I learned something new last weekend. He mentioned that bourbon was sweeter and scotch more dry. I love both but will usually drink one or the other. I did Basil Hayden's and Glenfiddich 18 back to back. Bourbon is definitely sweeter.

I was never much of a scotch man, always preferred bourbon. I agree it does seem sweeter. Although for the last year my choice of whisky has been rye. I enjoy the spice. Good flavor and not sweet. Ironically I think the cheapest stuff is the best tasting, Old Overholt.

The only scotch I really drank was The Famous Grouse. I did pick up a few bottles of VAT 69 and my word, I will never know what Capt. Nixon saw in that stuff. Putrid!

I had been drinking Wild Turkey 101, but after a post on the forum a week or so ago decided to try Buffalo Trace. I don't know if my taste buds are not as good as they once were, but I didn't see much difference between the two. Both are priced around $28 for a 75ml bottle.

in general, whisky (or whiskey if you prefer) gets its sweetness from corn. bourbon is at least 51% corn by law and scotch is typically all/mostly malted barley.

I went to the Makers Mark tour some years ago and aren't there like five things that make a bourbon legally bourbon? I recall one of those things was that it cannot be artificially flovored (like aged in charred oak barrels ala JD). Also had to be made in the US (hence no Canadian bourbon). Am I somewhat correct?

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:
I went to the Makers Mark tour some years ago and aren't there like five things that make a bourbon legally bourbon? I recall one of those things was that it cannot be artificially flovored (like aged in charred oak barrels ala JD). Also had to be made in the US (hence no Canadian bourbon). Am I somewhat correct?

there are rules. one is that it is 51% corn, at least. it must be made in USA. It must be aged in NEW charred oak barrels (not previously used.) It must be distilled to no more than 160 proof. It must be barreled at no more than 125 proof. It must be bottled at no less than 80 proof.

to be called "straight bourbon" it must be aged at least 2 years and if it is aged less than 4 years then that duration has to be on the label. straight bourbon cannot have added coloring, flavoring, or be mixed with any other spirit.

it doesn't matter I will drink them both...

I like The Macallan 10 and their Fine Oak...

and I know it's blasphemy, but I like Dewar's The Ancient...

in the Bourbon real, I enjoy Basil Hayden, Makers Mark and Bulleit Bourbon...(their Rye ain't bad either)

The problem is that there is soooooooo much to choose from....I need to start a notebook on all of them

My go to is The Macallan 12.

I've taking a liking to Knob Creek. Their rye is good and their Single Barrel 120 is delicious.

I like Bulleit also, have yet to try their rye though.

I used to be a bourbon fan, but was lured away by Irish. Like Scotch, the mash bill is all barley, but it doesn't have that medicinal taste. Bushmills Black Bush is an excellent modest price choice.

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:
I like Bulleit also, have yet to try their rye though.

Their rye is very good. So is the Dickel rye. I believe though that many of the current rye's are blended by the same distiller. I tried Tempelton Rye but it wasn't spicy enough. Almost grassy I thought. Pikesville was too strong, IMO, so I kept going back to Old Overholt. Easy to sip after work or mixed with ginger ale or lemonade.

I want to try a bottle of Bat Masterson Rye but it's 85 bucks and I hate any Canadian whisky. Too sweet.

I have never tried a 'good' scotch. Maybe someday.

Where I live there are a few specialty whisky bars where you can sample all kinds of things. After a few tries, you find something you like and buy a bottle.
Kind of like renting guns, I suppose.
I personally like Green Spot, which is Irish. Some inexpensive Scotches that I like are Teacher's and Macgavin's Highland or Speyside.

I used to drink Scotch exclusively, then I was turned on to Bourbon and that is all I've drank for the last two decades.

Corn+Rye and particularly Corn+Wheat are sweeter than either straight Rye or Barley.

But I don't drink Bourbon or Rye because they're sweeter than Scotch. I prefer them because, in almost every case, Scotch has a medicinal taste that I can't fucking stand, that iodine-y, seaweed-y, 1940s cough syrup-y bit that makes it taste (relatively) worse to me.

To me, Bourbon and Rye, in general, fixed what's always been wrong with Scotch/Irish whisk(e)y. Sure, you can get used to it, like you can get used to having some bleach in your water while camping, but why... to me, the rest simply isn't compellingly good enough to bother. But hey, different strokes. Given the current supply and demand issues with many Bourbons and Ryes I like - I'd much rather many folks take the Scotch path.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
I had been drinking Wild Turkey 101, but after a post on the forum a week or so ago decided to try Buffalo Trace. I don't know if my taste buds are not as good as they once were, but I didn't see much difference between the two. Both are priced around $28 for a 75ml bottle.

They're different in that they're made by different people, using different equipment and a slightly different recipe, like Aunt Sally's apple pie versus Aunt Debbie's, subtle differences that have nothing at all to do with *quality* and everything to do with subjective choices.

I like them both, both of which are excellent examples of a basic Bourbon from two of the most famous Distilleries. Wild Turkey 101 is a bit older (a mix of years), whereas BT is basically a straight forward (essentially) 4yo Bourbon. BT is more analogous to Jack Daniels, white label Jim Beam, and the rest of the typical 4yo expressions.

quote:

Originally posted by mbinky:

quote:

Originally posted by kx90:
I like Bulleit also, have yet to try their rye though.

Their rye is very good. So is the Dickel rye. I believe though that many of the current rye's are blended by the same distiller. I tried Tempelton Rye but it wasn't spicy enough. Almost grassy I thought. Pikesville was too strong, IMO, so I kept going back to Old Overholt. Easy to sip after work or mixed with ginger ale or lemonade.

I want to try a bottle of Bat Masterson Rye but it's 85 bucks and I hate any Canadian whisky. Too sweet.

I have never tried a 'good' scotch. Maybe someday.

I love the spice of rye. Gunpowder is my favorite for spice. Many bourbons are too sweet for me. Templeton is my go-to when I want something sweeter. My current favorite is Angels Evvy Rye.

I had some Bushmills 16yr a few years back at a bar in Baltimore. It would be my go to if I could find it.

It's pretty simple really.

Bourbon > Scotch.

quote:

I love the spice of rye. Gunpowder is my favorite for spice. Many bourbons are too sweet for me. Templeton is my go-to when I want something sweeter. My current favorite is Angels Evvy Rye.

^ Templeton, Dickel, Angel's Envy, Redemption, Bulleit, and others are all the same Rye from MGP in Indiana, though some companies add shit to it before bottling, like Dickel adds the charcoal filtering step that they and JD use which defines "Tennessee Whiskey", which, of course, doesn't exist and is simply Bourbon by another name. Because: marketing

So, basically, you really like the same Rye in different bottles and with different labels.

Shhhhh, quit taking about Old Overholt, Id like to keep it at about $20 a bottle.

When I got to drinking good whisky straight, I stopped drinking bourbon which I had to have with coke anyway. My favorite was knob creek.

Then after I visited KY where I had a tasting experience at a bottle your own, I found I could drink bourbon straight. I tried before but didn't like it.

So now from time to time, I'm still finishing off my knob creek bottle and a bottle that i brought from KY.