Blades & Bourbon

sgt1372 said:
Opened the bottle of Jack Daniels - Single Barrel Select (pictured above) yesterday and it was VERY, VERY GOOD!

Really smooth and suitable to drink neat, which is how I like to drink my whiskey. n Don't think I'll be buying any "regular" JD ever again and I'm tempted to just throw out what I have left.

I think it's THAT good! Check it out.

It only costs about $40/bottle at my local TWM which is a "bargain" for bourbon these days.
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If you liked the JD Single Barrel Select, you have to try the Single Barrel Barrel Proof. It’s a flavor bomb in the best possible way.
 
My find of the day. A bottle of Booker's "Little Book, Chapter 4 (2020) together with an Olamic Wayfarer 247 that I recently bought off of the Exchange.

Would love to find the other 4 Chapters of the Little Book (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021) but I have no illusions of ever being able to do that. ;)


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POCEH KOCEB said:
Great find Marty! Congrats !
This is the spread from last Friday, from my little Bourbon group, Cheers !
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Thanks!

Reviews on the Little Books vary chapter by chapter but Chapt 4 has gotten pretty gotten pretty good ones. It's going unopened into my bourbon "library" for now..

BTW, how do you like the Stagg Jr? I've got a bottle of the most recent batch (131 Proof; no bottling date) in my "library" too.
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
Great find Marty! Congrats !
This is the spread from last Friday, from my little Bourbon group, Cheers !

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How did you like the Ezra Brooks? I find it tasty and reasonable. It's a new offering where I shop.
 
sgt1372 said:
BTW, how do you like the Stagg Jr?
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I like it very much ! It's probably the one of the allocated Bourbons that I like the best, regardless the batch...
We were lucky enough to snatch few bottles for a normal price of around $60-$80 and we use it as a benchmark for the higher proof finds we try,
but - yes, one of my absolute favorite Bourbons. I'd keep the bottle unopened till I find another one, this is what I usually do, ha ha ha...
brownshoe said:
How did you like the Ezra Brooks? I find it tasty and reasonable.
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I'll be honest with you - I like it a lot, even it's not the usual profile I like... It's a very good juice, for very good price, fairly accessible.
I'm not sure if Lux Row (link) is still supplying this brand from Indiana or it's their own juice but the quality is great and the price is right.
I personally prefer the Ezra 7 Barrel Strength over this one, but for the price, this is great everyday sipper.
I'm more prone to hit the mid-line of Knob Creek or 1792 for everyday but they are more expensive and also higher proof so this would be easier drink for everyday,
of course depending on your proof preference... I'm ok with 40-42% to 50, over this I'll need more water and time but for single drink at the evening, in front of the movie or my forums,
I'd go every night with something around 40% abv.
Cheers !
Tonight I'm shooting my "infinity" bottle with remaining of various left overs - Taylor, Blantons, 12yo Weller, 12 yo, Knob Creek, little bit Small Batch Smoke Wagon,
Spirits of French Lick Mattie Galden, some Willet 12yo rye and some 10yo Old Scout, the last I remember is the Huber's Starlight excellent Bourbon, finished in Cherry casks... :cool::thumbsup:

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POCEH KOCEB said:
Tonight I'm shooting my "infinity" bottle with remaining of various left overs - Taylor, Blantons, 12yo Weller, 12 yo, Knob Creek, little bit Small Batch Smoke Wagon,
Spirits of French Lick Mattie Galden, some Willet 12yo rye and some 10yo Old Scout, the last I remember is the Huber's Starlight excellent Bourbon, finished in Cherry casks... :cool::thumbsup:
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Are you saying that you poured all of the "left overs" from those bottles together into that unlabled bottled? :eek:

If so, how the heck did that taste? o_O
 
sgt1372 said:
Are you saying that you poured all of the "left overs" from those bottles together into that unlabled bottled? :eek:

If so, how the heck did that taste? o_O
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Yeah it's a trend thats been growing for the past few years. I've tasted a few, it's horrible.
 
unwisefool said:
Well most people I know just toss EVERYTHING in there, so it's disgusting.
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I can't imagine doing that!

