Whiskey or Whisky? Let's talk about them.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Whiskey or Whisky? Let's talk about them.

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Deceptive Thinker posted:

High West's Double Rye and Rendezvous Rye are both great, as are the limited edition barrel finished versions of both if you can find them (Yippee-ki-yay and Midwinter Night's Dram)

I've had a lot of great High West whiskey, agree wholeheartedly with this. High West Bourye is expensive, but one of my favorite drinks.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2016 21:57

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 9, 2024 08:31

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

There aren't that many distilleries in Louisville proper, compared to other parts of KY. Bulleit is there, and the black label, which I think is only available at the distillery, is worth trying.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2017 00:00

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

For a European who hasn't had much bourbon, something with the iconic bourbon flavor seems like a good buy instead of a niche rye.

I'd look for Blanton's, it's really balanced and tasty for a bourbon novice.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2017 06:11

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

There are different rules about the barrels they use between bourbon and other whiskeys. Bourbon barrels need to be new charred oak, scotch distillers usually buy used bourbon barrels. The used barrels have a more neutral taste, but also impart less flavor on the whiskey, so they need to age longer for good flavor.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2017 16:51

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

obi_ant posted:

Do you guys re-use your bottles for anything? I like my High West bottle and I want to use it for water (in the house), but would the cork "go bad" if its constantly getting wet?

When you're removing them, very old corks break apart in the bottle and usually fall in. If you're just keeping water in the bottle knock yourself out, the worst you'll do is ruin some water.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2018 00:05

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Enigma posted:

I have a feeling the barrels are really valuable.

Bourbon barrel aged beer is all the rage now. Funky Buddha (an awesome Florida brewery) makes a bunch now, including a mint julep beer from High West barrels (seriously, their barrel-aged stuff is incredible, and not all is from whiskey barrels).

Funky Buddha only uses a barrel once after they buy it. A tour guide claimed he suggested to management that they sell their used barrels for $400 to people who want to use them as furniture, and the response was, �We�d like to recoup more of our investment than that.�

That tour guide was full of poo poo. New charred oak barrels are about $400, and the used ones from bourbon distilling (so the kind they're using for beer) are significantly cheaper, usually less than $200. It's all the better that the barrels are cheap, barrel aged beer is awesome.

# ¿ May 20, 2018 04:44

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Enigma posted:

I love whiskey and a good salad, so I’ll go on record as saying gently caress whoever that twitter guy is.

I just ran out of High West Double Rye. What rye should I get next, preferably for Manhattans but wouldn’t mind something sippable in its own right (i.e. not costing $Texas)?

Bulleit Rye is my go-to cheap stuff that's widely available.

# ¿ Nov 3, 2018 04:59

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

When it takes 5-10 years for a good product to age, and 15+ years for a really premium one to, it kind of makes "craft" distillers not that great. No matter how good you are, you can't have barrels you filled in 2004 in your warehouse if you open up shop today.

# ¿ Nov 8, 2018 03:11

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

That article about the "real" age being longer lost me when they talked about finding something bottled 5 years ago and thinking it was aged longer. Were the spirits in barrels for 5 years longer than stated? It doesn't seem like it.

# ¿ Dec 18, 2018 20:21

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

The GT Stagg, Eagle Rare 17, Sazerac 18, Pappy 12 and Pappy 15 would be my picks at those prices, especially the first three.

If you can get them at basically MSRP though, is the any reason you wouldn't enter the lottery for every bottle?

# ¿ Jan 23, 2019 16:56

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

obi_ant posted:

I'm looking for a sweet / dessert whiskey.

I have High West A Midwinter Night's Dram and Glenmorangie Lasanta, both sweeter, than what I typically drink, but I'm looking for something a bit more exciting than the Glenmorangie and easier to find than the Mindwinter Night's Dram. I hear that the Nikka Coffey Malt or Glenmorangie Nectar D�Or might be up my alley, but I'm still looking for suggestions.

I recommend Angel's Envy Finished Rye. It's sweet, finished in rum casks, and not too different from MWND. Probably a tiny bit stronger, and the sugar/molasses from the rum cask is really apparent.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2019 19:44

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Vox Nihili posted:

Just FYI, this stuff is REALLY sweet. If MWND is a 5/10 on sweetness, AE Rye is a 9/10.

