Favorite Whiskey?

And no salad in sight!!

 

Revisiting A119... it's not as burney as I remember. Maybe I'm adequately warmed up this time

When comparing it to 2019 B and C, this one came in last for me, and still does, but not by as wide of a margin as I had previously determined.

It's still just a little shiny but there's a rich oak to counter it, resulting in a cinnamon-burnt-sugar/creme brulee crust type flavor. I'd buy another bottle if I came across it. Strange, considering I nearly wrote off this batch last year.

 

Has that bottle been open for a while?

Edit- Reason is ask is, one of my tricks when I run across a bottle with too much burn and not enough character is to put it in my decanter and try it again in a couple of weeks. The extra oxygen usually is enough to dampen some of the burn and coax some of the other flavors out of the dark.

 

Two months or so, with maybe an ounce and a half missing before this pour. I see where you're going... and yeah, a little oxygen did this one a huge favor. Next pour I may leave in the glass for a while to see if it gets even better.

The best ECBP I've ever had was Batch 11, 139.4 proof, from 2016, and that bottle was half empty at the time I tried it. Then again, my beloved Stagg Jr. Batch 11 didn't quite age well after some air space was in the bottle. It was still delicious, but the first few pulls were magical to me.

Maybe my taste just changes over time

 

damn i'm just looking to find one. that stuff has been top of my search list since getting the standard EC. actually, @trekker, that was your suggestion at some point. it's always like that... EC is so easy to find and great, but if you want the real stuff let the search and wait begin.

 

Just traded away my A119. Going to miss out, but I got more Boookkkkkeeeerrrrrssss in return.

 

B518 > *

 

It's crazy how hard these things are to find around me, but when I go to other states they're available everywhere.

 

cus Texas believes in the hype machine. not into the hype but as long as the whiskey is good...

 

Ha! I expect no less from our resident Booker's aficionado! Your love of premium Beam offerings is similar to mine of premium Heaven Hill bottles

B518 is your favorite? Interesting. That's actually the first ECBP bottle I managed to get a hold of a few years ago, and it started me down this rabbit hole. A lot of folks clamored for C918 back then, but I always liked B518 more.

 

I'd say that's somewhat true. It's hard as hell to find these, Stagg jr. bottles (and other BT bottles), but I also see regular BT and WSR everywhere out here, and there are plenty parts of the country that rarely get those. It also doesn't help that I live close to Houston, the 4th largest city in the US... lots of bourbon hunters here. That's one of the reasons why Scotch is my main jam

Seems like some regions are hot spots for certain bottles, and other regions are black holes for certain bottles.

 

i'm noticing that a bit. i'm not huge into hunting, i just keep my eyes peeled, but i'm seeing some trends like that. lucky for me i'm easy to please and have gotten more friendly with a couple buyers at local shops.

 

That's the key, find a good shop and develop a good relationship with them. Wish my local guy was more up-front about things. Last year he burned me a bit, but it is what it is. Everybody is out there looking for the same thing and there's just not enough to go around.

I've offered samples, meetups, show my face in there once a week (at least)... all in the hopes of scoring that one special limited bottle that I can't ever catch. Is it worth it? I dunno... there's a lot of readily available stuff that is delicious. Then again I've only been at this for a few years while working through what I really like. Now that I've settled down on a few favorite distilleries, my buying has slowed down a lot as well.

 

Golf aiming oil

 

I like it a lot. It's very smooth and has a subtle smokey finish to it. They age it at least 3 years then mix it with other Reserva batches that are up to 30 years old. There are other good extra anejo tequilas that are not as expensive, but I first had this variety down in Mexico and it has good memories associated with it.
Unfortunately in Oregon, retail on this bottle is $188.95 at the moment. I'm kicking myself for not grabbing a bottle in the duty-free store on our way back from Mexico. It was either $75 or $100 for the same bottle. I picked some up in Minnesota last fall, for closer to $130.

 

That flask is badass. Gotta be good for at least 5 strokes off your score.

 

Well thanks to a completely awesome person here I know what I’m going to be drinking at some point this weekend.

 

aka 'Swing Lube'