marsbold

Love seeing that your store is actually selling it at $60. Too few stores taking that approach these days. I'll be driving all over GA in a couple weeks for work and will keep an eye out for this one. Guessing if I even see the bottle it will be for $300, which I won't pay.

Not sure anyone is paying attention to this group, but I'll post anyway since my post counts needs lots of work. Had our 4th bourbon club meeting last night and friends brought some good juice! First observation is that I'm useless to this group; they have connections & money I can't touch. Round 1 - blinded Blanton's gold, Makers Mark BEP, and Rock Hill farms. Easy win for Blanton's, Rock Hill 2nd & MM BEP 3rd. I'd pay $150-$200 for the Blantons, but finding it at all and under $200 is tough. The gold is definite step up from the normal Blantons. I wouldn't pay anywhere near the secondary prices that Rock Hill goes for. MM BEP is not terribly hard to find & in the $80 range may be reasonable (think there are some other things I would rather buy). Round 2 - not blind. Elmer T Lee (not pictured), George T Stagg (2019), and Jack Daniels Coy Hill (not sure which one). ETL is smooth, easy drinking, but none of us thought it was same ballpark as Stagg & Coy Hill. We were split on liking Stagg or Coy Hill best; these were consensus best bottles of the night. I guess value depends on your situation, but none are worth the inflated secondary prices in my opinion. If I ever get lucky and find any at MSRP, ETL under $150 or the other two under $250, I'd jump on them. Round 3 - blinded EHT Barrel Proof, Redwood Pipe Dream Cask Strength, 4 Roses LE Small Batch. EHT BP consensus winner, followed by 4 Roses, then RE Pipe Dream. All 3 of these were good. I would have liked to have blinded EHT BP vs Stagg or Coy Hill. I think it would have been close. I've had it a few times in the past & it's always fantastic. Another bottle I'd snap up at MSRP or under $250, but likely won't ever have the chance. Redwood at around $75 is something I plan to purchase if I find it. Honestly don't know anything about the 4 Roses LE pricing; pretty sure it also has an inflated secondary price that I wouldn't take but would grab it anywhere near MSRP. Round 4 - blinded Doc Swinsons Alter Ego (rye finished in rum cask), EHT Rye, and Calumet 15yr. Calumet is trash. That hurt since I brought it...note to self, don't buy a bottle b/c you think it looks cool. I'll be using it for overpriced Old Fashioneds going forward. Doc & EHT were close - mixed results on which one people preferred. I liked Doc better and its definitely a better value unless you happen to find EHT Rye at MSRP. I've been impressed by some of the Doc Swinson's bottles I've tried. At $70-$80 normally, I'll be buying some more. Don't think the EHT Rye is worth the $250 or so secondary pricing; I would probably grab one under $150 if I had the chance. Round 5 - blinded the Penelope Tokaji, Makers 46 French Oaked & Berheim wheat. No one cared by this point so not sure there was a winner. That Penelope Tokaji was funky. Maybe all tokaji finished whiskey is similar; haven't had any others to know. Not sure price either. If you want something really unique with a very untraditional flavor profile, try it out.

