Wow, I didn't even know that Henry McKenna did private picks.

I recently had some at my buddies house, his bottle was marked 137 proof.

Honestly I didn't have the testicular fortitude to drink without a bit of ice. It tasted great to me after the ice mellowed the burn a bit.

I joined Flaviar a few weeks ago and just received my first tasting box. Haven't tried it yet, still too hot here in So Cal.

For everyday Bourbon Makers or1792. Good for both sipping making into a syrup for hoe cakes or mixing into smoke ice cream.

I had three bottles of Pappy but…

Knob Creek is too tanic for my taste. Woodford is good but thin or one note. I don’t care for any of the rye though Basils is tolerable.

Try some Tx brand whisky and bourbon. Both are smoother than their age would indicate with good flavor.

Generally I prefer the single malt Scotch such Lagavulin, Laphroaig, or Talisker.

S/F, FOG

Drinking Whiskey is the second best of 3 things that you can do. The third is having a good Cigar and the first is Fking....

Combining all three...

You gotta be Bill Clinton to pull that one off.:D

Coffee... Coffee everywhere!

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Try cool water next time, about 1/4 to 1/3 ratio with the Whiskey.

I read about this a while back and most every distiller will tell you to do that as it helps open up the Whiskey bringing out the flavors and aromas better.

I used to do the ice thing too then switched to cool water (like dispensed from your fridge if you have that) and it did make a difference.

When I was in Ireland I was constantly offered ice at bars assuming the American wants ice. Decline and ask for a pitched of cool water and you win some nods of respect from the bartender.

Not even close to BC. Marines and SF definitely.

Bourbon and branch (water), a southern tradition.

I now have 4 samples of various Pappy's I should be an expert soon. :D

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Trying to get together with my car/drinking buddy and share the experience.

A ~20yo bottle of pappy goes for several K right? What do they charge for a small vile (1-2 oz?)

just curious.

I paid $180 for the 2 oz. 23 yo family reserve a page back

That triple of 2 oz. samples there cost me $250.

That will be the extent of my Pappys spending in my lifetime. I want to try it just to say I did.

I didn't see where you could order it on Flaviar's site (not that I'd spend the $$$). Is there some sort of "secret handshake" area where they stash the good stuff?

Once a month they "Open their Vault", I have missed out a few times, these last 2 times I happened to be at my PC when the email came that the vault was open.
Typically the Pappy's samples will sell out in short order. Last time I missed it was gone in 2 hours.

These last 2 times I was "entering the vault" as the door opened and I did not hesitate, just bought it and checked out as fast as I can.

I actually had one sample months ago and was shopping around before I checked out, by the time I checked out (15 minutes) it was sold out already right out of my hands.

Now that the weather cooled I finally broke out my sample pack. One of them was the "Corsets, Whips and Whiskey" and that was by far my favorite. Sold out on Flaviar, maybe I'll order a bottle of the Featherbone.

I opened up a bottle of Corsets over the Thanksgiving weekend last year, I LOVED it, and cannot find any more.

I have it on my wish list on Flaviar for a year now, no notifications.


I never revisited the Pappy's.

My car and drinking buddy Kevin and I did the Whiskey tasting together. We tried in this order:

Pappys 10y/o

Pappys 20 y/o

Pappys 23 y/o

Bushmills 21 y/o

I really wanted that 23 y/o to be nothing special, maybe on the same level as the Bushmills 21 y/o.

Out of the 4 we tried, the 23 was just on another level, completely, nothing came close to it.

The flavor was complex, it was extremely smooth, you could drink this straight up no problem, I had to cut it slightly just to see if it would open up more and it did, cutting it with about 25% water brought out even more flavor, which was insane to begin with.

To put this in perspective the Bushmills 21 is remarkable and one of the smoothest whiskeys I have in my cabinet right now. That 23 y/o made it seem common.

I wish I never tasted it.

I ordered a bottle of the Featherbone and a bottle of Templeton. I'll let you know the results!

At $30-ish a bottle, this is one of the better bang/buck ratio bourbons out there IMO. Another good (and slightly hotter), reasonably-priced choice is Four Roses single barrel.

My local store just got their private barrel of Eagle Rare in but I havent cracked it open to compare to the standard offering yet.

