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throet

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Well, I'm certainly no expert, but I'd be willing to admit I'm a whisky enthusiast and an aspiring cognoscenti. Woodford is a classic bourbon in that it has the vanilla and caramel notes that you expect from aging in new oak casks, which are a requirement for bourbon. Some bourbons do have colla, coffee and chocolate and other notes though. In general I find more complex notes in higher proof whiskies. I do enjoy Woodford and it's an easy sipper, but I bet I've had more of that particular bourbon in the sky than on the ground...

 

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Well, I'm certainly no expert, but I'd be willing to admit I'm a whisky enthusiast and an aspiring cognoscenti. Woodford is a classic bourbon in that it has the vanilla and caramel notes that you expect from aging in new oak casks, which are a requirement for bourbon. Some bourbons do have colla, coffee and chocolate and other notes though. In general I find more complex notes in higher proof whiskies. I do enjoy Woodford and it's an easy sipper, but I bet I've had more of that particular bourbon in the sky than on the ground...
 
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Barry - around here, you’re an expert.


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6 hours ago, Barry said:

Yeah, I prefer plastic pallets, but wood pallets are more commonplace, and make better bonfires. 

 

HA! Seriously, while I consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to coffee and beer, when it comes to whiskey and wine my sophistication level is pathetic. I load up on Barefoot Cabernet for $4.50 a bottle and am happy I don't know any better (if I am really missing much). As far as Bourbon, can you guys recommend a decent bottle in the $30-35-ish range? I have tried a couple bottles of Treaty Oak Red Handed and am currently working on a bottle of Small Batch 1792 and have been happy with them, but would certainly like to try some recommendations (local preferred but I know that is quite limited).

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28 minutes ago, GFisher said:

HA! Seriously, while I consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to coffee and beer, when it comes to whiskey and wine my sophistication level is pathetic. I load up on Barefoot Cabernet for $4.50 a bottle and am happy I don't know any better (if I am really missing much). As far as Bourbon, can you guys recommend a decent bottle in the $30-35-ish range? I have tried a couple bottles of Treaty Oak Red Handed and am currently working on a bottle of Small Batch 1792 and have been happy with them, but would certainly like to try some recommendations (local preferred but I know that is quite limited).

I really don't shop local when it comes to whisky but in the price range you're looking at you really can't go wrong with Maker's. 

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19 hours ago, GFisher said:

HA! Seriously, while I consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to coffee and beer, when it comes to whiskey and wine my sophistication level is pathetic. I load up on Barefoot Cabernet for $4.50 a bottle and am happy I don't know any better (if I am really missing much). As far as Bourbon, can you guys recommend a decent bottle in the $30-35-ish range? I have tried a couple bottles of Treaty Oak Red Handed and am currently working on a bottle of Small Batch 1792 and have been happy with them, but would certainly like to try some recommendations (local preferred but I know that is quite limited).

Unfortunately everything local in that price range is going to be a blend or bulk spirit re-bottled with the distillers label on it. Red handed as I recall isn't distilled at T.O. and was okay but not anything worth buying again. 

I'd look to spend closer to $40 to keep it in texas and around $50-60.00 to keep your money in the austin area. If that price doesn't appeal to you, I'd for sure consider some of the big name conglomerate stuff as they make some good spirits for their prices. Spirits like Makers and Bulleit, High West, Gentleman Jack, ETC are a tried and true go-tos for sure.

I recommend you take a look at some of these is you're interested in local-ish stuff:

https://balconesdistilling.com/spirits/  -lots of great options

https://stillaustin.com/booze/ -austins only distillery and great bourbon & gin. 

https://realalebrewing.com/spirits-old/process/ -pricey, but good booze and beer

https://www.andalusiawhiskey.com/ - so far the high water mark for us

https://frogponddistillery.com/ - gin and vodka only but mom and pop

http://cypresscreekreserve.com/Cypress-Creek-Reserve-Home.html - cool as hell backyard distillery in wimberley and also make great vanilla extract

https://www.desertdoor.com/ -bad ass sotols. 

https://schitzcreek.com/ - haven't been but hear it's good

http://www.boxcarwhiskey.com/ - really like the boxcar, especially for the money

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDTM4BmrW1O/ - smithville distillery with a great bourbon and they are 100% local and sustainable (hard to source as theyve been through some changes)

Sure i've missed a bunch so feel free to tag in on some of these..........

