Bourbon Collecting

I have a black velvet plastic bottle!

Thanks to COVID all I have is a lot of empty Crown Royal bottles..... although I do have a boxed full one when Crown screwed up and tried to call their version "Bourbon":

http://payless-liquors.com/blog/a-crown-…

and then had to change it to "Blenders Mash"

https://www.caskers.com/crown-royal-blen…

I am not sure you would call me a collector as I like to drink it too much, but I have a very high end bourbon bar. I have some Little Book by Freddie Noe, I have some Weller Antique, I have a few bottles of Blantons, a Jefferson's Ocean, and plenty of other good drinking bottles. I don't have any Pappy, but would drink that also if I got some.

I've tried, but it always seems to disappear before I get a meaningful collection put together. Almost like it just evaporates!

Seriously, though, I used to be strictly a scotch drinker. 10 years ago I started getting into bourbon and it quickly replaced scotch as my go-to indulgence. PVW is a little out of my league, but I do enjoy Booker's quite a bit. It's still readily available but the price has gone up to around $85-$95. It's a high proof at around 127 and so it stands up to ice very well. I like to take a couple very small sips neat and then drop in a few cubes.

I’ll get in trouble if drink then but I will say some of those bottles look cool aesthetically

Pappy pappy pappy. When I mention bourbon to people who don’t know much about it that’s all they talk about. How rare is Pappy? 10 year is released in my state once a year and we get 30 bottles, for the entire state. Usually around 20 bottles of 12, maybe 6 bottles of 15 and 3 bottles of 20 year, no 23 year or rye.

My two favorites that I can actually find are Weller Antique and Stagg Jr.

I have 2 sections of my collection - ones I am willing to open and drink and the others I just stare at. I try not to pay more than $50 over retail (before tax and shipping) for a bottle I am hunting. I’ve broken it several times - for the new Weller Full Proof, several Michter Toasted and Barrel Strength offerings.

Right now I’m trying to score a Old Forester Birthday which comes out in September.

Blanton reserve is a bottle I’m going to open this weekend with a few buddies

Hi neighbor; have a Gansett.

Do you have an infinity bottle? It's all about the infinity bottle now, man.

Single-Malt Scotch guy myself.

Maybe 25 bottles in my collection, including a 1979 Glenrothes with a market value around $750. But sticking with my everyday Craggenmore, Jura and the occasional Walker Blue (yes it's a blend - sue me) for now.

Oh and I have an bottle or two of Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace around for the common folk as well.

@Subraman
Infinity bottle? That sounds like the "everlasting gobstopper" of whiskey! I want one!

Infinity bottle! You take an empty whisky bottle, and that's now your infinity bottle. Every time you're almost done with another bottle, pour the last bit in the infinity bottle instead. All the cool kids are doing it! You can start it off by just raiding your liquor cabinet and putting a little of each whisky in there.

Sometimes the flavors can be shockingly complex and interesting. Other times they clash. Some people try to strategically add different whiskeys, others just add the last bit after they finish whatever bottle they're working on. After I read about this on a whiskey site, I tried it with another liquor, and came out pretty good (although it's always changing, by definition).

One of my more everyday favorites is Russell's Reserve. It's part of Wild Turkey's semi-premium line. Be careful though, the good one is the single barrel and has a red label. 110 proof. It's about $55. The white label 10 year sucks IMHO. By the way, if you're stuck in a place that doesn't have any higher end stuff, Wild Turkey 101 isn't too bad. For the same price, it's far superior to Jim Beam, no matter what Mila Kunis says. Ooohhhh, she does make it look good though: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9b/9c/30/…

That sounds pretty cool Subraman. Think I'll try it. In fact, I've got an old crystal decanter that I never use because what's the point of transferring the whiskey if you're just gonna drink the whole thing anyway! It's perfect for making a mixed up concoction.

The only thing about the decanter is, it's not supposed to be a one-time thing. You drink some out of it, pour something else in to it. New flavors and aromas each time. So it should last as long as you ... so you'll want a cap that completely seals out oxygen

Subra, I do not have an Infinity bottle but know of the concept.