Agree.

I just would give the caveat that Angel's Envy isn't like Fireball or Jack Daniels Honey or whatever syrupy garbage is out there. It's still a tasty rye whiskey through and through, with a strong sweet note.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2019 23:03

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I can't really think of any "easily available" bourbons at all in the $75+ price range - they all seem to be limited releases.

High West's Bourye is pretty tasty and widely available, I might suggest that.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2019 04:29

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Anyone tried the Lock Stock and Barrel 18yr rye that's going around right now?

I picked up a bottle and I'm still unsure of how much I like it.

# ¿ May 17, 2019 21:50

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

How does anyone feel about the Smooth Ambler Old Scout Single Barrel Select Cask Strength 13 Year Bourbon (that's a mouthful to list)?

I broke it open and it's got some unusual taste notes for a bourbon, and is a flavor bomb, but it's not a crazy high ABV or alcohol-hot like Booker's. I guess the individual barrels will end up with different flavor profiles, but the stuff seems solid, and fairly priced at $60-$70 for that kind of age and cask strength.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2019 20:22

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Mao Zedong Thot posted:

Ardbeg anything, other Laphroaigs, lagavulin, some of bruichladdich's peated stuff.

Kind of a wide recommendation, but IMO those 4 have a pretty solid lock on heavily peated, and they make enough to explore for a long time.

I like Talisker, too, especially if you like Laphroaig (which isn't for everyone). Lagavulin 16 is one of the best whiskeys in the world, for my money.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2019 21:03

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I love my Canadian Whiskey glasses much more than my Glencairns. The size feels a lot better in the hand. They're a similar basic shape, but closer in size to a rocks glass instead of a shot glass.

# ¿ Nov 24, 2019 02:54

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

wormil posted:

Bourbon barrels are charred to get the vanilla flavor, might have better luck going that way than just toasting in an oven.

If there were a shortcut that didn't involve aging your alcohol in single-use (for bourbon anyway), precision crafted wood barrels for years on end, losing a significant portion of the spirit to evaporation... wouldn't all whiskey be made that way?

# ¿ Apr 30, 2020 19:21

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

good jovi posted:

But if the shortcuts were good, then the big producers would want to use them to save money, and then the rules about what can be called whiskey would change.

This, exactly this.

You might get a spirit that's similar to traditional whiskey with a weird method like stainless steel tanks and charred oak staves, but if that actually tasted good and was faster and cheaper than building a giant rickhouse and piling barrels up for decades, we'd see that non-whiskey moonshine on shelves somewhere. And eventually they'd probably start calling that whiskey because the traditional methods are deprecated.

If you want to do it at home, probably look at buying an empty barrel and some white spirit and aging it yourself? You could even do it solera-style and continuously refill with new spirits that mix with the aged stuff.

# ¿ May 1, 2020 03:01

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

LifeLynx posted:

I'm finding myself deciding between Four Roses Single Barrel and Talisker 10. The Talisker is on sale for $54.99 right now. My Gentleman Jack is almost out, and I'm not picky when it comes to good brandy/scotch/whiskey - I haven't found anything I haven't liked, aside from cheap poo poo that feels like it's burning my sinuses and throat out. All things being almost equal price wise, what are their main differences?

Like Deceptive Thinker said, they're very very different; Four Roses is going to be relatively similar to Gentleman Jack, they are both Bourbons. Talisker 10 is an Islay Scotch with strong smoky smell and flavor, but an otherwise lighter body. It doesn't taste like Johnny Walker. If you haven't tried Talisker, I think it's a great whiskey and the better choice, but you might hate it.

# ¿ May 2, 2020 22:47

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Anyone ever had anything like this Archives from the Whiskeybase multi-continent whiskey? Aged 6 years in Kentucky and then 4 years in the Islay region?

I picked up a bottle and it's very good, as far as my palate goes. Big flavor like Booker's, but lighter bodied.

