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Enigma posted:Can we not, please. If things are not serious enough for you feel free to drink alone, yeah with nobody else.
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# ? Aug 20, 2020 05:22 |
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# ? Jun 13, 2024 06:17 |
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Bourbon is easier and faster to type than Tennessee whiskey. That’s as much as I care about the distinction lol.
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# ? Aug 20, 2020 06:14 |
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abske_fides posted:Metallic might not be the best word to describe it, but it has an aftertaste which I really didn't like. It's too bad as well because the initial pear taste is quite lovely. Make a DIY one, like a true son of the north. Hit me up if you need white dog (don't actually do that, I don't have any, officer)
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# ? Aug 20, 2020 06:41 |
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I was incredibly lucky last week and was able to get two bottle of E H Taylor Single Barrel BIB from my state's website. By far the best bourbon I had and probably will unless I win a pappy lottery.
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# ? Aug 20, 2020 12:52 |
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wormil posted:If things are not serious enough for you feel free to drink alone, yeah with nobody else. Yeah, you know when I drink alone I prefer to be by myself. Cracked open a bottle of Ardbeg An Oa last night. It's the heaviest peat I've had thus far, but still pretty good.
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# ? Aug 20, 2020 13:16 |
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On an impulse I bought a bottle of Dalwhinnie Winter's Gold to save for christmas, might be fun?
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# ? Aug 20, 2020 13:30 |
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Bought myself a Highland Park 12 the other day. Quite nice and balanced. I usually go for something more peaty when I'm at a bar but this is rather good on its own.
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# ? Aug 20, 2020 21:26 |
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I realize I was maybe too forward in my last message about jack Daniels barrel proof, and I’ve since had a couple more chances to try some. After further review, it’s ridiculously good. I’ll be on the lookout for more store picks, but may pick up a few standard bottles to compare too as well. The TW by me has the 375ml bottles for $25, which I might grab to compare.
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# ? Aug 21, 2020 23:26 |
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Octomore 8.2 is making me feel like a grizzled old steamship captain right now. Lots of citrus and dark fruit but mostly I'm getting rocked by the coal smoke, brine and unexpected amount of heat. I think this is the first whisky I prefer with water added, which brings out a nice vanilla note. Now I want more Octomores.
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# ? Aug 22, 2020 04:52 |
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I am up on Speyside right now and earlier tried the Glenallachie 12 OB. Nice dram. VERY oily.
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# ? Aug 24, 2020 18:31 |
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biglads posted:I am up on Speyside right now and earlier tried the Glenallachie 12 OB. Nice dram. VERY oily. Yeah it's good stuff. The 15yo is a crazy sherry bomb. Like old GlenDronach 15yo levels. Not nearly as good, more of a simpler, less complex version of it but still good. I'm currently on an Edradour kick and I've nabbed myself an independent bottling by The Ultimate of a delicious 9yo cask strength 2009 vintage which is just incredibly rich and fruity. Matured in a Sherry butt for the full 9 years. I've also gotten an OB of the 2008 vintage Natural Cask Strength, also the sherry version which I imagine will be similar but I haven't opened that one yet.
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# ? Aug 24, 2020 19:15 |
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Billy Walker (who was at Glendronach) is now at Glenallachie and seems to have kept the knack of finding nice casks around the place. Had a single cask one last night from an Oloroso puncheon. Pretty good again.
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# ? Aug 25, 2020 12:55 |
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spankmeister posted:Yeah it's good stuff. The 15yo is a crazy sherry bomb. Like old GlenDronach 15yo levels. Not nearly as good, more of a simpler, less complex version of it but still good. I have a bottle of the 2007 natural cask strength sherry cask and it’s fantastic. It’s the only Edradour I’ve ever tried, but I’m definitely going to stay on the lookout for more! Did you get yours off of finedrams?
