Favorite Bourbons?

Updated...

What I'd buy again....  Eagle Rare.  Blantons.  Old Forrester Prohibition Style.  Very Old Barton 86 proof.  Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.  Elijah Craig Toasted.  Knob Creek Single Barrel.  Knob Creek 12 Year.  Knob Creek Single Barrel Peanut Brittle.  Col EH Taylor Small batch and especially Single Barrel.  McKenna 10 Year.  Michters 10 Year.  Woodford Reserve Oaked.  Weller Antique.  Clover 10 Year.  Pappy Van Winkle.  12 Point Drop Tine.  Calumet Farms 12 Year Black.

Sit the fence on....  New Riff Single Barrel.  Michters.  Jefferson's Ocean (depends on Voyage).  Angel's Envy.  Willet Pot Still Reserve.  Knob Creek.  Noah's Mill.  Stagg Jr (price).  Garrison Brothers Barrel Proof.  Remus Reserve.

Would not buy again....  Buffalo Trace.  Elijah Craig.  Driftless Glen.  Parker Hayes.  Old Granddad 114.  Weller Special Reserve (cost).  Burning Chair.  Garrison Brothers Balmorhea (cost).  Makers Mark.  Makers Mark Cask Strength.  Calumet Farms that is not 12 Year Black.

What I need to try....  Old Forrester (everything but Prohibition).   Non-Oaked Woodford Reserve.  Dickel.  4 Roses (all of them).

Easy to find, easy on the wallet.  Knob Creek Single Barrel.  Very Old Barton 86 proof.  Woodford Reserve Double Oaked.  12 Point Droptine.

I'm not even trying to get any more bottles right now.  But my wife came home last weekend with a bottle of EH Taylor Small Batch.  She said she could have had one of either EH Taylor Small Batch, Caribou Crossing or Elijah Craig 18.  EHT SB was $55 and the cheapest of the three.  At least she got the right bottle.

Did have a pour of the Penelope Creme Brule, buddies bottle.  He got one for me, too.  You do get the taste of burnt sugar and spice.  Little whiskey hug at the end.  Sweeter, but not overly sweet.  No real vanilla came forward.  Bottle is good, if you can find it.

Had a pour of his Penelope Hole #1 bottle.  Golf Series.  I thought it was a gimmick.  I was wrong.  It was delicious.  It was sweeter and smoother than the Creme Brule.  Vanilla, sugar, but sugar like a sugar cookie, hint of spice, very, very smooth.  No hug.  I know that all the "holes" will be different, but if you are looking for a sweet, smooth dessert like bourbon, grab that bottle.

Also drank some JD Heritage, EHT Small Batch and some EHT Single Barrel.

It was a 4 Advil morning on Saturday.  Perhaps I was overserved.

Still seeing EHT small batch popping at local grocery stores. Heaven Hill is everywhere now and I can buy Buffalo Trace by the case at regular retail at the local liquor store. Some stores are still trying to get $90 plus for Eagle Rare 10yr. Saw EHT small batch at one store for $199. That was nuts. The scarcity and high secondary prices on allocated bottles appears to be waning. I was in Branson, MO on business two weeks ago and you could get just about anything at regular retail. If I wasn’t flying home I would have snapped up a bunch. 

Try Evan Williams Single Barrel.  Should run $30-$34.  It's quite good, especially at that price.  It's smooth and it's taste is all subtle, so it is not overpowering.  Should be an excellent mixer.

I wasn't even bourbon "hunting" this weekend, just drove around up north looking at some different things.  Went into a gas station in the middle of nowhere and found 5 bottles of McKenna at $48.  5 bottles of Old Fitz 7 at $55.  One bottle of Caribou Crossing Single Barrel at $70.  Went home with Caribou.  

Been a while since I've drank Caribou.  I remember it being sweet at first and then having no finish.  Pretty bland.  Likely to open it next weekend and I'm feeling like I'm going to use it to make some smoked old fashioned drinks.  After I have a single pour, that is.

What’s  a go to bourbon for mixers?

My wife’s been drinking bourbon and ginger ales, so I do not want her using the ‘good’ stuff.

I picked up a Buffalo Trace for $30. A month ago and haven’t been able to get back. Maybe check it out this weekend. 

Nothing special to me in those pictures.  Same bottles that I see in every other store out there.
Should ask if they have any good bottles behind the counter.  Betcha they do.

Looks like a museum, how are the prices?

A couple of photos from a local store. Advertised that he has over 400 bottles on the shelves. 

Probably more of a keepsake than a sipper

While I was on vacation, my wife and I went to the local grocery store.  We were in the liquor department looking for Carbliss Blood Orange in a 4 pack.  My wife asks a worker where it was, he points it out to her.  I ask him if he's going to put out any "good" bourbon for me to buy.  He smiles and asks if I want a good allocated bottle.  Always, I say.  He says give me a minute.  He goes to the back and comes back to me with a Bottle of EH Taylor Single Barrel.  $95.  Told him I couldn't be happier, it is one of my favorite bottles.  Score!!!!  Worked out nicely because I had just taken a bottle of that to the cottage and opened it up on opening day.  So I have my replacement!!

Meant to post this one last week. 

Walked into my local grocery store. Lo and behold I see 10 tubes of EH Taylor small batch sitting on the shelf at $49.99 each!  This is in metro Chicago where bottles fetch four times that price if you can even find it. I already have three unopened bottles and two that are about half full at home and at the lake.  Took some major willpower to leave them on the shelf but I figured it would be nice for someone else to be able to pick some up. 

Still searching for a bottle of the EHT barrel proof.  That’s the unicorn. 

Spot on Deertroller, if you like Old Forrester Prohibition (and I do), you will like Wolcott Rickhouse Reserve.  They both taste similar to me to some of the good Elijah Craig Barrel Proof bottles, too.  And they are much better over a brick of ice.

I do like my JD Heritage cold, so I use a frozen granite block in the glass, as well as a small ice cube, not a brick.
Funny thing about doing it that way, it's so good that the little ice cube lasts two drinks!

I was getting low on the JD Heritage, so I stopped at Total Wine for a replacement.  While there I recalled Vegas recommending the Wolcott Rickhouse Reserve, so I got one of those as well.  I cracked that one last night for a taste and was pleasantly surprised.  Sweet, cinnamon and fruit, long finish.  I tend to like my bourbon straight up, but this one is high proof, so I am thinking a big cube may do it justice.  Its been a number several years, but in my memory I am putting it next to Old Forrester Prohibition, may need to get another of those to compare.  Very different from the JD Heritage, but both very enjoyable to me.

Stopped at 2 shops looking for some good stuff.  Was not disappointed.  Well, kind of was.
Saw something I've never seen before.  A Blantons Straight From the Barrel bottle.  Grabbed it right away.  Then I saw the price tag, $500.  Put that one back, fast.  I even talked to the store owner, showed him an email I received that advertised that bottle at $190.  He wouldn't budge on the price.

Went a few miles down the road, walked into a grocery store and found an Eagle Rare and a Blantons on the shelf.  Bought the pair for $140.  Went home a very happy man.

So, for my spring hunting, I've purchased 2 Weller Antiques, 2 Blantons, 1 Eagle Rare, 1 Knob 12 and an EH Taylor Single Barrel.  Solid hunting.

Cracked the seal on a Driftless Glen 5yr and a J. Henry 5yr barrel proof tonight. Both were great. The Driftless is smooth and a nice mellow sipper. The J. Henry was HOT. It’s almost 121 proof. But it was complex and very good neat with a side of ice water. 

Good to enjoy great bourbon from local Wisconsin distilleries