Rant/Rave: Bourbon

[thrill]

Yo...you can lose threads? [expletive]. What's my record?

[33anda3rd]

What kind of bourbon I like, eh, it doesn't matter really, it's a taste thing, but I'll tell you some I like. What matters is what you like. You should take a trip into the horrible, evil, corrupt, too-cold city of Chicago, grab a seat at Longman & Eagle, which is the best whiskey bar in the midwest and maybe the country, and order your bourbon, then let the bartender recommend your second, third and fourth. Are you into something because of flavor? They'll recommend one of probably 30 on the back bar that are in that ballpark. Do you drink something because you like the story behind the distillery or family that makes it? They can tell you stories of similar families and sell you one of another 30 on the back bar that you'll like. Whatever your reason for liking your bourbon, they Phil and his team are the best, and when I've wanted to learn about whiskey, I've gone in there and asked him to suggest some to me. He's forgotten more about whiskey than I'll ever know, and he's turned me on to some great stuff.

The stuff I'm drinking pretty much daily, like end-of-shift, let's sip a bourbon, is Buffalo Trace (I like the sweetness, and the dark fruit flavors) and Old Forester. I like Old Forester for it's high rye content and dry finish, and that high rye content makes it a good cocktail bourbon.

Value stuff, I like Benchmark. It's made at the Sazerac distillery from the exact same mash they use for Buffalo Trace. The only difference is Benchmark is aged 8 years, vs. the 12 that Buffalo sees in the barrel.

I have some Journeyman Featherbone at home, it's nice, smooth, light and sweet (70% corn/20% wheat/10% rye etc.) and for lack of a better term quaffable. You can be on your fourth and not know it. Super smooth.

High end I have a few of the Orphan Barrel Project bottles at home, some Pappy, mostly stuff that I'd never buy but get as gifts from distributors, but enjoy breaking out once in a while.

I'm more into beer, gin and amaro than I am whiskey.

[33anda3rd]

Oh. Also. WL Weller 12 year. Basically Pappy without the cost. You get some good vanilla and caramel off the oak. My friend Wade named his dog Weller, such is his devotion to the stuff.

[jim]

Buffalo Trace is in my price range and I've heard several mention that, I don't think I have had it (or if I have I don't remember).

@trill - yes you can win threads, and I remember but can't find a post in response to me about the girl digging you instead of me or whatever that pretty much defined winning a thread. I clapped when I read it.

[33anda3rd]

As far as price range, please remember when bourbon is the topic: the price is based on scarcity and demand and public perception, not quality. Pappy is Pappy because of scarcity, public perception, demand.

Take these three things:

1. A $34 bottle of Bulleit Bourbon
2. A $27 bottle of Bufflao Trace
3. A $10 bottle of Benchmark

How do they rank in quality, IMO?
1. Buffalo
2. Benchmark
3. Bulleit

The expensive one is the worst of the three. Bulleit is only on my shelf b/c suburbanites who don't know any better come in on Saturday night and ask for a Bulleit old fashioned or a Bulleit Manhattan because they know the brand and think it's good and would rather pay $14 for that than $9 for the same with Benchmark. It's like stealing candy from babies, these folks and their money. You can have the one that's made at the Sazerac distillery from the same mash as Buffalo for $9 or you can have the one that's made from neutral spirit from LDI in Indiana that's the same stuff in Templeton and 30 other whiskeys and you can pay a more than 50% premium for basically a Big Mac instead of a grass-fed burger. People actually make that decision. It's nuts.

Know where your [expletive] comes from, I guess is what I'm saying. Feel good about knowing that you're not paying for a big marketing department and a clever label, you're paying for a distiller who obsesses about the quality of the whiskey in your glass and who makes the whiskey at all steps from grain to glass. There is bourbon out there that if your price range is $40, it's right in your range, but it's [expletive], and there's stuff out there that's half to a quarter of your price range that's better than the stuff that's at the high end of your range. Buying bourbon and finding your bourbon isn't about matching price to your budget, it's about getting a good bourbon that's in your range, whether it's right at the max or way under. Often you can go way under.

[Secret Weapon]

The expensive one is the worst of the three. Bulleit is only on my shelf b/c suburbanites who don't know any better come in on Saturday night and ask for a Bulleit old fashioned or a Bulleit Manhattan because they know the brand and think it's good and would rather pay $14 for that than $9 for the same with Benchmark. It's like stealing candy from babies, these folks and their money. You can have the one that's made at the Sazerac distillery from the same mash as Buffalo for $9 or you can have the one that's made from neutral spirit from LDI in Indiana that's the same stuff in Templeton and 30 other whiskeys and you can pay a more than 50% premium for basically a Big Mac instead of a grass-fed burger. People actually make that decision. It's nuts.

i know right?

people in the city would never make that mistake

[33anda3rd]

The expensive one is the worst of the three. Bulleit is only on my shelf b/c suburbanites who don't know any better come in on Saturday night and ask for a Bulleit old fashioned or a Bulleit Manhattan because they know the brand and think it's good and would rather pay $14 for that than $9 for the same with Benchmark. It's like stealing candy from babies, these folks and their money. You can have the one that's made at the Sazerac distillery from the same mash as Buffalo for $9 or you can have the one that's made from neutral spirit from LDI in Indiana that's the same stuff in Templeton and 30 other whiskeys and you can pay a more than 50% premium for basically a Big Mac instead of a grass-fed burger. People actually make that decision. It's nuts.

i know right?

people in the city would never make that mistake

It's typically 50-somethings and folks who book in advance and, yeah, suburbanites for whom chain restaurants are the norm in their neighborhood. Folks for whom a Sam Adams is an upscale beer and the big corporate Napa Cabernet or Chardonnay is their wine of choice. Six ladies at the bar on girls night, in from the burbs, that's vodka soda with lime. It's a stereotype, bits it's typically an accurate and fair one. When these folks started drinking was before the craft beer and spirits renaissance we are going through now. Their gateway to drink was bad beer and big wine houses and vodka. Whiskey and gin hadn't come back like they have. Someone who's 23-30 grew up with Sierra Nevada, a whiskey culture, gins that were not all one thing. It's generational, and young people gravitate to the city while their parents are largely in the burbs.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Hey, I consider Sam Adams an upscale beer. It's certainly more expensive than Busch Light.

[Freed Roger]

Has anyone traversed the Kentucky Bourbon Trail? http://kybourbontrail.com/ . Seems like a good time - going to the countryside to drink is the best. , But has to be a lot trickier with pacing and navigating than a sampling of brewpubs.

[33anda3rd]

The trail is fun. Doing a full day at Stagg is better.