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Bourbon guys (2 Viewers)

Judge Smails said:
Looking to do a 1 day Bourbon trail type outing on the Thursday of Kentucky Derby week 2022.  Any suggestions?
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The best "inner workings" tour is Buffalo Trace. Book the "hardhat" tour in advance.  Great advice @[icon]posted years ago. And Sazerac facilities don't charge for their tours as a bonus.

Maker's is probably the 2nd best and is an absolutely beautiful setting.  It feels like visiting the shire. Their stave program in the cave is pretty interesting and unique. And dipping your own bottle while kitschy is kinda cool.

Woodford Reserve is a pretty place and right in the middle of horse country but the tour isn't anything special.

 
Good suggestions by Ron!

I'll add that Willett is awesome. Cool your, great gift shop and the best tasting bar around. 

 
So, @Spin’s post got me thinking about my bar plans again.  Would love some input from you guys.

Bar Options

I want to build the bar from the link I posted earlier and have 3 options, IMO.

1. I could put the bar in front of the shelves and use those cabinets for glasses and extra bottles :excited:   (Pic #1)

2. Put it in front of the wet bar area - remove my sons eyesore fish tank (win-win) and this is probably the most obvious location but it would force us to change the layout of the rest of the room (couch and treadmill not pictured). (Pic #2)

3. Remove the table and put it there opposite the TV - I could play bartender and watch TV - room layout stays the same - this would be ideal except I’d have to go back and forth to the sink when needed. (Pic #3)

So, where would you put it?

 
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AAABatteries said:
So, @Spin’s post got me thinking about my bar plans again.  Would love some input from you guys.

Bar Options

I want to build the bar from the link I posted earlier and have 3 options, IMO.

1. I could put the bar in front of the shelves and use those cabinets for glasses and extra bottles :excited:   (Pic #1)

2. Put it in front of the wet bar area - remove my sons eyesore fish tank (win-win) and this is probably the most obvious location but it would force us to change the layout of the rest of the room (couch and treadmill not pictured). (Pic #2)

3. Remove the table and put it there opposite the TV - I could play bartender and watch TV - room layout stays the same - this would be ideal except I’d have to go back and forth to the sink when needed. (Pic #3)

So, where would you put it?
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I'd got with 1 or 2 based on those pics.  If you go with 1 I think you want to move the TV up so it's on a higher site line for sitting at a bar. but it looks like you have the space to do that. Those cabinets would come in handy for reserve stock, barware, snacks, etc. Of course you could always build cabinets under the new bar. And it seems a shame to not take advantage of the existing wet bar setup.  Water is very handy.  But that inset closet deal is a bit odd.  Too much work to open that wall or bring the sink forward?

 
Ron Swanson said:
I'd got with 1 or 2 based on those pics.  If you go with 1 I think you want to move the TV up so it's on a higher site line for sitting at a bar. but it looks like you have the space to do that. Those cabinets would come in handy for reserve stock, barware, snacks, etc. Of course you could always build cabinets under the new bar. And it seems a shame to not take advantage of the existing wet bar setup.  Water is very handy.  But that inset closet deal is a bit odd.  Too much work to open that wall or bring the sink forward?
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Unfortunately no - the stairs leading up to the kitchen are over the wet bar so not much I can do there.  Ultimately, having it by the sink is going to be my best option I think.  I may get a contractor to come out and offer some advice.

 
Had two couples over last night for some birthday celebrations and we had a smorgasbord of whiskeys.  Slightly hungover this morning.

