I'll be picking up a bottle of four roses single barrel if they don't get in any blatons tomorrow.
Bourbon. What are you drinking right now?
- Thread starter lumbee1
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Both of the ones that Chris mentioned are very, very good: 4 Roses Single Barrel and Blantons. The 4 Roses is pretty easy to come by if you check a couple of stores, but Blantons is not as easy to find. Both are excellent whiskeys, as is the standard Smooth Ambler Old Scout, but that's become harder to find in this area. The Brier Creek ABC store had it for a little bit, as did one of the Wake County stores I think, but other than that, it's dried up.
Elijah Craig has done away with their age statement, so if you see one with the red 12 on the front (or if it mentions 12 years on the back), snatch it up, because pretty soon it'll be "no age stated", meaning it will be younger whiskey. For some, that won't be a problem, since 12 years old is about the oldest regular release bourbon that was still out there for under $30 anyway and for some people that long in the barrel makes it too woody, but I like it. So even if it drops down to 8-10 year old juice, it'll still probably be good stuff and on par with others, but not quite the uber-bargain it was before.
I'm also a fan of John J. Bowman. It's made by Buffalo Trace, but then taken to Virginia and distilled again and then barreled and aged. The "John J. Bowman" version is their single barrel, and it's pretty tasty, but it's around $50. The "Bowman Brothers" is their small batch version, and for $10 less, it's ok, but not quite as good.
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- #43
I'm on my second bottle of Smooth Ambler Old Scout and love it. The Elijah Craig is smooth and a bargain but I like the flavor profile of the Old Scout better. The Four Roses is also quite good. I'm still new to bourbon but can't wait to branch out.
Goooood stuff!
Yes, it is! It's new to me, so I only bought one bottle at $33. I think I can still grab a few more. Want one?
Never tried that one and it doesn't really get a whole lot of mention on the bourbon message boards, but I read a couple of reviews and it seemed to get good reviews from those who've tried it. At 15 years old, I imagine it's a bit oaky, which I generally like. I think there's either a no-age-stated version of it, or else it no longer has an age statement on new bottles.
Got to try some of this over the weekend.
I'd had it before but forgot how good it was.
This was the closest Distillery to our wedding so we spent a little time there and also ordered quite a few bottles for our reception on the Isle of Skye.
Our ten year is coming up next year so i'll have to grab a bottle of this to celebrate..... if I start saving now I may just afford it. Lol
I'd had it before but forgot how good it was.
This was the closest Distillery to our wedding so we spent a little time there and also ordered quite a few bottles for our reception on the Isle of Skye.
Our ten year is coming up next year so i'll have to grab a bottle of this to celebrate..... if I start saving now I may just afford it. Lol
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- #51
Why yes I do. Thank you.
BTW, Elijah Craig is helping me nurse a sprained ankle. He is doing a damned good job.
OK. And ouch.
Quite often at our events when I bring up Scotch I find that many people don't actually know much about it. I know Allen and I have had long discussions about Scotch, Whisky, Whiskey and Bourbon, mostly because Allen was wanting to learn more about Scotch and I wan'ted to know more about Bourbon. Anyway one of my favorite websites (art of manliness) has a pretty good intro into the stuff.
Complete Guide To Scotch Whisky | The Art Of Manliness
Complete Guide To Scotch Whisky | The Art Of Manliness
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- #54
I was just kidding about the sprained ankle. It's actually broken.
My wife and I spent part of our honeymoon in a town called Duffton. It is located in the north central region of Scotland. We toured several of the scotch distilleries there. Our favorite was Glenfiddich. I was amazed at how many of the Scottish distilleries are now owned by Diageo. A lot of my friends are intimidated by scotch whiskeys, but its like anything else. Drink what you like, and drink it how you like it.
Diageo is the worlds largest spirits producer now. Think InBev but without the corporate buffonery that comes with InBev. Diageo is pretty much a hands off conglomerate when it comes to the companies they own.
Nice pics.... i've driven through Dufftown before but didn't get a chance to stop at any of the those except Glenfiddich
I think this has to do with all the pretension, pomposity and posturing that comes along with so many Scotch drinkers.
I'm with you, drink it if its good. If you want it on ice, have it on ice. If you want to mix it with Coke....ugh....well....I won't have any, but you go right ahead.
I hear this often and i'm not saying you're wrong but I just don't see it. I will also say that the same stereo type is aimed and land cruiser owners. It just seems to be a stereo type that gets attached to a group of enthusiasts that think their "thing" (be that cruisers, scotch, bourbon, land rovers) is the best.
I like both bourbon and scotch but personally prefer scotch and they all stem from the original design either way.
All forms of Alcohol no matter what it is, is an acquired taste.
My point in reason for posting scotch in this thread isn't to say it is better than bourbon but to include all types of Whiskey/Whisky to the thread. I personally also love Japanese Whiskey, I could go on for days as to how great it is. Canadian, Tennessee, Kentucky Bourbon, Irish, its all good also in its own right.
All forms of Alcohol no matter what it is, is an acquired taste.
My point in reason for posting scotch in this thread isn't to say it is better than bourbon but to include all types of Whiskey/Whisky to the thread. I personally also love Japanese Whiskey, I could go on for days as to how great it is. Canadian, Tennessee, Kentucky Bourbon, Irish, its all good also in its own right.
I can agree with that. Obviously, I'm mostly a bourbon fan, but I also like some Tennessee Whiskey (which is basically bourbon with 1 added filtration through maple charcoal before barreling). There are a few scotches that I've grown fond of, mainly the non-peated ones - Glengoyne, Auchentoshan, and a couple others, like Balvenie Caribbean Cask. I've had Hibiki, but didn't really care for it. I'm sure there are other Japanese Whiskey's that I'd like, but are they all single malts, essentially Japanese "Scotch" or do they have different mashbills? I do like Irish Whiskey quite a bit as well. It's generally very drinkable, though (to me), it does tend to lack some of the character of bourbon and Scotch, most likely due to the extra distillation that it generally goes through.
To each their own. Like you said, it's not for me to judge which is "better", but simply which one I like best.
Japanese Whisky as the whisky hints to is basically a carbon copy of Scottish single and blended malts. The Japanese in the early 1900's when they started their large push to industrialize and take on the world tended to copy things from the British Empire at the time.... which is why early japanese sports cars are carbon copies of british sports cars, later of course with us occupying them they started to model their trucks and suv's on the American style.
But anyway that's getting away from the original question. They are mostly in the Scottish style, but there are some Japanese style Bourbons i've heard about as well.
The one major difference between Scottish and Japanese distilleries are the fact that Scottish Distilleries all focus on and make single malts. Scotch blended whiskies are made from outside companies that cherry pick different single malts to blend together form different distilleries. Japanese distilleries make single malts and blended malts under their own name and don't share with other distilleries at all. So in Scotland you can get a blend that may have a Glenfiddich and Talisker in there but you will never get a Japanese blended that has a Hakushu with a Yamazaki.