Blades & Bourbon

This is not a knife but it is a new "toy" that I just picked up today.

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It's a used Series 5 Pit Boss vertical smoker. It's huge and I can smoke 5 racks of ribs, 5 full sized salmon fillets, 6-8 chickens or 2 turkeys or 4 pork shoulders in it at a time. Sometmes, BIGGER is truly better. LOL! ;)

Going to have some fun this coming May-Summer. :)

PS: Now that I think of it, I could have included a knife in the photo but it wouldn't have changed anything.
 
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I looove smokers... :D I went trough few $60 column, charcoal smokers from various manufacturers but I do everything now on the Green Egg, the best $$ spent for barbeque/smoker IMO...

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I'm surprised you don't know about the 10YO WJ, last time I tried it, I loved it, little bit on the alcohol site on both ends to my taste but if you have it neat w little bit water only in a few minutes it opens up really nicely.

Old picture, but this is what's coming again, both exceptional bottles IMO.

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POCEH KOCEB said:
I looove smokers... :D I went trough few $60 column, charcoal smokers from various manufacturers but I do everything now on the Green Egg, the best $$ spent for barbeque/smoker IMO...

QQnAMJ.jpg


I'm surprised you don't know about the 10YO WJ, last time I tried it, I loved it, little bit on the alcohol site on both ends to my taste but if you have it neat w little bit water only in a few minutes it opens up really nicely.

Old picture, but this is what's coming again, both exceptional bottles IMO.

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I really hope to find a bottle of that Elijah Craig barrel proof. I was able to get a bottle of the Larceny barrel proof recently and it is one of the best bourbons I have found yet. Brad
 
I've only had one bottle of Widow Jane 10 yr - I found it disappointing after the 8 yr; and have, so far, chosen not to revisit. (I've thought about it, only because the 8yr was so good; but, when a bottle disappoints, it's hard to justify buying it again)
Admittedly, I rarely think about adding water...but, sometimes, it can help.
 
hhmoore said:
I've only had one bottle of Widow Jane 10 yr - I found it disappointing after the 8 yr; and have, so far, chosen not to revisit. (I've thought about it, only because the 8yr was so good; but, when a bottle disappoints, it's hard to justify buying it again)
Admittedly, I rarely think about adding water...but, sometimes, it can help.
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I prefer drinking my whiskies (scotch and bourbon) neat w/water on the side.

I only add ice when I can't tolerate it neat, which was the case w/WJ10 for me. Just finished off the bottle today and won't buy another because there are others that I prefer and so many others to try.
 
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POCEH KOCEB said:
I looove smokers... :D I went trough few $60 column, charcoal smokers from various manufacturers but I do everything now on the Green Egg, the best $$ spent for barbeque/smoker IMO...
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I've never been interested in Green Eggs because I always felt their cooking space was too small and they were too expensive. Different strokes for different folks.

Have been thinking about buying a vertical smoker for awhile but the small ones are too small and the big ones were too expensive (at least more than I wanted to spend) but when the huge/used PitBoss Series 5 popped up on CL for just $300, I couldn't resist it.

Have been smoking all of my meat in my 22" Weber charcoal and Spirit 3 propane grills using pellets in a smoking tube or w/chips in the charcoal grill.

However, the amount of meat that I can smoke at 1 time in those grills is very limited; just 1 slab of ribs or 1 filet of salmon or 1 turkey or a couple of chickens at at time.

I don't smoke more than that very often but when I want to smoke a lot of meat/seafood at one time (like when I can buy turkey at TG for 29 cents/#), the PitBoss smoker makes that possible.

I also wanted vertical (rather than a traditional horizontal girll/smoker, like Traeger) because it takes up less floor space and it would fit perfectly in the remaining space that I had available next to the other grills.

The PitBoss pellets at Walmart are also really cheap (just $15 for a 40# bag) and less than 1/2 the cost of Traeger pellets which retail for about $19 for just 20#.

So, I've now got the perfect grilling/smoking set up (at least for me). :)
 
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Bradass80 said:
I really hope to find a bottle of that Elijah Craig barrel proof. I was able to get a bottle of the Larceny barrel proof recently and it is one of the best bourbons I have found yet. Brad
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Funny how the distribution of bourbon varies around the country.