Here was the lineup (no, I did not have all of these but I did have most):

- Sagamore Barrel Proof Rye (b-day gift) - was really good.  Just love ryes

- Willet 4yr rye - also very good.  Nose was better than the Sagamore but think the palate went to the Sagamore just slightly

- Michters rye - solid

- Barrel 14 yr Rye @ 134 proof - this was a birthday bottle to myself.  Honestly was left a little underwhelmed - nose was nose hair burning even after sipping.  Palate was very good, not great.  Enjoyed the hug but hoping this one gets better after opening

- Belle Meade - Sherry and Madeira finished bourbons.  Both were so good.  Possibly the best stuff we had all night 

- HW Bourye - this was my bottle so I didn’t have any but I love it and it got good reviews all around.  Really wish I could find another one before they are all gone

- Nelson’s Greenbrier Sour Mash - this may have been the surprise of the night.  $30 bottle that every really enjoyed.  I was impressed 

- Suntory Toki - “she was my first Asian!” Not really but I just wanted to make that Wedding Crashers joke as this was a gift to my friend and it was her first Japanese whiskey.  It’s good - not totally my cup of tea but a nice bottle to have in your bar and reasonable cost.  Shoutout to @Instinctive for the recommendation.

- Lagavulin 12 CS - this was the one I looked forward to the most because just wasn’t sure what I would think.  My take is I need more time with it - it was very complex which I like.  I actually felt like I got some chocolate but ultimately the bandaid smell is too present for me to love it.  I mean, it’s not off putting by any means but it’s just odd.  I wish it was more smoky like the 16.

 
AAABatteries said:
- Suntory Toki - “she was my first Asian!” Not really but I just wanted to make that Wedding Crashers joke as this was a gift to my friend and it was her first Japanese whiskey.  It’s good - not totally my cup of tea but a nice bottle to have in your bar and reasonable cost.  Shoutout to @Instinctive for the recommendation.
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Glad you liked it! I think of it kind of like the Japanese version of Weller SR or Buffalo Trace. Good, solid, inexpensive, representative of the genre.

 
- Belle Meade - Sherry and Madeira finished bourbons.  Both were so good.  Possibly the best stuff we had all night 

- Nelson’s Greenbrier Sour Mash - this may have been the surprise of the night.  $30 bottle that every really enjoyed.  I was impressed 
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Nice tasting! 👍

Toured Nelson’s several years ago before they were ready to bottle and left with a great bottle of Belle Meade 

 
If you wanted to get a bottle for $100ish (very -ish. I'm price flexible), as a gift for someone, what's on the short list?

Something available enough that I'll find it if I go looking for it, but not so available that he might just see it and grab it for himself. His regular drink is Eagle Rare or Russell's. Likes Col. Taylor a lot. 

What you got?

 
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Bob Sacamano said:
If you wanted to get a bottle for $100ish (very -ish. I'm price flexible), as a gift for someone, what's on the short list?

Something available enough that I'll find it if I go looking for it, but not so available that he might just see it and grab it for himself. His regular drink is Eagle Rare or Russell's. Likes Col. Taylor a lot. 

What you got?
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The answer varies drastically by what's available in your area at the time you shop. Tossing out highly allocated stuff, these come to mind:

Wild Turkey Master's Keep

Old Fitzgerald BIB

Willett Family Estate

Barrell  - lots of different releases. All are at least good. This one may not have as much name cachet as it is sourced product but it is solid.

Blanton Straight from the Barrel - I doubt it's available but if it is pick this one.

 
Ron Swanson said:
The answer varies drastically by what's available in your area at the time you shop. Tossing out highly allocated stuff, these come to mind:

Wild Turkey Master's Keep

Old Fitzgerald BIB

Willett Family Estate

Barrell  - lots of different releases. All are at least good. This one may not have as much name cachet as it is sourced product but it is solid.

Blanton Straight from the Barrel - I doubt it's available but if it is pick this one.
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I think GB Bobby Sac is in AZ so maybe @kuttacould speak to availability.  IMO, $100 is a hard price range due to availability.  I mean BTAC bottles are still $100 MSRP I believe but you’ll never find them and you’ll never pay that.  If you can get some of those from Ron’s list then I need to take a road trip to AZ.  Here’s a few more where it’s likely you’ll pay close to $100 and may be a little more readily available:

- Stagg Jr.

- Sam Houston

- Bookers

- Bardstown Discovery (adding this one that’s around $130 because it’s really hot right now)

- 4 bottles of WT101 - :pickle:  

 
Just thought of another that should be pretty easy for you to find.  Smoke Wagon Uncut & Unfiltered.  Really good stuff, IMO.  Being out there you may even be able to find some of the special release stuff.  And the bottle is cool.

