The Bourbon and Whiskey thread
 

I just searched and the last bourbon / whiskey thread was years ago.

I have always liked whiskey but really did not grow to appreciate it.

I would say 3-4 years ago, I started grabbing nicer bottles at Total Wine and trying them.

I found Scotch to be too smokey for my taste, so I stuck to bourbon and Whiskey and set out to learn about them and find different varieties.

Then I found Flaviar. It is an online all things booze club with a lot of articles and my favorite, sample packs. You can get 3 shots of 3 different kinds of (insert booze here) and see what you like. No need to invest in a bottle when you can do this and see if it works for you.



Recently in the name of research in anticipation of a trip to Ireland I got this one.
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I have been all over the place purchase wise, I was on a craft Bourbon kick. Koval, Mitchers were tried.



I have to say, the Journeyman Corsets, Whips and Whiskey is one of the most memorable and I cannot find any more. The FEW was good too, I was indifferent with the Templeton, it was OK.


Then I stumbled upon something special, spendy though. Bushmills 21 yo. Just wow...
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Also out of frustration of not finding Corsets whips, I bought Journeymans Fetherbone, not quite as good but enjoyable.


The fighting Irish led me also to Powers John Lane Reserve. I loved that one and Powers was my go to while in Ireland.
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I have to say the Flaviar membership has been expensive for me. LOL!! But enjoyable. My craft beer habit has slowed to nothing, my beer belly is gone. Win! I am enjoying this new found hobby albeit not the healthiest.

Also I toured the Bushmills Distillery in Ireland, it was a really good tour, very educational. They swear you will never get a hangover from their Whiskey due to their process, I think they are joking, although I have never felt bad after drinking their stuff.

I was able to buy a 12 yo from them at the distillery that is only sold there. So that was cool too.

I picked up some bottles in Ireland, more on that later.

I get mine from an good friend in Kentucky :)

If you like the Irish stuff look for a bottle of Paddy.

Just learning the Irish stuff.

I will look into Paddy. Thanks for the tip.

When I was in Derry I was at a bar and there was a bottle of Quiet Man on the shelf, I asked for a double and liked it. I learned it was made in Derry. Ironically is was on Flaviar when I returned home. I ordered 2 bottles. BUT, I learned on Flaviar they are so new they are not using their own distilled whiskey yet they are using another distilleries spirit. I guess you have to sell something to get the place up and running. Waiting 5 years is a huge investment. At least whatever they are using is good.

I grabbed these in Ireland while in Dublin.
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I ordered these from Flaviar just before I left on my trip:
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Paddy's very light. I think it's a blended (malt + neutral spirits)

Don't give up on all scotch as smoky. There are lighter ones out there that bring lots of grass and brightness.

And in 'merica I'm soundly on the rye bandwagon. The spice seems to balance the sweetness/caramel/vanilla from the wood. Bourbons like wild turkey are too heavy for me (not even going into the well aged stuff).

On Flaviar

https://flaviar.com/quiet-man/quiet-man-8-year-old


Great articles on there, I have no affiliation to his website, I just enjoy it and it has taught me a lot.

https://flaviar.com/blog/scotch-whiskies-for-bourbon-drinkers

We have a fine bourbon made here locally in Columbus, OH. Watershed.

BOURBON

I like scotch - Dalwhinnie is probably my favorite but it is pricey. My go whiskey is bourbon or rye and show a few good ones. Buffalo Trace, to me, is a wonderful bourbon for the price point. This stuff flies off the shelf. They have a premium brand Elmer T Lee, small batch and tuff to find but great stuff. I work for a Corporation that had a facility in Maysville, KY which is home to Old Pouge bourbon. Pricey, but worth a try also.

I have given up on ever getting my hand on a bottle of Pappy.

Flaviar has these samples as I have shown above, once in a while they will offer samples of Pappy Van Winkle's 23 Year Old Family Reserve. the last two times they offered I was too late to the game and missed out.

I was able to order a sample today. Now I get to see what the big deal is.

Perfect for my 944 (starving photographic artist) budget...Laphroaig 10 yr. single malt at around 50.00 (love the smokiness!), and Eagle Rare bourbon at around 30.00. Nice!

After 5, yes!

Gonna be a long evening and night. I keep a bottle handy at the office for these type of days.

The Irishman is surprisingly smooth, you get a hint of vanilla if you hold it in your mouth a moment. This will be a welcome companion this evening.

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Count me in as another fan of Buffalo Trace. I seem to recall reading that they actually distill a number of other bourbons for mainstream brands.

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I love a little bourbon. There was a guy on this forum that really got me started a few years back and I thank him to this day! Brands under Heaven Hill are my preference as are several of the old forester bottles. As for Buffalo Trace, I really really like Rock Hill Farms.

Another eagle rare fan.Wish we could get Rittenhouse Rye in Pa, awesome deal it is.

It is available here locally.

Want a couple of bottles?

PM Me. There is a total wine 3 miles from me. I have a NES shipping account and some bottle shippers, we can make this happen.

Total Wine & More


Flaviar does not even have it.

https://flaviar.com/rittenhouse/rittenhouse-straight-rye-100-proof?ref=search

Japanese whisky is quite good.

My wife got me a Glenmorangie 18yr old a while back. Its amazing.

For the last 10 years I have been using Photobucket, it is a free hosting site. With a pretty nice app for your phone too.

28 June 2017 they changed their policy and will no longer allow you to use them to host pictures on 3rd party sites for free.

I said hell, I have been using them for free for so long I am OK with paying for hosting.

$400 a year in order to host 3rd party.

Welp, it was a nice run with photobucket.


sorry the pictures are down guys. I will go back and fix some when I have time.

Rittenhouse is good stuff. Have you tried Pikesville? It's basically older stronger Rittenhouse for double the cost.

Japanese whisky has gotten pricey here. :( I remember traveling through Narita about 10 years ago when the shelves and storeroom at duty free were overflowing with Yamazaki 18 for under $120/bottle. The sales guy was bored because no one was interested so my wife and I just drank with him until it was time to board our flight.

I still maintain, anyone who thinks they don't like Scotch should try the 12 year old Balvenie Double Wood. It's generally readily available, reasonably priced, excellent quality, very smooth, and extremely easy to enjoy.

I know Jim has had some of my other Scotch in the past, but that isn't so easy to find ;)