Well now I’m really glad I didn’t pay $45 for this bottle Saturday. I’ll just assume the Total Wine pick isn’t 50% better than this one:
Classification: Whiskey Finished in Rum, Port & Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Barrels Company: Barrell Craft Spirits Proof: Cask strength Age: NAS (Blend of 10 year old whiskey distilled in Indiana, finished in Dunn Vineyards Cabernet barrels and 11 year old bourbon distilled in Tennessee finished in black strap rum casks and LBV Port Pipes) Haven't tried it yet personally. Guy i talked to for a while at the store said it reminded him of Werthers
Ok that makes sense. So it is MGP that is finished in different barrels, not totally dissimilar from High West
guy you talked to at the store is wrong, it tastes like sour cherries. Baseballman86 will back that up and I think WillieHuff will as well
Looking to replace my Woodford (was Makers 46 before) in my nightly old fashioned, I like Angel's Envy but trying to keep it under 30$ a bottle. Hit me with something new... Bulleit is what I'm thinking. Anything off the radar that I should give a go?
100%, though I will say it varies a bit batch to batch. Sadly, all my batch 1 is gone so I can’t compare side by side to the latest bottle I have.
Just getting caught up but it sounds like I need to hunt down a few different batches of Dovetail. Per Barrell’s website for anybody interested: 1st Bottling - 122.9 Proof 2nd - 123.8 3rd - 124.34 4th - 125.24 5th - 122.9 again (check laser code on bottle and you’ll be able to tell if it’s 1st or 5th)
Welcome to the thread, Jesse Palmer . Please take a moment to read our fantastic OP. I’d also recommend Weller Special Reserve ($27), Buffalo Trace ($23), and the widely available 1792 ($25.)
Just had my first ever sip, courtesy of Air pperc15 . Can confirm it is quite tasty, but also quite hot.
Found this last night sitting dusty on a shelf. They also had a stack of Buffalo Trace which is rare around here, and it’s the same place I found the EHT. Odd how the dingy spots have the good stuff.
Both Bo Pelinis post and BrickTamland ’s Old Grandad 114 post got it right. Those are the 4 best reasonably priced bourbon cocktail mixers.
I'll be traveling through Louisville tomorrow. Any specific stores I need hit up? Also any recommendations for a dinner?
Check out a Cox's or two, they usually have something pretty solid in their cases. There is a Cox's near the corner of Westport Rd and Hubbards Ln, and then across the street there is a Kroger Wine & Spirits. I usually find at least somewhat hard to find stuff in those two places. If you go into any Kroger Wine and Spirits, look behind the counter and on the top shelves behind the counter, that's where a lot of the harder to find stuff goes. Also, if you go to any of the big stores (Liquor Barn, etc) they will more than likely have a few solid barrel selects to choose from. Kroger usually does too. Harvest has some really good food, and a great bourbon selection. Anison and visa may have some recs too.
Most anything is going to seems like a hard to find compared to Chattanooga. Thanks for the suggestions
Pretty much all of this. I’m a fan of The Wine Rack as well; John Johnson is the proprietor and he usually has some good stuff around (you may need to ask). My favorite Cox’s is the one out in Shepherdsville - 10 miles south of the airport. If you have time, that one usually has more rare stuff than the Cox stores in Louisville (their “rare bourbon” cabinet has a sign saying limit one bottle but they’ve always let me buy two). For dinner, I love Proof On Main, Lily’s Bistro and Rye. Harvest is great for any meal and has a fantastic bourbon selection; it’s not as “fancy” as those other three. If you have time to hit up a bar, The Silver Dollar is special; their #6 OWA is out of this world.
I was going to ask you how Chattanooga is for bourbon. Anything you’re looking for specifically I could bring up? We’re probably going to come up for a weekend next month, and I know there’s that Chattanooga distiller (which I believe uses the simulated aging?) Any worthwhile tours or tasting experiences?
It isn't great. Need to get really fortunate to stumble across hard to find stuff and it is typically overpriced. You should stop and check out some stores in Dalton on your way. I have had much more success there than in Chattanooga. Chattanooga Whiskey is the distiller. I've never done the tour or tasting but have heard everything from great to meh. Give me a heads up when you're in town and we'll grab a drink
I live in Chattanooga, grab me something?? If you drive through Manchester, Tullahoma and Murfreesboro, you can find some decent stuff, especially if you ask the clerks/owners Edit: and north GA as well
I’m actually torn on this one because their shelf pricing is actually fair, I’m just not in need of any OGD114 or the like.
You can find something. I actually don’t think I’m against this. Prevents someone from just taking the Blantons score and never buying anything else.
and, basically it is how the store gets it's allocation anyway, so it supports those people who support the store.
Also helps dissuade people from buying it with the sole purpose of selling it on the secondary market.
I’m not really against something like that either - it’s when they tie it to a purchase of some shitty bottles of vodka or something similar, I’d be pissed...but retailers here don’t do that (yet)
I did the distillery tour several months back and thought it was worth the hour and cheap entry price. The tour itself is actually of their “experimental distillery” where they only try new stuff, so it’s very small. Their large scale distillery is elsewhere. EVen so, it’s a short tour that’s in a good location and you get to taste 4-5 whiskeys and 2 cocktails at the end of it, so I thought it was a good time. Just don’t go into it expecting Buffalo Trace from a tour standpoint.
Yeah if they enforced it here and let me just buy a couple daily drinkers, I'd be game. I guarantee some of that stuff would actually sit on a shelf for an hour if they did that. If I had to buy stupid shit I'd never drink, that would piss me off. We've had the same unopened bottle of Grey Goose since we got married 5 years ago, I have no need for a shit bottle of Wheatley.