Deranged Hermit
Not cool & Pissed
I actually found two bottles at retail price yesterday. Buffalo Trace is a hard find in Delaware.
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Bourbon guys (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter top dog
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Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
If you can make the trip to PA, I found it on the shelves in a store in Wayne, PA (King of Prussia adjacent).
The above segues into my next review: Cooperstown Select Small Batch Straight Single Malt Whiskey ($59.99 at my 'honey hole' store near my parents' house).
First thoughts: A few posts back I mentioned picking this up with the intention of sharing it at the last ever home games of my son's alma mater's baseball team. I ended up not taking it, which worked out well since most of the dads I would have shared it with were no longer there; with the announcement last year of the program ending, many kids left via the transfer portal, leaving only 20 kids, which is suicidal for surviving a college baseball schedule. Nevertheless, the program soldiered on and are currently in 2nd place in the conference with one week left to play, meaning they have a good chance to make the conference playoffs. They'll probably get steamrolled, but it's still an amazing accomplishment for an undermanned team.
Anyway, I picked this bottle strictly because it's from Cooperstown and I was going to take it to a baseball double-header. I knew nothing else about it and grabbed it despite the description: Aged in new oak barrels for 2 years, then aged in used sherry casks for 6 months. After going through a scotch whisky advent calendar (see Scotch thread), I'm not the biggest fan of finished whiskies, other than double-oaked like the Sagamore that I've come to love. I've had one other American single malt from a local distiller and liked it, so I have hope.
**Another synthetic cork, this time seemingly molded right into the entire stopper itself.**
First sniff: Cough syrup that's more blackberry than cherry.
First sip: I got exactly what the label described: Praline, candied apple and burnt almond, and no Kentucky hug despite being 103 proof. The burnt almond lingers the most, giving it a mildly bitter finish.
Second sip: Carbon copy of the first, so I added a couple drops of water and let it open up for another sip, which made it a little sweeter and blunted a lot of the burnt almond finish.
Knee-jerk thoughts: This reinforces my favorable opinion of single malt, i.e., 100% barley mash bill, whiskies. Like wheaters, barley is softer on the palate than most bourbons and has a sweetness of its own, and a distiller who knows how to work in barley can produce dynamic drams. I look forward to more American single malts hitting the stores, though at the prices I've paid for the two I've had ($37 for 375ml and ~$60 for this one) and seen for some of the ones out now, I'd like to see the prices come down, because Total Wine still sells 100% barley whisky that I like at a lower cost. It's definitely better with a few drops of water, and while I won't replace it whenever I get around to finishing it, I'd recommend it to anyone anyway.
wlwiles
Footballguy
Yes, I have a bottle of the Rye, grabbed one at a Total Wine in Houston on a work trip back in February. Should have bought more but didn't realize just how impossible it would be to find another one, and I didn't have the suitcase space to fly back with more :(I would have bought all 3 bottlesStopped into a store today that I frequent maybe every other month - they get excellent store picks so I always like to see whats new. Was debating a new 1792 Full Proof pick vs. Old Forester Barrel Strength pick, until I noticed about 5 cases of JDSBBP sitting there with a $53 price tag on them
$12 under MSRP, yes please! Now if I could ever find the dang rye version of it...
I do like the JDSBBP Rye better than the bourbon which is strange as I usually like bourbons more than ryes, but that one is fantastic! I know you are looking for a bottle, but have you gotten to try the rye yet?
gruecd
Footballguy
Finally snagged my unicorn.
Paid $36 for a 30% chance at a bottle of Blanton's in a raffle and won, so I flipped that and a bottle of Eagle Rare for the Rio. People love overvaluing BT product...
wlwiles
Footballguy
Nicely done! I'm still hunting for a Rio...my local store 2 weeks ago posted on facebook a photo of two bottles of Rio with a "come and get it" type message. This store typically never posts allocated bottles, they just keep them in the back for their regular customers. So the fact that they posted them had me thinking they must have gotten a bunch of it. I saw the post and texted my buddy that works there to see if he'd hold me one until I could swing by after work, and he responded with "we only got two and they're already gone, no idea why the store owner posted that". Come to find out, the owner thought this was some new Penelope variant that was about to be a regular shelfer so he posted it as a "ooh look what new thing we have now" and had no idea it's impossible to find. So, the hunt continues...Finally snagged my unicorn.
