furlough, I saw a bottle of Balmorhea at Specs on Sat, 2-26-22. The price was around $120. I had a sample previously and it was mighty fine. Enjoy.

For myself, I bought a bottle of Early Times BiB in the Saz-BT bottle. The flavor was lacking the baking spices that I really enjoy. The first pour was pretty hot on the ethanol. Maybe I will buy a second bottle next year after this batch has sold out.

So I beat feet to a small liquor store and bought two bottles of the Brown-Forman ET BiB. That store had some allocated bottles. The Weller CYPB was priced at $699. I saw but did not inquire about the 107 and FP.

The 1792 FP, and 1792 Single Barrel were $70. Larceny Barrel was $99. The BT Koshers were $249.

I was at Total Wine and More this morning, and was amazed at what they DON'T have one their shelves (bourbon related).They had NO 1.75ltr. bottles of Jim Beam Black....Elijah Craig...1792 small batch....and some others. I did find a 1.75ltr. bottle of Knob Creek and grabbed it. The folks tell me the distilleries have no large bottles to put their whiskey in. This is not good!!

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
Is that a thing? I have admittedly been out of the spirit-purchasing game for a while, though I do keep a bottle on hand for guests, and have some of my favorite still stashed-away, in the event I decide to indulge in the future. That being said, I have never bought anything at a store that provides the opportunity to test a bottle before purchase. How would that even work? If you opt not to buy it after testing, the bottle is that much emptier; does the next man who may want to buy it get a reduced rate due to it's diminished content?

There are stores that offer a taster from a shop bottle. It may or may not be legal depending on the location but it happens. When dealing with single barrel product, especially when the store bought the entire barrel, it's helpful to give potential customers a chance to try before buying especially as the price on entry gets higher. Taking a flyer on a $30 bottle is one thing. Taking a flyer on a $90+ bottle is something else. It's too bad it's not standard practice within reason.

It's also possible when you have friends who also really like bourbon. Try their bottle and decide if it's worthy of your own purchase.

Gotcha. I thought it was being implied that individual bottles had a difference between them, and one should vet a bottle. Makes sense that tasting from one bottle would be representative of others from the same barrel.

If you know you like such-and-such a whiskey from so-and-so a manufacturer, is there even the possibility that a different batch or barrel would taste different enough to matter? I know there'll always be the stand-out exceptional batch or barrel, but that seems like a headache, chasing the unicorn like that.

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
If you know you like such-and-such a whiskey from so-and-so a manufacturer, is there even the possibility that a different batch or barrel would taste different enough to matter? I know there'll always be the stand-out exceptional batch or barrel, but that seems like a headache, chasing the unicorn like that.

The distilleries generally aim for consistency. With batched products with no age statements it's easier because they can add and subtract various barrels to hit the profile they're looking for. Age statements add a little complexity to the operation but they're dealing with thousands of barrels. Single barrels are a higher hurdle but they generally know how barrels tend to age in various parts of various rickhouses so they can take an educated guess as to profile and yield. Any real outliers can be saved for a barrel pick program, batched into something else, or even sold off to other companies.

Chasing those unicorn outstanding barrels is a headache but some enjoy it. In the case of the McKenna barrel that won the award it was supposedly pulled off the shelf of a local liquor store and entered into the competition as opposed to being a honey barrel specifically chosen for the competition. Some folks swear one batch over another for a variety of sought after product. I doubt most claiming big preferences could tell in a blind tasting. They'd have no shot in a double blind tasting. That's not to say there aren't outliers. The first release of Stagg Jr. was a hot mess that shouldn't have been bottled or sold. Later releases are much better. Blinded I doubt I could identify it as being Stagg Jr 1 but I could definitely tell you it sucked. Booker's recently cancelled a release because it wasn't up to snuff.

The Makers Mark Private Select program has some pretty big variation imo. I've had 4 or 5 of them amd I thought at least 2 of them were noticeably different.

And obviously Four Roses Single Barrels with the different recipes and different yeasts can be wildly different.

quote:

Originally posted by mr kablammo:
furlough, I saw a bottle of Balmorhea at Specs on Sat, 2-26-22. The price was around $120. I had a sample previously and it was mighty fine. Enjoy.