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Eagle is good stuff, I try to keep a bottle around. If any of you venture into the Irish swill, that Powers is the drink of choice in Dublin, they keep the Jameson around for the Americans. ;)

If you do not mind spending a little extra the John Lanes Reserve Powers is exceptional.

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I am very interested in your opinion of the Featherbone vs. Corsets. I anxiously await your verdict.

I almost bought the Featherbone too.

I'll be at my daughter's in Louisville this weekend and intend to do another distillery tour somewhere. Haven't decided where yet. Maybe Heaven Hills in Bardstown (Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, etc.). I'll report back :cool:

Please share your experience wherever you end up.

I recently tried this Woodford Rye and I am impressed. Really excited over the Dalmore though, I suspect that will be my Tday fun.

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PS - Greg, if you are looking in here, I have a special box for you, I finally have it boxed up in a manner where I feel it will get to you.


FYI - Greg asked me to get some Rittenhouse for him, it is not available where he lives. I bought 3 bottles locally, Greg donated to Chive Charities instead of paying me upon my insistence. Then Fedex "broke" the package and destroyed it before I could make an insurance claim.

Since I was shipping booze and they figured it out, I suspect "broke" is code for stolen.

I since then placed an order on Flaviar for 3 very nice Rye's that I think will both impress him and he will enjoy.

I kept the bottles boxed in the Flaviar box they arrived in, then put that box in an H&R spring box with some cushion around that to protect it all.

I will have that hipped out this week so you have something fun for the holidays.

Dude, I have faith...plus I'm retired and I know you're busy.

Consider making a stop at Willett if you haven't been there already.

Thanks for the tip. We may do that. I like the smaller independent distilleries like that.

If you go, check the gift shop for Willett Family Estate bottles. They're not always in stock, but also not available anywhere else.

Now I'm on a mission :D

Mission aborted! We got out to Willett for the first Sat morning tour and were told all the tours for the entire weekend were reserved (hmmm, nothing on their website about calling for reservations, just "tours on the hour" :confused: ). Oh well, we then went down the road to Heaven Hills' Bourbon Heritage Center and did the "Whiskey Connoisseur Experience" including sampling some $250/Bottle William Heavenhill 5th Edition - very, very good stuff but well out of my bourbon budget. Heaven Hills is the largest family-owned distillery in the USA (the larger Jim Beam/Makers Mark/Knob Creek conglomerate are owned by a Japanese corporation).

Also, went to dinner on Whiskey Row in downtown Louisville and had a bourbon menu with 150+ bourbons to pick from. Finished off the bourbon part of the weekend at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. I'm really glad my daughter moved to Louisville :cool:

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The Evan Williams experience is pretty cool, I went there last year. Didn't have time to hit any of the true distilleries.

I thought it was cool too. Wasn't sure what to expect, but it was entertaining.

Sounds like I need to visit Louisville.

This sauce is the business!

Bourbon and the military. Is there nothing America's Native Spirit can't do? :cool:

the-military-and-whiskeys-250-year-old-relationship

This is relevant to my interests.

found an awesome Bourbon!!

well, my sister did. my brother and i love bourbon. so naturally she gave us some at thanksgiving. ONE bottle!! and i live 4 states away. not entirely sure how she expected that to play out. cheap ass !@#$!#$! sister.

the day after thanksgiving i was leaving. that night before, i took a sip. GREAT. it was great. but i left it with my brother. i bit my tongue, but my wife knows me. who the hell would give a single bottle as a gift to two people?

anyways. i shook a few gift under the tree. one was a bottle. my wife got me one!! she memorized that bottle from thanksgiving. me and two ladies drank a bunch Christmas Eve. the ladies are not bourbon ladies. but they loved it.

Noah's Mill Kentucky Bourbon. sad paper label, boring bottle..and 114 proof. but it was so smooth and tasted like caramel and hints of tobacco. no burn in the throat. it went down way to easy for high proof.

I picked up a bottle of Basil Hayden’s, my first bourbon purchase. I first had it at a restaurant at the recommendation of the bartender. I like the smoothness and richness of the bourbon. It is easy to drink.

Basil Hayden just released a dark rye bottle for 2017. It is a blended whiskey with port. Very good but supposedly a limited production run.