You guys want Pappy Van Winkle but don't have $500 for a bottle?

Make "Poorer Mans Pappy"

This recipe is very close to OLD RIP VAN WINKLE 10 YEAR.

1/3 Larceny Bourbon mixed with 2/3 Makers Mark Cask Strength. Add a splash of Cask Strength on top. Let them sit in a bottle for at least 2 weeks so they can blend together. The final product is DAMN close to Old Rip Van Winkle 10

Hey, question for you guys. I don't claim to be a connoisseur. Much like with wine, I know what I like when I taste it, but I'm not very good at describing, or even recognizing, the subtle flavors. For example, I really like Booker's but I don't like Knob's Creek, even the premium stuff. With scotch, I like MacAllan and I LOVE (love, love, love) Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14 yr, and I absolutely hate Laphroaig or Lagavulin. In fact, the first time I tried Laphroaig I thought my friends were playing a joke on me.

Anyway, I've read that bourbon doesn't continue to mature very much beyond about 9 years, unlike scotch that commands thousands of dollars for almost any 25 year or more offering. I've never tried Pappy or Rip Van Winkle. I don't have the tasting expertise to justify shelling out a few hundred bucks just to have a swig of it.

Are these ultra-aged bourbons really that much better than a high-end 9 year old whiskey?

I don't really consider myself much of a collector as much as I like to keep a well stocked bar. NC though in the South is crap for buying good bourbon due to the state run liquor store. When visiting family in FL or PA i usually find much better stuff. Blanton's is my favorite but its harder and harder to get, I also really enjoy Old Forester 1870 and 1910 because they are smooth and not too sweet. I find too many bourbon makers go to sweet. I would say some of the rarest stuff I have is some Orphan Barrel Rhetoric and Barterhouse.

I like Stagg Jr but that on you have to be careful with it is high octane.

And Maybe I should sell those orphan barrels at some point I got them for $99 each and now they are reselling for 6 or 7 times what I paid for them

https://caskcartel.com/search?type=produ…
https://caskcartel.com/products/orphan-b…

I have a bottle of Blood Oath - Pact No 1 that I just bought on a whim that seems to be gaining some value but I have never thought to resell any of it. This can't be real right?
https://shopbanquet.com/schneidersofcapi…

Any of you bourbon/whiskey/whisky nerds have favorite glasses? Regardless of whether I think the glasses really make that much of a difference, I am an "experience" guy, and I find the glass definitely adds to the experience.

Up until now I've been using the Glencairn Whiskey glass: https://www.glencairnwhiskyglass.com/ I think this is THE classic whiskey/whisky glass, with the tulip shape, ability to hold by the bowl for warming or stem, etc. Class the whole thing up.

I've just recently bought a NEAT glass. https://www.theneatglass.com/ Whiskey competition judges have used this glass for many years, so I decided I should pick one up to see why. It does seem to do what it says, by not (over)concentrating the aroma (versus a tulip glass). I can definitely see why a whisky judge (or rather, nearly every judge at every competition) would prefer this glass to pick out individual notes. I think the aromas and flavors get more clarity, but it's physically a little less fun to drink from, as you have to tilt the glass far to get the whiskey from that bowl to the curved edge

@desertscrub mine was not in a box

Booker's, Old Forester 1920, Four Roses Single Barrel some of my favs. I agree with an earlier poster that Wild Turkey 101 is a great budget choice. I like to try different bourbons, mixed in with re-buys of my favorites. Anyone had E.H. Taylor? Been looking for that...can never find.

I didn't have any plan in selling any of them, just was waiting for right occasion to open them. They will go back in the box away from the everyday stuff. I was just suprised to see some of those prices. I would assume the orphan barrel is due to them being Stitzel-Weller.

You guys really like your liquor

If you ever wonder who'd be the best TUSCL drinking buddy, look through the comments in this post.

I drink my bourbons. I collect scotches. I've been collecting scotches for a very long time.

I have a bottle of the 150th anniversary Longrow that, were it unopened, would go for around $3000 on the aftermarket. It still has the price tag from when I bought it, so I can say that "I've had a three thousand dollar scotch, and it wasn't any better than an old sixty five dollar scotch."

