Bourbon!

[Jarhead90]

I like Evan Williams Honey Reserve. Not as strong as Jack & great when mixed with ginger ale. I'm not a big fan of their new Cherry Reserve though.

[tracula]

Love sipping on Basil Hayden on ice! mmmmmm!!!!!

[greater]

I tried some Buffalo trace today and found it to be quite good. It reminds me of a weaker (less alcohol, but still decent, rich, and full flavored) less dry version of Booker.

Booker still has more rich aroma, flavor, dryness, and bite (I have to take smaller sips) but Buffalo trace is by no means any slouch. I like the stuff.

That is my beginners opinion.

[rocketbomb]

I've consistently found Buffalo Trace to be way too watered down for my taste. It has good flavor but not enough of it in my opinion.

Going to the store tomorrow, hopefully there is something interesting on the shelf.

[Handwrecker]

I would be lying if I said I found a bourbon I didn't like. Ridgemont Reserve, Four Roses, and Wild Turkey Rare Breed are what I like if I'm feeling spendy.

Jim Beam and Old Crow (yes, I love Old Crow somehow ) will always have a special place in my heart as the usual suspects and the fuel of my college years.

[Gollnick]

Yesterday, I went down to my cellar to get a 2006 Bergstrom Family Reserve Pinot Noir. This is an awesome Pinot Noir and, like all 2006s, a huge, bold Pinot Noir, what I call an "attack Pinot." It was in Bin 14.

While rummaging through Bin 14, I did find the 2006, but I also found six bottles of 2005 Bergstrom Family Reserve. I thought that was odd since I don't usually put two years of the same wine in the same bin since it leads to accidents. When I checked my cellar inventory, I found no record of a 2005 Bergstrom Family Reserve. Apparently, the Pinot Fairies had left it for me. So, I brought up a bottle since 2005 is about my favorite Oregon vintage. What a perfect wine.

Today, I celebrated this find with a USDA Prime New York strip steak done to rare on my indoor grill (I won't kid you by telling you that it perfectly replaces my outdoor Weber, but it's pretty good). I added a simple salad and I made some caramelized sweet onions to go on top of the steak. At the last minute, I decided to up the flavor by adding a half-shot of Knob Creek Bourbon to the onions and flambeing.

The only thing I can say is: Perfect. The simple salad has a few bits of sun-dried tomatoes in it and a gentle ranch dressing. The steak is wonderful. The bourbon-flambeed caramelized sweet onions on top are so perfect. And this wine just carries the day. To think... there are five more bottle in the cellar.

[Gollnick]

While this is a thread about bourbon -- and I did bring bourbon into the onions which were so good -- I am still sipping this Pinot and this is one of the best wines I have ever had. It is absolutely perfectly balanced. Perfect.

[Guyon]

While I like a good Pinot Noir myself, let's try and steer this thread back to bourbon.
Ethan Becker, God bless him, sent me this Basil Hayden's to honor my thirty-thousandth post here at BFC.
Beforehand, I tried to explain to him that 29,900 posts were basically drivel, but thankfully, he didn't listen to reason.
I have sampled this fine spirit and found it to be most satisfying.

[John G]

WOW! The man has fine taste in booze.

[rocketbomb]

Basil Hayden's ain't bad stuff at all. Has a pretty pronounced rye character to it, which I really like. It's also a bit light but other than that I have little bad to say about it.

For a few bucks less I'd drink it much more often.

Free is the best price possible though. If 30K posts of pure drivel is all you need to do to get free bourbon...

[OldPhysics]

While this is a thread about bourbon -- and I did bring bourbon into the onions which were so good -- I am still sipping this Pinot and this is one of the best wines I have ever had. It is absolutely perfectly balanced. Perfect.

Lord, I love a good Pinot!!

But ... give me bourbon. Actually, don't bother -- I'm pretty fully stocked.

[frc505]

have any of you guys heard of or tried a bourbon called fighting cock it's a 6 year old made by heaven hill ! and its 103 proof for around 15 bucks its not bad ! any feed back?
also has anyone tried the new bourbon from makers mark ? i think its called makers 46

frank

[black mamba]

I finished off my 15 month old bottle of Pappy's 20 year old tonight. None left.

