07ag said:

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all this talk about top shelf unicorns,, what are your bottom shelf favorite go-to bourbons? i usually stick with evan williams, picked up a bottle of very old barton last night for $11, look forward to trying it out

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OGDBiB

jh0400 said:

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07ag said:

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all this talk about top shelf unicorns,, what are your bottom shelf favorite go-to bourbons? i usually stick with evan williams, picked up a bottle of very old barton last night for $11, look forward to trying it out

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OGDBiB

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Love me some VOB. Also like Old Charter 8 for game day flasking and hot toddies.

EDIT: adding this which I came across earlier in the week and which is a pretty good review of bottom shelfers-
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/12/13-of-the-best-bottom-shelf-cheap-bourbons-blind-t.html

LPHA said:

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He's stuck at $300. That's more than I feel comfortable with but if someone near Houston wants it I'll gladly pick it up

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What side of Houston?

07ag said:

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all this talk about top shelf unicorns,, what are your bottom shelf favorite go-to bourbons? i usually stick with evan williams, picked up a bottle of very old barton last night for $11, look forward to trying it out

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VOB is pretty good, so are Evan William's BiB, and OGD BiB for a little more rye.

Lots of very good bottom shelf bourbons out there. Which is a main reason I stopped hunting for the rare stuff. Not worth the money or effort to me anymore.

West side near the loop, but I can drive if needed. Just to be clear, I don't have anything yet. I need to go back and either tell him I want it or not, and probably won't be able to do that until tomorrow. If someone wants it, I will get it if it's still there and not ask for a penny more than what the guy wants. But if someone also has something decent they wouldn't mind getting rid of at a small/reasonable markup or list price I'd be interested.

I'm still relatively new to the higher end stuff so this thread has been great.

LPHA said:

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West side near the loop, but I can drive if needed. Just to be clear, I don't have anything yet. I need to go back and either tell him I want it or not, and probably won't be able to do that until tomorrow. If someone wants it, I will get it if it's still there and not ask for a penny more than what the guy wants. But if someone also has something decent they wouldn't mind getting rid of at a small/reasonable markup or list price I'd be interested.

I'm still relatively new to the higher end stuff so this thread has been great.

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I'm interested. I'll send you a DM. I have some bottles you might be interested in

Easy / Evan Williams BIB (white label)

LPHA said:

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West side near the loop, but I can drive if needed. Just to be clear, I don't have anything yet. I need to go back and either tell him I want it or not, and probably won't be able to do that until tomorrow. If someone wants it, I will get it if it's still there and not ask for a penny more than what the guy wants. But if someone also has something decent they wouldn't mind getting rid of at a small/reasonable markup or list price I'd be interested.

I'm still relatively new to the higher end stuff so this thread has been great.

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I am interested in paying his price for the GTS if you haven't made a deal with anyone else yet

All the WB raffle talk got me thinking and I'd like to get some opinions. The raffle I was at had ORVW, VWFR, GTS, WLW, and Handy. If you had the first pick and could choose any of them which would you pick and why?

If they were all the same price, in order, I would choose:

Stagg
Handy
ORVW
VWFR
Larue

Stagg has been consistently the best since I got into this game, and Handy only slightly behind. Rip over the 12-year because I think it is the smoothest middle-high proof whiskey made - certainly the best that I have had extensively. WLW is really really good. Excellent. Just because it's 5th out of this group doesn't make it bad. I feel like WLW has always been sweeter because it's wheated. And while I don't mind that in the Van Winkles, I also think it's more noticeable at the higher proof.

If prices were different, it might be a different story. Based on what I paid for mine when I bought 'em (and this was when you could still get 90 proof ORVW) it would look like:

ORVW
VWFR
Stagg/Handy/WLW

But that was when 90 proof ORVW could be had for $29 and 107 proof for $34, VWFR for $59 and the BTAC for $79.

flytxag said:

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All the WB raffle talk got me thinking and I'd like to get some opinions. The raffle I was at had ORVW, VWFR, GTS, WLW, and Handy. If you had the first pick and could choose any of them which would you pick and why?

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WLW- because I've never been able to buy one and it's amazing. Plus I have four GTS, and 5 Handy's already.
GTS- Because it's outstanding
Handy- Also outstanding but Rye
VWFR- Because I've never gotten one and it's a great value flip.
ORVW- Because I've never been that impressed with it.

What is VWFR? Family reserve rye? Family reserve 15? Older? I'll assume rye since no age was mentioned.

WLW - never tried it, like the more common Weller labels (may be completely unrelated to WLW)

GTS - never tried it, not crazy about most Stagg jr bottles although some are pretty good

ORVW10 - not that good, fancy label, good looking bottle. Strongly preferred Old Weller Antique in blind taste test (both 107 proof)

VW12b - not that good, plain looking label

VWFRR,THH - prefer bourbon over rye whiskeys, probably get the THH because Thomas is a good name

I see you are early on your journey

Did a "bourbon" tasting recently. Among the list I actually enjoyed the rye the best (not a straight bourbon I realize) despite it being one of the least expensive offerings at the tastings. I must just enjoy rye. It was my first time trying. Can't rememeber the name of it.

