Ooh, I really like the Ridgemont Reserve too. Try that one!
:eek:
Rare Breed is one of the wife’s favorites. But cold? Never. You miss all the beautiful flavors and complexities that make it such a great sipping whiskey. Even more complex is Kentucky Spirit. In fact, you can generally state that Jimmy Russell makes damn good bourbon, period.
What silenus said. I haven’t seen a bourbon bottle in the freezer since college.
Ditto, I personally can’t tollerate any kind of whiskey served at below room temperature. Though a strawfull of water is nice to open up some of the flavors without diluting the drink too much.
Of the ones you haven’t tried, these are the ones I really like a lot.
Baker’s
Booker’s
Wild Turkey Rare Breed
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit
Russell Reserve
1792 Ridgemont Reserve
Jefferson’s Reserve
Blanton’s Single Barrel
George Dickel
Of course my favorie, Old Grand Dad, isn’t on the list. Neither is Buffalo Trace which is a bit of a shame.
Of what is on the list Wild Turkey RB and Blantons are the two that I have bottles of in my own home and therefore recomend most highly.
Both excellent choices, especially if you choose the 100 proof bonded expression of Old Grand Dad. Buffalo Trace is the one bourbon I buy in 1.75s.
Kentucky bourbon drinker here and I recommend the Blanton’s. Woodford Reserve is what we keep in our house, tho’. While I’ve been to the Buffalo Trace Distillery, I’ve never tried their bourbon! :eek: Perhaps I’ll purchase a bottle next time the Woodford Reserve runs low.
Oh and just a reminder to people mentioning things like Kessler – it has to meet several specific criteria to be bourbon; blended whiskies don’t qualify.
Another fan of the Blanton’s here. I judge every other bourbon first by the fact that it is not Blanton’s.
And see, I dislike Blanton’s intensely. That’s why you have to taste every bourbon out there, to see what you like. 
Them’s fightin’ words!* Why no love for Blanton’s?
*I use the term “fightin’” to mean “settling our disputes over sipping bourbons”! 
I dunno. Something about its flavor profile just sits wrong with me. Now, I finished the bottle, mind you! But it went on my “Better bourbons out there for less money” list. The bottles in rotation at Casa Silenus usually are:
Wife’s Stuff
Kentucky Spirit
Rare Breed
Russell’s Reserve
Wild Turkey 101
I think I see a trend here. Although she has no problem sipping from my glass if hers is too far away. Or empty.
My stuff
Buffalo Trace
Bulliett
Old Weller Antique
Old Grand Dad Bonded
Knob Creek
Maybe a bottle of Elijah Craig Single Barrel
Blanton’s just doesn’t make the cut against such competition!
Ya’ll are making me thirsty. Elijah Craig 12 yr is my everyday pour, but right now I’m sipping 18 yr old Jameson’s that my wife got me for Father’s Day. Irish Whiskey was my first love…
I’m looking forward to trying all of your recommendations. (Including getting a ride to and from the festival!)
I have the same problem with Knob Creek and Makers Mark that you have with Blantons. (My dislike for Makers and my willingness to speak out about it has been the source of many a fun argument with lesser bourbon snobs.) But I like Blantons. I like Bookers better and Bakers less. Blantons IS too expensive for the quality of the drink though.
But other than your inexplicable like for Knob Creek you and I seem to have similar taste Silenus. I haven’t tried that one. I love Elijah Craig Single Barrel and Old Weller Antique, and as I said before Old Grand Dad is my favorite followed by Buffallo Trace. I need to track down a bottle of Bulliett.
I also always have a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 (both a tastey drink and nostalgic) and Old Forester (the best mixer bourbon on the market.)
Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is a treat. The bottle takes up too much room, but I’m liking the way the vintages all differ in profile. Good stuff.
Birthday Bourbon is fantastic, and a different beast entierly. GOOD stuff. Regular old forester with some ginger ale or a seven up is fantastic though. (It’s good for this time of year when it’s hot outside and you want a cold drink that isn’t beer). It has a good flavor and mixes well without being so good you feel like you are wasting your real bourbon on mixers.
I just broke down and ordered a bottle of Buffalo Trace online. They don’t have any retailers in NC/SC apparently. The price was good, but the shipping …
I like Makers and Knob Creek.
I don’t care at all for Gentleman Jack. I gave away the remainder of the bottle I purchased.
I just thought of another one I really like, and am wondering if anyone’s tried it: Eagle Rare.
It’s made by Buffalo Trace.
Eagle Rare is not bad at all. The worst thing I can say about it is that the bottle is too tall to fit in my liquor cabinet! Bevmo has it on sale quite often, as well.
19,999. The way things are going today, my 20,000th post is going to be about booze. Of course, that was the odds on favorite.
I’m sipping some Jack Daniels Single Barrel right now. Not bad, but not as smooth or as flavorful as my favorite pour, Woodford Reserve.
Another vote for Woodford.