 
Wrapped up our second MidSouth Bourbon Brotherhood pick... 6yr rye bottled at barrel strength (117.7).
 

We opted to have a little fun with this name/sticker.... "Rye, Felicia!" 
 

images: https://imgur.com/a/6Rx3Wzv

Note the EHT 18yr Marriage tasting :wub:  

 
[icon] said:
Wrapped up our second MidSouth Bourbon Brotherhood pick... 6yr rye bottled at barrel strength (117.7).
 

We opted to have a little fun with this name/sticker.... "Rye, Felicia!" 
 

images: https://imgur.com/a/6Rx3Wzv

Note the EHT 18yr Marriage tasting :wub:  
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Two questions - is the FB group open to FBGs?  Are you guys selling the Rye to the public or is it just for the FB group members?

 
AAABatteries said:
Two questions - is the FB group open to FBGs?  Are you guys selling the Rye to the public or is it just for the FB group members?
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Sure! Anyone can join Midsouth Bourbon Brotherhood for details.It's generally reserved for folks within a few hours of Memphis but if you make a note that "Matt's FBG Buddy" in the comments when requesting and we'll get ya added.

We're at around 2000 members now and have stores lined up begging us to pick barrels with them. We've added a policy where our picks have a capped profit for the stores of the state minimum. We handle presale through paypal money pool, then bottles are available for pickup from the stores (as a means to generate traffic) for them.

If you're unable to pick them up I suppose I could look into shipping as an option... but that would have to be very limited as it's a bit of a headache... but I do love your f'ers. 

Unfortunately, the "Rye Felicia" barrel sold out (176 bottles) in about 40 minutes so that offering has passed.

We've already picked another barrel that will be offered up very soon... this one is a survivor barrel from the OZ Tyler Warehouse Collapse. We sampled about a half dozen barrels and this one was a clear/universal favorite.

We're looking at "Muddy Waters" as a name/theme for this release and considering leveraging the "survivor" theme by adding $10/bottle for charity (looking at Semper Fi Foundation or Gary Sinese Foundation)... if we go that route then likely will be a Memorial Day Presale for ~$40 IIRC . ]

After picking the Collapse Survivor barrel, we got to sample 3x barrels of 17yr bourbon that, frankly, were not good....so we passed.

Then we got to go in back and sample 8 barrels from Bardstown Distillery that were being bottled for Kenny Coleman with Bourbon Pursuit. They were narrowing down to 4 single barrels and then doing a small batch with the rest. We drilled into them and picked the 4 that will be single barrels. 

Suffice to say, some of the tasting panel were pretty toasty after 15 different barrel proof samplings in a 3 hour window :lol:  

 

 
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Bob Sacamano said:
If you wanted to get a bottle for $100ish (very -ish. I'm price flexible), as a gift for someone, what's on the short list?

Something available enough that I'll find it if I go looking for it, but not so available that he might just see it and grab it for himself. His regular drink is Eagle Rare or Russell's. Likes Col. Taylor a lot. 

What you got?
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@AAABatteries mentioned you are (may be) in AZ. If so, the Total Wine at Desert Ridge has an outstanding selection of whiskey, one of the best I've seen. I got a bunch of bottles of Masterson's Rye 10 year there for a Christmas present for a bunch of buddies and everyone really liked it. I'm also a big fan of Whistle Pig 10 year, even though that's pretty common. Willett rye is always one of my favs, and Willett bourbon is a great gift because of the bottle.

 
Ron Swanson said:
The answer varies drastically by what's available in your area at the time you shop. Tossing out highly allocated stuff, these come to mind:

Wild Turkey Master's Keep

Old Fitzgerald BIB

Willett Family Estate

Barrell  - lots of different releases. All are at least good. This one may not have as much name cachet as it is sourced product but it is solid.

Blanton Straight from the Barrel - I doubt it's available but if it is pick this one.
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Good answer here. 

"What bottle to get for a Gift" is a SUPER common question that most any Bourbon aficionado is going to get. Seems like $100 is a very common price point as well.

