Just to circle back, she does like the 1792. Good call!
Hopefully she'll like one or two others mentioned earlier too. But next time out, I may buy a bottle of 1792 and one of the others just in case.

At that price point… Basil Hayden? Maybe EH Taylor Small Batch too if you can find it at the $39 MSRP, she didn’t like Buffalo Trace but the EHT tends to dial back the sweetness a bit and bring on more of a spice which I think puts it closer to some of the ones she enjoyed like Four Roses and Michter’s Small Batch.

Thanks. I forgot to list Basil Hayden. I think she was indifferent to it, but it's not one of my favorites. I think you're right, I'm starting to figure out her palate. She likes spice over sweet, and likes a smooth finish. I would put Four Roses, Michter's and 1792 all in that profile, or at least close. I haven't tried the EHT, but will look for it in the future.

In the Jack Daniels/Woodfield family is also Cooper's Craft in 83 and 100 proofs.

The Jim Beam family has Beam Bottled in Bond at 100 proof and if available in your area, Old Tub, which is unfiltered Jim Beam aged at least 4 years.

Both Larceny 92 and Old Fitzgerald Bottled In Bond are part of the Heaven Hill tree but are more wheated bourbons (20% wheat and 60% corn).

Has she tried any MGP-sourced brands?

I can't seem to find the bonded bottles anymore. At $20, they were my go-to travel buddies. Thanks for the heads-up on Old Tub. Probably going to find a bottle of it today.

Had to look up their brands, and I'm a little confused. Looks like they are part of Luxco with their own brands but supply others too? I don't think we've tried any of the Luxco brands.

Other way around, they bought Luxco within the last year. They've been an outright massive producer of distilled spirits, both bourbons and ryes, for quite a long time now. They're arguably the biggest operation in the whiskey game that no one's ever heard of. For many years, they white-labeled and sold most of their product to non-distilling producers (who in turn bottled it under their own labels, and operated with varying levels of transparency about who was actually making the product), but more recently started bottling more of their own brands. If a whiskey label says it was distilled in Indiana, chances are it's MGP.

Their own house brands include, right now, Rossville Union rye, George Remus bourbon and a few others. But there are many more brands out there using MGP distillate. Smoke Wagon, Untitled, even Jeppson's (and don't let the label conjure up any PTSD, it's nothing like Malort). I'd maybe try a couple of those, and if they hit the mark, widen the net for other MGP-sourced brands.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for those. And as a Chicagoan, thank you for the Malort reference. It's one of the foulest tasting liquors I've ever come across.

Had both 2021 VW Lot B and Eagle Rare 17. Both were good, but the ER blew the Lot B out of the water. Past years I thought the ER didn’t hold up because of its low proof point, but this year’s has a ton of spice that really kicks up the complexity and depth. Highly recommend.

Would love to try that ER17. I've become a big fan of ER -- it shows up every once in a while in NC.

Now if only we could get our hands on either of those more exclusive in NC. I've resigned myself to either never trying these or finding a bar when I finally start business travel again and offsetting the bar cost from my per diem -- I'm just not willing to shell out the insane secondary prices, unless it comes with a gold bar there's no bourbon worth paying that much money (unless I win the lottery one day)

Road trip to KY?

David

I grew up in Chicago and had never heard of Malort until a few years ago when my niece's husband (who doesn't drink) tried to get me to do a shot of it. I told him it's bad form to try to get others to do a shot when you won't join them.

It is. It seems kind of like an inside joke here to get visitors to try a shot. Meanwhile, no one I know would ever actually have one. Occasionally, when sitting at a bar with an out of town buddy the bartender has offered one for free when he learns the friend isn't from here. And the fact that the Binny's near me stocks about 3 bottles tells me something about its overall popularity.

To clear any confusion on the owners/distillers of major brands, this chart is helpful.