 

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20 hours ago, GFisher said:

HA! Seriously, while I consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to coffee and beer, when it comes to whiskey and wine my sophistication level is pathetic. I load up on Barefoot Cabernet for $4.50 a bottle and am happy I don't know any better (if I am really missing much). As far as Bourbon, can you guys recommend a decent bottle in the $30-35-ish range? I have tried a couple bottles of Treaty Oak Red Handed and am currently working on a bottle of Small Batch 1792 and have been happy with them, but would certainly like to try some recommendations (local preferred but I know that is quite limited).

Ah, the "I don't know about wine" thread....come to papa.

Never much of a wine connoisseur so I always left it to others to pick it. Always had great wine if someone else was choosing, but mostly we drank beer.

Then my wife discovers a wine, Rocha delle Macie, it's an Italian Chianti Classico. She loves it. Our wine friends are impressed that she actually knows a wine, they want to encourage her, so when we are traveling in northern Italy, they plan a day at the Rocha delle Macie vineyards. We go. We do the full on tour. Impressive. Then we decide that we need a meal and we're way out in the sticks in the Chianti region. No problem the vineyard says, we have an restaurant that we are affiliated with, down the hill, it is top notch, many chefs have come from there. Sounds good.

I'm hauling down a tree-lined country road in Italy in my BMW 5-Series (rental) and my buddy screams "STOP!" I slam on the brakes, he tells me to back up and roll down my window. What do I see:

IMG_0903.thumb.JPG.f97927c151d63d0d03a8497d71e6f150.JPG

 

Yep. All four of us just start laughing.

You know the Olive Garden restaurant commercials where they talk about their "cooking school in Italy"? It exists. We ate there. It was mediocre in Italian terms. Did not taste like the OG crap that they serve here, but I could not believe that they send all of their chefs there. Well, they *could* but in reality it was not the kind of experience that you would pay to send a chef to, but I could see how they have that set up as a premium bonus for the top chefs, just a way to make them feel special. 

Now my wife has a much more refined taste and typically drink cabernets but I can't really discern an $8 bottle from a $25 bottle most times. ~95% of all the wine sold in the US is less than $14 a bottle so my wine friends tell me drink what you like and don't overpay because if you taste something you like, it has a very high probability of being under $14/bottle.

 

 

 

 

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Glad you got that one😉. Still f@ck around to that track on my wife's kit. 

Have been a big fan of the brothers since definitely and caught NGHFB at the moody a couple of years ago. This gin is a damn good choice for G&T especially for the price.

 

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Well if you are drinking gin, then try the mix that I had in Copenhagen one night with the Swedes: Gin (preferably Hendricks) and tonic with fresh cut cucumbers and fresh ground pepper on top. Generally I am not a fan of multi ingredient drinks but man did we put down a lot of those that night. I miss travel expense accounts.

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On 5/1/2020 at 8:22 PM, GFisher said:

I have tried a couple bottles of Treaty Oak Red Handed and am currently working on a bottle of Small Batch 1792 and have been happy with them, but would certainly like to try some recommendations (local preferred but I know that is quite limited).

Local isn't limited, it's quite huge actually. But as @ATXZJ pointed out, small distilleries are more expensive than the big ones, with just a few exceptions. If they are similarly priced to established whiskies, then that definitely means they're quite young. Although the TX heat seems to accelerate aging somewhat, so it sometimes works out.

 

I haven't grabbed it yet, but the new Balcones Bourbon is only about $35. I like Balcones quite a lot, and I'll get that bottle in the next few weeks. I don't have super high hopes, but I've only heard good feedback on it so far. Not bourbon, but another good very local whisky is the Spirit of Texas Pflugerville Single Malt, which runs about $40. A couple of years ago they were at a whisky festival and I had the chance to try it, and was really impressed--enough that I got a bottle a couple of weeks later. 

