Sorry for multi-responses, but I just today, while sipping a couple of bourbons, realized, "Hey, there must be a DiningBuzz thread on bourbon!"
Originally Posted by
BamaVol
You are right, the small batch distillery model is following in the footsteps of the craft brewing business. I don't feel like I can drink it fast enough to keep up. I think there is a market for smaller bottles (375 ml ?) of small batch bourbon, rye and single malt whiskies.
There sure seems to be. In some ways, it's a good thing: I can justify spending $35-40 on a 375 which I've never tried but which gets good reviews, when I can't quite do the same for a $85 750. In others, it's a bad thing: I'm seeing a lot of $50 375s these days!
Originally Posted by
FlyingDoctorwu
But there are some real gems emerging now. Four roses is absolutely killing it right now. Their small batch whisky is the best value around. All of the American whiskeys are really stepping their game up. It's a good time to be a whiskey drinker because there's a lot of excellent stuff out there.
I remain hopeful that the majority of the American whiskeys will remain undiscovered outside the US; it's already tough enough (and expensive enough) to find some of my favorites without having to compete with a robust market overseas gobbling it up. It is indeed a great time in the US to be a whiskey drinker, though.
Originally Posted by
TMOliver
Doyle Dane Bernbach was right 60+ years ago, when he took a modest blended Scotch, put it in a new bottle, added a fancy label and box, then doubled the price and told his affluent US audience that Chivas was the Scotch to drink. They did, thus proving that folks will pay more for a pig with lipstick.
Wasn't that the model used by several luxury watch makers? "We're not selling very well despite having a good product at a great price... well, add a zero to the price! Wow, look at how we're selling now!"
Originally Posted by
TMOliver
I recall being invited a few years to watch a panel of "Whiskey experts" make a series of entirely incorrect IDs, and pick some modest bottlings over super premiums.
You would have thought they were wine freaks.....
Studies do show that price has an impact on the perception of quality in a product. IIRC, there was one done on wines which showed even the experts tended to give higher scores to wines which they were told were pricier. That said, in blind tastings, I have typically found that I gravitate toward the pricier stuff even when I have no clue what a given spirit costs.
Originally Posted by
TWA884
[INDENT][URL="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-whiskey-booms-dirty-little-secret/"]CBS News - The whiskey boom's dirty little secret
Hey, I rather like some of the High West stuff, for example, and they don't distill much (if any) of their spirits yet. But I'm drinking their American Prairie Reserve right now, which is one of my favorite whiskeys, and I love their Midwinter's Dram rye, too.
Originally Posted by
Pdnecro8617
Late comer to this thread. I'm a prolific whisky drinker, basically a hobby for me:
1) Best bourbon I have ever had was Pappy Van Winkle 23 year old. I still dream of finding another bottle. This was before it took off (even then it was expensive, but I have not even seen it for sale since then) in 2008. Loved every drop of it. I dont even want to imagine what it would cost to get a bottle today. As good as it is, probably not worth it.
I prefer the 20, personally, but I've only seen it once in store, and for $1200 at that. Sorry, as great as it is, I'd pay no more than $300.
Best in my cellar... hmm, that's a good question. If I limit to bourbons, I love the Filibuster triple cask sherry-finished (untraditional, yes, but so rich in flavor), and one of the Abraham Bowman's I've got is quite nice. Noah's Mill is probably my favorite Kentucky bourbon in my collection at the moment.
Originally Posted by
Pdnecro8617
2) Worst bourbon.....that's tough. When I was in graduate school we drank some pretty nasty stuff that I wouldn't touch today (if for no other reason than I value my personal health). One that stood out was Ten High. I know some guys who swear by it, but I could not stomach it. Tasted awful. I tried pretty much everyway to drink it with no success.
When I was in college, Bowman's anything (including bourbon) was rotgut. They now produce only craft-style stuff in bourbons. (I don't even know if it's the same distillery, but it seems likely they were.)
I have a bottle of Balcones Baby Blue corn whiskey at the moment which I can barely drink neat. I love some of their other whiskeys, but there's something funky about that one--and it was $50 or so, so not exactly college student rotgut, either.
Originally Posted by
Pdnecro8617
3) A great cheap bourbon is Ezra Brooks. Where I live you can pick up a fifth for about $15 or so (if youre in a lower cost area Ive seen it for $12 or so). Decent drink, and can be consumed straight or on the rocks which is how I like mine.
Larceny is a good deal in VA for ~$25. I'm tempted to pick up a bottle to try steeping a vanilla bean in (as we do with decent rum); it's not so expensive that I'd be worried about ruining it, but it's also something I'd drink on its own anyway.