Bourbon. What are you drinking right now?
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My list of bourbons to try keeps getting longer. I'm on my second glass of Four Roses single barrel and I definitely prefer the Smooth Amber Old Scount.
I just wish the NC ABC would see fit to stock some of the barrel proof Old Scout Single Barrel. I grabbed a bottle of it when I was in Kentucky and it got me seriously thinking about paying additional for shipping from someplace that does have it.
I will say, my go to 'cheap' right now is called Berheims...if you like the wheated bourbons, it's a great bourbon for the price.
And this is how you keep your friends out of your good stuff-yep, that's some 40 hardware on there.
Bourbon County Stout Rare may or may not be getting dropped this week in NC. Last time the Rare was released 5 years ago it was aged 2 years in 23 year old Pappy Barrels. This time in 30 year old heavenly hill barrels
Rounding out the pappy collection
Did you get lucky in a lottery / wait list, or did you get the hook-up from a connection? I got no love whatsoever from any of the limiteds this year. No BTAC. No Pappy. No OFBB. No 4 Roses LE's. Nada. Not one single call from any of the 4 counties that I have my name on the list for. I did see the new Woodford Reserve Master's Collection on the shelf today, but I've been unimpressed with their previous releases, so I passed, since it was $100.
Wake Co wait list that I've been on for a LONG time.
Well since im all by myself this thanksgiving I ran down to the store last night and picked up these two beauties to keep me company
Hope you're enjoying 'em Al!
Today, I'm mainly sticking with Elijah Craig, but might have a couple of Wild Turkey 101's, just to go with the occasion! Tomorrow being Black Friday, and since I'm in Hilton Head, I'm gonna see if I can find some good bottles to bring back home with me. If I find anything good, I'll post what I find.
Today, I'm mainly sticking with Elijah Craig, but might have a couple of Wild Turkey 101's, just to go with the occasion! Tomorrow being Black Friday, and since I'm in Hilton Head, I'm gonna see if I can find some good bottles to bring back home with me. If I find anything good, I'll post what I find.
The only shopping I did on Black Friday and Saturday:
- My first ever bottle of Rye Whiskey. I mainly got it to be able to make Manhattan's and authentic Old Fashioned's: Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye
- This is one that I've never tried, but have heard really good things about: Rock Hill Farms
- I've had a bottle of this one before and really liked it, and at 129.7 proof, this one will be a slow sipper: Stagg, Jr.
- Finally, I had to grab 2 bottles of a hard-to-find favorite of mine that I was happy to come across: Elmer T. Lee
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- #33
The only shopping I did on Black Friday and Saturday:
- My first ever bottle of Rye Whiskey. I mainly got it to be able to make Manhattan's and authentic Old Fashioned's: Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye
- This is one that I've never tried, but have heard really good things about: Rock Hill Farms
- I've had a bottle of this one before and really liked it, and at 129.7 proof, this one will be a slow sipper: Stagg, Jr.
- Finally, I had to grab 2 bottles of a hard-to-find favorite of mine that I was happy to come across: Elmer T. Lee
Give us some feedback as soon as you can. I'm looking for something new.
I've already had a different batch of the Stagg, Jr. It was pretty good, and at 132.2 proof, even hotter than this batch. Supposedly, this batch (#5), is the best batch yet, so I'm looking forward to it. It's the same mash bill as Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, and another one of my favorites, Colonel E.H. Taylor. It's their low rye recipe (less than 10%), so it's a very high corn content.
I definitely recommend the Elmer T. Lee, if you can find it. At around $35 per bottle, it's really tasty stuff. It is a single barrel bourbon, so theoretically there could be good barrels and bad barrels, but of the half dozen or so bottles I've had, I haven't come across a bad one yet. It's Buffalo Trace's higher rye recipe, but it's still only 12-15% rye (compared to Smooth Ambler Old Scout's 36% rye mash bill). Not surprisingly, since they're the same recipe, I see a lot of similarities to Blanton's with Elmer T. Lee. I get more citrus from the ETL. Blanton's is a bit more well-rounded and is definitely a somewhat better bourbon, but is also about $20 - $30 more per bottle retail. Problem is, both are pretty damn hard to find these days.
