OT: [Weekend Drinking Thread] Really nice bourbon to buy for guests who love bourbon?

Submitted by chuck bass on
Price no object (within reason), but reasonably easy to find. Just need one bottle to entertain a couple of bourbon-pref guests on Sunday.
 
What's everyone else sipping on this weekend?

Ecky Pting

December 24th, 2017 at 12:42 AM ^

I agree with the Four Roses Single Barrel (in the tapered rectangular bottle). Mind you the mash bill for this has a high rye content, making it a bit less sweet and more spicy.

Blanton's has the cool spherical bottle with the horsey ornament on the stopper. Makes a really noice gift! I gave to my uncle for his 70th which coincided with the Preakness a few years ago.

Lately, however, I've been very keen on the Eagle Rare, which is much lower rye content, (Knob Creek is comparable). Very smooth neat, and great with a splash of water or over a block of ice.

Bookers is also a low rye mash bill that is very smooth, yet will evaporate your esophagus the proof is so high. It's appropriate for special occasions, the most memorable for me being when my uncle brought it to my father's wake. It really cut through and hit the spot at the time, and helped repair the damages of the day.

Commie_High96

December 23rd, 2017 at 6:54 PM ^

I drank near a bottle of Bookers during the 2014 Notre Dame game. I’m surprised I am alive. Ever wake up from a night of drankin and find an almost empty bottle you just opened the night before? Not good.

BlueWon

December 23rd, 2017 at 8:34 PM ^

-law's stash last year. Is it good stuff? I was thinking about taking it to our annual UM football reunion game next year but, if it's too good, won't waste on my lousy buddies.

WirlingDirvish

December 23rd, 2017 at 4:57 PM ^

I really like giving Colonel E.H. Taylor as bourbon gifts. It comes in a nice easily wrapped container, should be around $45 (they have a rye that is more expensive) and is pretty tasty.

ESNY

December 23rd, 2017 at 9:16 PM ^

EH Taylor, Bookers or Bakers are all good choices and somewhat easily findable. Other options I like that are a bit less well known would be Jefferson reserve or ocean, Few bourbon or anything from High West (i prefer the campfire rye)

BernardC

December 23rd, 2017 at 5:03 PM ^

The Wifey is a corporate accountant at a large chain of liquor stores. Angels Envy by far is my favorite (and I've tried ALOT ~ she brings bottles home all the time that have been sampled by the liquor buyer). Their rye is amazing too. Rye is about $70, regular about $55.

chuck bass

December 23rd, 2017 at 5:09 PM ^

At the risk of sounding really stupid, why is rye more expensive?

Also, is good bourbon sort of cheap? It seems like most aficionados consider the good stuff in the $40-60 range? Is there just not great quality bottles in the $60-120 range? I do know that Pappy stuff is super expensive, but outside of that, I'm not sure.

My wife loves wine and it seems $75 100 150 bottles are pretty commonplace.

gbdub

December 23rd, 2017 at 5:33 PM ^

Good bourbon is much cheaper than similarly good Scotch. Pappy is impossible to find but still officially retails for ~$100.



They raised the price of Bookers to $80. No reason to pay more than that except for a really special release.



Tons of great $50 bourbons, and some great finds and daily drinkers for $30.

LSAClassOf2000

December 23rd, 2017 at 6:27 PM ^

I can confirm that - the Meijer near me in Belleville had it for $59.99, which isn't a bad price for it. I bought some to pass the time as it snows tomorrow. Seemed like a good idea, shoveling while buzzed and all that. 

gbdub

December 24th, 2017 at 8:17 PM ^

Beam is apparently experimenting with higher price points for their rarer bourbons, including Booker’s, to get more in line with Pappy/BTAC retail, and to see if the market to support it (since rare stuff is going for insane prices on secondary markets, they figure more of that ought to go to the distiller and “good guy” retailers that don’t mark up - can’t say I blame them).

Costco also usually has it for $55, but that’s in AZ.

Booker’s is a (delicious) commitment - a couple fingers of that, and don’t plan on doing anything else for the evening...

His Dudeness

December 23rd, 2017 at 8:19 PM ^

That and age. A lot of the "juice" is the same. Some mash bills are kept secret but you can tell what they are by where they're from.

I'm a Buffalo Trace guy mostly but I like Evan Williams and Elijah Craig from HH. And I do like old Forester 1920 (which is the only brown foreman product I will drink). Woodford is garbage. Anything from Jefferson is garbage too. That's all poor bourbon marketed as something special. None of it is. It's all blended crap in my opinion.