Help me find my drink

Pygmalion

Pygmalion

Joined
Oct 7, 2007
Messages
988
There seems to be at least a hand full of sophisticated drinkers in the Busse forum, so I would like to pick your brains to find a whiskey that I would like to drink straight.
I have been a Crown and water drinker for years. I don't drink very often these days, but I am looking for a whiskey that I can sip straight.
I am looking for something smooth, of course. I don't like the bite that many whiskey's have. Even Crown is too strong for me straight. Who knows, maybe my whiskey doesn't exist, but if it is out there, I would like to find it.
Any suggestions?
 
sidecutter said:
if one of those kentucky type aged bourbons aint smooth enuff......:eek:you need to stop drinkin. :D
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That's what I'm asking for ... what are some of those smooth Kentucky Bourbons. The Tennessee whiskeys are just too dry for me. I prefer the sweeter taste of the Bourbons. But I figured I'd ask opinions instead of the shotgun approach.
 
What you prefer to drink is quite personal, in terms of coming to a conclusion or making a decision, and involves much exploration and self-discovery.

My wife always drinks hard liquor on the rocks, but I always drink it straight.

I found that my body does not agree with scotch. A single shot almost always guarantees that I feel like crap the entire next day. On the contrary, and to prove my point, I can have three or even four shots of bourbon, even stronger, and feel great the next morning. Some key ingredient in bourbon agrees with me, and one in scotch has the opposite effect. My wife thinks that it might be corn.

Up until discovering Old Rip Van Winkle bourbon, I was quite content with Wild Turkey 101. I also tried Booker's, Maker's Mark, Knob Creek, Buffalo Trace, Bulleit, Jack Daniels (including the "Single Barrel" variety), and Old Forester. Among those, Knob Creek and Bulleit stood out as "better" for my tastes. I have a few unopened bottles from 1792, Woodford Reserve, Basil Hayden's, and "Four Roses" something. I will explore these, too, probably in 2010.

I still feel that Wild Turkey 101 is a great "starter" bourbon, for those who wish to start exploring this drink. However, I have found that my preference is ORVW.

I also have explored other drinks, to supplement the wine and bourbon that I drink. One of these is Amarula, which is a rather strong cream liquor. Well, stronger than wine. I drink it chilled and straight. Once I open a bottle, it is guaranteed to last only three or four days. It is incredibly smooth with a superb taste. I also tried Kahlua, but it is not my taste.
 
Have you tried Jim Beam Black. Really different from the regular line. Not hard to come by and low cost to boot.

Or, one of my favorites is Bushmills, an Irish whiskey. VERY smooth straight. I can drink this AM or PM ;)
 
If you like Crown, perhaps you should try some of the other canadian whiskys - I am not a big fan of the canadian stuff, personally, but I did find it to be VERY smooth and sippable, if you get something that's aged a decent amount of time. Many of the cheap stuff is aged 6-10 years, which is OK, but if you go longer it gets a lot better.

Compare Canadian Club 10 year, which is barely better than the rotgut Winsor, to the 20 year old version of Canadian Club, and you'll see what I mean. The 20 year old C.C is VERY smooth and sippable. I also seem to recall Danfield (spelling?) being a pretty smooth one, but it's been a while so I wouldn't bet money on it.
 
Crown Royal is NOT smooth, so maybe you are less of a wuss than you thought :)

If you want to stick with a Canadian whiskey try looking for one called Fourty Creek. I have no idea if it is available in the US though. There are a few other single malt Canadian rye whiskeys that are good but I don't think they will be available down south either.

If you want to try scotch, you want to find a sherry cask aged single malt. They are smooth as butter cream on a babes arse. Not my cup of tea personally, so I can't recomend a brand but maybe some other scotchaholics will be able to.
 
Wheated Bourbons are most likely what you're after, being generally smoother and a little sweeter (or at least less spicy) than Rye-heavy ones (which the vast majority of Bourbons are Rye-heavy), plus... all of these are light years beyond Jack, Crown, etc.