I suppose you could make an interesting blending experiment to mix some different bottles of the same type of booze together but only in a controlled way w/a graduated pippet and some small sealable flasks or bottles.

But just tossing whatever you've got left over into the same bottle seems like a recipe for disaster and complete waste of good "left over" booze to me.

Oh well . . .
 
sgt1372 said:
If so, how the heck did that taste?
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It tastes beautifully :cool: :thumbsup: I absolutely love it. You don't believe me, I'll send you a small bottle to test it :p
Most of the juices are with the similar profile or mashbil and every one of them brings something to the mix.
Around 100 proof when I measured it last time.
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
It tastes beautifully :cool: :thumbsup: I absolutely love it. You don't believe me, I'll send you a small bottle to test it :p
Most of the juices are with the similar profile or mashbil and every one of them brings something to the mix.
Around 100 proof when I measured it last time.
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That's ok, I'll pass but, if it's that great, could you replicate it? And do you actually use a hydrometer to measure the ABV? LOL!
 
Yes, I do use a hydrometer to measure the abv, there is nothing funny about trying to understand how the juice is changing, including the proof.
And no, I don't have to replicate it. Why should I ? This is the beauty of trying different things - with every add on you can see how the juice is changing,
it tell you much more about the nature of the Bourbon than reading reviews online. For example the taste of finished barrel of rye will usually overcome the bourbon taste,
but when you add a finished with good balance bourbon, let's say in Port barrel, as the Starlight Bourbon, will only give you a hint of the Port and blends very nicely with the rest of the bourbons. Where will you read about this my friend ?
The left overs are nearly enough for one drink, besides I already had the whole bottle, I'm not looking at this as wasting of good Bourbon.
If I can afford a $100 bottle, I can afford to waste few milligrams of it to see how it will mate with the rest of it.
 
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POCEH KOCEB said:
Yes, I do use a hydrometer to measure the abv, there is nothing funny about trying to understand how the juice is changing, including the proof.
And no, I don't have to replicate it. Why should I ? This is the beauty of trying different things - with every add on you can see how the juice is changing,
it tell you much more about the nature of the Bourbon than reading reviews online. For example the taste of finished barrel of rye will usually overcome the bourbon taste,
but when finished with good balance, let's say in Port barrel, as the Starlight Bourbon, will only give you a hint of the Port and blends very nicely with the rest of the bourbons. Where will you read about this my friend ?
The left overs are nearly enough for one drink, besides I already had the whole bottle, I'm not looking at this as wasting of good Bourbon.
If I can afford a $100 bottle, I can afford to waste few milligrams of it to see how it will mate with the rest of it.
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Well, it sounds like you are doing more than just tossing all the leftovers in a bottle and, if it works for you, great but personally I'll just stick w/keeping each bottle separate and killing each one off as I finish them, especially if they cost more than $100/per as many of mine do.

Of course, it's your $ and your booze. Enjoy your "leftovers" as you like.
 
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POCEH KOCEB said:
I like it very much ! It's probably the one of the allocated Bourbons that I like the best, regardless the batch...
We were lucky enough to snatch few bottles for a normal price of around $60-$80 and we use it as a benchmark for the higher proof finds we try,
but - yes, one of my absolute favorite Bourbons. I'd keep the bottle unopened till I find another one, this is what I usually do, ha ha ha...

I'll be honest with you - I like it a lot, even it's not the usual profile I like... It's a very good juice, for very good price, fairly accessible.
I'm not sure if Lux Row (link) is still supplying this brand from Indiana or it's their own juice but the quality is great and the price is right.
I personally prefer the Ezra 7 Barrel Strength over this one, but for the price, this is great everyday sipper.
I'm more prone to hit the mid-line of Knob Creek or 1792 for everyday but they are more expensive and also higher proof so this would be easier drink for everyday,
of course depending on your proof preference... I'm ok with 40-42% to 50, over this I'll need more water and time but for single drink at the evening, in front of the movie or my forums,
I'd go every night with something around 40% abv.
Cheers !
Tonight I'm shooting my "infinity" bottle with remaining of various left overs - Taylor, Blantons, 12yo Weller, 12 yo, Knob Creek, little bit Small Batch Smoke Wagon,
Spirits of French Lick Mattie Galden, some Willet 12yo rye and some 10yo Old Scout, the last I remember is the Huber's Starlight excellent Bourbon, finished in Cherry casks... :cool::thumbsup:

