Find a friend going out of the country and have them be your mule. Straight from the Barrel isn't available everywhere but I had a friend bring me a bottle from the Caribbean last year for under $70.

Got elmer. Ecbp.

Having masters keep right now. Pretyy good.

MK is on the shelves around here at $150.00. I suspect if it were under $100.00, it'd be gone, but mighty pricey for an under 90 barrel proof WT product, IMO.

Tried the Bulleit Rye Sat. night. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it particularly given I did not really care for the Bulleit 10. I was under the impression the mashbills were very close, but didn't taste that way.

Second go at the Knob Creek Single Barrel. Better, but too woody and bitter for me, even at $36.00.

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
Find a friend going out of the country and have them be your mule. Straight from the Barrel isn't available everywhere but I had a friend bring me a bottle from the Caribbean last year for under $70.

Supposedly it's available in some duty free shops here as well. Haven't found it yet.

quote:

Originally posted by jigray3:
Tried the Bulleit Rye Sat. night. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed it particularly given I did not really care for the Bulleit 10. I was under the impression the mashbills were very close, but didn't taste that way.

Bulleit Rye mashbill is 95% rye 5% barley.

Best guess on the Bulleit bourbon, standard and 10 yr, is somewhere in the area of 68% corn 28% rye 4% malted barley.

Very different beasts.

Then I stand corrected. The mashbills are not even close. That explains why the rye is distinctly better on my palate.

I've never bought from these guys before. Blanton's Straight from the Barrel is in stock. Price and shipping are in line with other vendors. Two bottles are around $280 shipped.

https://www.bestofwhisky.com/u...rrel-proof-6425.html

^ Ugh. I can't/won't do it.

I'll pay upwards 2x for a Barrel Strength version of something I already like, which is itself fairly ridiculous from a value proposition perspective, for a whopping 10 or so extra proof, but it's tolerable in that it's not absurd, but paying 3x+ for a whiskey that's ~5% stronger is redonk to me, especially when it's going to middle men. I feel like I'm paying some organized crime element a made up "fee" for "protection" or "transportation", etc.

I guess I need to find a whiskey-mule.

Finally had a taste of MM Cask Strength tonight. Bar near the office has a pretty nice selection including Pappy 10 and 15. $35 and $45 per pour, if you're wondering.

MM Cask Strength was much more reasonable at $12. Very good and I will be buying a bottle in the near future.

Had a couple of pours of EC12 from a "red 12" bottle - nice stuff after a tough day at the Mizzou pool.

TTFN,
F.
8-)

Sounds like a terribly rough day. ^

Yellow Jacket I saw a bottle for $65 it was 110 proof I'd like to try it before that buy. Same store had Stag Jr for $50. Do you think it's better than Stagg Jr.

makers cask strength is 5x better than stagg jr. stagg jr is just a hot mess.

quote:

Originally posted by GA Gator:
Yellow Jacket I saw a bottle for $65 it was 110 proof I'd like to try it before that buy. Same store had Stag Jr for $50. Do you think it's better than Stagg Jr.

I've have bottles of both MMCS and StaggJR. StaggJr gets a bad rap, mostly by people who have had George T Stagg, and I get that. StaggJr is worth trying (has a wonderful oiliness and oak/burnt sugar notes) but its super hot and does not have the flavor punch to push through the alcohol.

The makers mark, whats not to love about a wheater? Its everything we love about Makers Mark on steroids! Its freakin delicious through and through. You'll love it.

If you had to chose between he two. My vote is Markers Mark Cask Strength.

Other Cask/Near Cask Strength Honorable Mentions: Noah's Mill, Four Roses Barrel Strength, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Old Grandad 114.

Makers Cask is more appropriately comparable to BTAC WLWeller, and handily loses that competition to WLW even though both are good, as they are the only two barrel proof Wheaters there are, I think, and as such the only real comparisons of each other.

Stagg Jr, George T Stagg, Taylor Barrel Proof, EC Barrel Proof, Bookers, Knob Creek Single Barrel (sort of BP), Blantons Barrel Proof, Four Roses Barrel Proof Single Barrel editions, these, Rye Bourbons that are Barrel Proof, are apt comparisons, IMO.

ymmv.



I like Stagg Jr., less than GTStagg and Taylor, but more than EC BP, for instance. Nit picking territory for sure, as I ultimately like them all, but still..

Comparing Makers Cask to Stagg Jr is like comparing Stella to Guiness, oranges to tangelos.

I regularly buy Stagg Jr.

I am not a huge fan of wheaters I can only drink one or two till they just get to sweet. Then I switch to a Bourbon with rye. That said I always have at least one on hand, Weller 12, Lot B etc..

I guess the question should have been if you were going to buy one, which would you buy. And considering my Stagg Jr has about 2" left I'll pick it's replacement just cause I drink more of it.

drinkin old scout 10 yr barrel select tonight. was good, much like stagg jr but better.

heresy i know its sourced.

In other news its march and about to be bourbon release time soon.

quote:

Originally posted by GA Gator:
Yellow Jacket I saw a bottle for $65 it was 110 proof I'd like to try it before that buy. Same store had Stag Jr for $50. Do you think it's better than Stagg Jr.

I personally like Stagg Jr better, but I'm halfway through a bottle of it and I've only had one drink of Makers Cask, so it's hard to judge. And like 46 said, they're really different animals. Like so many other things in life, you should probably just buy both.

quote:

Originally posted by Deqlyn:
drinkin old scout 10 yr barrel select tonight. was good, much like stagg jr but better.

heresy i know its sourced.

In other news its march and about to be bourbon release time soon.

Smooth Ambler are the good guys. They source but they're transparent about it. No bullshit stories about grandpappy's secret family recipe. They're making their own stuff and waiting for it to age to a good spot. They pushed back a planned release because it wasn't ready yet. They could have taken advantage of their fans and the current market and released something they felt wasn't up to standards just to cash in but they waited. They're doing things right. They also sourced some great barrels from MGP/LDI. I'd much rather support Smooth Ambler than the liars, crooks, and frauds running some of the other distilleries.

The new ECNAS (no age statement anywhere on the bottle, front or back!) hit the shelves here last week while I was gone officiating to Mizzou. SAME price as the EC12 with the age statement on the back -- $27.99/750ml. Probably close to the same juice (for a while) but still . . . . . . .

Oh well, have to make room in the bunker for the two (2) 1.75l EC12s that I bought before I left for Mizzou.

TTFN,
"Point Blank" Frank
8-)