Bourbon - Your Favorite & Why ?

[Charlie Brown]

This is a spin off thread from the Scotch thread which really shared some good ideas.

Bourbon has been my choice of liquor for decades and I enjoy different ones for different reasons - I'd like to hear your reason(s) for your favorite bourbon, I might be missing something worthwhile.

Markers Mark - because of the smoothness and unique flavor.

Woodford Reserve - same as Makers Mark for the reason but a totally different taste.

I've had many of the standard bourbons you see behind the bar at your favorite watering holes and once in a while I'll splurge & buy something like a Pappy Von Winkle vintage bottle and sip on it for months.

For you truly wine, spirits, and gourmet finger foods connoisseurs, I'd strongly suggest you visit the Spec's original location in downtown Houston - 2410 Smith Street. The store is as large as a Central Market and it has an extremely wide variety of some of the finest vittles that exist. TripAdvisor has it a strong 5 out of 5 rating.

In the select area of the store they have some unusually expensive bottles: $175, 000 bottles of liquor and wines over $1,000 and higher. Man, if I only knew the day I'm going to die. What a way to spend all my assets and throw in a dozen or so of my favorite providers !

As it's been written by someone - " If I had a million bucks, I'd spend over half of it on whiskey & women and the rest I'd just waste. "

[themoose]

I will offer a very good bourbon idea that I sip ocassionally: Booker's Small Batch. Its a very tasty beverage that Beam releases 4 to 6 times yearly with each batch given a month/year date and a batch name on the bottle. Its in a cool wooden box type package and is around $60 to $70 in TX. I have one bottle open, dated 2015, and it will warm you on a cool evening like tonight.

[NonProphet]

My palate for Bourbon is fairly unsophisticated, I prefer smooth, sweet and a proof above 80.

That said, Weller is my daily driver these days. I'd been previously enamored with Bulleit, but have opted to spend my money elsewhere due to some ideological differences with the manufacturer.

I'm always on the lookout for a legit bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 20 y/o, but have never had the good fortune to come across it.

[grean]

How are we actually defining bourbon in this thread?

Made in USA, 51% or more corn, greater than 80 but less than 125 proof?

[Charlie Brown]

Originally Posted by grean

How are we actually defining bourbon in this thread?

Made in USA, 51% or more corn, greater than 80 but less than 125 proof?

With all due respect, I'm not defining it grean. Obviously, you can Google bourbon and you get the strict interpretation.

The point is to get some fresh ideas and suggestions like we saw in the scotch thread.

Some might say a blended whiskey is not bourbon and that's OK if when you drink it, look at it, taste it, you know you're not drinking vodka or scotch - you're drinking bourbon in the broad sense of the category.

Take Crown Royal for instance, it's a Canadian Blended Whiskey. I refer to it as STRIPPERS BOURBON because it's sweet and in those BYOB nudie bars, the strippers often drink it, particularly the younger ones. Chicks approaching or on the other side of 40, hell, they might be mixing more than two liquors in the same glass. They're drinking for effect, not flavor.

Some friends gave me a bottle of Booker's the other day - expensive and with a great deep bourbon taste but it's 63.7% alcohol ( not proof mind you, alcohol content ). You drink two or three in an hour and the next hour is spent with your head spinning. The easier on your head alternate is the Knob Creek at 100 proof - and better tasting for my palate.

I'm wondering about the unique versions of some of these well known liquors?

[grean]

Originally Posted by Charlie Brown

With all due respect, I'm not defining it grean. Obviously, you can Google bourbon and you get the strict interpretation.

The point is to get some fresh ideas and suggestions like we saw in the scotch thread.

Some might say a blended whiskey is not bourbon and that's OK if when you drink it, look at it, taste it, you know you're not drinking vodka or scotch - you're drinking bourbon in the broad sense of the category.