# ¿ Jun 10, 2020 19:20

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

DROP TABLE PHIZ posted:

Not the time of year for it, but in the winter High West's Midwinter Night's Dram is pretty good and is getting more distro lately

Definitely a fantastic whiskey, it's one of my favorite pours in the world. Their Yippie Ki-Yay is aged in vermouth and syrah barrels (so not port and not quite as sweet, but still wine barrels), but is more widely available.

There aren't a ton of barrel-finished American whiskies that are any good. Angel's Envy Rye is also finished in rum casks and has a pretty unique raisin-y note. 1792 makes a lot of cask-finished bourbon, but they're not my favorite whiskey.

Basil Hayden's Dark Rye and High West 36th Vote Manhattan are also basically pre-mixed manhattans and are drinkable, but not nearly as high-end as the other stuff.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2020 19:22

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Eagle Rare 10 is a nice cocktail bourbon and generic whiskey over cheap stuff like Jim Beam/Evan Williams/Jack Daniels IMO. It's not bad by any means, but I'd rather get a slightly higher-end bottle of something with more character, and drink it slower, for neat whiskey or pours over ice.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2020 19:57

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I don't want to come off like a whiskey snob (even though this is the whiskey thread), but I have to imagine that someone whose favorite drink is Seagrams isn't someone who's into high-end/rare whiskey.

If you're dead set on buying a bottle of booze, some of the higher-end barrel aged whiskey cocktails like High West makes (like https://www.highwest.com/products/36th-vote-barreled-manhattan and https://www.highwest.com/products/old-fashioned-barrel-finished-cocktail) aren't bad at around $45? Just as an alternative to trying to find something the friend actually likes.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 01:24

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

zmcnulty posted:

Another option is an infinity bottle.

If you drink a lot of similar things, that's a good idea, but I mixed some peaty scotches and corny bourbons and peppery ryes together and it turned out terrible.

# ¿ Nov 28, 2020 03:35

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Redbreast 12 cask strength is Irish Whisky instead of Scotch, but drat if it isn't one of the best bottles I've had in a long time and at a pretty good price point.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2021 05:42

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Is Wild Turkey a knockoff of Famous Grouse or something? What kind of name is Wild Turkey?

# ¿ Apr 20, 2021 00:52

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Redbreast 12 cask strength is a really unique and tasty whisky that comes at a reasonable price, and is pretty widely available, I'd recommend it strongly.

# ¿ May 25, 2021 01:55

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I just picked up a Stellum single barrel rye (which is cask strength) and it's shockingly good. I know it's MGP stuff, but it's as good as plenty of $200 bottles I've had, and has some pretty unique mint and citrus notes that I'm into. Fantastic value at $50-$60 IMO

# ¿ Jan 29, 2022 04:58

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Fyi, Stellum is a sub-brand of Barrell, not a little indie distillery.

For me, I'll always pay ~$50-60 for a good single barrel release, especially at cask strength. There's nowhere to hide with that kind of thing, and if it's a store pick, it's probably tasty and unique.

edit: this one in particular was both unique and reminded me of Pappy. No off notes, no alcohol burn, just pure flavor, and a bomb of flavor at that.

Infinite Karma fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Jan 29, 2022

# ¿ Jan 29, 2022 20:21

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

sean10mm posted:

My take is that MGP is generally making good poo poo, it's just that bottlers trying to pass it off as SUPER PREMIUM HEIRLOOM CRAFT SMALL BATCH ARTISNAL with _{distilled in Indiana} hidden on the back are absolute fuckfaces.

The weird secret to whiskey is that isn't not like other food items, or even beer. The artisanal craft distillers can't do as good a job as the established players. There's no substitute for having a master distiller who's gone through 10,000+ barrels to taste aging whiskey move it around the rickhouse, know (years in advance) what's going to end up premium barrels and what's going to have off notes and need to be bleneded, and then be able to blend product to have a consistent taste over time. And do all that while balancing the releasing of stocks vs. further aging of stocks, and picking out those good barrels that you can release as singles.

Craft distilleries don't have the tens or hundreds of thousands of barrels of inventory to draw from, nor the experience to make their small batches as good (because it takes many years to produce a batch of whiskey, you don't get a lot of practice until you've already been doing it for a long time).

