Whiskey Clique

Cliffy6745 said:

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Get_Right said:

Cliffy6745 said:

What do you think a solid pour of lagavulin should cost?

That will run you an easy $20 in NYC. More at hotel and upscale bars.

Yep, around what I expected or a bit more. $37 before tip in a hotel bar in Seattle. Thought that was obnoxious 

markymark550 said:

Once the wife gets done with work today, we're headed to Kentucky to do the Bourbon Trail. Well, maybe not the whole trail, but we're going to a few of the distilleries for tours/tastings. Really excited about this trip!

tempo_n_groove said:

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markymark550 said:

Once the wife gets done with work today, we're headed to Kentucky to do the Bourbon Trail. Well, maybe not the whole trail, but we're going to a few of the distilleries for tours/tastings. Really excited about this trip!

Ohhh boy.  That sounds awesome!!!

Hopefully you can pick up some of the hard to find bottles for a good price!.

DavidD said:

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markymark550 said:

Once the wife gets done with work today, we're headed to Kentucky to do the Bourbon Trail. Well, maybe not the whole trail, but we're going to a few of the distilleries for tours/tastings. Really excited about this trip!

Sounds fun. 
Trying to convince my girl to do a nice little road trip of the trail as well. 
enjoy, and let us know what you score along the way. 

markymark550 said:

Got back from the trip yesterday and had a blast! If you ever get the chance, definitely don't pass it up. We toured and tasted at Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace, and Maker's Mark. Did only tastings at Four Roses, Barton 1792, Heaven Hill, Lux Row, Jim Beam, and Old Forester. All of the tours we did were done well. If I had to pick one it would be Woodford as they went more in depth with the process. After 2 or 3, you don't really need to do the tours. The process to make bourbon doesn't change. Really, it's different mash bills and yeast strains that differ among the distilleries. Of the tastings, we really enjoyed Heaven Hill and Old Forester. I'm probably going to start adding their products to my collection. I was kind of worried that my wife wouldn't like the bourbon-centricity of the trip, but luckily she did. She'll still prefer tequila, but can now drink bourbon with me occasionally. 

The whiskeys tasted were
Woodford: Distiller's Select (name of the regular brand and still my favorite bourbon), Double Oaked, and their Rye
Four Roses: main label Four Rose's, Small Batch, Single Barrell (favorite from them), and Small Batch Select
Buffalo Trace: started with their vodka to cleanse the palate, then the White Dog (aka the mash distillate before going into the barrel), Buffalo Trace 4 year, and Eagle Rare 10 year (favorite from them), finally ended with their Bourbon Cream (which mixed with root beer makes an awesome root beer float)
Maker's Mark: Maker's White (again, the mash distillate), regular Maker's Mark label, Maker's 46, Maker's Cask Strength (favorite from them), Maker's Private Select
Barton 1792: Very Old Barton, and Small Batch 1792 (favorite from them)
Heaven Hill: Henry McKenna Single Barrel, William HeavenHill 7th edition, Old Fitzgerald (favorite), Pikesville Rye
Lux Row: Rebel Yell, Ezra Brooks, David Nicholson Reserve (favorite) 
Jim Beam: Black label, Double Oak (favorite), and Single Barrel 
Old Forester: 1870, 1897, 1910, and 1920 (favorite) 

Unfortunately, none of the distilleries really had any deals on their products. That's pretty much because Kentucky state law requires them to sell to distributors then buy it back to sell to the public. If they didn't have to go through that process, the would have been able to have better prices.

In addition to the bourbon, Louisville is a pretty fun city. We also went to a Shaker Village (out in the Lexington/Frankfort area), toured the Louisville Slugger factory, went to the Muhammad Ali Center, toured Churchill Downs, and went to a Louisville Bats (AAA affiliate of the Reds) game.

I posted some of the tours/tastings on Instagram. I use the same handle there that I use here. Feel free to check them out.

markymark550 said:

Got back from the trip yesterday and had a blast! If you ever get the chance, definitely don't pass it up. We toured and tasted at Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace, and Maker's Mark. Did only tastings at Four Roses, Barton 1792, Heaven Hill, Lux Row, Jim Beam, and Old Forester. All of the tours we did were done well. If I had to pick one it would be Woodford as they went more in depth with the process. After 2 or 3, you don't really need to do the tours. The process to make bourbon doesn't change. Really, it's different mash bills and yeast strains that differ among the distilleries. Of the tastings, we really enjoyed Heaven Hill and Old Forester. I'm probably going to start adding their products to my collection. I was kind of worried that my wife wouldn't like the bourbon-centricity of the trip, but luckily she did. She'll still prefer tequila, but can now drink bourbon with me occasionally. 

The whiskeys tasted were
Woodford: Distiller's Select (name of the regular brand and still my favorite bourbon), Double Oaked, and their Rye
Four Roses: main label Four Rose's, Small Batch, Single Barrell (favorite from them), and Small Batch Select
Buffalo Trace: started with their vodka to cleanse the palate, then the White Dog (aka the mash distillate before going into the barrel), Buffalo Trace 4 year, and Eagle Rare 10 year (favorite from them), finally ended with their Bourbon Cream (which mixed with root beer makes an awesome root beer float)
Maker's Mark: Maker's White (again, the mash distillate), regular Maker's Mark label, Maker's 46, Maker's Cask Strength (favorite from them), Maker's Private Select
Barton 1792: Very Old Barton, and Small Batch 1792 (favorite from them)
Heaven Hill: Henry McKenna Single Barrel, William HeavenHill 7th edition, Old Fitzgerald (favorite), Pikesville Rye
Lux Row: Rebel Yell, Ezra Brooks, David Nicholson Reserve (favorite) 
Jim Beam: Black label, Double Oak (favorite), and Single Barrel 
Old Forester: 1870, 1897, 1910, and 1920 (favorite) 

Unfortunately, none of the distilleries really had any deals on their products. That's pretty much because Kentucky state law requires them to sell to distributors then buy it back to sell to the public. If they didn't have to go through that process, the would have been able to have better prices.

In addition to the bourbon, Louisville is a pretty fun city. We also went to a Shaker Village (out in the Lexington/Frankfort area), toured the Louisville Slugger factory, went to the Muhammad Ali Center, toured Churchill Downs, and went to a Louisville Bats (AAA affiliate of the Reds) game.

I posted some of the tours/tastings on Instagram. I use the same handle there that I use here. Feel free to check them out.

HesCalledDyer said:

Chug chug chug chug chug!!  (Just to watch the Van Winkle afficionados lose their minds!)

The wife got me a scotch of the month thing for father's day.  Looking forward to it.

tempo_n_groove said:

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DavidD said:

So the Whiskey snobs will tell you that "this isn't a bottle of Pappy".

Just relaying the message so don't shoot me.

Lot B 12yo is just that and not Pappy.

Old Rip Van Winkle 10 is just that and not Pappy.

Van Winkle Rye is just that... You get it now right?

Some of the groups I'm in really love to berate the people that call ANYTHING other than it's proper name.  Drives me nuts, I get it, but drives me nuts.

PS this is a bottle of "Rye".