If you get into nosing and drinking your whiskey neat, then the Glen Cairn glass does make a difference.

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Too much work. Skip directly to 5...

I have stayed out of this thread as I am a beer guy, and not a bourbon or whiskey drinker. Back in 2015 we took a tour of the Maker's Mark distillery. It was an interesting visit. They had a tasting room at the end of the tour and we all got a short shot of 5 different versions of Maker's Mark. I have not had a drop of whisky or bourbon since that day, but lots of beer.

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If you look in the center of this the raw alcohol is the white liquid going into the barrels to be aged.

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Dipping the bottles in the wax.

One stop on the tour was the print room where they use the same equipment they have always used to print the labels. They let us have some labels.

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I have 4 labels that I am never going to use for anything and I will mail them to the first four of you that request one. Just PM me your mailing address, and I will drop it in a standard business envelope. It will cost me the 53 cents postage plus the cost of the envelope. I only ask you donate some money to a local pet rescue, or dog food drive for the animal shelter, or horse shelter. Something to help animals.

Has everyone gone sober on me?

I am overdue for a trip to Total Wine, I feel a trip coming this week.

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Nirvana: Laphroaig Quarter Cask...Neat

Alternate Nirvana: Laphroaig 10yr (a bit more of a bite)...nicely smoothed out with a swig of properly double-pulled Guiness...aaahhhh!

My Daily Driver: Bulleit Bourbon, in a small snifter with just a few drops of water - placed on my wood stove while I light the fire. As the fire propogates...me staring into the flames in meditative bliss...the bourbon warming to perfection...perfect!

My Winter Beater: Bottom shelf Evan Williams - does the job!

PS: Hey Jim...that's a bit of real fine art photography that you've got going on there!

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ICE CUBES!!!!!

That fantastic Scotch should be enjoyed neat with a dash of cool water. I will go as much as 1/3 water if that is what it takes to open up the taste.

I was making fun of Rogan for doing the same.
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If he wants to buy good whisky and put ice in it that's entirely up to him - drink it any way you want. Me? I'll take it neat please. Add some water for some of the high proof cask strength stuff.

We regularly get out the 'unicorns' for a select group of friends like the Ardbeg 1977, a Talisker 25, St. Magdalene 19. Last Saturday was our Burns' Night Dinner and we had several bottles to sample. This time the favor was returned with this magnificent 1975 Glenmorangie which one of the guests brought along. Distilled in 1975, bottled in 2002 at 27 years old, and nurtured since then. To say it was like drinking velvet would be an understatement.

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Same guy at Thanksgiving gave me this 1989 Bruichladdich. Cask strength at 58% ABV and heavily sherried it was an absolute gem. He claimed he didn't like it, which I can only imagine was due to the overpowering sherry influence. That said, he seemed to like it last Saturday but didn't want it returned when I offered.

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We tried several bottles that night. In the background of the Glenmorangie photo is an Old Potrero. It's a 100% malted rye, cask strength, finished in port casks, and an absolute cracker. Not Scotch, but someone wanted to try it. The Macallan is the 2019 'Classic Cut' and also at cask strength. I think there was a lot of cask strength going on that night as we also had a CS Glendronach.

Friends do not let friends freeze whiskey / scotch so it cannot be tasted.

I am all for icing whiskey when it is some cheaper Jack Daniels / Jameson style whiskey.

I am trying to help a good guy here, Bryon is good people, I used to be a iced Whiskey drinker then started to explore aged whiskeys and scotch and understood the need to tone down the ice and taste the whiskey / scotch.

I make my old fashioned's with Rittenhouse Rye, a $30 bottle with ice. I am not stranger to icing it down.



Anytime I break out my 21 y/o Bushmills I feel the same way. It is such a treat.


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So what the heck is "branch water"? I've always seen that and figured it was just creek water.

That's its origin but in the south now its just a fancy way to order whiskey with tap water.

So has everyone watched Pappygate on Hulu? Part of The Heist (or something like that) series.