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The 90 proof regular Ezra whiskey is my day to to day whiskey. I drink it staight up...the woman squeezes an orange in hers. My liquor guy just started carrying the 99 proof because other whiskeys have been hard to get and he didn't want empty shelves. It's pretty good, kind of like Dickel's 99 proof but better. He said it's getting popular, I took his last bottle and he was out of the regular 90 proof and he usually has 3 cases on the floor. Had to get the woman Evan Williams :)

I think it's neat you blend....why let the whiskey company have all the fun.
 
Old Ezra is great quality Bourbon for the price, I like lower proof as well as higher one. It's not exactly my profile but I enjoy it once in a while with friends.
I know for a fact that Ezra Brooks discontinued the 101 series in 2018, but it was sort of pointed later to the Old Ezra 7, which is also 7 years old and 101 proof.
Before this Lux Row was advertising some of the David Nicholson line as "replacement", but it didn't have the age statement and was 100 proof (not like 1% matters that much...)
So I'm guessing ( and I could be wrong on this ) the Old Ezra 7 was marketed for the loyal to the brand customers and it is a very good Bourbon IMO...
I did try the 90 proof but as I said, I prefer other profiles for lower proof so I don't really buy it all the time but I see it along with the 99 almost in every store, which is good, they are available.
One of my all time favorites - Knob Creek, has the same mashbill of 78% corn and 10-12% rye but it tastes totally different to me and it's profile is what I like.
Maybe because most of the Ezra Brooks products are mellowed trough charcoal and this makes them close to Black Jack, that I don't like, I don't know,
just not my type but of course if you like it - more power to you and Cheers ! There is no bad Bourbon (or cheap for that matter...)

Here is the masbills for most of the big names on the market if someone is interested: https://modernthirst.com/home/bourbon-whiskey-mash-bills/

I did pull the remaining of my open bottles of KC the other day and tried them all again, I guess my sweet spot is between 45 and 50% abv...

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And BTW, for the 1792 fans ( I love the brand) - Costco is releasing the first of three products, that are identical to the 1792 brand - Small Batch, following by BIB and I believe Barrel Proof.
I did try the Small Batch, it is 1:1 the same as the 1792, in fact the label sais that it is bottled in the same distillery.
It's a 1 liter (quart) bottle, for $20, it is great value for a great everyday sipper at 94 proof...

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Today, I visited a recently opened craft distillery in my area called Sabbatical Labs Distillery. It is a family operation that also owns and operates Victoria Island Farm, a huge commercial blueberry producer located just east of Discovery Bay in the Sacramento/San Joaquin River delta area of Northern CA.

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I bought a bottle of their straight (single) malt whiskey and bourbon. The whiskey and bourbon were only aged for 2-3 years. They've only been "in business" that long. So, this is these are the 1st bottles that they are now offering for sale.

The single malt whiskey is a bottled at 90 proof that was distilled from cherrywood smoked and pure malted barley and aged in new American oak barrels; only 2 barrels (or about 400 bottles) were produced. The bourbon is 80% corn/20% barley, bottled at 100 Proof and was aged in charred American oak barrels; only 5 barrels (or about 1000 bottles) were produced. The whiskey was designed for drinking "neat" and the bourbon was designed for drinking "on ice."

I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of these offerings and was happy to buy a couple of bottles to support this local start up. Haven't opened them yet but plan to do so soon,

Following is a link to their website which provides some background info about their business, as well as their 3rd offering of a blended whiskey (which I didn't purchase but was designed as a "mixer"). See: Sabattical Lab Distillery

PS: I just purchased/received the Spyderco Swayback (pictured in the foreground) off of the Exchange.
 
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