Had first meeting of a new whiskey club last night. We blind sampled a lot of these bottles. This thread has been pretty dead lately so figured I would share some of the group's thoughts. Suprise of the night was the Redwood Empire Pipe Dream. I've mentioned Redwood in this thread previously. None of others had tried it. Everyone really liked it & they were shocked to find out I bought it for $35 (bought it a while back but I'd guess price is still about the same). Grab a bottle if you haven't tried it. Weller Full Proof vs Weller 12 year was a no contest - everyone thought Full Proof was easily better. Hurt my feelings a little since I took the 12 year! Elijah Craig 18yr had mixed reviews. I thought it was fine but not worth the price tag. The Midwinters Night Dram was amazing (think it was Act/Scene 9 so a couple years old). Those that have had multiple releases said the current release (10) isn't as good, but they're all pretty solid. At $200 or so secondary, its a stretch, but it was definitely good juice. Remus Repeal Reserve also pretty solid. It was blinded against Weller Antique 107 and held its own. Several folks thought it was the Weller. I would definitely snag one if I found it near MSRP. I preferred the Weller 107 but only slightly. Would take the Weller 107 at MSRP any day of the week, but just finding it these days is nearly impossible for me & it's usually north of $125. Plenty of comparable options that are cheaper. Chestnut Farms - don't recall what specific expression it was, but I wouldn't buy their stuff based on the one we tried. Just OK & boring. Widow Jane Lucky 13 - several of us thought it was funky. Surprising to me since I've enjoyed other WJ bottles I've tried. I wouldn't buy this one. King of Kentucky - some heat on that one but with a little water added was very good. Definitely worth trying if you have a friend willing to share, which is only reason I had the chance. Price on it, plus the difficulty actually finding it, will exclude 99% of us! Angels Envy Rye - was late in the night so everything was starting to seem good, but I was a fan. Another bottle I'd pickup at MSRP. Didn't try the other few bottles or they didn't stick out.

I get it...the rambling/rant is spot on. I'll readily admit to being part of the problem as I've paid stupid prices on some "trophy" bottles not worth the money, probably 5-7 times and for bottles I just wanted to try and likely have no chance of ever getting at MSRP or close to it. Weller 12 mentioned above is a prime example; overpaid but opened within 2 weeks. I hate the hoarding, trophy collections & buying to resell - won't do it. I have too many bottles, but every one of them is to drink at some point. No fancy bar or showpieces; they're sitting in the bottom of a closet waiting to get into my rotation. Blantons is hit & miss for me. I can actually get it at MSRP, if I wait in line at Alabama ABC, and have purchased & opened a couple bottles this year. Thought one was pretty dang good & the other was so-so; not surprising with a single barrel I guess. Love the 1920 Prohibition OF and am pretty content to drink Dickel BiB, Still Austin Musician, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, and many others I can easily find at $40-$60. So many good bottles out there at reasonable prices that everyone can find something that fits their taste without overspending. Several staples I rotate among, but I love trying new things and the craze has resulted in a seemingly unending supply or things to try. Fun to try the occasional trophy/unicorn but makes no sense to only focus on them. What did you think about the Dickel 15 in your pic? That one's on my list to buy if I see it at a good price solely b/c I always enjoy their BiB.

No jealous emoji for me to click. Seen a few posts on WFP store picks recently. Of course none of the stores are in south AL. One day I'll get to try it. Found an overpriced 12yr Weller a month ago that I bought & opened as a birthday present to myself. Really like it (did blind taste test of 4 solid whiskeys on my bday & Weller 12 was my pick). So just assuming that WFP is pretty dang good.

Had my first glass from my infinity bottle last night. Fun building it up over last couple months and anticipating the result. Pretty darn good and lots of flavor. Absolutely no idea though if there is anything out there I could compare it to. Picking out & describing flavor notes isn't a strength...my refined palette says something is good, OK, or bad or that it burns or is smooth; don't quite pick up on the subtle cherry, oak, graphite, leather, etc notes that people write about. If you're not familiar with the infinity bottle concept, it's basically combining the leftovers of many bottles into one container. So anytime I get to the bottom of a bottle and have less than a full pour, I dump contents into a glass decanter. I waited until my decanter was full (probably 8-10 bottles), but of course you could sample result at any time. Drink a little over time and then add contents of other nearly empty bottles. So you have your own creation that is always changing. I'll add about any american whiskey to mine (won't add scotch, irish, weird cask finishes). Didn't keep a record of contents, but I know it has some ryes (Sazarac, a Redwood Empire rye, probably more), some cheaper bottles (Old Grand-Dad BiB, Buffalo Trace, etc), and some more mid range bottles (Blanton's, Weller 107, Heaven Hill BiB). Passing idea along for anyone that hasn't heard of it before & because I've enjoyed it so far.