Paid $36 for a 30% chance at a bottle of Blanton's in a raffle and won, so I flipped that and a bottle of Eagle Rare for the Rio. People love overvaluing BT product...
gruecd
Footballguy
That sucks. Give my approach a try. Find a local bourbon group on Facebook and throw some tater bait out there...Nicely done! I'm still hunting for a Rio...my local store 2 weeks ago posted on facebook a photo of two bottles of Rio with a "come and get it" type message. This store typically never posts allocated bottles, they just keep them in the back for their regular customers. So the fact that they posted them had me thinking they must have gotten a bunch of it. I saw the post and texted my buddy that works there to see if he'd hold me one until I could swing by after work, and he responded with "we only got two and they're already gone, no idea why the store owner posted that". Come to find out, the owner thought this was some new Penelope variant that was about to be a regular shelfer so he posted it as a "ooh look what new thing we have now" and had no idea it's impossible to find. So, the hunt continues...Finally snagged my unicorn.
Paid $36 for a 30% chance at a bottle of Blanton's in a raffle and won, so I flipped that and a bottle of Eagle Rare for the Rio. People love overvaluing BT product...
nirad3
Footballguy
I've gotten away from drinking bourbon (too much sugar), but I saw this thread earlier this morning and it totally sparked something in my brain about a dream I had last night about a self-serve whiskey dispensing spigot-type-thing built into a kitchen countertop at a house I was at (or owned). So funny how a word can just trigger something like that. Maybe my brain was disappointed in me that I actually had a Jack & Coke for the first time in forever on Saturday night. 
AAABatteries
Footballguy
I've gotten away from drinking bourbon (too much sugar), but I saw this thread earlier this morning and it totally sparked something in my brain about a dream I had last night about a self-serve whiskey dispensing spigot-type-thing built into a kitchen countertop at a house I was at (or owned). So funny how a word can just trigger something like that. Maybe my brain was disappointed in me that I actually had a Jack & Coke for the first time in forever on Saturday night.
Sugar?? Do you mean it affects your blood sugar level?
gruecd
Footballguy
I need to either stop buying **** or become an alcoholic, because I'm pretty sure I could never buy another bottle, and I'd still never get through everything I have...
To that point, found a guy selling a KC15 for $120 (slight premium to MSRP), so I'm gonna get it from him today. Need to have some friends over sometime to have a tasting and compare 9/12/15/18.
To that point, found a guy selling a KC15 for $120 (slight premium to MSRP), so I'm gonna get it from him today. Need to have some friends over sometime to have a tasting and compare 9/12/15/18.
AAABatteries
Footballguy
Welcome, friend.
I have so much open that I finally told myself I was going to stop buying until my shelves thin out. Problem for me is my shelves can support probably 250-300 bottles.
wlwiles
Footballguy
I'm trying to downsize as well, so my rule is no buying a new one until I kill two. I don't have a ton of space available, probably only room for 35-40 bottles, but I had almost 70 at my peak and they were annoying the wife.
Welcome, friend.
I have so much open that I finally told myself I was going to stop buying until my shelves thin out. Problem for me is my shelves can support probably 250-300 bottles.
In related news, I killed a Starlight and a Larceny BP last night so I'm going bourbon hunting on my lunch break today
AAABatteries
Footballguy
Good poll questions would be:
- Do you open every bottle you buy?
- How many bottles do you have?
- What percentage of your bottles are open?
AAABatteries
Footballguy
- No - sometimes if I'm gifted one or I find a bottle I've wanted it will sit unopened for a while. Currently have about 12-15 unopened bottles
- Haven't counted recently and stopped doing a spreadsheet - I think I'm somewhere around 120 counting everything - including liqueurs.
- based on the above math I'd say around 10% of my bottles are unopened so 90% are open. At the same time I both consider that I do have a whiskey collection but I'm not a "collector" meaning, I drink it.
wlwiles
Footballguy
- Basically yes, I'll crack and try every new bottle within a couple days of purchase. The only unopened bottles I have are backups. I don't have any unicorn type bottles that I'm saving unopened for a special occasion.
- 44 current bottles
- 93% (41 out of 44) open
opensourcebeer
Footballguy
All mine are opened and usually get opened shortly after acquisition. Probably around 25 whiskey bottles in the collection, about half of those are bourbons. The rest are a mix of Ryes, Scotches, Irish, and Japanese whiskeys.
gruecd
Footballguy
It feels like everything that I do annoys my wife lately, so that's a nonfactor in my decisions....