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# ? Aug 25, 2020 17:06 |
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DoctaFun posted:I have a bottle of the 2007 natural cask strength sherry cask and it’s fantastic. It’s the only Edradour I’ve ever tried, but I’m definitely going to stay on the lookout for more! No from a local shop actually. They're usually only a couple euro over the cheapest online prices and merely a short bike ride away. Online I do most of my liquor buying at drankdozijn.nl or drankgigant.nl
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# ? Aug 25, 2020 21:34 |
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Edit: double post
Virtue fucked around with this message at 20:17 on Aug 29, 2020 |
# ? Aug 29, 2020 20:12 |
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Vox Nihili posted:Harmony is fine but it's a pretty straightforward dram once you get past the beautiful bottle. The consensus is that it's a pale reflection of the original Hibiki 12, and I tend to agree, the 12 (which was also wildly overpriced for what you got) had a lot of floral, subtly fruity complexity that I do not get with Harmony. Any specific recommendations? The only $20-40 blended Scotch I can recall having is JW Red and Black which wasn't close at all.
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# ? Aug 29, 2020 20:16 |
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Virtue posted:Any specific recommendations? The only $20-40 blended Scotch I can recall having is JW Red and Black which wasn't close at all. I am a fan of the Compass Box Great King Street blends, which are $35 near me. I see lots of other blends in that price range in stores near me but I have no idea which ones, if any, are decent. I usually just stick to single malt if I'm doing Scotch. Definitely agree that Johnny Walker's blends are way off base for this, but you could also try things like Ballantine's, Grant's, Chivas, etc., particularly if they have an age statement.
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# ? Aug 31, 2020 05:26 |
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Back to my blind tastings again with a Bottled-In-Bond flight from Friday: I surprisingly only had 5 BIB bottles in my cabinet, so I decided to just go with all 5 this time. Dickel 11 Year, McKenna 10 Year, Mellow Corn, Rittenhouse Rye, E.H. Taylor Small Batch Some things to note: all of these except for the Rittenhouse and MC qualify as straight bourbon, but obviously Regardless of these notes, this was definitely the easiest guessing I've had so far. Each of these whiskeys had their merits, and I'd be happy to drink any of them any time (with one exception). The ratings for this were based on my mood/palate of the day, and there'd definitely be days where I'd want the flavor of one of the ones I picked lower over the others. In first place was the Rittenhouse Rye: a light caramel, vanilla nose, with spicy, nutty, bubblegum flavors on the tongue. This was exactly what I was in the mood for on a Friday afternoon after a long week. Second came the Dickel: cinnamon spice filled the nose, with a sweet caramel apple and buttery flavor surrounded by oak. Definitely a charcoal mellowed Tennessee whisky taste. Third was a tie here between the McKenna and the Taylor, it was too hard to decide which of the two somewhat basic bourbons I was happier with in the moment. McKenna had a nice salted caramel brown sugar nose, with the same tones amplified with vanilla, chocolate, and oak on the palate, with a nice light spice in the finish. Taylor's nose was pure cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper, and palate hit the vanilla, cherry and brown sugar, also with a nice light spice in the finish. Having had the McKenna as the stand-out in one of my previous tastings, and finding myself getting better and better at recognizing distinct tastes of distilleries, I managed to guess these two properly. We'll see if that can hold true in the future. In last place was Mellow Corn. I'll preface this by saying it's a great mixer, and probably a great alternative to grain scotch. Nose was bourbony: caramel, vanilla, oak; but the palate was clearly not. Very thin with a grainy coconut butter taste that you get from something like Compass Box Hedonism or Girvan No.4. Next up is probably a Buffalo Trace Horizontal with Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, EHT, and Blanton's in the lineup - don't know when I'll get to it though, and maybe I'll throw in a Weller 107 or something too. Deceptive Thinker fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Aug 31, 2020 |
# ? Aug 31, 2020 17:03 |
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I've been using Rittenhouse rye to make old fashioneds, good choice.
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# ? Aug 31, 2020 18:13 |
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Deceptive Thinker posted:all of these except for the Rittenhouse qualify as straight bourbon I thought Mellow Corn was aged in second-fill casks, which would make it Not Bourbon? It's possible I am misunderstanding something, though.