Due to the instant virus I no longer have help drinking my whisky, and recently calculated that I will almost certainly not be able to finish it in my lifetime. There's gonna be a hell of a wake.

I’m not much of a bourbon drinker but here’s my scotch story.

It was a dark and stormy night. OK it was late afternoon but the wind and rain outside were bitter and bone chilling. I was in Scotland and sheltering in a small hotel with a bar on the first floor which I was drawn into because of the roaring fire they had going.

My father was a scotch drinker but I never had been so I knew nothing about it nor was I familiar with any brand names. The proprietor set out to educate me. He claimed to have a bottle of every single-malt scotch in existence. With a wall full of bottles behind the bar it was easy to believe him. He proceeded to tell me all about scotch as he set up an extensive tasting to emphasize what he was telling me. All told I tasted at least 15 different single malts and ended up selecting the one that tasted best to me.

Besides becoming a scotch drinker from then on what I got out of it was an appreciation for making my own choices about what it is that I really like and this applies to all things. I like quality but what constitutes quality to me is what appeals to my own taste buds and isn’t driven by some marketing campaign telling me how to be a pretentious snob.

I was lucky that day to be schooled by someone who was knowledgeable and passionate about scotch. I acquired a new pleasure that I still enjoy. I was doubly lucky in that through a blind tasting I found that my taste buds prefer Macallan Scotch which is readily available around the world.

" I was doubly lucky in that through a blind tasting I found that my taste buds prefer Macallan Scotch"

I tend to like highland and speyside scotches also, although I'll also suggest it's always worth branching out. Due to both an evolving palatte, and getting older (as your taste buds dull you'll tend to invite bolder flavors that were objectionable when you were younger) you might be shocked at what you like now, if you've been drinking the same scotch over and over for decades.


Helpful hint to you guys who write "single-malt". It's "single malt", no hyphen. These words are unrelated -- the single and the malt refer to two completely different characteristics of the scotch. A scotch can be malt but not single, or single but not malt. You are welcome :)

I love Islay's never had one too smokey or peaty. I also like Rauchbier which is made with smoked malts. If you ever want to try something a little different to go with barbecue or grilling grab a couple Aecht-Schenkerla beers.

I have a Laphroiag I got as a gift and I find it... challenging. I haven't actually tried it in many years, so maybe I need to follow my own advice I gave to Babydoc and give it another try. And taking my earlier earlier advice about an infinity bottle, I think it would add an amazing dimension to the infinity bottle

@Subraman

I know that taste buds and preferences can change over time but I’m not such a fanatic about scotch that I’m much interested in exploring the seemingly endless possibilities. There isn’t that much time left to make it a priority and I also see it akin to tasting craft beers. I am a great fan of beer but I don’t do craft beers. Ninety nine percent of them are gawd awful swill and to me it isn’t worth the trouble to try to sort through all the shit water crap to find that “1” worthwhile brew.

As to the proper grammatical form of single malt, I already knew that. I purposefully used the hyphen where I did in an attempt to make clear what I was saying (“single malt” versus “every single”). As you can see three sentences later I presented it correctly (“single malts”) but thank you for giving me the opportunity to clarify that point. lol

One of the many things the publican taught me that evening is that a single malt isn’t in and of itself better than blended Scotch whisky (another frequent assumption of the pretentious). A good blended scotch done by a master creates a specific taste in a synergistic way producing something better than the separate parts. Most of the mass marketed blended whiskies are by default not of the highest quality due to the vast amount they have to produce to be profitable. That is why, though it may appear to be pretentious, I only drink single malts. I know what I like and I like what I know.

@Subra
I haven't tried Laphroaig in a few years either. But while my tastes in whiskey have expanded over time, I can't see any way possible I could ever enjoy that stuff. Both the smell and the taste remind me of when I was a kid and had a toothache. My mom would rub Anbesol on my gums. Tastes the same to me. There's plenty of brands I'm not particularly fond of, but Laphroaig is probably the only one that if nothing else was available, I'd just drink water or a Coke.