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Yes, 1, 100%
Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
- Do you open every bottle you buy? Yes
- How many bottles do you have? 13; 4 Scotch, 5 bourbon (2 of which are 1.75L), 2 rye, 1 American single malt, 1 'infinity' bottle.
- What percentage of your bottles are open? 100%
In other news, my usual rotation of reviewers on youtube have all recently reviewed the new Jim Beam (black label with a 7-year age statement), and their consensus is that it's a good value; SLB even called it a Wild Turkey 101 killer. Have any of you dared to try it yet? Judging by the level of most of my bottles, it looks like it's going to be a while before I get to it, so if any of you try it, talk about it here, please and thank you.
Galileo
Footballguy
- Yes, but there may be a short delay before I get to it.
- 71 bottles of whiskey + a dozen or so samples from swapping. I have some vodka, rum, tequila, gin and liqueurs as well.
- The plan is 100%, but there are a few that get delayed a little. I think I have 3 unopened bottles not counting the back ups for ones already opened
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sho nuff
Footballguy
Only have a small lockable cabinet (went through some fun with the late HS years with our son). It can only hold maybe 7-8 bottles with the other stuff we keep in there.
- Usually, depending on the next answer, I sometimes have a spare bottle of BT or Eagle Rare or something that I know I like having.
- 7-8 at any given time.
- 90-100% again depending on if Im holding a full/spare bottle of something.
I guess if i had the capacity to collect more, I might. But i typically just buy stuff that I want to drink....and I drink it.
nirad3
Footballguy
Yeah, I was always told that bourbon was one of the worst spirits in that regard - whereas tequila / vodka were much lower. Maybe a wives' tale?I've gotten away from drinking bourbon (too much sugar), but I saw this thread earlier this morning and it totally sparked something in my brain about a dream I had last night about a self-serve whiskey dispensing spigot-type-thing built into a kitchen countertop at a house I was at (or owned). So funny how a word can just trigger something like that. Maybe my brain was disappointed in me that I actually had a Jack & Coke for the first time in forever on Saturday night.
Sugar?? Do you mean it affects your blood sugar level?
psychobillies
Footballguy
I just drink them as I buy them. I think I have some Elijah, BT and maybe a little Basil Haydens in there.
Speaking of which, I just went to look for a bottle of Rio. I missed the last one by an hour, and the guy recommended this RD1 that was finished in Brazilian Amburana Wood as a substitute. I'd never heard of it, but got it, and it's like a cinnamon blast. Almost like a grown up fireball. Not bad, but if this is what Rio is, I'm probably not interested.
Speaking of which, I just went to look for a bottle of Rio. I missed the last one by an hour, and the guy recommended this RD1 that was finished in Brazilian Amburana Wood as a substitute. I'd never heard of it, but got it, and it's like a cinnamon blast. Almost like a grown up fireball. Not bad, but if this is what Rio is, I'm probably not interested.
Enderdog
Footballguy
- Do you open every bottle you buy? No.
- How many bottles do you have? 14
- What percentage of your bottles are open? None.
On hand unopened inventory is mostly Eagle Rare, BT, and Blantons,
psychobillies
Footballguy
I hope it's all gonna be good news and that you'll be opening some bottles again soon.
Galileo
Footballguy
It doesn't take much time. You can do it!!!
Or get one of the apps that allows you to simply scan the barcode on your bottles and the inventory is created for you. Whiskey Shelf and OnlyDrams are the 2 that I am somewhat familiar with.
gruecd
Footballguy
I have both, but haven't opened either. I've had the RD1 at a tasting event and remember enjoying it. I'll probably open both bottles at the same time and do a little blind.
psychobillies
Footballguy
Whenever you do, please report back.
Ron Swanson
Footballguy
- Do you open every bottle you buy? - No
- How many bottles do you have? - 51 + an infinity bottle
- What percentage of your bottles are open? - 80%, but the unopened bottles are all backups of open bottles except one weird Rye that I'm never motivated to try.
odin33
Footballguy
Uh oh, When Ron Swanson 'only' has 51 bottles, and your 60+ deep and still have the basement to go count(~40) ... you might have a problem. Thankfully I have a pretty understanding wife.
I know Icon's got me beat and maybe AAA. Need to get down and finish the spreadsheet. I already need to delete 2 bottles.
I know Icon's got me beat and maybe AAA. Need to get down and finish the spreadsheet. I already need to delete 2 bottles.