For myself, I bought a bottle of Early Times BiB in the Saz-BT bottle. The flavor was lacking the baking spices that I really enjoy. The first pour was pretty hot on the ethanol. Maybe I will buy a second bottle next year after this batch has sold out.

So I beat feet to a small liquor store and bought two bottles of the Brown-Forman ET BiB. That store had some allocated bottles. The Weller CYPB was priced at $699. I saw but did not inquire about the 107 and FP.

The 1792 FP, and 1792 Single Barrel were $70. Larceny Barrel was $99. The BT Koshers were $249.

Thank you sir! Definitely saving it for a special occasion then.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Just finished watching "Neat," a documentary currently on Hulu about bourbon. It's pretty good. Nothing earth shattering or anything that most of us don't know but there are some cool human interest stories as well as general history of the nectar of the Gods.

Just watched this tonight as well. Very enjoyable - thanks for recommending it.

On Amazon Prime is "Scotch! The Story of Whisky". I found the host to be enjoyable to listen to.

Yeah, I know this thread is about Bourbon. I also see it is not currently included with a Prime membership.

I have not been drinking during Lent, but keep watching this thread.

Did pick up 3 liters of Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star, for $15.99 each

BTT.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
I was at Total Wine and More this morning, and was amazed at what they DON'T have one their shelves (bourbon related).They had NO 1.75ltr. bottles of Jim Beam Black....Elijah Craig...1792 small batch....and some others. I did find a 1.75ltr. bottle of Knob Creek and grabbed it. The folks tell me the distilleries have no large bottles to put their whiskey in. This is not good!!

I have BT, EC and 1792 available. My BT is running low and trying to decide what to get next. BT is certainly an option. EC sounded good but some reviews say it's more oakey and the BT is sweeter - both of which makes BT sound preferable to me. 1792 sounds good as well.

So, trying to decide between 1792 and BT by Sunday....

A buddy scored me a bottle of Colonel EH Taylor for me today and I'll be able to pick it up Sunday.

I've had a bottle sitting in my cabinet for 3 years now that I have never opened because I didn't have a replacement that I'll finally be able to open now.

I found a local source of bottles. Weller, Pappy, other rare items you guys mention here on the shelf. Hundreds of dollars per bottle. Multiple bottles of each. One was $899. Trying to stay away lest temptation gets me divorced.

Although I believe I mentioned this before, it may be worth repeating.

Unicorn Auctions is a monthly spirits auction, where you can find some really sought after bottles.

Casual observation: We've got a thread here detailing wonderful bourbons, and a thread in the Lounge chronicling several who are dealing with alcoholism. An interesting bunch, we are.

That said, I'm looking forward to a sample of 1792 this evening.

Michters Kentucky Bourbon Small Batch 45.7% 91.4 Proof $42.59 - Mello Earthy and might fine. It was a New Years Splurge and yet to disappoint.

quote:

Originally posted by RGRacing:
Michters

Nice, sir.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
That said, I'm looking forward to a sample of 1792 this evening.

Would be interested in a comparison to Buffalo Trace. I bought a second bottle of BT already but 1792 was in the running. Based on reviews, BT sounded like a better fit for me. But I really don't have a lot of confidence in the reviews as I don't know what their biases are.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I found a local source of bottles. Weller, Pappy, other rare items you guys mention here on the shelf. Hundreds of dollars per bottle. Multiple bottles of each. One was $899. Trying to stay away lest temptation gets me divorced.

Those bottles remain on the shelf at that store because the prices are beyond what even the black market charges. Most are available by the pour at bars. The price per pour will range from reasonable to absurd. If priced reasonably bar pours are a great way to figure out if the hype is justified. There's a diminishing return with high end bottles. Plenty of good to great stuff that's easily available and fairly priced.

Who’s paying the absurd prices? Multimillionaires I would presume. Cost agnostic.

For me, ignore that it’s way over budget. It would not only have to be 30x enjoyable than BT but also better than any reasonable opportunity cost.

But if I were cost insensitive, I’d try one.

Pour bar? I assume that’s not a normal bar. Never heard of that before. I wonder if there is one around here. Or maybe it’s better if I don’t.