I have a bottle of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof and a bottle of Larceny Small Batch, but can't find any Larceny Barrel Proof anywhere I've looked in my area.

Haven't touched either bottle since I opened them several months ago but I plan to get back to them soon.

They didn't impress me much initially but I didn't have a lot to compare them with at the time. I've tasted a lot of other bourbons in the interim and it will be interesting to see what I think of them now.
 
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Bradass80 said:
I really hope to find a bottle of that Elijah Craig barrel proof.
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Friend of mine got one last week, I'll ask him where he got it from and how much and I'll let you know.

sgt1372 said:
I've never been interested in Green Eggs because I always felt their cooking space was too small and they were too expensive. Different strokes for different folks.
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I was on the same page till I got one. I found out I was wrong. Plenty of space to cook/smoke 17lb (cleaned) brisket in the LX size and if Green Egg seems expensive, there are few other alternatives that are the same type of Kamado grills and they are in the $600 price range for 18"-24" sizes in Home Depot or Lowe's... Nothing can cook steak as this thing, I absolutely guarantee you. I never use pellets, real wood is much cheaper and produces better smoke IMO but just as you said - different strokes for different folks... :D
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
I was on the same page till I got one. I found out I was wrong. Plenty of space to cook/smoke 17lb (cleaned) brisket in the LX size and if Green Egg seems expensive, there are few other alternatives that are the same type of Kamado grills and they are in the $600 price range for 18"-24" sizes in Home Depot or Lowe's... Nothing can cook steak as this thing, I absolutely guarantee you. I never use pellets, real wood is much cheaper and produces better smoke IMO but just as you said - different strokes for different folks... :D
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I've heard good things about the Green Egg. I don't have any personal experience using one but you obviously like yours and that's all that matters. ;)

FWIW, I didn't pay more than $600 (combined) for my 22" Weber Kettle Grill, Weber Spirit 3 Propane Grill and Pit Boss 5 Veritcal Smoker, which retail for around $1.5k (combined).

Never made sense to pay "retail" for any of these things because people are always selling them at huge discounts on CL.

I actually never use the kettle or propane grills to "grill" anything. Too messy to clean up and unnecessary IMO. I get the best results grilling my steaks in a cast iron grill pan on my stovetop.

I just use the "grills" to roast/smoke things that I can't/don't want to cook in my kitchen oven.

I've used both wood chips/chunks and pellets to good effect in both types of grills w/turkeys, chickens, pork shoulders, pork belly and both pork & beef ribs.

Looking forward to seeing how the vertical pellet smoker performs cooking some of these things in greater volume in the future.

There are, of course, offset wood/charcoal vertical smokers but they require a lot more attention and take up a lot more room than the vertical pellet smoker that I just bought, which I why I have never purchased one of those.

As long as it's filled and running "right," the vertical smoker (w/a 55# pellet capacity) could easily low smoke four 15# pork shoulders (and maybe even more than that) w/o the need to even look at it for up to 12 hrs (not that it would take that long) but, given the cost of that meat and my A/C nature, I'm sure I'd check on it every couple of hours anyway.

LOL! ;)

Happy grilling/smoking and BOURBON drinking, regardless of how you choose to do it! :cool:
 
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Back to Blades & Bourbon . . .

Here's a Spyderco G10 PM2 (nothing special) that I put in my pocket today w/a bottle of Burning Chair Bourbon that's sourced from 4 yr old Indiana & Tennessee bourbon and finished in Cabernet Sauvignon wine casks, which results in a very smooth finish that makes drinking this bourbon very pleasant tasted "neat" despite its young age.

It's comparable in this respect to the port finished bourbons like Woodinville, Angels Envy and Boondocks, which you could say are a bit sweeter due to the flavor difference between port and cabernet.

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BTW, the cork that the PM2 is leaning on is from a bottle of Goldeneye Pinot Noir, which is one of my favorite Pinots. My favorite cabs include Silver Oak, Chateau Montellena and a lesser known Livermore Valley cab made by Steven Kent.
 
