Brown Liquor Time

[fredst 9,064]

On 1/1/2021 at 11:49 PM, marsbold said:

And now that I've officially introduced myself, I'll put my first question to the group. This may have been somewhat covered in the last 19 pages, but I can't remember what I read a few days back.

What's your go to whiskey in the $20-$40 range? I burn through the cheap bottles while holding back more expensive or harder to find bottles for the occasional drink. I like the Weller SR (but of course rarely see it), find that Old Grand Dad bottled in bond is pretty solid at $20-25, and recently finished a bottle of Legent that I'll probably replace. Crown and coke got me into whiskey and I still keep a bottle of Crown around at all times...may have just killed any iota of credibility I had.

Your choice of single malts is excellent I think but I’m an Islay guy- this time of year, by my outdoor fireplace, give me a Lagavulin 16 or an Ardbeg Ueigeadail and I’m a happy man. I would personally go with the Elijah Craig small batch or Old Grandad 114, maybe Larceny for that wheat. Any of the OF whiskey row series are good at a little higher price point, 1920 for higher proof and 1910 for lower proof point. Just my humble opinion, other guys with good knowledge here to offer other reds I’m sure. Welcome btw!

[McLoofus 35,182]

12 hours ago, fredst said:

Your choice of single malts is excellent I think but I’m an Islay guy- this time of year, by my outdoor fireplace, give me a Lagavulin 16 or an Ardbeg Ueigeadail and I’m a happy man. I would personally go with the Elijah Craig small batch or Old Grandad 114, maybe Larceny for that wheat. Any of the OF whiskey row series are good at a little higher price point, 1920 for higher proof and 1910 for lower proof point. Just my humble opinion, other guys with good knowledge here to offer other reds I’m sure. Welcome btw!

Also an Islay guy and agree with the "bargain" choices listed.

Old Tub is a new 100 proof brand from Jim Beam that is actually quite good for the price ($25ish). I enjoy OF 100 proof and OF rye. 

In Dothan, @marsbold *might* be able to find Sazerac Rye at MSRP ($35-$38). It gets harder to find the further you get from NOLA, where you can buy it by the handle. Wouldn't be surprised if Mobile is flush with it. You probably already know all this. 

As for the Crown and coke, I think we all have our guilty pleasures. One of mine is Miller High Life in the bottle. We're all friends here. 

[marsbold 67]

15 hours ago, fredst said:

Your choice of single malts is excellent I think but I’m an Islay guy- this time of year, by my outdoor fireplace, give me a Lagavulin 16 or an Ardbeg Ueigeadail and I’m a happy man. I would personally go with the Elijah Craig small batch or Old Grandad 114, maybe Larceny for that wheat. Any of the OF whiskey row series are good at a little higher price point, 1920 for higher proof and 1910 for lower proof point. Just my humble opinion, other guys with good knowledge here to offer other reds I’m sure. Welcome btw!

I brought in the New Year with Lagavulin 16; couldn't think of a better way to start it! I need to blind taste test the 16 yr vs the Distillers edition I have. The Bunnahabahain Toitech a Dha in the pic I posted is also an Islay. I blind tested it with a friend a couple weeks ago vs the regular Bunn 12 year; both thought the Toiteach was clearly better. It's hard to find but I would recommend trying it if you stumble upon it.

I'm going to give the Old Grandad 114 a shot; I see it more than the bottled in bond in my area. The OF 1920 is on my wish list (phone note) of bottles to buy if I see them.

[marsbold 67]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Also an Islay guy and agree with the "bargain" choices listed.

Old Tub is a new 100 proof brand from Jim Beam that is actually quite good for the price ($25ish). I enjoy OF 100 proof and OF rye. 

In Dothan, @marsbold *might* be able to find Sazerac Rye at MSRP ($35-$38). It gets harder to find the further you get from NOLA, where you can buy it by the handle. Wouldn't be surprised if Mobile is flush with it. You probably already know all this. 

As for the Crown and coke, I think we all have our guilty pleasures. One of mine is Miller High Life in the bottle. We're all friends here. 

