My neighbor hooked me up with a 2015 WLW to join the 2013 GTS in the BTAC stable.

Yeah! Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised!

Enjoying some OG Bonded

K Bo,
Depending on your personal taste preferences, your neighbor may have just ruined you for any future bourbon purchase you'll ever make. The 2015 WLW is absolutely one of the best bottles I've ever enjoyed. I don't know what I'd rank higher. Congrats.

I am very much looking forward to giving it a go, Ringo. I like to think I have a pretty broad pallete for bourbon and while I will surely love the WLW it won't keep me from enjoying the affordable, readily available juice.

How is blade and bow?

Starting the evening with Old Weller Antique 107 and A Stagg Jr. Maybe a blantons and a knob creek in there too.

Where do y'all even go about finding these awesome bourbons? I guess I need new liquor stores.

bigevent99,
I'd skip it. The feedback from many (and I agree) is that its just not great stuff. I hold out hope that their upcoming 22 year edition will be more interesting. Diageo is taking a lot of heat for their "Produced by Stitzel-Weller Distillery" marketing angle recently.

On another note, I discovered a great whiskey stop for any snow sport buffs. Carl's Tavern in Steamboat Springs, CO is run by a fellow collector/ aficionado with a fantastic list. Besides all of the BTAC and Pappy, they have an impressive list of previous issue special editions and historic bottles. Their most expensive items were Michter's 20 year, some 1995 Stitzel Weller-produced Old Weller Antique 107, and the John E. Fitzgerald release. The last one was $150/ pour.

Can I get an opinion on EH Taylor.

I need to pick up something in the next couple of days and the Specs in my neighborhood has had this the last several times I've been in.

I'm thinking about the EH Taylor or just the standard Buffalo Trace as my next purchase.

The EHT Barrel Proof and Rye are outstanding. The Single Barrel and Small Batch are quality, but not what I'd call special. You'd be better off with Bookers at that price point. If you have to get a Buffalo Trace product, Eagle Rare is a good bang for your buck.

Htown hunting/market report from last few days. I saw 3 FR Cask Strength private labels at one location. Not a FR fan so I didn't purchase them. I've just never seen them before in a store. Saw 1 bottle of Handy at 2 different stores. Price was $400 and $450. One of them would negotiate some as I talked him down a couple hundy but still paid way too much for ORVW10 and a Lot B and took them off his hands. Couldn't help myself. I haven't seen them anywhere this year. I didn't buy the Handy. That owner claims he already sold his 1 bottle of GTS and WLW for $600 each. On the plus side I did also get a 1.75 liter of Weller 12 from him too for $47 and a Stagg jr 129.7 proof for somewhere around $55. That was the last bottle of W12 he had in any size and he said he was having real difficulty getting any more these days. At another store I saw 750 ml bottles of W12 but he wanted $50 each for them. Another store I found Hibiki 12 for $90 which is a good price point for it. If I ever see it somewhere it is usually for $120 or so. Not a fan of it so I left it for another lucky hunter. I found 2 stores with Elmer T Lee. I bought 4 bottles for $39 each and left 2 on the shelf. The other store had 8 bottles but he was asking $70 each. No reason to pay that much. It can be found if you look hard enough and long enough.

I haven't had Elmer in years. Do you just pop in random stores? Loved Lot B but haven't bought it since it was $40 bottle.

Some random pop-ins. And a few stores that I routinely stop in too. Htown is a big place. Always a liquor store I've never been in. Never know what you might find. That's part of the fun!

Back on '06 it was called "hunting duties" to go hounding through every liquor store. Now it's the same to just find recent editions!

One of your stores sounds like one my locals up in Cypress area

One of em was on 1960. Not sure if that's technically Cypress yet.

I forgot - I did get a bottle of ER10 in Sugar Land for $25. That's normal I know. But in these days - normal can be unusual!

The $70 Elmer clued me in to where it was

I have this fantasy of finding a bottle of pvw at a random store in 3rd ward. But figure I'm more likely to find a random bullet in my backside. So I haven't gone into any area too sketchy. That might be my next move.

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I have this fantasy of finding a bottle of pvw at a random store in 3rd ward. But figure I'm more likely to find a random bullet in my backside. So I haven't gone into any area too sketchy. That might be my next move.

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Yea I went into a Fiesta Liquor store while I was in the downtown area. Lets just say it was a pretty quick trip

I hit a store up like that on greens road one day. I was in and out REAL quick.

I haven't seen a bottle of W12 around Austin in over a year...

If you need to scratch that W12 itch bad enough then drive into htown and go to Village Liquor on Gessner. Be prepared to drop $50 +taxes for a 750 ml bottle though. I happen to like W12 more than most but I can't see paying that for it.

Apparently EC18 has already come and gone at specs a few weeks ago. Anyone been lucky enough to grab a bottle? And has anyone tried the latest release of EC barrel proof?

Got a bottle of EC 18 yesterday as a matter of fact. Haven't cracked it open yet.

I've had the EC 23 and it was ok. Doesn't seem like it is worth the cost, in saying that as EC12 is my regular sipper

Found a 127 proof Stagg Jr. today, it's the small victories ya know

From what I've experienced, with a few exceptions, bourbon is generally best in the 10-12 yr range. I don't trust much at 15+ yrs.

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From what I've experienced, with a few exceptions, bourbon is generally best in the 10-12 yr range. I don't trust much at 15+ yrs.

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Agreed. 12-15 years seems to be the sweet spot for my palate. Never had anything over 15 that really wowed me.

I generally agree, but the EC18 I tried from before the hiatus was one of the best pours I have ever had. Right at the top with last years GTS. At $120, I am definitely willing to give it a shot to wow me again.

They must have upped the EC18 quality. Before EC12 was cheaper and superior and it was no where near GTS quality. I've recomended for years for people to avoid EC18 because it was over priced garbage.

Don't know much about the 18, but the 21 is a bitter oak bomb to me.

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Don't know much about the 18, but the 21 is a bitter oak bomb to me.

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See, I love the EC21. One of my favorite pours to be honest.

Its probably just my palate, but if the $$$ are gonna be north of 100 then the proof should be as well.

I wont ever pay north of 100 for a bottle thats 80-90 proof