Favorite Whiskey?

Michter’s US 1.

 

Buffalo Trace has been my go to for a whiskey sour but I’m a fan of Monkey Shoulder too so I’m going to have to try this soon! Thanks for the tip.

 

I found a $15 bottle of 'Bear Moon Spirits' California Whiskey today at Grocery Outlet. I can't find much about them online. Their website only shows a vodka and I can't find a single whiskey reference online. They've been in business in SF since 2015.
It's very light in color, guessing only a couple years in a barrel if that. It's actually quite good for what is. I'm thinking of adding a stave spiral for a couple weeks to see how that effects the taste. I've never done that before. Does anyone have experience with these? If so...suggestions?

Has anyone heard of this distillery?

 

I'm sure someone may chime in with useful info but that's all I thought of

 

Never heard of that one but I have you beat on the cheap factor. My friend that actually got me started down the road of whiskey tasting had a bottle of this stuff and it's actually not half bad for what it is. I'm not normally a scotch drinker but I had the wife pick me up a bottle and had a pour last night.

 

I'm afraid that my experience with scotch that cheap has been that it's a waste of good barley. Hornsby or Scoresby or something like that, I think.

 

GLENFIDDICH 14 YEAR SINGLE MALT - Bourbon Barrel Reserve

So smooth...

 

I'm ready to dip my toes into the scotch realm a bit, I will have to give those a try. I do know that I am not a fan of Johnnie Walker Black, I could hardly finish one glass of the stuff.

 

Whatever it was (I'm leaning towards Scoresby; I can't find Hornsby with a google) was pretty bad. Very little flavor, and almost had a muddy aftertaste. Couldn't put my finger on what it was, but something was off.

 

I'd guess they don't actually distill the whiskey - probably buy it (MGP?) and label it as their own. I've seen several "California" whiskeys at Total Wine but are not actually distilleries.

I saw this one the other day, after the 49ers whooped Vikings, and figured someone at Gold Bar ran around all the stores to hang the Official tag on them! It all seemed rather gimmicky but I looked them up when I got home. Couple Napa wine makers started aging whiskey in large ex wine barrels. Looks interesting but I wouldn't chance buying a whole bottle before buying one.

https://goldbarwhiskey.com/whiskey/

 

Haha, ok so I know what to avoid at least

 

Yeah, I would say avoid it.
J&B, Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, etc. are in the 'cheap but decent' category. Much lower than that and I find that I end up with a headache.

 

My favorite

 

Bet it's less than 2 years. I've had a whiskey that was aged in a barrel for 3 months and that's about the color it took on. For whatever it is worth, it was not very good whiskey.

I was gifted some of those staves one Christmas. On a whim, I put one in a bottle of OGD 114. The color definitely darkened and I think there was a hint of more oak/char, but I didn't know if it was all in my head.

For another, I had about a liter left of Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star. I put half in an empty bottle with a little spiral in it. I left the other half in the AAA10S bottle. Every now and again, I'd turn the bottle with the spiral in it. After about 3-4 weeks, I did a side-by-side of AAA10S, AAA10S + cheap charred spiral, and Blanton's Single Barrel (since they are the same mashbill).

The Blanton's was the best of the three, still, but the one with the spiral in it wasn't that far off. Some of the bitter harshness that comes with a 3 year, bottom shelf bourbon was gone and there was a little richness that was almost like raisins that was present. The finish went from really short to almost passable as medium.

I did one spiral in a bottle of Very Old Barton, too. I had half a bottle with a spiral and half a bottle without. I blind tested with 5 buddies. 3 liked the one with the spiral, 2 the regular, HOWEVER, it is worth noting that most said that they didn't really notice a difference, but if they had to pick, they'd pick the one that they did. That means there was about a 50/50 shot on either being picked anyways.

Long story summed up? They might do something in a cheap bottle, but it might just be placebo. The color will be noticeably darker in a young-ish whiskey, so something is happening. If you put it in a cheap bottle, you're increasing the cost on that bottle by 30% or more, so keep that in mind.

 

Good to know! I've got a few spires sitting around and wanted to put one in an OGD but never remember to do it.

 

Here for the next 20 minutes if anyone wants one

 

Killer price

 

Picked up country ham at the same price, same Costco not too long ago

 

Damn I wish our Costco sold liquor in the store...

 

Damn, man.....that's an incredible price. Wish it was the same here .