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On 5/4/2020 at 8:53 AM, Barry said:

I haven't grabbed it yet, but the new Balcones Bourbon is only about $35. I like Balcones quite a lot, and I'll get that bottle in the next few weeks. I don't have super high hopes, but I've only heard good feedback on it so far.

Well I'll have to revoke this suggestion now that I've had the bourbon. First off, it's only $29, and second, it isn't remotely worth even that. Like I said, I didn't have high hopes, but even then I was disappointed. And I should have known better, since it's only a 2 year old bourbon. You can often get away with that with malts or to a lesser extent rye, but corn whisky is never that good, IMO, when it is too grain forward. An boy-howdy, is this grain forward. It has none of the classic bourbon notes, and has a huge Play-Doh and glue notes that overwhelm any other flavors. Yuk. 

 

I don't like the Balcones Blue line for exactly the same reason, so I should have known better. I like the rye pretty well. I love their malt variants, and I love Brimstone. Interestingly, Brimstone is their Blue whisky, but with the added smoke it really fixes it up. 

 

But this...avoid this:

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On 5/1/2020 at 8:22 PM, GFisher said:

As far as Bourbon, can you guys recommend a decent bottle in the $30-35-ish range?

 So yeah, as has been suggested, get Maker's Mark. Or Wild Turkey 101. Or look for ANY variant of a Bottled in Bond bourbon. Bottle in Bond is basically a quality guarantee. A good one I've had a bit recently is Early Times Bottled in Bond. It has a crazy good price of about $20 for a 1L bottle. It's a little easy drinking (read as: "smooth" or not overly complex) for my preference, but it is quite good, and a steal for the price.  

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52 minutes ago, Barry said:

Well I'll have to revoke this suggestion now that I've had the bourbon. First off, it's only $29, and second, it isn't remotely worth even that. Like I said, I didn't have high hopes, but even then I was disappointed. And I should have known better, since it's only a 2 year old bourbon. You can often get away with that with malts or to a lesser extent rye, but corn whisky is never that good, IMO, when it is too grain forward. An boy-howdy, is this grain forward. It has none of the classic bourbon notes, and has a huge Play-Doh and glue notes that overwhelm any other flavors. Yuk. 

 

I don't like the Balcones Blue line for exactly the same reason, so I should have known better. I like the rye pretty well. I love their malt variants, and I love Brimstone. Interestingly, Brimstone is their Blue whisky, but with the added smoke it really fixes it up. 

 

But this...avoid this:

image.thumb.png.1d818f82a5c1cf19538c41aa73a40e5a.png

 

 So yeah, as has been suggested, get Maker's Mark. Or Wild Turkey 101. Or look for ANY variant of a Bottled in Bond bourbon. Bottle in Bond is basically a quality guarantee. A good one I've had a bit recently is Early Times Bottled in Bond. It has a crazy good price of about $20 for a 1L bottle. It's a little easy drinking (read as: "smooth" or not overly complex) for my preference, but it is quite good, and a steal for the price.  

Thanks.

I had that in my cart at specs curbside last week and backed out because i was skeptical of the the price/corn combination. I'm down with buying a corn based whiskey but a good corn bourbon is tough to find.

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1 hour ago, Barry said:

Early Times Bottled in Bond. It has a crazy good price of about $20 for a 1L bottle. It's a little easy drinking (read as: "smooth" or not overly complex) for my preference, but it is quite good, and a steal for the price.  

My wife's late grandfather drank nothing but Early Times...the one in the plastic bottle.  We bought him a bottle of Maker's and he still preferred the Early Times, which worked out OK so we could drink the Maker's and he'd drink the Early Times (in those little retirement/nursing home Solo cups of course).  Just one finger's worth a day, like my grandpa did with Mezcal.

Just this morning I saw an article from Vine Pair about low price bourbons, and I can't find that article but found a bunch others from the same site, including this:

https://vinepair.com/buy-this-booze/best-cheap-whiskey-brands-under-25-ranked/

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