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# ? Aug 31, 2020 21:27 |
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Jo3sh posted:I thought Mellow Corn was aged in second-fill casks, which would make it Not Bourbon? It's possible I am misunderstanding something, though. no, you're right, that's my mistake - I didn't realize that corn whiskey didn't have the new oak requirement edit: that'll also probably help account for the scotchy taste to it
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# ? Aug 31, 2020 21:30 |
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I think (but I'm probably wrong) most of the flavor of MC comes from the bourbon that was in the cask for the first fill. Scotch gets some of that, too, of course, but an all-barley distillate has a bunch of flavor, and I think a corn-whiskey distillate is less rich - leading to the thin flavor you mentioned. Still some flavor from the whiskey that used to be in the cask, but a dilute, hollow touch laid over the blandish sweetness and roughness of the corn based distillate. I've noticed that MC tastes a lot like Evan Williams, which is also produced by Heaven Hill. Honestly, I like MC pretty well, although I also like good whisk(e)y.
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# ? Aug 31, 2020 23:27 |
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People sometimes mistake Mellow Corn for ex-bourbon barrel-aged Scotch in blind tastings due to the re-used barrels. It's worth throwing MC into a blind tasting for that reason alone.
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# ? Aug 31, 2020 23:38 |
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Vox Nihili posted:People sometimes mistake Mellow Corn for ex-bourbon barrel-aged Scotch in blind tastings due to the re-used barrels. It's worth throwing MC into a blind tasting for that reason alone. I mean, it's a pretty recognizable flavor for most scotch drinkers, because grain whisky used in blended scotch is mostly distilled from corn in a column still and then aged in refill casks. So in that way Mellow Corn is a lot like the average Scotch grain whisky.
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# ? Sep 1, 2020 01:23 |
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Derby day blind buffalo trace tasting! Gonna do this one as I did it to keep the suspense built Glass A: Nose: candied apple, caramel, light oak Taste: vanilla, sugar, light oak backing, nice bit of buttercream frosting, not really any bite Glass B: Nose: caramel, stronger oak, mild cinnamon spice Taste: surprising bitter overoaked taste, cherry, vanilla, cinnamon spice, light chocolate, definitely higher proof Glass C: Nose: spice, cinnamon, candied sugar caramel Taste: sugary oak, mild bitterness, light spice Glass D: Nose: candied apple, caramel, peach and citrus (I've been drinking too many NEIPAs lately) lighter sugar though Taste: vanilla, rummy molasses, spice, then oak Rankings: D, A, C, B Reveal: D Eagle Rare, A Buffalo Trace, C Blanton's, B EHT Small Batch Not super surprised but intrigued that the Taylor was the weak point here. I'll concede that all of these bottles except the Taylor were barrel picks from the same store so maybe they just have good picks... I did guess them all correctly too, but I did have a bit of a waver on which was the Taylor and the Blanton's, but the proof gave it away I think
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# ? Sep 5, 2020 21:34 |
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I did the same blind taste lineup (plus 4 from Jim Beam) a while back and Eagle Rare was my top pick as well, but EHT was #2. I think the other 3 people with me had the same top 2. I ranked Booker's over BT & Blanton's, but everyone else had all the JBs in their bottom 4.
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# ? Sep 6, 2020 05:49 |
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The same bottle of Taylor was in my tasting last week and I didn't get any of the bitterness that I got this time. If I didn't know what was in the lineup is probably have guessed it was Eagle Rare. It's a pretty fresh bottle too. It could have been my palate yesterday, or just in comparing 4 much more similar whiskeys I noticed the distinguishing flavors a bit more.
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# ? Sep 6, 2020 12:20 |
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Deceptive Thinker posted:Derby day blind buffalo trace tasting! Every time I drink Blantons I always think, "maybe this time..... THIS TIME... I will enjoy this" Each time is a sorrow not only in the poor finish but also knowing I will do the same thing next year.
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# ? Sep 7, 2020 02:01 |
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The candy corn of bourbons?