Also an Islay fan; just made a comment on Islays in response to fredst. 

I have an unopened bottle of Old Tub at home. Looking forward to comparing it with Old Grand Dad 100 to see which I like better since they are almost same price point.

I haven't seen Sazerac in a while (not sure if the stores around here don't get it, hide it in the back or just sell it fast). Good to know that distance from NOLA might matter. I'll check some stores next time I'm in Pensacola or Mobile.

Keep living the High Life!

[McLoofus 35,182]

8 minutes ago, marsbold said:

I brought in the New Year with Lagavulin 16; couldn't think of a better way to start it! I need to blind taste test the 16 yr vs the Distillers edition I have. The Bunnahabahain Toitech a Dha in the pic I posted is also an Islay. I blind tested it with a friend a couple weeks ago vs the regular Bunn 12 year; both thought the Toiteach was clearly better. It's hard to find but I would recommend trying it if you stumble upon it.

I'm going to give the Old Grandad 114 a shot; I see it more than the bottled in bond in my area. The OF 1920 is on my wish list (phone note) of bottles to buy if I see them.

OF 1920 is my favorite bourbon that you can actually get year round in most markets at a price point that isn't obscene. 

All of the scotches you mentioned make me salivate. 

Not sure if you guys have tried Black Bottle, but it's a decent and affordable Islay blend if you're just looking for a weeknight splash of peat. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,366]

On 1/1/2021 at 11:49 PM, marsbold said:

And now that I've officially introduced myself, I'll put my first question to the group. This may have been somewhat covered in the last 19 pages, but I can't remember what I read a few days back.

What's your go to whiskey in the $20-$40 range? I burn through the cheap bottles while holding back more expensive or harder to find bottles for the occasional drink. I like the Weller SR (but of course rarely see it), find that Old Grand Dad bottled in bond is pretty solid at $20-25, and recently finished a bottle of Legent that I'll probably replace. Crown and coke got me into whiskey and I still keep a bottle of Crown around at all times...may have just killed any iota of credibility I had.

I may have mentioned it here before but we tried Sweetens Cove(Peyton/Eli Manning whiskey they’re throwing their name behind) against Dickel BiB, and we almost felt bad that the Dickel at ~$40 a bottle tasted better than the $200 Sweetens Cove. Sweetens Cove is sourced from Dickel, so it was a fair comparison. 

Edited January 5, 2021 by ShocksMyBrain

[fredst 9,064]

2 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

I may have mentioned it here before but we tried Sweetens Cove(Peyton/Eli Manning whiskey they’re throwing their name behind) against Dickel BiB, and we almost felt bad that the Dickel at ~$40 a bottle tasted better than the $200 Sweetens Cove. Sweetens Cove is sourced from Dickel, so it was a fair comparison. 

Fished at a lodge in Alaska this fall that had Kirkland’s “Bourbon”. I figured it was just an MSG product but somebody told me it is sourced from Dickel. It actually was pretty good I’m embarrassed to say- maybe a day of wading around a bunch of wild grizzly just made me glad to be able to drink it, lol. No idea what it sells for but I’m sure pretty inexpensive 

[marsbold 67]

3 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

I may have mentioned it here before but we tried Sweetens Cove(Peyton/Eli Manning whiskey they’re throwing their name behind) against Dickel BiB, and we almost felt bad that the Dickel at ~$40 a bottle tasted better than the $200 Sweetens Cove. Sweetens Cove is sourced from Dickel, so it was a fair comparison. 

I was surprised by how much I liked the Dickel BiB. Will buy a couple bottles if a run across it again; certainly a good purchase at $40-45 in my opinion. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

3 hours ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

I may have mentioned it here before but we tried Sweetens Cove(Peyton/Eli Manning whiskey they’re throwing their name behind) against Dickel BiB, and we almost felt bad that the Dickel at ~$40 a bottle tasted better than the $200 Sweetens Cove. Sweetens Cove is sourced from Dickel, so it was a fair comparison. 