Seconded. Actually had this bottle recommended to me by the person working in a whiskey store I visited in Scotland a few years back. Bought a bottle and rarely touched it b/c I didn't want to run out and never see it around here. Found a replacement bottle in Columbus, GA a few months ago & the employee I spoke with there said they consistently have it. Not the easiest bottle to find but definitely worth trying if you're a scotch fan.

Wanted to drink whiskey every time I got in the truck this week. Smell has mostly faded now. I'm loving an Elijah Craig BP that I have open. Think its the A121. Have another unopened one (3rd 2021 release) & assuming it's as good, I'll be buying it going forward whenever I find it.

PSA - found out the hard way that leaving whiskey in a vehicle this time of year is bad idea. Bought a bottle of Blantons last Saturday morning at the monthly Alabama ABC allocated whiskey sale. Had to immediately go to another event for a few hours. Left the Blantons laying sideways in front seat. The heat melted the wax seal & (my theory) caused the bottle pressure to build enough to loosen the cork. My passenger seat enjoyed half the bottle. Lesson learned...remove whiskey from vehicle immediately in hot months or at least leave it standing upright. Side note based on some Blantons discussion a few pages back. I opened a bottle at Mardi Gras and have now been drinking the bottle I bought last week that my truck opened for me. First time I've circled back to Blantons or had any in a few years. As a single barrel, every one probably has slight differences, but both have been really good. I don't get the $150 or so secondary prices created by all the hype, but bottles I've been getting at the $60 MSRP have certainly been worth the price to me.

Just read a couple days ago in a random article that the old distillery was built by Colonel EH Taylor. Went to the Castle & Key website to read more. Cool story. No idea if they will have the success of Taylor or if their whiskey will come close to touching the acclaim & hype of EH Taylor, but I definitely want to try it now. Edit - just saw that Shocks already noted this...I should have read all the posts first

I'm going to the Vandy game tomorrow; haven't been to a basketball game in several years. Have seats, not standing room only tickets. Any reason to get to basketball games early...cool things before the game, long security lines, etc that should be factored in? Was thinking we'd park around 7:30 & have 30 minutes to clear any security & get to seats. Assuming many people on here regularly attend or have been to a game recently & can offer some thoughts. Thanks in advance!

I started dabbling in Scotch around 2016-2017. Didn't get into American whiskey much until a couple years later. Guess I'm like a lot of others that hopped on the American whiskey bandwagon over the last several years...never had a chance to get the Pappys, BTAC expressions, older Willets,OF BB, etc at a decent price and have never tried any of them. A little jealous of you guys that were around earlier and were able to try some of them. Guess we're all in the same boat now though...little chance of getting the highly sought after & allocated products at a decent price. I enjoy the hunt though & trying new things. Fortunately there are plenty of good bottles at reasonable prices to enjoy. Had some Willet Family Reserve 4 year rye and Alberta Premium cask strength rye last night. Both new to me, fun to try, somewhat available & around $70. There are so many $40-75 bottles I want to try that it will take years...maybe by then the supply and demand of the highly allocated, craze priced items will have evened out some.

Too much!! $240. Had a decent Christmas bonus & called it a Christmas gift to myself. I may have seen it secondary around $250, but the few times I've seen it the price has been closer to $300 or even higher. Probably not worth these prices, but it's a bottle I've wanted to try for years & I've given up on getting it at a reasonable price. I hate the secondary market also. Have never resold a bottle other than at price I bought it for & to friends. I've paid secondary 2-3 times, but try not contribute much to that market.

Pretty awesome gift! What's your opinion of it...worth the hype? I overpaid for a bottle of it while in NYC last month, but it was best secondary price I've seen. I've given up on ever seeing it close to MSRP after a few years of looking. Haven't opened it; saving for a special occasion.

I need better friends. Bottles that will never be on my public shelf....and that I'll likely never own: EH Taylor 4 grain, any Pappy, OF Birthday, Weller SiB & CYPB. Probably more, just can't identify all the bottles. Generous guy to be sharing all those.