I have a self-imposed $50 limit on bourbon, and preferably <$35. No real interest in the high $$ stuff - I've tried many and just don't have the taste buds to justify it I guess. Elijah Craig, Buffalo Trace, various Knob Creeks, Wild Turkeys & Woodford Reserves, Henry McKenna, Russell's, Larceny (most recently), etc. So many great bourbons in the $25-50 price category.

Oh, I'm right with you Jim. I was taught by my father to drink the likes of Scotch and Cognac neat. Warming the glass in your hand, especially with Cognac in a balloon glass, helps to intensify the aromas. I find with some whisk(e)y a drop or two (literally) of water can also help pick out some of the aromas and mask others. When I'm serious about sampling something for the first time, I'll add water drop by drop resting the glass in between. Time also changes the character, so a neat glass alongside a second glass with the water added helps. I can happily spend an hour on a single tasting.
Ice will mute the experience significantly. It's the equivalent of listening to a concert orchestra when you're wearing hearing protectors.
In the interests of trying to help Byron it's fair enough, definitely try it WITHOUT the ice. Take your time, don't rush it, and give the spirit the opportunity to open up in the glass over at least half an hour or so.

I haven't watched it, but I'm of the opinion Pappy has become excessively hyped. I was looking back through some old photos from the early 2000's and saw I'd had a bottle of the Van Winkle special reserve. I think this was before the big hype started, so I probably paid $50 or so for it. I looked back through my notes and found I wasn't impressed at all. It was 'just' a regular bourbon. I can definitely tell the differences between bourbons, but the variety is nowhere near as distinct as with Scotch, although there are notable exceptions.
Now, I haven't tried the Pappy and any whisk(e)y is going to mellow with age. Also, the age can add complexity but not always. Either way, I can imagine it's interesting, but I seriously doubt it's anything close to as good as the price suggests. As you point out, there's a lot of good bourbon in the sub $50 range. I have spent more than that on a couple of bottles, but I don't feel the cost/quality curve is as dramatic as I've experienced with Scotch.
I'm always open to be differing opinion . . .

JR Ewing used to order bourbon and branch back in the day.

Gentlemen, a friend fixed that drink for me , my Shrine cigar club brothers.
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Great book about the return of the Weller distillery.

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And this is a good read about the myths and marketing surrounding Bourbon (hint-almost every brand now is a made up post prohibition name even if they are in fact historical figures)

Yeah, the names and 'legends' behind a lot of these bourbons is amusing. You pick one up and think, wow this has got some real history! Then you research it a bit and find out it's actually only been in existence for 10 years and has some some sort of very loose association with a name from the past. Oh well, as long as it tastes good.

I remember Van Winkle from the 90s and always thinking it was a weird name for bourbon and why would I buy that! It's not an old name in bourbon. I think it only started in the late 80s/early 90s. Lots of hype today for sure.

Pappygate is worth a watch. Employees were stealing cases of Pappy and full barrels of Wild Turkey. Security at the distilleries was almost non-existent at the time.

Just placed a decent sized order with Caskers. Influenced by Ayes (Forester) and Greglepore (Rittenhouse) The Blantons is a replacement bottle so I can tap into my hold bottle without regret.

The Journeyman is a curious interest to see if it is anywhere near as good as Corsets, Whips and Whiskey. @ $50 a bottle I will take a chance, worst case, I make it a mixer.

Blanton's Original Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey

Rittenhouse 100 Proof Straight Rye Whisky

Journeyman Whiskey Buggy Whip Wheat Whiskey

Old Forester 1920 Prohibition Style Bourbon Whiskey

Caskers is a good place to shop.

https://www.caskers.com/

As well as Blackwell's

https://www.blackwellswines.com/

We finally have Rittenhouse here in Va on a regular basis, for 28 bucks its hard to beat. The bourbon aisle in our state run stores though-whew, looks like they were swept by pirates. Its crazy. Luckily I like Elijah Craig small batch, as its one of the few I can get dependably.
We have a Weller lottery coming up.