I can totally picture you telling certain customers that they just gotta try that Sweetens and other customers the truth, lol. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,366]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

I can totally picture you telling certain customers that they just gotta try that Sweetens and other customers the truth, lol. 

Your imagination is correct. 

[ShocksMyBrain 9,366]

1 hour ago, marsbold said:

I was surprised by how much I liked the Dickel BiB. Will buy a couple bottles if a run across it again; certainly a good purchase at $40-45 in my opinion. 

Batch 2 was better than Batch 1 (which won best whiskey in the world in 2019) as well.
 

When it comes to sourced whiskeys—if it says “Distilled in Tennessee”— it’s 99% of the time going to be from Dickel. 

Edited January 5, 2021 by ShocksMyBrain

[aubearcat 2,137]

I picked up a bottle of Bakers. Not too shabby 

[fredst 9,064]

On 1/6/2021 at 8:53 AM, aubearcat said:

I picked up a bottle of Bakers. Not too shabby 

I love Bakers and did before they went to the single barrel thing. Always thought it kind of got lost in the shuffle with the Beam small batch line. Delicious and at a nice proof point

[McLoofus 35,182]

I always got Bakers and Bookers confused back in the day. I just knew they were the hot ones, as a 20-something idiot who hadn't quite gotten used to drinking bourbon without a mixer.

[Tiger Refuge 6,668]

On 1/5/2021 at 11:09 AM, fredst said:

Fished at a lodge in Alaska this fall that had Kirkland’s “Bourbon”. I figured it was just an MSG product but somebody told me it is sourced from Dickel. It actually was pretty good I’m embarrassed to say- maybe a day of wading around a bunch of wild grizzly just made me glad to be able to drink it, lol. No idea what it sells for but I’m sure pretty inexpensive 

My man...

[fredst 9,064]

21 minutes ago, Tiger Refuge said:

My man...

A couple of the better pics:

[Tiger Refuge 6,668]

1 minute ago, fredst said:

A couple of the better pics:

That’s a dream trip of mine. Kodiak Island?

Edited January 9, 2021 by Tiger Refuge

[fredst 9,064]

1 minute ago, Tiger Refuge said:

That’s a dream trip of mine. Kodiak Island?

Stayed at a lodge on the Kvichak River that I could not recommend more highly: NoSeeUm Lodge. Fly outs everyday with incredible fishing and scenery. It was the trip of a lifetime (that I would like to do every year, lol)

[Tiger Refuge 6,668]

1 hour ago, fredst said:

Stayed at a lodge on the Kvichak River that I could not recommend more highly: NoSeeUm Lodge. Fly outs everyday with incredible fishing and scenery. It was the trip of a lifetime (that I would like to do every year, lol)

My brain wants to attempt to comprehend what it looks like, but I know it’s wrong. Oh so wrong. 
 

I have a really good friend that lives on Kodiak Is. All I gotta do is get there. He has cabins, gear, boat, etc. I am determined to make the time to go in the next two years. I really want to take my pops with me and spend a couple weeks up there.

 

Cheers to your great trip!

[ShocksMyBrain 9,366]

Customer opened up a couple of bottles he purchased at the store. Barrel New Year and Barrel Armida. Both were amazing. Not usually big on sourced bourbons at all, but Barrel does it great every time. 
 

Armida was super interesting and complex. I hate that I slept on it. It’s a spirit that is more of an experience than it is just something you throw in a glass. If you like interesting bourbon, buy it. 
 

“Armida is a blend of three Straight Bourbon Whiskeys finished separately in Pear Brandy, Jamaican Rum, and Sicilian Amaro Casks.”

https://www.barrellbourbon.com/armida

Edited January 22, 2021 by ShocksMyBrain

[McLoofus 35,182]

On 1/22/2021 at 5:45 PM, ShocksMyBrain said:

Customer opened up a couple of bottles he purchased at the store. Barrel New Year and Barrel Armida. Both were amazing. Not usually big on sourced bourbons at all, but Barrel does it great every time. 
 

