Bourbon Hootenanny

[tb-av]

Well if rum counts I would put a vote in for Appleton Estate Rare Blend 12 year. It's under $35 and a really nice rum. I'm still convinced that the bottles we bought in Jamaica were better / smoother but it's still good. Aside from the much more expensive stuff I've tried a lot of the rums and it's pretty much as good if not better.

The Devil's Backbone Brewery here in the mountains of VA has put out a Blackstrap Rum. I need to try that. It's the same price as Appleton. Be nice to see how they compare.

[soulezoo]

I have a confession... I didn't open any of the bottles in the picture. I had some Blanton's that was already opened, followed by a wee dram of eagle rare. Had some Ron Zacapa XO and finished with Pierre Ferrand cognac with a Cohiba.

[dmaxfireman]

I have a confession... I didn't open any of the bottles in the picture. I had some Blanton's that was already opened, followed by a wee dram of eagle rare. Had some Ron Zacapa XO and finished with Pierre Ferrand cognac with a Cohiba.

Did you win the BTAC in a raffle?

[Hmac]

I'm a scotch drinker, pretty much any of the speyside single malts, but my preference over the years has been the Macallan 18. Glenmorangie 18 runs an economical close second, although I recently re-discovered the Aberlour. I'll drink the Macallan preferentially with company at home, but what I order on the road depends entirely on who's buying the round.

I've never been a bourbon fan, but my wife and I took a nice tour of the Green Brier distillery in Nashville recently. Interesting story behind this craft distillery, a newly-resurrected version of the distillery that was the very foundation of Tennessee bourbons (Green Brier is/was Distillery No. 5...as opposed to Jack Daniels which is Distillery No. 7), but the upshot is that one of their current Tennessee bourbons is from a recipe way back in their history when they made whiskey for the Belle Meade plantation. Today, Green Brier's Belle Meade bourbon, especially the Cognac cask, is some of the smoothest and best bourbon I've had. If you're a bourbon drinker, this is the stuff to try. If you're rye-sensitive (for some people, high-rye content can make a whiskey taste harsh), the Sherry cask is an exceptional alternative.





I would add that, if you're an aperitif fan, their Louisa's coffee-caramel-pecan liqueur is pretty remarkable and I just moved all the Bailey's to the back of the cabinet. Louisa Nelson was the wife of the founder of the distillery who took over the distillery when he died. She had the distinction of being the only female CEO of a big company back then, not to mention a whiskey company. She was smart enough to completely get out of the whiskey business just in advance of Tennessee prohibition in 1909. The family's roots in the whiskey business became only family rumor until a couple of college kids, great-great-great-great grandsons of the progenitor, accidentally re-discovered those roots at a historical marker adjacent to a Nashville highway 5 or 6 years ago and decided to re-activate their long-dormant distiller's certificate (No. 5).



I don't usually drink whiskey neat...the only time I do is if a given bar/restaurant only has ordinary ice cubes (I try not to eat out in places like that ). Otherwise, a single, clear, 2.5 inch spherical ice ball is my preference. I'd accept a clear 2.5 inch cube in a pinch. I make the clear spheres that way at home, two at a time, using a standard directional-freezing apparatus ($39 on Amazon).

[26 Inf]

I have since bought Crown Royal Black. He told me that dollar-for-dollar it was the best whiskey/bourbon he kept in stock. For $36 it's pretty damn good.

I'm not anything beyond a rare occasion social drinker, except I drink a shot most nights before bed. The Black is what I found I liked.

[26 Inf]

I've never been a bourbon fan, but my wife and I took a nice tour of the Green Brier distillery in Nashville recently. Interesting story behind this craft distillery, a newly-resurrected version of the distillery that was the very foundation of Tennessee bourbons (Green Brier is/was Distillery No. 5...as opposed to Jack Daniels which is Distillery No. 7), but the upshot is that one of their current Tennessee bourbons is from a recipe way back in their history when they made whiskey for the Belle Meade plantation. Today, Green Brier's Belle Meade bourbon, especially the Cognac cask, is some of the smoothest and best bourbon I've had. If you're a bourbon drinker, this is the stuff to try. If you're rye-sensitive (for some people, high-rye content can make a whiskey taste harsh), the Sherry cask is an exceptional alternative.

Great post, interesting story, spherical ice cube tray (for tea) inbound. You and Amazon Prime are conspiring against me.

[docsherm]

"The liver is evil, and must be punished."

I have a shirt that says that......

The liver is weak... That is why I replaced mine with a pool filter......

[chuckman]

I used to hate whiskey and bourbon, then one day I had a glass of the good stuff, and have loved it ever since. Like tequila, there's a huge difference between the crap and the good stuff.

[Hmac]

Great post, interesting story, spherical ice cube tray (for tea) inbound. You and Amazon Prime are conspiring against me.

I pop the spheres out after about 28 hours and refill using filtered water from my refrigerator. I store several of them in a couple of storage tubes. The tubes work a little better than the ziploc bags I used before.

[CGSteve]

1792 currently is my favorite bourbon.