quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
Skip Jamesons. Bushmills is better. And for the price listed, Black Bush or Red Bush are both excellent upgrades from Bushmill's standard White Label.

This is a VERY contentious issue with entrenched fans of both Jamesons and Bushmills constantly facing off against each other.

As for which Jamesons, I'd recommend Black Barrel. If you happene to live where prices are lower than the national average, you might find the outstanding RedBreast for $50. Jameson's distills RedBreast FWIW.

and to me it's like arguing which is better, Jack or Beam.

the answer is NEITHER.

I think you need to first determine if you want a Scotch/Irish Whisky or a Bourbon.
Lot's of people in one camp or another.
Comparing a Jameson/Bushmills to Jim Beam/Jack Daniels is just apples to oranges, IMO.
Generally, guys who like Scotch (and Irish Whisky is a kissing cousin) have a more refined palette.
Of course I wouldn't turn down a nice glass of Pappy either.

Bushmills Irish Whiskey gift set might be a good choice.
They did a three bottle set and each bottle is 375ml.
You get 1 Red Bush,1 Original and 1 Black Bush.
If my memory is correct the sampler set was less than $50.00 last year.

My inputs at that appx. price:
Bourbon - Knob Creek, the rye version is also good.
Scotch - Johnnie Walker Black, or for a pinch more I like the gold reserve. Those are blends though, if you want true single malts listen to the other posters because I haven't tried enough. Most Scotch turns me off, but the two I mentioned are very nice to me.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I think you need to first determine if you want a Scotch/Irish Whisky or a Bourbon.
Lot's of people in one camp or another.
Comparing a Jameson/Bushmills to Jim Beam/Jack Daniels is just apples to oranges, IMO.
Generally, guys who like Scotch (and Irish Whisky is a kissing cousin) have a more refined palette.
Of course I wouldn't turn down a nice glass of Pappy either.

I'm a scotch or whisky guy. Tried many but I always return to Highland Park 12. Nice balance and a great choice for about 50 bucks. I've tried some of the older stuff, but its never worth the extra money in my opinion.

Buffalo Trace bourbon sometimes available in Alabama and only about $30. Best buy in my opinion.

Not a fan of Knob Creek. My current favorite is Old Forester 1870. Angels Envy is also great but more expensive.

Well. You've opened a right kettle of fish. Answers are going to depend on what you consider whiskey, what your preferences are, and how firm is that budget. Don't get me wrong, there are some very enjoyable bottles in that range, but just a few dollars more gets you into some really special bottles. Any thing that follows is purely my opinion and yours may be completely different, and that's fine.

American whiskeys are your easiest bet at $50, but sadly hipsters discovered bourbon a few years ago and have made it hard to find and driven prices through the roof. A few years ago you could have gotten really good bourbon like Blanton's, Booker's, or the older bottlings of Eagle Rare for that. Now MSRPs have steadily risen (nearly doubled for Booker's) and the bourbons are nearly unobtainable at MSRP due to demand. Booker's at $50 was a steal. At $80 it was still worth it. At $100...well...I've got other options there.

So what is actually good and available at $50? Buffalo Trace is usually under that and is solid. They make many of the higher end brands and their base line is pretty good stuff on its own. If you can find a barrel pick version at a local store they can be remarkable and not much more than the regular edition.

I just bought Russel's Reserve 10 year for $49.99. It's a Wild Turkey product and is really, really good. It's also starting to get harder to find.

Baker's (made by Beam and kind of Booker's little brother in the line) is right around $50. It's been revamped in the last few years and I like the changes. Still fairly easy to find.

Switching over to Irish whiskey, both Jameson and Bushmill put out good products. The base lines are unoffensive if a bit bland. They step up fairly quick from there. Problem is, that if you bounce from $50 to $75 or so you can find Redbreast which is phenomenal. The Redbreast Cask Strength is more at $100, but it's my favorite whiskey in the world, and I've had more than a few of them.

There isn't a Scotch in that range I'd recommend. There are Scotches that I really like right around there, but they are things that I wouldn't recommend to someone unless I knew they liked that specific flavor profile. Things like Ardbeg have been described as trying to drink a hospital soaked in tar and set on fire. But in a good way. I'm not totally against blended Scotch Whiskey, but there aren't many I like and none of them have the initials JW (except maybe Green, which appears and disappears).

Can't help with Canadian Whiskey. It does nothing for me. I drink neat and Canadian whiskey just lacks character.

Avoid any Tequila with Cuervo on the label. It's my personal rule, but I'm pretty firm on it. You can find smaller bottles of Don Julio for $50 and it will change people's perception of what good tequila is. No lime or salt needed.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
Skip Jamesons. Bushmills is better. And for the price listed, Black Bush or Red Bush are both excellent upgrades from Bushmill's standard White Label.

This is a VERY contentious issue with entrenched fans of both Jamesons and Bushmills constantly facing off against each other.

As for which Jamesons, I'd recommend Black Barrel. If you happene to live where prices are lower than the national average, you might find the outstanding RedBreast for $50. Jameson's distills RedBreast FWIW.

I've noticed that as well,

it is almost like Ford Vs Chevy!!



as far as which type of Jameson, (if you go that way)
the original is very good,
the CaskMates are good,but the flavors (IPA or Stout are very subtle,

I have had the black as well, but honestly the original is just damn tasty

We nomally drink bourbons, Makers Mark, Buffalo Trace etc. But I also like Crown Reserve. I believe it's at your price point.

Jim

You’ll get the phone book when it comes to recommendations since everyone is different. I have a lot of 20ish bottles that I prefer over bottles that cost 5 or more times that.

If you like Jameson then I really like their Stout edition. It’s their Whiskey finished in Stout beer barrels. It’s very nice.

As a gift though I might suggest a sampler pack of something. I’ve seen several brands recently that are selling boxes with two or three variations of their whiskeys. I’ve seen Jefferson, Old Forrester, Heaven Hill and High West sample boxes and that’s just bourbons.

Ardbeg 10 year. Might be the smokiest scotch out there.

I just picked up a bottle of The Glenlivet Founders Reserve single malt scotch whiskey. It is aged in American Oak. Nice light color. Good flavor. Not bad at all.

Got it for $47 including tax.

i am a little late to this party, but i thought i would chime in with a warning. i was always just a very casual borbon guy and never really gave it much thought or attention. i was turned onto scotch by one of our wonderful forum members. now, i have an entire room dedicated to my collection and am a certified peat head and scotch fanatic. i love to go on little day trips and bottle hunts. i just picked up these two wonderful drops. gotta love campbeltown and island scotches.

dozer

https://photos.app.goo.gl/axLewbQfs2uGJ6aHA
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cxYqQk8BmGhtfC138