for a rye do you all prefer Sazerac or Jefferson?

Sazerac is my favorite rye.

It can be a little tough to find at times, but a few phone calls should be enough to find a bottle pretty much any time.

I picked up a bottle of Willett Family Estate 4-year Single Barrel Rye just before the holidays, and it is outstanding. Highly recommended.

Rittenhouse 100 or Sazerac. Bulleit's rye for the widely available choice.

Templeton Rye is very good, as are the Willett 4 year and High West varieties. If you want to ball, go with the Thomas H Handy or Saz 18, if you can find them, but it's blasphemy to make mixed drinks with them.

i make my old fashioneds at the house with Thomas H Handy.

quote:

---

If you want to ball, go with the Thomas H Handy or Saz 18, if you can find them, but it's blasphemy to make mixed drinks with them.

---

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It has been 10 days since my last confession. I made a sazerac using T H Handy on New Years Eve. I enjoyed it and I lust for it again.

quote:

---

Got this today. A little hot with a back end bite, but smooth up front with caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and some fruit undertones mixed in. Pretty good stuff.

---

Based on your description, what would be your guess is to which distillery they sourced the bourbon from?

quote:

---

for a rye do you all prefer Sazerac or Jefferson?

---

Coin flip. Can't go wrong either way.

quote:

---

i make my old fashioneds at the house with Thomas H Handy.

---

Looks like you are a baller or have cases of it stashed away...

quote:

---

i make my old fashioneds at the house with Thomas H Handy.

---

WHY.

Templeton Rye is good stuff, honestly almost too smooth. If making an old fashioned I'd prefer something with a little more bite.

High West is a great rye and makes an awesome old fashioned.

And to each his own obviously, but I wouldn't be one to make an old fashioned out of Handy very often. Too many great rye choices out there that will taste just as good once you start adding in bitters and sugar. But hey, if you have the money and stashed away bottles of handy to do it, more power to you. I mean I wish I could wipe my a$$ with $100 bills but unfortunately I have a case of the poors.

[This message has been edited by TxKng82 (edited 1/9/2014 10:15a).]

Forgot to add, Yellow Rose Rye sucks...Waaay to green.

quote:

---

WHY.

---

Because a Thomas H Handy old fashioned or sazerac tastes amazing. I would not recommend Sazerac 18 in a cocktail, mainly because I don't think the flavors in highly aged whiskey mix well.

My #1 rule for whiskey is to use it in whatever way you will enjoy it the most. This generally corresponds to drinking low end whiskey in cocktails and high end whiskey neat, but every once in a while I want a THH old fashioned more than I want THH neat.

If you like George T Stagg with a little water, but love it in a sauce for bread pudding, why would you want to consume it in a manner that brings you less satisfaction?

Do you know how Julien Van Winkle drinks his 20 year old bourbon? With a twist of lemon. His favorite old fashioned involves muddling an orange slice into his 15 year old bourbon.

quote:

---

Too many great rye choices out there that will taste just as good once you start adding in bitters and sugar

---

This is categorically wrong. Higher quality whiskey makes a better tasting cocktail. If you can't taste the underlying flavor of the whiskey in an old fashioned, you are using too much sugar and bitters.

quote:

---

Forgot to add, Yellow Rose Rye sucks...Waaay to green.

---

I know their first couple batches of rye were from LDI/MGP (just like 90% of the rye on the market), and were actually pretty good. Did they change the source?

I will say that good bourbon makes a good cocktail. Great bourbon can make a great one. The additions in the cocktail should enhance the flavors of the bourbon, not muddle them or overpower them.

No, I don't use THH every day for a sazarac. Thats an expensive pour and I was lucky enough to get one bottle this year. It needs to last me the year. But if you enjoy quality bourbon and whiskey and have come to discover the different flavor profiles you can find in them and I gave you a sazerac or manhattan made with THH versus Old Overholt you would know why I would occasionally make one with THH. Its not like I'm turning the bottle up and chugging it or mixing it in Diet Coke.

I suggest just doing a side by side comparison. Make a Manhattan or Old Fashioned with a quality bourbon and then make one with your choice of any $15 bottle you can find. You'll see the difference at that point. Now, when you start mixing it with Coke, that may be a different story.

Wild Turkey Rye 101 Proof and not the new stuff for Old Fashioneds all day. So much great spice in that one. It is the jam.

quote:

---

quote:

---

Got this today. A little hot with a back end bite, but smooth up front with caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and some fruit undertones mixed in. Pretty good stuff.

---

Based on your description, what would be your guess is to which distillery they sourced the bourbon from?

---

Are there tasting notes from both? I have no idea.

Are you saying you can't identify the distillery and aging location of a bourbon by nose alone?

Amateur.

quote:

---

quote:

---

quote:

---

Got this today. A little hot with a back end bite, but smooth up front with caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and some fruit undertones mixed in. Pretty good stuff.

---

Based on your description, what would be your guess is to which distillery they sourced the bourbon from?

---

Are there tasting notes from both? I have no idea.

---

That is sourced whiskey in the bottle. Any time I try a KBD bottling, I try to figure out what distillery profile (i.e. Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, Brown Foreman, Buffalo Trace) it most likely is because those are your options as to where it came from.

It was most like Rock Hill Farms if I had to compare it to something else in my cabinet.

Got a couple gems today...

Had my first ever glass of Pappy tonight, it was even better than I expected. I can see why everyone goes crazy for it, because it blew away any other whiskey I've ever had

Welcome to the club my friend.

quote:

---

Had my first ever glass of Pappy tonight, it was even better than I expected. I can see why everyone goes crazy for it, because it blew away any other whiskey I've ever had

---

Which Pappy did you have? They are all distinctly different.

It was the 12 year. I didn't think a bourbon could go down so smooth, no burn at all

[This message has been edited by tgoll09 (edited 1/12/2014 11:22a).]

quote:

---

It was the 12 year. I didn't think a bourbon could go down so smooth, no burn at all

Sadly, that's not Pappy. But if you liked Lot B, try and get a hold of the 15 or 20 year. Might make you pour the Lot B down the drain, j/k!

[This message has been edited by tgoll09 (edited 1/12/2014 11:22a).]

---

Well, the lot B is probably as close as a regular Joe like me will ever get, but it was still amazing

I like the 12 better than the 15 FWIW.

Agree with you in PVW 12 being better than 15.

The best I've ever had it's the PVW 20...

quote:

---

I like the 12 better than the 15 FWIW.

---

I have 2 older bottles of Lot B that I would be more than willing to trade for 2 bottles of a Pappy 15 and pay you the retail difference...

quote:

---

Agree with you in PVW 12 being better than 15.

The best I've ever had it's the PVW 20...

---

quote:

---

Agree with you in PVW 12 being better than 15.

The best I've ever had it's the PVW 20...

---

Yeah, I can definitely understand that. Some people like "smooth" bourbon which is exactly what Lot B and 20 are. The 15 is pretty damn complex and "smooth" never comes into play.

The PVW 15 is my favorite, followed by the ORVW 10.

The 20 and 23 are excellent, but I just enjoy the younger ones better.