Whisky that should help eyeball the wheat and chaff.
LOL Good point.
Most bourbons taste pretty good to me in a glass with one big ice ball in it. Pappy’s did not.
I live here in the middle of bourbon country. I have 42 different kinds on my bar in my basement. I started out trying to collect them. Then, I ran out of room.
My neighbors and I routinely do blind taste test with one another to see if we can really tell the difference between the good and the bad... or rather, the expensive vs the cheap.
Drinking it neat, we cannot.
With Ice, some of us can pick out our favorite. For me, that’s Woodford.
If I mix them with Diet Coke (I know, sacrilege... but, that’s how I LIKE it!)... I can pick out Woodford about 80% of the time. Occasionally, I still confuse it with Old Forrester, especially the 10 yr version. But, they’re related anyway. So, it’s not too surprising.
For MOST people though, drinking over ice, they can’t tell the difference between $1000 Pappy’s and $10 Heaven Hill.
As I said, it’s 95% marketing.
My favorite Low Priced bourbon is Old Forrestor, 100 proof.
If you want REALLY cheap stuff, Ancient Age is not too bad either.
It’s all relative. A few years ago, I was working in the back woods part of China for 3 weeks. NO BOURBON of any kind, anywhere. When I spent the night in Seoul, waiting for my flight back, I paid $20 for basically, a shot of Jim Beam.
Tasted as good as ANY Bourbon I ever had! :-)
In many cases, they're selling actual scotch and labeling it as "Japanese Whisky". IIRC, some of the big distillers there (Suntory, Nikka, etc.) own a number of distilleries in Scotland. Suntory now owns Jim Beam as well). With few laws in Japan to prevent the questionable labeling, it was a "anything goes" situation. I understand that new Japanese laws passed this year will put the brakes on most of those practices once they go into effect.
Until a few years ago when Tennessee passed a *state* law regarding the use of the "Lincoln County Process" (charcoal filtration) on any whiskey labeled "Tennessee Whiskey", that name was just a marketing decision (and one heck of an effective one). Based on the legal mash bill and cask aging requirements, Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 is a bourbon. So is George Dickel, which at one point during its history was bottled and sold as a bourbon.
Evan Williams is relatively inexpensive and quite good. I have at least a dozen different Bourbons here but EW is what I have most often.
ML/NJ
🥃🥃toasting with Knob Creek💖
LOL I remember when that happened. I went and bought a few bottles of TJ wine. The Chard was OK. Wasn’t that impressed with their reds.
Sad to say, after having tasted some of the ‘good stuff’, I’ve turned into a bit of a wine snob. I can find several that I like in the $15-20 range. But, there are a bunch I’d like to buy in the $120 - $300 range that I KNOW I would like a LOT better. :-)
I just can’t see spending that much. I try to buy some of them young, and hang on to them.
Wonderful! Since I can no longer take a whisky tour in Scotland, I’ll plan on a Bourbon tour in Kentucky. :-)
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