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sgt1372 said:
BevMo emailed me a 1 day only $10 off coupon and I just remembered that I saw some Pinhook Bourbon War - Vertical Series 4 on the shelf at my local BevMo. So, I decided to head over there to buy it.

Looks like they "found" some new "old stock" because there were 12 of them on the shelf and they weren't even logged into inventory yet.

I only bought 1 for $50 to go w/the Bourbon War - Vertical Series 5 that I bought previously. Am just going to "collect" these bottles for awhile and open them all when they get to Vertical Series 10 (the Series ends at 12).

Apparently, unlike scotch, bourbon does not hold up well in-cask too long; 10-12 yrs is the longest most "experts" recommend before the bourbon starts to get too "oaked."

I also picked up a bottle of Willet Distillery's Rowan's Creek (for another $50) to pair w/the Noah's Mill that I already have. Will open/taste it later.

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Definitely give us tasting notes on those!

Have you tried Rowan's creek and Noah's mill before?
Let us know some tasking notes on them!!
 
Here's a few tips on an old fashioned.

A precise jigger really helps.
1.5 oz bourbon (can also use 2 oz)
0.25 oz simple syrup (or to taste)
2 dashes of bitters of your choice
Orange slice.
Cherry (I skip the cherry)

1. Ice cube in lowball glass
2. Simple syrup onto ice
3. Bitters onto ice/ simple syrup
4. 1.5- 2 oz of bourbon
5. Stir 20 rotations or 10-15 seconds.
6. Express orange peel to release oils over top of drink.
7. Insert orange peel.
8. Enjoy your drink!!

Mixology is another of my Many hobbies.
I just need to make myself an LC200N peeler. Most store bought ones are trash.
 
l1ranger said:
let us know on that rowans Creek. I have the Noah's Mill and like it. its a bit different, has a strong sweetness to me - but not overpowering or offputting
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I'll have to try that out.
I do like sweet whiskey.
Some can be too sweet.
(Balcones baby blue corn whiskey- super sweet, definitely a dessert whiskey.)
 
unwisefool said:
Going to try it tomorrow, got home too late tonight. It's only $25, so if it's not great I'll just use it to make some cocktails. I did give my friends your email address just in case they would like to vent their disappointment if it's no good :p
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Didn't know you had my direct email address but they certainly can dump on me here if they like. ;)

FWIW, I just revisited Finlaggan today -- 2 drams and 4 ozs worth -- and while it is NOT Lagavulin, it's still pretty close and you could do a lot worse for just $20-25/bottle if you're looking for a smokey/peaty scotch to try out or just drink instead of the "good" and more expensive stuff.

However, I don't think I'm going to buy another bottle.

I only bought it as an "experiment" and was very pleasantly surprised w/the result but, with the limited shelf space that I have left, which is currently full with about 40 bottles of scotch and 25 bottles of bourbon, I'd prefer to make room for other more notable bottles.

Among the scothes on my current buy list are:

Balvenia Caribbean Cask 14
Glenfiddich 18
Glenfiddich XX
Glenlivet 18
Glenfarclas 17
Macallan 12
Gendronach Revival 15
Glenmorangie 18
Genmorangie Quinta Ruban 14

All fine pours that deserve some space and time on my shelf. :)
 
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sgt1372 said:
Didn't know you had my direct email address but they certainly can dump on me here if they like. ;)

FWIW, I just revisited Finlaggan today -- 2 drams and 4 ozs worth -- and while it is NOT Lagavulin, it's still pretty close and you could do a lot worse or more and no better for less if you're looking for a smoky version of Islay for just $20-25/bottle.

Personally, I don't think I'm going to buy another bottle. I only bought it as an "experiment" and was very pleasantly surprised w/the result but, with the limited shelf space that I have available, I'd prefer to make room for other more notable bottles.

Among those on my current buy list are:

Balvenia Caribbean Cask 14
Glenfiddich 18
Glenfiddich XX
Glenlivet 18
Glenfarclas 17
Macallan 12
Gendronach Revival 15
Glenmorangie 18
Genmorangie Quinta Ruban 14

All fine pours that deserve some space and time on my shelf. :)
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Luckily I have three bars so I have lots of space for booze haha. I'm going to pick up one or two more bottles. I had my friend taste it the other day and he liked it as well.