Can you guys recommend me some easy to find decent Ryes for under $50? Located in college station

Sazerac, Rittenhouse, and Pikesville. Pikesville is fantastic for about $40-$45.

I have been on a huge rye kick lately. Lots to choose from that are all pretty dang good. Woodford rye is surprisingly really good, pikesville rye, bulleit rye, sazerac. All very good. Most of the ryes you see in the $20-$30 range are all produced in Indiana and sold under different labels, so will be pretty similar in flavor profile. Now that I think of it I don't know that I have tried a rye that I would classify as bad. Just some better than others

Stagg Jr and GTS are very, very different. I don't drink much Jr, but the 15 year is amazing

I only liked Rittenhouse before I started drinking more rye. As I've drank more rye it has become more and more a mixer for me.

Double rye and rendezvous rye from high west are both really good. Pikesville is probably the best of that price catergory

rshackelford said:

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Did a "bourbon" tasting recently. Among the list I actually enjoyed the rye the best (not a straight bourbon I realize) despite it being one of the least expensive offerings at the tastings. I must just enjoy rye. It was my first time trying. Can't rememeber the name of it.

Can you guys recommend me some easy to find decent Ryes for under $50? Located in college station

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I really like the High West Double Rye.

Carl Hungus said:

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I'm a fan of High west in general.

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Everything but campfire. Damn that **** sucks.

High West is awesome. Been loving my MWND and some yippe ki yay lately along with the double rye and rendezvous. Really good stuff that is still easy to find any time you want it except for MWND.

Correct

I've heard that Jr is made from barrels that were intended for GTS but didn't make the cut.

CactusThomas said:

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I've heard that Jr is made from barrels that were intended for GTS but didn't make the cut.

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That's how pretty much all bourbon is selected. They make a huge batch and then see how each barrel turns out. The ones that dont do well are plastic jug bound, the bett barrels get bottled as mid range bottles, and the best of the best become the high end stuff.

There's more to it of course. Distillers know their warehouses, and which spots tend to produce better barrels and that kind of stuff. But in the end the determining factor is how each individual barrel turns out as it ages.

CharlieBrown17 said:

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Carl Hungus said:

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I'm a fan of High west in general.

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Everything but campfire. Damn that **** sucks.

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I've never actually had it, because I don't care for Smokey whiskeys, but in Park Scott Utah, that's everyone's favorite. I ordered Yippee at the ski slope cafe one day, I could see it on the shelf, and I had to show them which one it was, they had never heard of it.

CharlieBrown17 said:

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I only liked Rittenhouse before I started drinking more rye. As I've drank more rye it has become more and more a mixer for me.

Double rye and rendezvous rye from high west are both really good. Pikesville is probably the best of that price catergory

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I'll be on the lookout for a pikesville

I finally had a chance to try Booker's rye tonight, and it didn't disappoint. I wish the bar had also had THH, because I'd love to try them side by side.

ETA: At this point the only rye left on my "must try" list is VWFRR, but I've never seen it on a list anywhere.

I interupt this raffle circle jerk to inform you that I've been celebrating inking an important deal today with a pour at home tonight from my bottle of 2013 PVW 15 yr. Is it good? Damn right it is. Probably equally as important as the quality of the bourbon itself or maybe even moreso, it is special because it reminds me of all the other times I decided to memorialize an event with a pour from this bottle. Makes it all the sweeter. But by itself is it worth the hype or price? Not even close. Carry on Army.

Booker's Rye is the truth. I drank one bottle of mine. Have two more bottles I was fortunate to purchase at retail and bunker away. It might become my next bottle for special event type pours after I finish off my pvw 15. I've just been reluctant to open one since the secondary price on it has been ridiculous. Might just have to sell them. Getting more difficult to justify to myself drinking these bottles. Are they really THAT much better than a more reasonably priced but still very good bourbon that I also enjoy very much? Maybe I'm losing my bourbon passion but I'm drifting more towards saying I'd rather have the money and do something fun with it.

Cheers to Reno's important deal

RenoAg said:

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Booker's Rye is the truth. I drank one bottle of mine. Have two more bottles I was fortunate to purchase at retail and bunker away. It might become my next bottle for special event type pours after I finish off my pvw 15. I've just been reluctant to open one since the secondary price on it has been ridiculous. Might just have to sell them. Getting more difficult to justify to myself drinking these bottles. Are they really THAT much better than a more reasonably priced but still very good bourbon that I also enjoy very much? Maybe I'm losing my bourbon passion but I'm drifting more towards saying I'd rather have the money and do something fun with it.

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Welcome to the other side.

And congrats on the deal!

EC18 and Parkers Heritage 2017 for me tonight