Given all that, MGP is phenomenal and makes consistently great product across something like 160 mashbills. I think it gets a bad rep because ten+ years ago, they had an incredible amount of aged stocks that were fantastic, and a fantastic value, but that all got sold and bottled, and their newer stuff isn't as good. Likewise, you can't source 13-year-old bourbon from MGP and crank out $50 bottles like you used to be able to. It used to be that a $100 bottle of bourbon was the very best of the 10 and 15+ year U.S. stocks, now you get stuff like Kentucky Owl that's young and cheap, but markets itself as premium and sells for $100-$150 based on nothing.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2022 22:23

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I don't know of any Texas distilled whiskeys, good or bad, but if I had to recommend a gift bottle in the $50-$90 range, Barrell would be my suggestion. It's available pretty much everywhere and is actually on shelves, they have a variety of unique characteristics, and they are very tasty.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2022 23:45

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Four Roses Single Barrel/Barrel Proof private picks are usually pretty stellar, same with the Elijah Craig SBBP.

With prices being where they are, I feel like good rums and good agave spirits could also be sleeper hits, that Myers single barrel rum could be good if the price is right.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2022 21:13

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Redemption makes a high-rye Bourbon that I enjoy, and I'd recommend Stellum if you're up for barrel proof bottles. The Stellum blended bourbon and rye are both great (and are focused on medium to high rye blends), and they release a ton of single barrels that are all going to be unique.

# ¿ Dec 5, 2022 18:14

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Irish Whiskey is Scotch-adjacent (but definitely not like bourbon) - Redbreast 12 and especially Redbreast 12 Cask Strength are very good Irish whiskeys that I'd recommend if you're willing to hop across the Irish Sea.

Grassy, oily, lots of apple and grape notes, and a little bit of woody/grainy funk.

# ¿ Jun 28, 2023 19:28

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

After starting to drink barrel proof whiskey, it's a little bit hard to go back to 80-90 proof stuff.

With that lens, you're looking at a lot of really high-priced and rare/allocated stuff for "best", but Old Forester 1920 and 1910 are good workhorses if a little bit ethanol hot. The team at Barrell make a lot of my favorite stuff lately, and their Stellum Single Barrels (both rye and bourbon, but I lean towards the rye) are very good value at a $50-$60 price point.

# ¿ Aug 28, 2023 22:40

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I buy a decent amount from Seelbachs, they have a pretty good selection of barrel picks across the whiskey spectrum and ship to CA, no games with allocations or anything like that.

Sharedpour is also around (and delivers to CA) but their selection isn't as good and they are less organized as a whole.

# ¿ Dec 11, 2023 19:57

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

Barrell has more than earned my trust with their blending, so I bought some of that offering, I'm not nervous at all about the quality of the juice. They finished it in rum casks, which does make me a little bit nervous, but so far Barrell hasn't steered me wrong.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2024 22:55

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

I absolutely love Redbreast (cask strength preferably), that may be available in the EU as easily as Scotch.

I wouldn't say it's oaky, it's more grassy and oily, with some stonefruit and honey flavors.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 16:52

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 9, 2024 08:31

Infinite Karma: Oct 23, 2004; Good as dead

ElectricRelaxation posted:

Ah, that makes sense. So I don't know much about how alcohol distribution works, do distillers have to get each different product approved before they can sell it in a state? And if so, with something like this would they have to go back to each state's liquor board and get approval again? I guess I don't see EWSB as an allocated bourbon, so it seems both interesting and weird to me for them to limit their own sales for something that seemed fairly well thought of. I suppose it could've been eating into their own market share of Elijah Craig, but like I said, I don't really understand much of the logistical end of the whole industry.

From what I understand, it's a very broken system where distributors and wholesalers purposely keep a lot of product in limited areas for opaque reasons. Why do California and New York and Florida (states with the biggest economies) not get good whiskey distribution, but Texas and the midwest do? Southerner poo poo maybe?

I don't think the distillers have to get products approved, but there are way more distillers than distributors, it's bad business, not legal loopholes.

# ¿ May 7, 2024 01:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Whiskey or Whisky? Let's talk about them.