Take Crown Royal for instance, it's a Canadian Blended Whiskey. I refer to it as STRIPPERS BOURBON because it's sweet and in those BYOB nudie bars, the strippers often drink it, particularly the younger ones. Chicks approaching or on the other side of 40, hell, they might be mixing more than two liquors in the same glass. They're drinking for effect, not flavor.

Some friends gave me a bottle of Booker's the other day - expensive and with a great deep bourbon taste but it's 63.7% alcohol ( not proof mind you, alcohol content ). You drink two or three in an hour and the next hour is spent with your head spinning. The easier on your head alternate is the Knob Creek at 100 proof - and better tasting for my palate.

I'm wondering about the unique versions of some of these well known liquors?

Sure I only asked because I would throw TX whiskey in, but I believe it's a blend. It's an amber spirit and isn't labeled a bourbon but quite tastey .

[Crock]

Originally Posted by grean

Sure I only asked because I would throw TX whiskey in, but I believe it's a blend. It's an amber spirit and isn't labeled a bourbon but quite tastey .

TX marketed a blended whiskey while their bourbon (distilled here) was aging. You can now get TX bourbon and it's pretty good.

My preference is for the wheated bourbons. Maker's Mark is good, but I'll let you in on a secret: Rebel Yell is just as good and is a third the price. Yes, that bottom shelf "rotgut" is actually decent bourbon. And their 10 year offerings are even better! Music trivia: it was also the inspiration for Billy Idol's hit song.

And I'm also constantly on the lookout for another bottle of Pappy's. Wheated bourbons FTW!

[Charlie Brown]

I'd throw Texas whiskey's in here.

Here's a nice one. Only had one bottle but it's a good tasting premium one.



For entertainment purposes - I bet she drinks bourbon !

[grean]

Jeez you're going to derail your own thread posting tits and kittens in it. Who is that?

[Charlie Brown]

Now now, I suggested she drinks bourbon !

No clue who she is. Hell, she's so freakin' perfect she might be computer generated.

[Crock]

Originally Posted by Charlie Brown

With all due respect, I'm not defining it grean. Obviously, you can Google bourbon and you get the strict interpretation.

The point is to get some fresh ideas and suggestions like we saw in the scotch thread.

Some might say a blended whiskey is not bourbon and that's OK if when you drink it, look at it, taste it, you know you're not drinking vodka or scotch - you're drinking bourbon in the broad sense of the category.

Take Crown Royal for instance...

No. Just no.

Bourbon is legally defined by the United States Government. There are plenty of fine American (and Canadian and Japanese and Scottish and Irish and, well, you get the point) whiskies, but that doesn't mean they're bourbon.

Bourbon is a very specific type of whiskey.

[grean]

Originally Posted by Crock

No. Just no.

Bourbon is legally defined by the United States Government. There are plenty of fine American (and Canadian and Japanese and Scottish and Irish and, well, you get the point) whiskies, but that doesn't mean they're bourbon.

Bourbon is a very specific type of whiskey.

Party pooper

[grean]

We could retitle it brown liquor....

[Charlie Brown]

Originally Posted by Crock

No. Just no.

Bourbon is legally defined by the United States Government. There are plenty of fine American (and Canadian and Japanese and Scottish and Irish and, well, you get the point) whiskies, but that doesn't mean they're bourbon.

Bourbon is a very specific type of whiskey.

I know all this shit Crock. This fact was lobbied long ago to help protect our mostly Kentucky distillers.

It's not about the politics !

If there's some great foreign bourbons, I want to hear about them !

[Crock]

So far the discussion has been limited to whiskey. Unless you want to also discuss rum, tequila, and other liquors...

On the topic of liquor identity, Jack Daniels qualifies as a bourbon, but has always stuck with "Tennessee Whiskey" instead of calling itself bourbon. It's lobbied hard to get the law changed to protect the identity of "Tennessee Whiskey" similar to the way bourbon is protected. Anyone know if that has become a legal identity?