Try online sources. K&L Wines in San Francisco carries it. So does Ace Liquors in Chicago. Luckily, I find it at the local boutique grocery store, which has an amazing beer cave as well.
But you have to admit, plain jane OGD is paint thinner.
I read a comment on Bevmo! yesterday:
I’ve nothing to say against Powers, bless 'em, but you Yanks are so gullible! You do realize Powers is the best selling whiskey in Ireland the same way that Miller or Bud is probably the best beer in America, right? Like, it’s nice, but not exactly a badge of distinction. But this is such a perfect example of Irish marketing that I’m just gonna sit back & enjoy the irony & sip my whiskey quiet like.
He did give it five stars. I’ve never tried it.
I recommend Powers for someone who has never tasted Irish the same way I recommend Stella Artois or Modelo Especial to someone who has never tried beer. If the first beer someone tasted was Arrogant Bastard Double Oaked, they’ll never be convinced that beer is good. Sometimes basic is better.
Bud Light is the best selling beer in the US because people don’t think bottled water is expensive enough.
It’s weird, my local-ish K&L in Hollywood never seems to have it. It just never shows up anywhere in socal. And at the point I start shopping online for it and dealing with shipping charges, I just end up getting something nicer/more expensive.
Oh god, yes.
Definitely not an expert. I do know there used to be a lot of issue with Japanese whiskey that was actually made in Scotland and bottled or relabeled in Japan. So beware before you buy.
That said I like what I’ve had quite a bit. More scotch than bourbon. Hibiki Harmony is very light and floral. Nikka Coffey grain has a thick mouth feel and a lot of malt. Yamazaki 12 has more peat, but not like an Islay. Unfortunately Japanese whiskey is both expensive and hard to come by (by me, you might have more luck).
Same. I find Maker’s too sweet. I also prefer a high rye bill in my bourbons and Manhattans.
Hey a whisky thread! I love me some Whisky reviews. Now, some people have very different palates, so this certainly isn’t universal advice, but this is what works for me.
For around $60, the best I can recommend is Glenlivet 12. There’s really nothing bad I can say about this whisky – just the right blend of sweet, rich, caramel, very little bite. It’s just niiiiice.
My opinions on others mentioned in this thread (and probably some not mentioned)
Woodford Reserve came up a few times, I find them to be reliably excellent. A little heavy and oaky when neat, but very nice on the rocks.
Elijah Craig is a medium priced bottle that is quite good. Many in this price range (ahem Maker’s) go for the sweet and syrupy profile but Elijah Craig is very balanced with a little more bite and burn than the Glenlivet.
You might laugh at this next one, but people don’t give it enough credit: Jack Daniel’s. Very solid all around with lots of good flavors: a little maple, a little caramel, a little bite. It’s a nice balance.
Now, some of the bad ones:
Knob Creek – the only thing I taste when I drink Knob Creek is the alcohol. I truly don’t understand the appeal but maybe the flavors are just too subtle for me.
Jim Beam – bland bland bland. It’s a totally inoffensive mixer, but it’s got absolutely no standout flavors.
Johnnie Walker – a lot of people love this one, but to me it tastes strongly of pepper, which is not what I’m looking for in a whisky.
Four Roses – another one where I just don’t see the appeal. Too bitter.
Evan Williams – I see this one often recommended as a good cheap bottle. Blech, way too bitter and peppery.
If you’re looking for a cheap but decent bottle, I like: Ancient Age, Benchmark, and the Blended Canadian from Costco, which is just Crown Royal in a different bottle.
Knob Creek - Excellent, a standard in the cabinet
Beam - White Label is piss
Walker RED - garbage. Walker BLACK - actually pretty decent
Four Roses - Go for the single barrel releases
Evan Williams - Black Label is more piss. White Label (BiB) is superb
Ancient Age is utter crap, whiskey flavored vodka. Crown Royal is iffy, except for the Northern Harvest Rye. That is right tasty. Actually, at the local grocery store the cheapest bottle of decent bourbon is Wild Turkey 101.
See, get 2 gourmands together and get 3 opinions.
I’ve seen a lot of people recommend Evan Williams BiB as a great budget bourbon, but I think it’s terrible. So bad it ruins cocktails or bourbon and coke. I poured my bottle down the drain.