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
If I can find the rio do any of you want it? And is there only one version? The total wine by me says they have some for $70
Dan Lambskin
Footballguy
- Do you open every bottle you buy? - yes, maybe not immediately, but eventually
- How many bottles do you have? - guessing around 10
- What percentage of your bottles are open? - i think most of them
Rustoleum
Footballguy
- do you open every bottle? Eventually I will. Only “untouchable “ right now is my New Riff Ranger bottle that I filled along with my dad and former (and also now deceased) father-in-law. Purely for sentimental purposes.
- how many? 15-20 maybe.
-open? Maybe 5. Dutifully trying to kill some lesser quality stuff that was gifted by well-intentioned folks to clear some space. It’s a slow roll though since I usually only have a glass or two on the weekends. (It’s hard to work through a 1.75 of regular Four Roses and look at unopened EH Taylor….)
- how many? 15-20 maybe.
-open? Maybe 5. Dutifully trying to kill some lesser quality stuff that was gifted by well-intentioned folks to clear some space. It’s a slow roll though since I usually only have a glass or two on the weekends. (It’s hard to work through a 1.75 of regular Four Roses and look at unopened EH Taylor….)
Kev4029
Footballguy
I'll join the fun...
- Do you open every bottle you buy? - I try to, there is nothing I'm purposefully not opening.
- How many bottles do you have? - Close to 100. Another 50-60 other bottles of liquor and 40-50 bottles of wine.
- What percentage of your bottles are open? - Of the bottles that aren't duplicates, probably 90-95%.
Galileo
Footballguy
They are on the second batch of Rio. I believe they changed the mash bill slightly from the first batch. I would assume what you are seeing on a store shelf would be batch 2. The $70 price tag would be a really good price for it. Sells for $90 in Ohio when it can be found.
Instinctive
Footballguy
- Do you open every bottle you buy? - yes, maybe not immediately, but eventually
- How many bottles do you have? 62 just whiskey. About 30 are bourbon, then ~15 each Japanese and scotch
- What percentage of your bottles are open? - i think most of them. A couple are duplicates I just loved and didn't think I'd find again (like Macallan Edition No. 3 - which is impossible to find now) so I'd say 80-85%
gruecd
Footballguy
I feel this. I may have underestimated at 50-75...
gruecd
Footballguy
I'd absolutely take another bottle at that price, but I find that VERY hard to believe. The current batch (24-901) is the third.
gruecd
Footballguy
They're actually on the 3rd batch (23-901, 23-902, and now 24-901). The first two batches have the traditional peony flower etched on the bottle. Batch 3 has a rainforest frond.
Galileo
Footballguy
I stand corrected. I didn't realize that. I just read that batch 2 was predominantly released in Texas. Personally, I have not tried any of them, and perhaps wasn't paying attention. So, I guess I missed it.
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
I’ll swing in and check this week
wlwiles
Footballguy
I've been looking for a way to efficiently catalog and sort my bourbon journey for a while now. I was spreadsheeting for a while but I found that I wasn't updating it enough, always forgetting to add new bottles to it, and it got cumbersome so I started looking for apps. Currently I use OnlyDrams and have good and bad things to say about it. I've downloaded WhiskeyShelf and about to start loading it with info to see if it's any better.
OnlyDrams
+ It breaks down your collection and shows you what % you have of bourbon, whiskey, rye, Japanese, Irish, etc.
+ Instant barcode reader. It's super easy to scan a barcode and add a bottle to your collection.
+ It tells you whether a bottle is considered Common, Uncommon, Rare, Unicorn, and Impossible.
+ For any bottle you can click on the Distiller info and it'll show you who their parent company is, and any other offerings from that distiller. Great for newbies, if you like Elijah Craig Small Batch, click on Heaven Hill and see what else they make you can try, for instance. If there's a stated mashbill it'll tell you, or if there's an age statement it'll tell you. Also tells you if it's a special release, ongoing release, batched product, etc. so you can get a sense of how available it is.
+ It has MSRP for each bottle, or you can edit the bottle in your collection to enter what you paid for it. But it only totals your collection by MSRP or by secondary price, not by actual $ spent.
+ You can edit the proof on any bottle you enter, so for barrel strength bottles it'll say "Proof - Varies" or it'll guess one, but you can change it.