What do I do now? I need a group hug.

[Praxis]

For anyone with a Costco membership living in a state that allows retail liquor purchases, the new Kirkland Signature Premium Small Batch Bourbon is worth trying. $20 for a full liter. Supposedly a Beam product. Picked some up this week in Delaware while visiting friends. I suspect hardcore bourbon lovers may turn up their noses at Costco bourbon, but I found it to be pretty decent.

[greater]

For anyone with a Costco membership living in a state that allows retail liquor purchases, the new Kirkland Signature Premium Small Batch Bourbon is worth trying. $20 for a full liter. Supposedly a Beam product. Picked some up this week in Delaware while visiting friends. I suspect hardcore bourbon lovers may turn up their noses at Costco bourbon, but I found it to be pretty decent.

Not really sometimes fantastic stuff is simply rebranded (same good stuff but different label) and sold at discount.
I find that higher price does not always mean better quality.

Often a higher price tag may be only because it is a scarce low production product with a unique flavor that is different but not better than others. Other times it is much better, but that does not mean the lower priced versions are substandard products. On the other hand it does not mean that higher priced bourbons are a rip off unworthy of support and sales.

If your tastes lean toward the lower priced quality product then lucky for you.

Of course if one says I will never ever spend that much money for a bottle of booze they will never know for sure which ones they like better. One of the things that I don't like is I see plenty of small sample bottles of lower priced liquors but not of the higher priced versions. I would think it would be better to sample the higher priced product before investing a small fortune on a full bottle only to find out it is not suited to your tastes or better enough in ones opinion to match the higher price.

[Morrow]

My current line up.

Rye to the right...bourbon to the left.



The rye



The bourbon...plus a bottle of Scotch that wormed it's way in to the picture.

[greater]

I am interested in that RI Rye how do you rate it?

[Morrow]

I am interested in that RI Rye how do you rate it?

Is damn good a good enough rating or do you need some more detail?

I bought a bottle ($50) because some friends of mind drink a lot of rye or bourbon based coctails (Old Fashions and Sazeracs etc.) and recommended it. I like these cocktails as well but much prefer my whiskey neat. Overall....a great bottle. It's definitely layered with flavor...fruity...spicy....finishes kinda dry. It tastes like a $50 bottle should taste...worth the money for sure if you're interested in a more upscale rye.

[greater]

I couldn't find the RI in my area so I bought a less expensive bottle of Sazerac Rye (about $29.00 for 750 ml) 90 proof, the one next to the bottle of Wild Turkey Rye in your picture.

It tastes very similar to bourbon and was somewhat rough around the edges and dry. It got much better when I let it sit a few minutes to open up and added a few dribbles of water. I think it is a decent whiskey.

Is the RI a hard to get item because I tried 3 liquor stores in my area with no success in finding it. I have been reading Rye makes a good mixing whiskey I am going look around for some recipes but this stuff is not bad straight either.

[Gollnick]

For anyone with a Costco membership living in a state that allows retail liquor purchases, the new Kirkland Signature Premium Small Batch Bourbon is worth trying. $20 for a full liter. Supposedly a Beam product. Picked some up this week in Delaware while visiting friends. I suspect hardcore bourbon lovers may turn up their noses at Costco bourbon, but I found it to be pretty decent.

Costco here in Oregon can't sell liquor, so I have not been able to try the Kirkland Bourbon. But, I will say that Costco here in Oregon has a very nice wine selection, so I suspect that someone in Costco's buying organization has good taste. Kirkland is Costco's house brand. As is typical of "house brands," Kirkland manufacturers nothing. Kirkland is a buying office up in Kirkland, Washington... hence the name. What I have found is that Kirkland-branded products tend to be quite good. I have never been disappointed by a Kirkland-branded product. For the price, the Kirkland products I have tried have always... without exception... been, in my opinion, an excellent value. So, it would not surprise me if the Kirkland-branded bourbon is quite good and an excellent value.