Rant/Rave: Bourbon

[letsgocards89]

Buffalo Trace bourbon cream, straight from the distillery. Happy birthday to me.

I could drink this whole bottle.

[Jocephus]

bourbon AND bacon

http://bourbonandbaconfest.com/

[thrill]

I've yet to cross George T. Stagg off my list but I picked up a bottle of Stagg Jr. I believe they're the same but GT is a 16 year and Jr is a 9. Anyway, it's incredibly flavorful, and at consumer "barrel proof," those of you who like a burn with your bourbon, this is your new favorite whiskey. I drink a fair amount of bourbon neat and this is the first one that has ever punched me in the mouth with the depth of flavor and burn it has. It's too strong to be a go-to at 132 proof, but man it's good.

[TimeForGuinness]

I've yet to cross George T. Stagg off my list but I picked up a bottle of Stagg Jr. I believe they're the same but GT is a 16 year and Jr is a 9. Anyway, it's incredibly flavorful, and at consumer "barrel proof," those of you who like a burn with your bourbon, this is your new favorite whiskey. I drink a fair amount of bourbon neat and this is the first one that has ever punched me in the mouth with the depth of flavor and burn it has. It's too strong to be a go-to at 132 proof, but man it's good.

I have the 2002 George T Stagg...it's amazing. Glad you got the Stagg Jr, it's a great bourbon.

[33anda3rd]

Stagg and Stagg Jr are different animals. Stagg Jr. carries one of my very favorite entries in Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible: "(91.5) Who will blink first? The massive oak or the taste buds. This is the kind of bourbon that sorts out the men from the boys, the women from the girls. Doesn't have quite enough covering sweetness of varying type and intensity to match the complexity found in the original Stagg. One that needs a very long time to get to the bottom of." George T. Stagg is one of only 4 bourbons Murray gave a score of 97.5 this year, the highest mark of any bourbon.

There was also some EH Taylor Single Barrel and EH Taylor Barrel Proof released in the last 5-6 days, if y'all are interested and want to hit up your local. The EH Taylor Single Barrel I know for sure is at the Binny's in Lincoln Park, if you're in/around Chicago, in that locked glass room in the back that has all the rare stuff, and it's like $70/bottle which is not a terribly bad price for that. And they almost always have some in there, not just around release time.

[thrill]

Who will blink first? The massive oak or the taste buds. This is the kind of bourbon that sorts out the men from the boys, the women from the girls. Doesn't have quite enough covering sweetness of varying type and intensity to match the complexity found in the original Stagg. One that needs a very long time to get to the bottom of.

And it has a lot of sweetness and complexity. This just makes me want to try GT more.

Jr has a ton of oakey brulee'd brown sugar. If you can post here when know Buffalo Trace is going to roll out Sazerac 18 or GT Stagg, you would be my hero.

[33anda3rd]

thrill, I put a couple texts out and I'll let you know when I hear back.

Sazzy 18 is going to be harder than ever to get this year. In 2003 BT took everything in the current batch of 18 out of oak and put it in stainless to stop the aging and they have been drawing from that for the last decade-plus. They announced that this year will be the end of that "classic" batch, and next year they will go to the stuff that went in barrels in '98. So there should be even higher demand than usual.

If you can find one, Orphan Barrel released Lost Prophet, a 22 year old made at the Stagg distillery. Might scratch your itch if you can't get ahold of a Stagg. It retails around $120.

[33anda3rd]

Answer I got was a vague "sometime in November."

[JL21]

For my birthday dinner a few weeks ago, I went to this crazy place that has 2,000+ bottles of booze (and a prohibition-era style bar in the basement), and got a flight that featured the following:

-Old Forester Birthday Bourbon (2004)

-Jefferson's Reserve Groth Cask Finish

-Four Roses Super Premium

I knew I'd love the other two but had no idea what to expect from the Jefferson's Reserve. It was tremendous, and ended up being my favorite of the three.

[thrill]

Answer I got was a vague "sometime in November."

You're a great person. Thanks.

Ran by a store at lunch. They had EH Taylor Small Batch, but not the single barrel. I'm going to keep an eye out though.