Some challenges:
1) Bourbon craze has gone completely nuts. I thought it was bad a few years ago. Now it's just insane. Anything special/good (and lots of crap) is snatched up instantly. "On the shelf" availability of anything that will make a regular bourbon drinker light up is not really a thing unless the person shopping has connections with a shop or just gets lucky. 

2) Any bourbon drinker is already going to have some bottles. Some folks will have a lot. when buying off the shelf there's a decent chance you'll be getting something they already have. 

3) As Ron said... $100 is a tough price point. There are a LOT of land mines of s##twhiskey in the $70-120 range... and a lot of the good stuff in that range (EHT / OF BIB / etc) will never see the public shelf.. or if it does it's gone in minutes. 

I do like his suggestions above (as usual, as our tastes seem to align). Also, store picks are another way to get something semi-unique/interesting.  I'd avoid Heavens Door, personally. I just am not a fan of barrels they're selling right now. A buddy is fairly high up with them and has been trying to get us to do a barrel with them for 6 months now...we've sampled a lot and haven't found one we liked enough to buy.. especially at their price point. 

Whistle Pig is an interesting option.. they've marketed well and have a lot of fans. I'm not one, but many are.  WT Masters Keep is a great suggestion from Ron as well. Should be fairly readily available.. roughly in your price point and is a safe 17yr expression of kentucky bourbon picked/blended by Eddie Russell himself. 

 
I think a WhistlePig 10 year store pick is an awesome gift and fits the price range.  It’s a little too sweet for some but if you get one with a little more proof to it, I think it’s outstanding.

 
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[icon] said:
WT Masters Keep is a great suggestion from Ron as well. Should be fairly readily available.. roughly in your price point and is a safe 17yr expression of kentucky bourbon picked/blended by Eddie Russell himself. 
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If anyone has a line on a retailer with this in stock and can ship, please shoot me a PM.  I whiffed harder than Mighty Casey last fall and have been hunting it ever since.  

 
Halp! Urgent bourbon advice needed. The below are all on the bourbon menu of a restaurant I’m headed to tonight, all $16-20:

Stagg Jr $20

Eagle Rare 10 $16

EH Taylor Small Batch $16

Elmer T Lee $18

Which one should I pick and why? I’ve never had any Buffalo Trace product (can’t find in my neck of the woods). The bourbons I’ve enjoyed the most are Woodford Double Oaked and 4 Roses Single Barrel.

TIA!

 
D_House said:
Halp! Urgent bourbon advice needed. The below are all on the bourbon menu of a restaurant I’m headed to tonight, all $16-20:

Stagg Jr $20

Eagle Rare 10 $16

EH Taylor Small Batch $16

Elmer T Lee $18

Which one should I pick and why? I’ve never had any Buffalo Trace product (can’t find in my neck of the woods). The bourbons I’ve enjoyed the most are Woodford Double Oaked and 4 Roses Single Barrel.

TIA!
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I think the correct answer is all of the above. I have only had 2 and 3 myself. Both are really good. I really like EHT SB. 

 
D_House said:
Halp! Urgent bourbon advice needed. The below are all on the bourbon menu of a restaurant I’m headed to tonight, all $16-20:

Stagg Jr $20

Eagle Rare 10 $16

EH Taylor Small Batch $16

Elmer T Lee $18

Which one should I pick and why? I’ve never had any Buffalo Trace product (can’t find in my neck of the woods). The bourbons I’ve enjoyed the most are Woodford Double Oaked and 4 Roses Single Barrel.

TIA!
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Stagg Jr. is like ~130 proof depending on batch.  If you aren’t a high proof guy skip it or if you are that may be your best bet.  I would go ETL as it’s the only one I haven’t had.  Eagle Rare seems to be findable in most places so it would be my last pic. 

 
D_House said:
Halp! Urgent bourbon advice needed. The below are all on the bourbon menu of a restaurant I’m headed to tonight, all $16-20:

Stagg Jr $20

Eagle Rare 10 $16

EH Taylor Small Batch $16

Elmer T Lee $18

Which one should I pick and why? I’ve never had any Buffalo Trace product (can’t find in my neck of the woods). The bourbons I’ve enjoyed the most are Woodford Double Oaked and 4 Roses Single Barrel.

