Blades & Bourbon

True reviews depend on the opinion of the reviewers but it's a starting place for those of us who do not have a wide basis of experience and FWIW, even though I may not have "loved" it, I have not "hated" anything I bought based on a review.

In fact, I have bought a variety of bottles despite somewhat negative reviews and still like what was in it but, for some reason, there are some well reviewed and touted bourbons that I just won't buy because I just think they are too common (like 4 Roses, Knob Creek and Woodford) but that's just me. ;)
 
sgt1372 sgt1372 Your loss. Four Roses Small Batch and WT Rare Breed are fine bourbons, despite being "common"& really available.
I understand, and appreciate, the allocated, though. Try John J Bowman. Or, step it up a notch and go for Rock Hill Farms. The latter is perhaps my all time favorite bourbon. The prices have gone nuts; but I've got a few bottles stashed
 
Last edited:
POCEH KOCEB said:
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:

raB3ZJ.jpg
Click to expand...

I miss the old days when you could walk in your local liquor store and grab a bottle of Willet rye off the shelf for $60. Pot still is just OK to me. Brad
 
hhmoore said:
sgt1372 sgt1372 Your loss. Four Roses Small Batch and WT Rare Breed are fine bourbons, despite being "common" & really available.
Click to expand...

I have heard good things about Four Roses Small Batch and WT Rare Breed, as well as Woodford Double Oak and Knob Creek 12 BUT I have been drinking SO MUCH bourbon recently that I'm personally worrying that I am drinking "too much."

Not funny but I got give it an LOL! anyway. ;)

Just trying to "empty" the earliest/cheapest bourbons that I bought when I started on this journey, rather than just toss them down the drain :eek: (because they really aren't "bad"), in order to make room for others.

When I reduce my current array of 29 bottles down to around 15-20, I might consider buying the above mentioned bottles then but, in the meantime, my bourbon buying is on hiatus.

BTW, this does not include the 53 bottles of scotch that I also have on the shelf. Double LOL!!!! ;);)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: rdg
Bradass80 said:
I miss the old days when you could walk in your local liquor store and grab a bottle of Willet rye off the shelf for $60. Pot still is just OK to me. Brad
Click to expand...

There are quite a few places where I can buy Willet Family Estate 4yr Rye for that price in my area but I don't drink/buy rye whiskely. However, I do drink certain high-rye mash bourbons.

As noted above, I already have more than enough to drink w/o buying rye whisky too and, as with wine, I find that I have to limit what I choose to buy. Otherwise, the choices would be unlimited and confusing.

So, for me, my whiskey choices are limited to: 1) traditional, high rye and high wheat bourbon w/at least 51% corn in the mash and aged in new charred oak barrels, 2) single malt scotch (mainly Islay, Highland & Speyside) distilled in Scotland w/malted barley and aged at least 3 years in oak (usually in old bourbon barrels) OR 3) a limited selection of blended scotches.

There are more than enough whiskeys in these categories to keep me my shelves and glasses full at all times.

LOL! ;)
 
Last edited:
sgt1372 said:
There are quite a few places where I can buy Willet Family Estate 4yr Rye for that price in my area but I don't drink/buy rye whiskely. However, I do drink certain high-rye mash bourbons.

As noted above, I already have more than enough to drink w/o buying rye whisky too and, as with wine, I find that I have to limit what I choose to buy. Otherwise, the choices would be unlimited and confusing.

So, for me, my whiskey choices are limited to: 1) traditional, high rye and high wheat bourbon w/at least 51% corn in the mash and aged in new charred oak barrels, 2) single malt scotch (mainly Islay, Highland & Speyside) distilled in Scotland w/malted barley and aged at least 3 years in oak (usually in old bourbon barrels) OR 3) a limited selection of blended scotches.

There are more than enough whiskeys in these categories to keep me my shelves and glasses full at all times.

LOL!

I'm not a huge scotch fan, but I do enjoy a bottle of Japanese whiskey every now and then to change things up. The Nikka coffee or From The Barrel is a nice change of pace. Brad
Click to expand...
 
Bradass80 said:
I'm not a huge scotch fan, but I do enjoy a bottle of Japanese whiskey every now and then to change things up. The Nikka coffee or From The Barrel is a nice change of pace. Brad
Click to expand...
I think I've got a couple bottles of Nikka From The Barrel in the cabinet of my desk.
Have you tried (White Oak) Akashi? It's nothing special; but it's an easy sipper and reasonably priced.
 
hhmoore said:
I think I've got a couple bottles of Nikka From The Barrel in the cabinet of my desk.
Have you tried (White Oak) Akashi? It's nothing special; but it's an easy sipper and reasonably priced.
Click to expand...

I have not tried that one. I'll have to give it a try, thanks for the suggestion. Brad
 
Been a little quiet around here lately. So, here's my latest contribution.

The photo shows the 2 bottles that I just purchased today -- Uncle Nearest 1884 - Small Batch Whiskey and Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon -- and the Spyderco Advocate is what I'm carrying today.

Uncle's has an interesting back story. Uncle Nearest purportedly taught Jack Daniel how to distill whiskey. Its a blend of sourced Tennessee distilled whiskeys. Uncle's Has received awards but has also received mixed reviews. The bottle cost me $55 at BevMo, so I hope the positive reviewers got it right.