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And just received this Spyderco Shaman S90V CF Sprint which I've paired w/a bottle of Colonel E.H. Taylor - Small Batch that I have not opened or tasted yet.

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sgt1372 said:
Funny how the distribution of bourbon varies around the country.

I have a bottle of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof and a bottle of Larceny Small Batch, but can't find any Larceny Barrel Proof anywhere I've looked in my area.

Haven't touched either bottle since I opened them several months ago but I plan to get back to them soon.

They didn't impress me much initially but I didn't have a lot to compare them with at the time. I've tasted a lot of other bourbons in the interim and it will be interesting to see what I think of them now.
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The only reason I walked out of the store with the Larceny BP is because I've been building a relationship with the owner, I have never seen a bottle of it on the shelf here in CO. However, I can find Weller SR and Eagle Rare fairly consitently. Brad
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
Friend of mine got one last week, I'll ask him where he got it from and how much and I'll let you know.

I was on the same page till I got one. I found out I was wrong. Plenty of space to cook/smoke 17lb (cleaned) brisket in the LX size and if Green Egg seems expensive, there are few other alternatives that are the same type of Kamado grills and they are in the $600 price range for 18"-24" sizes in Home Depot or Lowe's... Nothing can cook steak as this thing, I absolutely guarantee you. I never use pellets, real wood is much cheaper and produces better smoke IMO but just as you said - different strokes for different folks... :D
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I have found one online source for the Elijah Craig BP, but they want $100 and I cant bring myself to do it. Brad
 
Gentlemen, very nice posts, Marty I agree about the grilling 100% :thumbsup: and I think you'll love that Colonel Tylor, the profile is one of my favorites and everyone I know, that tried it, loves it.
Brad, I'll get with you on that EC Full Proof shortly, very busy lately and couldn't get to the store to check on it.

Meanwhile - F-rye-day ! :p Cheers BF friends !
(last night's picture but it'll be the same tonight... )

Coalition Rye (with my tanto PM2), very, very good... It is 100% rye mashbill finished in Margaux barrels bottled at 45 proof if I remember correctly.
The finish is little bit overwhelming but otherwise - great pour and very good company !
I got also a Barrel Proof straight rye bottle coming from them :D:thumbsup:

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hhmoore said:
Heck, you paid a lot more for that Weller Special Reserve; and that was just for name and internet hype.
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Well... It is nothing special - yes, price on secondary is dictated by the internet hype - yes. But I buy that Special Reserve in ABS Liquor Store for $24 and you can hardly find anything that it's wheated Bourbon from Buffalo Trace, with such quality, taste and for this price so the Special Reserve is much better than most Bourbons you can buy in $30-$35 category, IMO. Also, I personally tend not to go much with all the reviews, our taste is different and reviews are only reference material, people usually agree with the reviews that are inline with their taste so... Bulleit is a very good Bourbon, no doubt about it but the only true age statement is on the 10 yo bottle, everything else is "between 5 and 8 years" so they have their skeletons in the closet too, just as everybody else. Don't forget, they are under the Diageo's hat and everything with this guys is marketing, marketing aaand - marketing... :D
Cheers, Gents, let your weekend be easy and full of joy !
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sgt1372 said:
And just received this Spyderco Shaman S90V CF Sprint which I've paired w/a bottle of Colonel E.H. Taylor - Small Batch that I have not opened or tasted yet.

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I'm lucky enough to have several bottles of Small Batch, several Single Barrels and a Straight Rye currently in the cabinet - after you taste it, you'll understand why. I have an open bottle of the Single and Small, and I'm enjoying a glass of the Small Batch now. I hope you enjoy your bottle.....
 
POCEH KOCEB POCEH KOCEB
I'm not big on reviews. I try things; and I like them or I don't. I tried Weller's years ago - it was okay...and I think I've got a bottle of Special Reserve stashed away; but I'd rather spend more on something I truly enjoy. I think my favorite sub $40 bottles would be Rare Breed and Four Roses Small Batch...but I still like to try others.
 
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