<hipster mode on> I thought you said “whiskey,” not paint thinner. <hm off>
They haven’t changed. They were crap then, they are crap now. Clean your drains and go get some of the bourbons mentioned up-thread. You won’t regret it.
Spirits age in barrels, not in bottles. The aging involves the spirit passing into and back out of the wood of the barrel and dissolving some of the chemicals in the barrel’s wood. That can’t happen in glass.
I was pretty sure that the stuff didn’t improve sitting around in glass. I did wonder if it possibly got worse. But I hear you saying it was never good to begin with. I will just keep it to give away as gifts to people I don’t like very much.
So what’s a good beginner bourbon?
Without knowing anything about your taste buds, I’d suggest Maker’s Mark or Buffalo Trace. Both are inexpensive and good, without a lot of challenging flavors. Then you can move on to bourbons with a heavier rye content, or more age.
Gift the Chivas to the mailman or your auto mechanic.
Heh, I have a 1988 bottle of Jack Daniels that I inherited and haven’t bothered opening yet, if that tells you anything. But if it’s unopened, it’s probably no worse than the day it was bottled.
My advice on a bourbon to try out without spending a lot: the bourbon that converted me from Añejo tequila was Knob Creek. Their standard product is very flavorful, very consistent, and I’ve never had a bottle taste bitter. Similar in price and quality/consistency is Bulliet. If I’m shopping in their price range, I know I can at least get them at any liquor store in my area. Both brands make a reasonably priced, tasty rye if you want to branch out. I also can’t recommend the small batch or the single barrel Four Roses enough. Even the single barrel was reasonably priced, and always calls me when I’m walking the whiskey aisle.
On the other hand, the bourbon craze has made lots of boutique whiskeys hit the market, and sometimes it seems hard to go wrong, even if the labeling and distiller are strangely contradictory. I’m working off the end of a bottle of Sam Houston, distilled and bottled in Bowling Green, KY. Mr Houston had no link to Kentucky that I know of, but it’s a nice whiskey for the price. The worst thing about it you can say is that it lacks any defining character. Like Basil Hayden’s, it’s almost too smooth for me.
Really the best way to learn is to either find friends who drink bourbon, or get a designated driver to take you to a bar with a decent selection. Order them neat and sip. Take notes.
scabpicker - Even the regular Four Roses is a decent tipple. What I am anxiously awaiting is this year’s Birthday Bourbon from Old Forester. That stuff is amazing (expensive too!).
Noted!
Thank you, both.
Just a note that the Willett Rye is also the same make as the Bulliet and Templeton ryes. Until very recently, KBD did not have a distillery, and it’s going to be a long time before they have product that they’ve made themselves. Until then, all their whiskey is sourced from elsewhere.
I am going to cry. This is sad, sad news.
(Keep reading…)
Ok, but just so I know the situation more clearly: They’re obviously not absolutely the same product. Willet, Bulliet and Templeton dilute to different proofs and Williet also marks the individual barrel. Templeton does not mark age on the bottles, but I understand they are all aged 5 years. I’m not against buying Bulliet at 2/3 the price of Williet and 3/4 the price of Templeton, but there is a selection process going on between the brands, right?
Isn’t it crazy good? Too good, really. It tastes like theoretical bourbon, if that makes any sense.
I’d also try the Buffalo Trace Small Batch, and if you want, Templeton Rye is great even though it isn’t bourbon.
Correct. Knob Creek is Jim Beam. Same mash bill. It’s just blended from selected barrels and aged a bit more. All Wild Turkey expressions are the same bourbon, just aged and blended differently. But Wild Turkey 101, Russell’s Reserve, Kentucky Spirit, and Rare Breed all taste different. Obviously siblings, but distinct.
Which is about 10 minutes from my house as I live there also!
When you drive anywhere near that place it has that distinct “distillery mash” smell.
To be sure, yes. But unlike Beam for example that can vary entry proofs for different products with the same mash bill and have different warehousing strategies, the MGP sourced product all goes into the barrels exactly the same. What happens after that can be variable, but not too variable if you know what I mean.
I guess I get a little wound up about some of this because the marketing stories are such utter BS. If they just said, “hey, we source and blend the best barrels we can get out hands on”, that would be one thing, but they make up these patently false origin stories which just feed this bourbon frenzy in a particularly opaque way.
Just popping in to say that this discussion of fine bourbons inspired me to finally plunk down some cash for Basil Hayden’s at the ABC (sadly, they don’t carry a lot of the small-batch labels mentioned here).
Anyway, I’d seen it mentioned here before, and I just want to say thanks guys for introducing me to something wonderful. I’m just taking a tiny taste right now with just a bit of water, and it’s soooo smooth it’s ridiculous. I’ve definitely found my favorite sipping whiskey so far!
I told Mrs Magill you were going to this. She berated me for not going with you. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.
It was a good time! There’s always next year!