Balcone's has also received awards and high ratings. They are aggressively bottling all kinds of liquor from bourbon to scotch to rum. They can't possibly do them all well. Got their Pot Still on sale at BevMo for just $20. So, no big deal if it disappoints.

Currently working on finishing a bottle of Barton's 1792 - Full Proof that's sitting on my counter for a quick pour. I've just been pouring it on ice; not taking the time to savor it at all because it runs too hot for me neat.

Mostly recently emptied bottles of Burning Chair - Barrel Select, Hudson Baby Bourbon, Boondock's 8 - Port Finished and Larceny - Small Batch. They were ok but they didn't "thrill me" and I do not intend to buy any of them again.

After buying tasting so many bourbons recently, I'm getting a lot fussier about the which bourbons I like. My current faves are: Eagle Rare 10, Michter's US1 - Small Batch, StillHouse Black Bourbon and Old Forester 1920 - Prohibition Style.

f8Ua0TO.jpg
 
Last edited:
sgt1372 said:
Been a little quiet around here lately. So, here's my latest contribution.

The photo shows the 2 bottles that I just purchased today -- Uncle Nearest 1884 - Small Batch Whiskey and Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon -- and the Spyderco Advocate is what I'm carrying today.

Uncle's has an interesting back story. Uncle Nearest purportedly taught Jack Daniel how to distill whiskey. Its a blend of sourced Tennessee distilled whiskeys. Uncle's Has received awards but has also received mixed reviews. The bottle cost me $55 at BevMo, so I hope the positive reviewers got it right.

Balcone's has also received awards and high ratings. They are aggressively bottling all kinds of liquor from bourbon to scotch to rum. They can't possibly do them all well. Got their Pot Still on sale at BevMo for just $20. So, no big deal if it disappoints.

Currently working on finishing a bottle of Barton's 1792 - Full Proof that's sitting on my counter for a quick pour. I've just been pouring it on ice and drinking it w/food; not taking the time to savor it at all because it runs too hot for me neat.

Mostly recently emptied bottles of Burning Chair - Barrel Select, Hudson Baby Bourbon, Boondock's 8 - Port Finished and Larceny - Small Batch. They were ok but they didn't "thrill me" and I do not intend to buy any of them again.

After buying tasting so many bourbons recently, I'm getting a lot fussier about the which bourbons I like. My current faves are: Eagle Rare 10, Michter's US1 - Small Batch, StillHouse Black Bourbon and Old Forester 1920 - Prohibition Style.

f8Ua0TO.jpg
Click to expand...

I've been meaning to give Balcones Bourbon a try for a while. I like Uncle Nearest, but I've only had the 1856 one that's 100 proof. It's a solid bottle though, I usually keep one on hand.
 
Just drove by my LLS today -- the one that always seems to be the only place where I can find certain "hard to find" bourbons in my area -- and discovered this sitting on the shelf.

Note the Feb 2021 bottling date.


NcZ0LZY.jpg


This is only the 2nd bottle of Blanton's that I've seen in my area since I started collecting bourbons.

The first one I saw at my local BevMo and it was priced at less than 1/2 of this one. I didn't buy it then because I had just started collecting bourbons and didn't realize how difficult it would be to find another.

This bottle is going into my reserve "library" of bourbons that I will not/do not plan to drink unless/until I can find/buy another bottle for less $ to open.

The only exception is for the Pinhook Bourbon War Vertical Series. Pinhook plans to continue bottling this series for the same bourbon as it ages from 4 to 12 years.

They have only issued the 4 & 5 year bottles so far, which are also in my "library." I plan to collect them all and do not plan to open any of them until they issue Vertical 10; 5 years from now, if I live so long. LOL! ;)
 
Last edited:
hhmoore said:
After seeing references to Pinhook, I checked the local shops. Only one available at the time was this one, at 114.5 proof.
View attachment 1546432

Not bad stuff...but, if we're being honest, I prefer Noah's Mill. No knives in the picture; but I posted my carry in another thread.
Click to expand...

I've got the same bottle of 114.5% High Proof - Bohemian Bourbon - open on my shelf.

Bought the lower 95% proof - Bohemim Bourbon - 1st and preferred the High Proof. My recollection is that I preferred the Pinhook High Proof to Noah's Mill too but I haven't tasted either of them for awhile. Probably time to do that and to also open the bottle of Rowan's Creek for a side-by-side comparison.

I got into Pinhook because I saw it pretty much everywhere I browsed for bourbon in my area and it's wide-availability is definitely appealing to me, as compared to trying to find certain "hard to find" and overpriced bottles.

I decided to get into their Vertical Series because I think it will be interesting to do taste comparisons w/the bottles of different "vintages," just like I do w/wine and, since it's well distributed, it should not be a problem getting the rest of the bottles in the series (unlike bottles of other distillers who are starting to bottle special annual blends each year too).

I have been purchasing a "premier" bottling of cabernet sauvignon from a local winery at $150-180/bottle since 2007 and I haven't opened the 2007 bottle (15 years since it was bottled and 18 yrs since it was barreled) yet.

Probably about time to pop that cork, LOL! ;)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top