Armida was super interesting and complex. I hate that I slept on it. It’s a spirit that is more of an experience than it is just something you throw in a glass. If you like interesting bourbon, buy it. 
 

“Armida is a blend of three Straight Bourbon Whiskeys finished separately in Pear Brandy, Jamaican Rum, and Sicilian Amaro Casks.”

https://www.barrellbourbon.com/armida

I'm all in on those guys after taking a leap of faith on the Dovetail. Their stuff constitutes a special/big ticket purchase for me, but when I'm ready to splurge again I wouldn't hesitate. Especially at those high proofs. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

On 1/9/2021 at 11:11 AM, fredst said:

A couple of the better pics:

WAIT 

TF?!?!?!

I KNEW YOU WENT FISHING BUT YOU DIDN'T MENTION THESE GRIZZLY BEAR PICTURES MR. MARLIN PERKINS ALASKAN FRONTIERSMAN

Dude, seriously, did you take these? That black and white one belongs in a gallery! And I  mean a fancy one. Who the sweet hell catches a grizzly bear's eyes like that?!?!?! "Hey 800 lb murder machine, give me blue steel." Okay, I've got to go recalibrate my mental image of fredst to be more Hemingway-like.

[fredst 9,064]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

WAIT 

TF?!?!?!

I KNEW YOU WENT FISHING BUT YOU DIDN'T MENTION THESE GRIZZLY BEAR PICTURES MR. MARLIN PERKINS ALASKAN FRONTIERSMAN

Dude, seriously, did you take these? That black and white one belongs in a gallery! And I  mean a fancy one. Who the sweet hell catches a grizzly bear's eyes like that?!?!?! "Hey 800 lb murder machine, give me blue steel." Okay, I've got to go recalibrate my mental image of fredst to be more Hemingway-like.

Ha. I was that close to the bears but did not do the photography. I went solo and hooked up with some guys there that I fished with most days. One of them was a semi-professional photographer. I asked if he would be willing to share some of the pics he took and he DropBox’ed me a huge file with a bunch of incredible pics, those among them. The trip was absolutely one of the neatest things I’ve done in my life to date. I would highly recommend. I’ve tried to be careful sharing those pics because it almost seems like copyright infringement to pass them around, lol. Having said that I may try to get the black and white made into a larger format to hang on my wall.

[fredst 9,064]

On 1/22/2021 at 4:45 PM, ShocksMyBrain said:

Customer opened up a couple of bottles he purchased at the store. Barrel New Year and Barrel Armida. Both were amazing. Not usually big on sourced bourbons at all, but Barrel does it great every time. 
 

Armida was super interesting and complex. I hate that I slept on it. It’s a spirit that is more of an experience than it is just something you throw in a glass. If you like interesting bourbon, buy it. 
 

“Armida is a blend of three Straight Bourbon Whiskeys finished separately in Pear Brandy, Jamaican Rum, and Sicilian Amaro Casks.”

https://www.barrellbourbon.com/armida

I have yet to have a Barrell product that wasn’t very good to excellent. Hope that I can find these to try

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 minute ago, fredst said:

Ha. I was that close to the bears but did not do the photography. I went solo and hooked up with some guys there that I fished with most days. One of them was a semi-professional photographer. I asked if he would be willing to share some of the pics he took and he DropBox’ed me a huge file with a bunch of incredible pics, those among them. The trip was absolutely one of the neatest things I’ve done in my life to date. I would highly recommend. I’ve tried to be careful sharing those pics because it almost seems like copyright infringement to pass them around, lol. Having said that I may try to get the black and white made into a larger format to hang on my wall.

Rest assured I will not distribute that, but I'm grateful you shared it, and I can't imagine being that close to those bears. I saw several during my summer in Glacier but never got very close to them. I don't usually get scared of animals, but grizzly bears are just a different situation altogether. They killed 4 people in the park the summer I was up there. One even wandered into a crowded picnic ground and killed a couple people. Including the guy that was trying to fight it off with a "tree". (That's how it was reported... that some guy picked up a tree and tried to hit the bear with it. So the bear killed him.)