+ On your collection page there's a little icon of a pair of dice. You can hit that and it'll randomize your inventory and "Pick My Pour" for those of us that are indecisive on what we're about to drink.
- You can't enter the store that you purchased the bottle from. There's a box to type that info in but its a search box not a text box, and it never ever finds the store you put in, just spins. Needs to be a text box.
- On the bottle details page there's a Barrel Pick button you can check, but it's not available on all bottles. A lot of the well known barrel pick bottles (Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, 1792 FP or BiB, Elijah Craig, etc.) have that button. But Four Roses Single Barrel Barrel Strength picks, Jack Daniels Single Barrel picks, Old Elk picks, and several others don't have that button on their pages at all, so I can't mark them as picks. Need to have that button available on all bottles.
- They're a little slow to add new releases/batches to the database. When I bought ECBP C923 batch back in the fall, I couldn't add it to my collection for almost 2 months because that batch # hadn't been added yet.
- There's nowhere to save notes on a bottle. You can review it, but that's just choosing 1 to 5 stars. Needs a text field to be able to save notes.
- My biggest gripe: You can mark a bottle as Open, Unopened, or Empty. I don't always keep the list 100% accurate as to what's open or unopened (and % full is another option you can use for each bottle). BUT I do want to mark bottles that are empty. But empty bottles still count towards your collection total #. You can filter your collection to show Open, Unopened, or Empty, but you can't filter OUT Empty. So my collection total is never correct. Yes you can select "remove bottle from your collection" but then it's deleted completely. I like having them in there as Empty so I can go back to them, remember what variant of X it was that I had, remember what I paid for it, etc.
Whew, that got wordy - my apologies. Just trying to share info with anyone else considering an app for inventory tracking.
Galileo
Footballguy
I have both Whiskey Shelf and OnlyDrams going. I started both of them thinking I'd compare and decide which I like better. Both have pros and cons for sure. I lean towards Only Drams, but one is not significantly better than the other. I like that the social aspect of Only Drams is free. I think that is a paid/premium feature in Whiskey Shelf. I like the infinity bottle tracker in Whiskey Shelf. Only Drams can definitely be challenging to add unique bottles and seems to be a little clunky when trying to edit info. You can't enter bottles for yourself. You have to "send it in" and have them add it to their database. I have a few without barcodes from barrel picks I can't scan. I have another bottle from Nashville Barrel Co where the bar code just won't read. When I try to send a picture in through the app to "learn" the bottle, I just get error messages. Only Drams is largely still being developed and tested and should continue to evolve in the near future. They have a Discord with forums with places for feedback, suggestions, issues, and support. If you did not know, OnlyDrams is being put out there by the SLB crew. Trenton has been fairly responsive to folks in the Discord and posts bug fixes and updates. They also raffle away a bottle each month to those who are paid supporters. They gave away a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 10 last month.
gruecd
Footballguy
Yeah....definitely underestimated. Just getting started, and I'm already at 32 bottles (6 open).I feel this. I may have underestimated at 50-75...
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
They didn’t have it.
Bob Sacamano
Footballguy
Open every bottle? No. I have a 2nd and 3rd of EHT because they were available and usually a spare BT and ER because the originals keep having holes in the bottoms of them. The only bottle I have no plans to open is the RVW 13 yr rye, cause I can't open and drink it and I can't sell it. Which means it will be opened eventually. I just need a reason.
# bottles? 20ish. I'm more a wine drinker but bourbon has definitely become a secondary. And a few bottles of scotch I've started to gain an appreciation for.
% open: 75%. Have a 2nd ER and BT for when the opens run dry. Have 2 extra EHT and the rip van wrinkle rye. Everything else is open. If I have 20, that leaves 15 open. Sadly, 3 of those are probably Russells. It is my daily.
# bottles? 20ish. I'm more a wine drinker but bourbon has definitely become a secondary. And a few bottles of scotch I've started to gain an appreciation for.
% open: 75%. Have a 2nd ER and BT for when the opens run dry. Have 2 extra EHT and the rip van wrinkle rye. Everything else is open. If I have 20, that leaves 15 open. Sadly, 3 of those are probably Russells. It is my daily.
gruecd
Footballguy
I figured. Thanks for looking though!
wlwiles
Footballguy
I
I have only been using OnlyDrams for about 3 months now, and haven't gotten into the social aspect of it yet. Can you give me a quick rundown of how you use that side of it? Send it in a PM maybe so we don't clog the thread up. Thx