That list you have has a bunch of nice bottles on it! I still have an old sealed glenmorangie 18 that I'm going to open one of these days.
 
unwisefool said:
Luckily I have three bars so I have lots of space for booze haha. I'm going to pick up one or two more bottles. I had my friend taste it the other day and he liked it as well.

That list you have has a bunch of nice bottles on it! I still have an old sealed glenmorangie 18 that I'm going to open one of these days.
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Glad to hear your friend liked it as, I assume, you did too. :)

I usually only buy a new bottle when a bottle is nearing empty and I only do that for my favorite spirits, like Lagavulin 16.

The only whisky (scotch or bourbon) that I'm considering buying extra bottles of right now is Eagle Rare 10, which I really like but is going up in price and becoming harder to find.

Only have 1 extra bottle of Eagle Rare 10 on hand but know a place where I could buy at least 5 more bottles for just $32/bottle (which I think is only $3 over its MSRP). May head there to do that this weekend.
 
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ShannonSteelLabs said:
Definitely give us tasting notes on those!

Have you tried Rowan's creek and Noah's mill before?
Let us know some tasking notes on them!!
Click to expand...

You'll have to wait at least 5 years for tasting notes on the Pinhook Vertical 4 and 5 because my plan is to not open any of them until Vertical 10 is released; the series is due to end in 7 years w/Vertical 12.

I have a bottle of Noah's Mill that I've already tasted, which I found extremely hot and medicinal, impossible to drink neat and enjoyed it best on the rocks for that reason. However, that was awhile ago when I had fewer "full strength" boubons to compare with it. So, standby for a reassessment.

As for Rowen Creek, I just bought it and haven't opened the bottle yet. The plan was to compare it directly side-by-side w/Noah's Mill. Standby for that too.
 
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sgt1372 said:
Glad to hear your friend liked it as, I assume, you did too. :)

I usually only buy a new bottle when a bottle is nearing empty and I only do that for my favorite spirits, like Lagavulin 16.

The only whisky (scotch or bourbon) that I'm considering buying extra bottles of right now s Eagle Rare 10, which I really like but is going up in price and becoming harder to find.

Only have 1 extra bottle of Eagle Rare 10 on hand but know a place where I could buy at least 5 more bottles for just $32/bottle (which I think is only $3 over its MSRP). May head there to do that this weekend.
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Eagle rare 10 is very good for the price. I've got 3 bottles, but wouldn't mind finding a few more. If you can get 5, do it. Noah's Mill can be hit or miss, I've got one that's really good, but my buddy had one that was not nearly as tasty.

I'm going to try and pick up another single barrel WhistlePig tomorrow.
 
unwisefool said:
Eagle rare 10 is very good for the price. I've got 3 bottles, but wouldn't mind finding a few more. If you can get 5, do it. Noah's Mill can be hit or miss, I've got one that's really good, but my buddy had one that was not nearly as tasty.

I'm going to try and pick up another single barrel WhistlePig tomorrow.
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I am very jealous.
I've always wanted to try a single barrel from whistlepig.

I've never even seen those bottles out in the wild! Definitely going to be a great score!
 
ShannonSteelLabs said:
I am very jealous.
I've always wanted to try a single barrel from whistlepig.

I've never even seen those bottles out in the wild! Definitely going to be a great score!
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They are really good. And at least where I am, the single barrel picks are only $5 more than the standard 10, even though they are 15 to 17 years.

The store I go to has 6 or 7 different whistlepig single barrel options
 
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unwisefool said:
I'm going to try and pick up another single barrel WhistlePig tomorrow.
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My local TWM has a bottle of Whistle Pig 10 Yr Private Rye Barrel Select available fort $95 and 7 other variations in stock for $43 to $240 - the latter being a bottle of 15 Yr Cask Strength Barrel Select. Don't know if those are competitive prices or not.

Still not interested/ready to buy any rye whisky but probably will if/when I get done exploring bourbons which (being mainly a scotch drinker) are still relatively new to me
 
sgt1372 said:
My local TWM has a bottle of Whistle Pig 10 Yr Private Rye Barrel Select available fort $95 and 7 other variations in stock for $43 to $240 - the latter being a bottle of 15 Yr Cask Strength Barrel Select. Don't know if those are competitive prices or not.