Rock Hill Farms is the same bash bill as both Elmer T. Lee and Blanton's, so that's part of why I really wanted to see how it compares to the other 2, since I do like them very much. Unfortunately, it's just as attainable in NC, maybe even less so, than the other 2. Blanton's may actually be the easiest of the 3 to get ahold of.
The only shopping I did on Black Friday and Saturday:
- My first ever bottle of Rye Whiskey. I mainly got it to be able to make Manhattan's and authentic Old Fashioned's: Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye
- This is one that I've never tried, but have heard really good things about: Rock Hill Farms
- I've had a bottle of this one before and really liked it, and at 129.7 proof, this one will be a slow sipper: Stagg, Jr.
- Finally, I had to grab 2 bottles of a hard-to-find favorite of mine that I was happy to come across: Elmer T. Lee
Impressive. (I'm stalking the Mud bourbon threads this afternoon) Did you find all those on a shelf somewhere? The Smooth Ambler is the only one I can find out here.
I found those in Hilton Head, SC and Savannah, GA over this past Thanksgiving weekend. Certainly don't have that kind of selection on the shelf here in NC, unfortunately. Although...I did just pick up a bottle of Jack Daniels Single Barrel, Barrel Proof in Durham. Now...I know...I know...they call themselves "Tennessee Whiskey" to distinguish their stuff from bourbon, which is generally associated with Kentucky, but it does meet the legal definition of bourbon. I don't usually drink JD, but I'll tell you what....this stuff is DELICIOUS!! It's not cheap, at like $65 per bottle, but at almost 130 proof, it is really good stuff. Brown sugar, cherries, and tons of banana flavor is what I get from it. Hard to believe the alcohol content is as high as it is, with as easy as it drinks.
For my birthday at the end of this month, the wife and I are headed to WV to check out the Smooth Ambler distillery. Might have to stock up on a few of their barrel proof offerings while I'm there.
For my birthday at the end of this month, the wife and I are headed to WV to check out the Smooth Ambler distillery. Might have to stock up on a few of their barrel proof offerings while I'm there.
For my birthday this past Friday, my wife had the wonderful idea of taking a trip up to WV to visit the distillery at Smooth Ambler. After work on Thursday, we made the 4 1/2 hour drive up to Lewisburg. Friday, we grabbed a late breakfast, then headed out to the distillery. We were there for about 3 1/2 hours. Since it was a weekday and it was a bit blustery out, we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Val, the tasting room associate / tour guide took excellent care of us. She gave us the VIP tour and plenty of tastings of all of their different spirits. Even though I'm a bourbon guy, I gotta say....I really enjoyed pretty much all of their stuff - vodka, gin (both regular and barrel-aged), corn whiskey, rum, and of course, a couple different versions of bourbon. I really can't wait until their wheated bourbon is ready for release, though they said it could be another year or so. I bought a bottle of the "Yearling", which is the same stuff, but at only 3 1/2 years old (the sample I had), it definitely tastes too young. When they release it, it should be around 7+ years old or so.
Anyway, after the tastings, I decided to do a little shopping:
The wrapped bottles are for a friend: a 2nd bottle of Yearling and a barrel-aged Gin. He'll also get one of the bottles of Single Barrel. The others will go in the bourbon bunker and will be enjoyed over time.
I guess I just figured I better go ahead and grab a few of the "World's Best Single Barrel Bourbon", a title they just won at the 2016 World Whiskies Awards. Pretty impressive for an operation with 12 employees!
Anyway, after the tastings, I decided to do a little shopping:
The wrapped bottles are for a friend: a 2nd bottle of Yearling and a barrel-aged Gin. He'll also get one of the bottles of Single Barrel. The others will go in the bourbon bunker and will be enjoyed over time.
I guess I just figured I better go ahead and grab a few of the "World's Best Single Barrel Bourbon", a title they just won at the 2016 World Whiskies Awards. Pretty impressive for an operation with 12 employees!
Got a bottle of Four Roses Small Batch I've been working on, and a bar down the street my buddy bartends at just got a load of Buffalo Trace for free, so he has been hooking it up 
