AEBL Blues

Good choice.
If you get a chance to find it try Jefferson's Ocean. Voyages 19, 23 and 25 are good.

Of course, few things beat a 21-year-old Balvenie Scotch.

The best Scotch ... heck, the best of any liquor ... I ever had was a gift bottle of 40-year-old Laphroaig. (don't look the price up if you have a weak heart)
For that bottle I held a "Gathering of Distinctive Gentlemen". I invited the admiral heading NALANT, the MCPON, a pastor who was the sixth generation of pastors in his family, a jeweler whose family had operated the same store for 125 years, a successful chef, plus myself. Every one was a self-made man.
I served heavy Scottish hors d'oeuvres and had the bottle on a tray with six glasses. It was January and cold, with a big fire in the fireplace. We talked, told storied from our lives, and sipped the whole bottle over five hours. The admiral kicked his shoes off and fell asleep in a recliner by the fire halfway through the evening. Everyone else left around 11. I called his driver around midnight to come get him. When I awoke him, he told me he hadn't relaxed like that in a year. All of us have retired, two have passed on, but those of us left still remember that bottle of scotch.
 
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Nice memory Stacy… and very generous of you.

one of the advantages (or disadvantages?) of living in Kentucky is that the distilleries sell, on premesis, bottling you can not get anywhere else. Both Yellowstone and Rebel sell “distillers select” that are very, very good. Lux Row makes a limited bottling that is extremely good (and pricy). Lux row also makes a very, *very* limited bottling called Blood Oath which is incredible (practically the only bourbon my wife will touch) … not extremely expensive, but very difficult to get…
 
Saw on the news that a bottle of the MacAllan sold for 2.1 million $ at Sotherby’s recently setting a new world record for the most expensive bottle of hooch. This was breaking its old own record of $1.9 million. The article broke it down to $131,000 and change per dram! Both of these bottles were from the same batch that was distilled in 1926, aged in sherry casks and bottled in 1986. There are 40 bottles total.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Good choice.
If you get a chance to find it try Jefferson's Ocean. Voyages 19, 23 and 25 are good.

Of course, few things beat a 21-year-old Balvenie Scotch.

The best Scotch ... heck, the best of any liquor ... I ever had was a gift bottle of 40-year-old Laphroaig. (don't look the price up if you have a weak heart)
For that bottle I held a "Gathering of Distinctive Gentlemen". I invited the admiral heading NAVAIR, the MCPON, a pastor who was the sixth generation of pastors in his family, a jeweler whose family had operated the same store for 125 years, a successful chef, plus myself. Every one was a self-made man.
I served heavy Scottish hors d'oeuvres and had the bottle on a tray with six glasses. It was January and cold, with a big fire in the fireplace. We talked, told storied from our lives, and sipped the whole bottle over five hours. The admiral kicked his shoes off and fell asleep in a recliner by the fire halfway through the evening. Everyone else left around 11. I called his driver around midnight to come get him. When I awoke him, he told me he hadn't relaxed like that in a year. All of us have retired, two have passed on, but those of us left still remember that bottle of scotch.
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The Ocean I had was as good as any I've ever had, including Pappy Van Winkle. I gifted my best USMC buddy a bottle of Ocean when we last met for lunch. We have similar tastes. Nice post.
 
Horsewright said:
Saw on the news that a bottle of the MacAllan sold for 2.1 million $ at Sotherby’s recently setting a new world record for the most expensive bottle of hooch. This was breaking its old own record of $1.9 million. The article broke it down to $131,000 and change per dram! Both of these bottles were from the same batch that was distilled in 1926, aged in sherry casks and bottled in 1986. There are 40 bottles total.
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Where I go on fishing trip was front line in WW I , many years ago friend of mine find crate with bottles ... with French cognac :) We drank everything in a few months, most for the new year eve :) We was young than ...........years after that we learned how much bottle cost 🤣 We never regretted drinking everything ,,you don't drink that every day :)
From time to time I still hear that someone has found a crate or a few bottles . . .. . .
 
Natlek said:
Where I go on fishing trip was front line in WW I , many years ago friend of mine find crate with bottles ... with French cognac :) We drank everything in a few months, most for the new year eve :) We was young than ...........years after that we learned how much bottle cost 🤣 We never regretted drinking everything ,,you don't drink that every day :)
From time to time I still hear that someone has found a crate or a few bottles . . .. . .
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Thanks for posting that link! That was very interesting. My grandfather fought in WW1. Shows ya how old I am.
 