Still not interested/ready to buy any rye whisky but probably will if/when I get done exploring bourbons which (being mainly a scotch drinker) are still relatively new to me
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So here's a fun fact about whistlepig, they don't like to change the labels they have, so most of their barrel select bottles are sold with their 10 year old label instead of the actual age. And most liquor stores, especially the state run ones, won't mark it up because the label says 10 year instead of 17. Some of the more expensive age statement bottlings have different finishes as well, so that adds to the price a lot. But the single barrel are the best bang for your buck, at least to me.
 
unwisefool said:
Eagle rare 10 is very good for the price. I've got 3 bottles, but wouldn't mind finding a few more. If you can get 5, do it. Noah's Mill can be hit or miss, I've got one that's really good, but my buddy had one that was not nearly as tasty.
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I went to my LLS today and bought 5 more bottles of Eagle Rare 10.

So, now I have 6 in my wine rack and one on the shelf and don't have to worry about finding/buying any more for a long, long time. Also bought a bottle of Baker's 7 Single Barrell while I was there too.
 
ShannonSteelLabs said:
Here's a few tips on an old fashioned.

A precise jigger really helps.
1.5 oz bourbon (can also use 2 oz)
0.25 oz simple syrup (or to taste)
2 dashes of bitters of your choice
Orange slice.
Cherry (I skip the cherry)

1. Ice cube in lowball glass
2. Simple syrup onto ice
3. Bitters onto ice/ simple syrup
4. 1.5- 2 oz of bourbon
5. Stir 20 rotations or 10-15 seconds.
6. Express orange peel to release oils over top of drink.
7. Insert orange peel.
8. Enjoy your drink!!

Mixology is another of my Many hobbies.
I just need to make myself an LC200N peeler. Most store bought ones are trash.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the "Old Fashioned" recipe and preparation tips.

That's pretty much the way I've been trying to make one but I just had my 1st professionally made Old Fashioned. It was made w/Eagle Rare 10 and was FAR BETTER than anything that I have tried to make myself.

Guess I'll just have to keep trying to make it better . . . ;)
 
my guess is they have better bitters.
around here - bitters options are very limited on any shelf, and the better options when you can find them are quite pricey. I dont use them enough to justify spending the money, but at a good bar, it makes sense.
 
sgt1372 said:
Thanks for the "Old Fashioned" recipe and preparation tips.

That's pretty much the way I've been trying to make one but I just had my 1st professionally made Old Fashioned. It was made w/Eagle Rare 10 and was FAR BETTER than anything that I have tried to make myself.

Guess I'll just have to keep trying to make it better . . . ;)
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Practice makes perfect!!!!
I took a bartending class years back and mess around with mixology as a hobby.
Its a good time.
 
l1ranger said:
my guess is they have better bitters.
around here - bitters options are very limited on any shelf, and the better options when you can find them are quite pricey. I dont use them enough to justify spending the money, but at a good bar, it makes sense.
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I'm certainly not a bitters expert and just went w/the one you always hear mentioned - Angostura, which paid $11 for a 4 oz/bottle.

Bought it at my local BevMo but there were others from a low of $8 for 5 oz of Peychaud and $10 for Fee Brothers to $23 for 5 oz of Scrappy's Orange.

So, which bitters do you like best?

When I go back to the restaurant where I go the Old Fashioned, I'll have to ask which bitters they use.

Frankly, it was the 1st and only Old Fashioned that I've ever ordered tasted but I liked, even though I don't usually order a cocktail, except for a martini which I have very definite opinions about.

PS: BevMo also have prepared simple syrups for sale which I opted not to purchase.

I have not bothered to make my own yet but have instead just used a sugar cube (as suggest in one recipe that I saw) dissolved in a little bit of water, before adding the bitters and bourbon, which I assume may have also affected the taste as well. Will try making some simple syrup to see if it makes a difference.
 
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i just keep peychaud on hand at the house - its good enough for my uses. I'm more of a Manhattan guy, and I play with other mixers rather than sweet vermouth to mix it up.
one place that I've had both manhattans and old fashioned, with bitters - the bartender will use a different bitters based on what whiskey he is using for the cocktail. using orange, cherry, chocolate, or other bitters to better complement the whiskey. Way above my paygrade, but at a bourbon tasting the same bartender spent a good time talking with us all and discussed the use of bitters a bit.

there really isnt much else to the old fashioned to change (ice maybe?)
 
I love paychauds bitters.
But Angostura is my most used.
I also have the Angostura orange with is very nice. (Also works with mezcal old fashioned's)
 
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