TIA!
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EHT is the cream of that crop IMO. Eagle Rare would be #2.

 
Ron Swanson said:
EHT is the cream of that crop IMO. Eagle Rare would be #2.
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I would rank them

Stagg JR. > EHT > ER

ETL I haven't had because it's so impossible to find locally and I'm not willing to pay crazy prices.

I would say that EHT BP would get the nod over Stagg Jr. for me but not the Small Batch because I'm a proof hound. 

 
AAABatteries said:
I would rank them

Stagg JR. > EHT > ER

ETL I haven't had because it's so impossible to find locally and I'm not willing to pay crazy prices.

I would say that EHT BP would get the nod over Stagg Jr. for me but not the Small Batch because I'm a proof hound. 
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This is fair but at least the EHT is BIB and 100 proof. I think I unfairly toss Stagg Jr in my ratings because I always compare it to Stagg.  

 
D_House said:
Thanks guys will try the EHT. The Stagg Jr sounds like it might be bit much for me proof-wise.
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Probably the solid choice.

Not looking to change your mind but just as an FYI - Buffalo Trace has two mashbills.  EHT and Eagle Rare both are 1 which is lower rye (typically sweeter) and ETL is 2 which is higher rye but not super high (12-15%).  2 would be a little more spicy but at that percent not so much that I would worry about it.  I’m a big fan of all mashbill 1 so you are getting some good juice and EHT is highly regarded.  Enjoy!

 
AAABatteries said:
Picked up a bottle of WT Rare Breed Rye - been trying to get my hands on this for a while so excited to try it this weekend.
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I really enjoyed it! A buddy got me that for Christmas this year. I've gone through a second bottle too...

 
Hey Guys

I'm looking for a good sippin' bourbon I can drink over ice.  But not something that requires a 2nd mortgage.

I've been drinking 1792 and like it. So maybe something similar to it yet better, 

 
E Street Brat said:
Hey Guys

I'm looking for a good sippin' bourbon I can drink over ice.  But not something that requires a 2nd mortgage.

I've been drinking 1792 and like it. So maybe something similar to it yet better, 
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Buffalo Trace

Early Times BIB

Wild Turkey 101

Elijah Craig Small Batch

Evans Williams BIB or Single Barrel

 
D_House said:
Thanks guys will try the EHT. The Stagg Jr sounds like it might be bit much for me proof-wise.
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Enjoyed the EHT small batch quite a bit. Well balanced with vanilla caramel cherry and bread notes with a medium body and minimal burn. Easy drinker that I’d love to pick up for home consumption if I could ever find it.

 
Bob Sacamano said:
Finally got a chance to buy this today. 

If I have an opportunity to grab Prichard's Double Barrelled @ $84, worth it? 
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One of my all-time favs (EH Taylor).

I've never had the Prichard's so I can't comment.

 
Bob Sacamano said:
Finally got a chance to buy this today. 

If I have an opportunity to grab Prichard's Double Barrelled @ $84, worth it? 
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Just bought an EH Taylor small batch and Eagle Rare for 46.99 at local outlet. Probably should have bought both remaining of each lol. Agree or disagree? Is this a pretty good price. Thinking good. I enjoy both. 

 
Bluesbomber said:
Just bought an EH Taylor small batch and Eagle Rare for 46.99 at local outlet. Probably should have bought both remaining of each lol. Agree or disagree? Is this a pretty good price. Thinking good. I enjoy both. 
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Seems high for ER and low for EHT to me. But ER has been around here and EHT has not at all, so may vary by locale?

 
First jug of ER I bought their was behind counter and clerk offered it to me for 42 seeing me grabbing some stock...OGD 114, EW Bib. This time there were 3 of each on shelf and a bud texted me of the ER. Told us we missed out on a jug of Blantons.   By supporting possibly distributor will stock some good stuff. My hope anyway. This is a smaller local type store. I check stock at set break or after early shows at pub across street. Convenience . Thanks guys. Cheers.

 
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