So, for Wheaters - that basically just leaves: anything by Weller, Van Winkle, and of course Makers Mark. Personally, I think Makers is over priced and underwhelming. I suggest trying these (which you'll notice are also lower proof expressions, at 90, which helps with smoothness and drinkability for many...):

* Weller 7yr 90 proof
* Weller 12yr 90 proof
* Van Winkle 10yr 90 proof
* Van Winkle 12yr "Lot B" 90.4 proof

and then, somewhat counter intuitively, there are actually a couple of Rye-heavy Bourbons and Straight Ryes that you may find enjoyable as they are very very drinkable and considered very smooth by many folks:

* Four Roses Yellow (or their Small Batch) Bourbon (Rye-heavy, technically, but very light)
* Elmer T Lee Single Barrel Bourbon (considered by many a dessert bourbon, very tasty and sweet)
* Sazerac Rye (has a great 'candied' taste, pretty light as well)
* Van Winkle 13yr Rye (the Bourbon of Ryes, easily the smoothest Rye ever and very delicious)

I'm guessing that if you can't find one you'll enjoy in those two lists, you're out of luck.

Good luck and let us know what you try and like.
 
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pygmalion, very good choices above, especially what ken and chuck had to say, i would try the wild turkey, honey, it i excellent and very smooth, you will find bourbon, whiskey, scotch and other hard liquors much easier to taste, if you do not breath in right after you swallow. that is another reason why some refer to sipping whiskey's, as such. that is the reason why some use water to cut alcohol with.

i am a avid crown drinker as well and one other post is correct, crown is not smooth!!!
i have come to like ginger ale with a great deal of enjoyment with most drinks, in particular diet ginger ale, try that with crown, excellent beverage...

be careful with shine, some is excellent, if you get a bad batch, you will not forget it, trust me...

i am going to try that orvw as soon as i can get to a store that sells it
 
I'm not a big fan of Jack Danilels but really like Gentleman Jack. Quality moonshine from someone you TRUST is normally very drinkable, especially if it has fruit soaking in it.
 
Sounds weird but I can't do bourbon at all. The only liquors I can drink... Shine and Tequila. Its funny cause I am the exact opposite from most people I know, but a fine (small) glass of shine or a few shots of a good tequila are what I would prefer. I have had some amazing tequilas brought back from Mexico by migrant workers and damn is it good. If it was me I would open my horizons a bit.

HAK
RP#354
 
DowntownDM said:
Wheated Bourbons are most likely what you're after, being generally smoother and a little sweeter (or at least less spicy) than Rye-heavy ones (which the vast majority of Bourbons are Rye-heavy), plus... all of these are light years beyond Jack, Crown, etc.
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Can you explain what you mean by "wheated"? By definition, bourbon must be made from a mash that is at least 51% corn.

Elijah Craig is a nice sipping bourbon.

Call me a poof, but I like either Gran Marnier or Amaretto as an after dinner cocktail. Drink it neat.
 
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rbmcmjr said:
Can you explain what you mean by "wheated"? By definition, bourbon must be made from a mash that is at least 51% corn.
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beyond the legal requirements and baseline of Corn in the mashbill, the remainder of the grain is almost always either Rye or Wheat.

Rye, which 90+% of all Bourbons use as the secondary grain, is considered spicy. Wheat, which the Wellers and Van Winkles use, is smoother/sweeter. The same difference can be seen in Rye bread vs Wheat bread...

"Wheaters", or "Wheated" Bourbons, are simply those brands and expressions that use Wheat as the secondary grain instead of Rye, and - not so surprisingly - they're generally considered smoother than the Rye-heavy counterparts.

Pappy Van Winkle (the man seen on a few of the Van Winkle labels) was the Master Distiller at the now defunct Stitzel-Weller Distillery, and he (more or less) invented the Wheater variety of Bourbons - so it's no surprise that the Weller brand and the Van Winkle brand are the premier Wheated-Bourbons.

Again, Makers Mark is the most "popular" Wheated Bourbon - but I find the Wellers and Van Winkles to be better tasting (irrespective of price) and certainly better when price is factored in.

That help?
 
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