Natlek said:
Where I go on fishing trip was front line in WW I , many years ago friend of mine find crate with bottles ... with French cognac :) We drank everything in a few months, most for the new year eve :) We was young than ...........years after that we learned how much bottle cost 🤣 We never regretted drinking everything ,,you don't drink that every day :)
From time to time I still hear that someone has found a crate or a few bottles . . .. . .
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What a deal. Great story. Too bad it got there the way it did but it's nice it's being found.
 
Boattale said:
What a deal. Great story. Too bad it got there the way it did but it's nice it's being found.
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I don't remember the taste , I only remember that cognac got us drunk every time :) There are people here who deliberately look for it, like some kind of cognac hunters ,there are many stories about it like this one ... they are looking for a cave where there is cognac weapons and even gold coins :)
 
Ok, some of you folks who have been here a while might remember this. Maybe one or two still around were there when it happened:

Back in 2009 I posted I was bringing a 100+ year old bottle of scotch to the Ashokan Seminar to share with friends. That started a scotch/whiskey tasting event we held in the field as a tail-gate. People brought their best whiskeys and we all shared tastes in the wee sipping cups. Ardbeg Supernova Committee reserve, Millenium, and many more. There ended up being a LOT of whiskey. We sipped and talked under the stars, and a few meteors, until well after 3AM. Kevin Cashed got really schnockered and missed breakfast.

Now, to be clear, a 100-year-old bottle of scotch is not the same as a bottle of 100-year-old scotch. Aging happens in the barrel, which breaths. But, as a bottle ages, it does mellow the spirits a little. 100 years has to make some changes.
The bottle I had was vatted in 1908 in Providence, RI. I assume it was a whiskey dealer who blended/vatted for private customers. It could well have been for the Kennedys. Whiskey blenders would purchase barrels of whiskey from Scotland, Canada, and Kentucky. They would then blend different makers to get a certain taste ... or vat barrels from one distillery as single malts to sell as private-label bottles of scotch and bourbon for high-class clubs and private customers. There is no way to know what whiskeys were vatted together (or if it was actually a blend and not truly a vat), but I would guess it was probably different years and batches 10 to 20-year-old scotch from a distillery. The hand-typed label merely stated "Customer #XXX" (I'll have to look at the empty bottle and get the exact info). The bottle was tightly sealed with a lead cap and had the intact 1918 WW1 war tax stamps and state seals on it. The contents were black and there were particles visible in it. The estate selling it deemed that the contents were ruined and sold it as a collectable bottle. I bought it at the auction for $35, in 2008. That Christmas guests were passing the bottle around to read the label, and it started to drip a little from the lead seal due to all the tipping and shaking. I tasted the drips, and it tasted like smoky scotch. My Daughter and I decided to take the top off and re-cork it. The thick lead was so stuck to the bottle we had to scrape it off. We discovered that the cork was almost completely disintegrated, which was what caused the black color, sediment, and smoky taste. With nothing better to do, we spend several hours pouring it through coffee filters. It got lighter and lighter until it looked like regular scotch. I was the Guinea pig and took the first taste. It was still good. Nothing special, just a very smooth scotch. The smoky taste was almost completely gone. Tina and I had tiny sips of it, hoping we wouldn't be in the hospital by morning, but there were no ill effects. No one else was brave enough. Yes, we worried a bit about the lead possible contaminating the whiskey ... but you only live once. A friend took a sample to the lab at the hospital where she worked, and we happily found it had a very low lead content. I took the bottle to Asokan in 2009 to share with my friends.
The empty bottle sits in the shop ... re-filled with McCallan 15-year Fine Oak (now called triple cask).
 
Why complicate things. Bulleit Bourbon
 
I have to agree with Mr Davenport. In a cabinet that has Bulleit, Blantons, Willet, Angel's Envy (not bad at all for a blend), Bookers single, Jack single, etc., I reach for that Woodford Reserve just about every time. I love that stuff. Neat, BTW.

Buffalo Trace is another less expensive whiskey that'll keep you quite happy if you like the sweeter side of bourbon.
 
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No idea what you guys are talking about:

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And more than half of those blades under the tape are AEB-L.

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