Wild Turkey 101 is my go-to cheap bourbon, and not just because it’s cheap. It’s good too; I’d buy still buy it if it was almost $10 more a fifth.
Double oaked bourbons have gotten popular in the last couple years. I think Old Forrester 1910 and Woodford Double Oaked are both fantastic. Sweeter than regular bourbon with creme brulee notes. The 1910 gives me a lot of banana bread too. Worth checking out.
Well that’s interesting. I think the Johnnie Walker I had WAS red label. I’ll give black a try.
Also never had the Evan Williams white label, but usually when I move within a distillery, the flavor profile doesn’t change all THAT much.
I like Wild Turkey 101 but I don’t usually bring it up because it’s a weird one. Good, but lots of burn, so it could turn off a lot of people.
I’m surprised we got this far without anyone mentioning this:
Try Basil Hayden’s bourbon. And their rye. Both are relatively inexpensive for the quality. To me they’re both distinctive and interesting without being weird.
I personally avoid all the high-test 100-proof bourbons. At that level the straight alcohol burn overwhelms all of the interesting flavor notes, leaving “Yep, that’s some kind of nondescript bourbon” as the only identifiable flavor. If you’re just trying to get wasted, drink vodka or everclear; they’re cheaper & you’ll (probably) experience less hangover.
Never liked Basil Hayden. It’s the same mash bill as Knob Creek, but aged less and bottled at the legal minimum to be called whiskey. To me it’s just fancified Jim Beam. YMMV, obviously. That’s why they put out so many iterations. Something for everyone if you can find it.
I like the density of flavor you get with some of the higher proof bourbons. If it is too much on the palate, just add water to your liking. I do. So did Booker Noe.
In that vein, here’s the “family tree” of US whiskey. It basically shows what whiskies are the same mash bill, and where they relate to each other in terms of aging. So for example, the Evan Williams whiskies, Henry McKenna, and the Elijah Craig whiskies are the same mashbill and are the same out of the still. What this means is that when a barrel is filled, it’s not known whether its contents will end up as Evan Williams or Elijah Craig 21- that’s determined over time as barrels are grabbed to be used based on where in the rick house they were aged, and for how long.
And FWIW according to this, Basil Hayden’s is the same mashbill as OGD, while Knob Creek is the same as Jim Beam.
I didn’t know BH’s mash bill, so I stupidly checked wiki. Having the same mash bill as OGD makes sense, because that’s another bourbon that is rhino piss when bottled at 80 proof.
I wonder what Old Overcoat tastes like at a higher proof? Too bad they never did a BiB of that rye.
So… why not just have some crême brulée and a slice of banana bread?
(I was making up a cocktail as I went along and decided to make it with a double oaked bourbon: “Hmm, I’m doing this because I like the warmth and sweetness, right… so, why not go all in?” And I added a splash of maple syrup.)
Probably still not awesome.
I know the Heaven Hill stuff is accurate; years ago I went to “Tales of the Cocktail” in New Orleans, and I attended a seminar on aged spirits- the main presenters were Glenmorangie and Heaven Hill. They described that process of having a distilling run go into barrels, and then choosing them later for the various products. And in a particularly cool demonstration, they gave us a series of maybe 1 teaspoon tastes of the same whiskey- from white dog all the way to something like Elijah Craig 21. It was kind of remarkable to see what age did to the spirit. They also had some cool stuff like Glenmorangie white dog that had been aged as bourbon (i.e. new charred cask in the US) for 4 years. It was surprisingly good- kind of a hybrid between bourbon and scotch.
Oooh. That sounds nice.
Why would I do that when I want to drink bourbon?
It was pretty good actually. I’d buy a bottle if anyone actually made such a thing that I could lay my hands on. There are a few similar products, but they’re made by micro distilleries in Nebraska, Seattle or Portland. Westward, Westland and Cut Spike are their names.
Balcones doesn’t quite count; it’s very much in the Scotch vein I find.
I have procured two bottles of sauce: Maker’s Mark, and Knob Creek.
I’ll have a taste test eventually. (Still have some TJ’s Kentucky Whiskey too. May as well taste that with the others.)