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# ? Sep 7, 2020 02:30 |
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Enigma posted:The candy corn of bourbons? Overhyped and overrated but in a fancy bottle with collectable corks My memory of Elmer T Lee is that it was good, I just wish it wasn't Weller 12 rare so I could get a bottle and compare it. Of course that's a $30 bottle that gets $200 on secondary, and Blanton's is a $60 bottle that gets maybe $120ish
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# ? Sep 7, 2020 02:38 |
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Blanton's is the one Whiskey or Bourbon I've found that was noticibly better after it was half gone and had oxidized for a while
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# ? Sep 7, 2020 03:24 |
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:Blanton's is the one Whiskey or Bourbon I've found that was noticibly better after it was half gone and had oxidized for a while Angel's Envy and George T Stagg are better this way for me, and a few others I forget that had a disappointing neck pour but were good after sitting on the shelf a while later. I think Blanton's is fine, just not worth going out of my way or paying secondary for. I enjoy it more with a cigar. What I will go out of my way for is Jefferson's Ocean. I just emptied my bottle and can never find it locally gotta drive 2 hours to the total wine that has it in stock
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# ? Sep 7, 2020 07:03 |
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Enigma posted:Can we not, please. I think my local liquor store has it for 80. Not sure if they ship outside of central FL though https://grapevinelakeland.com/shop/?product-id=56c2722175627570b0640200.
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# ? Sep 8, 2020 21:34 |
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My shelf usually has Oban 18 year, Whistlepig 12yr, Hakashu 12yr, Nikka Whisky from the Barrell, Jefferson’s Ocean, Four Roses Small Batch. I use the Four Roses for the mixed drinks. Buffalo Trace isn’t always readily available apparently. I wish my pallete was refined enough to detect all the flavors but I like those from what I’ve tried thus far. I have a Lizardville here close to my home that has like 200+ bottles of various Whiskeys, Scotches and Bourbons and i usually sample from there before buying. Next week they’re having a Whiskey week and on Friday will have Pappy flight to try. Of which I’ve had Pappy 20 yr and it is one that gets better the longer it sits out but a pour was $150. It was good but knowing it now I wouldn’t do it again for the price but given how hard it was to find I appreciated the experience.
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 21:30 |
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S.W.O.R.D. Agent posted:
Ardbeg is one of my all time favorite whiskies. My work does a big bonus every year and I always buy a bottle of Correyvecken. My fav bourbon is New Riff Single barrel these days. Other bourbons might be a little bit better but new riff single barrel is definitely the best value I've ever found.
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# ? Sep 11, 2020 23:49 |
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Eifert Posting posted:My fav bourbon is New Riff Single barrel these days. Other bourbons might be a little bit better but new riff single barrel is definitely the best value I've ever found. I've only heard good things about New Riff, but it's not available around here... I may pick up a bottle when I'm in NH in a few weeks though because it looks like they get it Edit: apparently rabbit hole and new riff share a distillery? Deceptive Thinker fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Sep 12, 2020 |
# ? Sep 12, 2020 17:05 |
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Deceptive Thinker posted:I've only heard good things about New Riff, but it's not available around here... I may pick up a bottle when I'm in NH in a few weeks though because it looks like they get it New Riff is pretty great and started by people who legitimately care about spirits / bourbon. Rabbit hole is contract distilling out of New Riff until their space in Louisville is up and running. I have no opinion on this.
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# ? Sep 14, 2020 15:23 |
Anyone had the Angels Envy Rye? I'm curious how the rum cask finish works, or if it sweetens it up too much?
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# ? Sep 14, 2020 19:21 |
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I like Angel's Envy bourbon but the rye is a bit too sweet for me.
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# ? Sep 14, 2020 19:32 |
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# ? Jun 13, 2024 06:17 |
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Carillon posted:Anyone had the Angels Envy Rye? I'm curious how the rum cask finish works, or if it sweetens it up too much? Maple doughnut. Delicious. Not for everyone cause it’s pretty sweet
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# ? Sep 14, 2020 19:50 |