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Official PCF Whisk(e)y Thread (58 Viewers)

warma said:
Could use some suggestions-

Was looking to expand my bourbon horizons and found the local ABC selections limited and or daunting (lots of choices with meh reviews).

I’ve come to enjoy Jefferson’s Aged at Sea & Widdow Jane 10.

When I asked the guy at the store, it was was clear he didn’t know bourbons and just went with what they sell more of.

Thoughts on what to try next? Willing to spend a bit more, if needed.

I don’t mind sticking with those, but I’ve found this is an interesting space and would like to explore.

Obviously, you’re not tracking the local ABC options, but curious what jumps to mind. If it’s easier to share options, I can.
Click to expand...

Similar to @TX_Golf_N_Poker , I have a few different shopping lists. One is those crazy hard to find bottles with an approximate price, another is new(ish) bottles I'd like to try at the right price, and another are my staples/inventory. If you're still in the early stages of getting to know whiskey, I'd highly recommend checking out some good "standard" bottles first (bottles in the $30-$60), just to figure out where your tastes lie. Here's my standard list:
  • 1792 (small batch, bottled in bond & full proof)
  • Old Forester 1910 & 1920
  • Wild Turkey Rare Breed
  • Willett 4 year rye
  • Woodford Reserve (& their Double Oak)
  • Redwood Empire Lost Monarch
  • Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Proof
  • Maker's Mark 101
  • Knob Creek Single Barrel Select 120
  • Elijah Craig (bourbon & rye)
  • Four Roses Small Batch
  • Bulleit 10
  • Buffalo Trace
I almost always have a bottle of each of these on hand, and most are in that $30-$60 price range. Once you've tried a bunch of bottles in this range and have a baseline on your taste, it'll make selecting the more expensive offerings and store picks easier. If you've only tried a few, your palate probably won't be developed enough to appreciate the difference between say a Knob Creek 120 store pick @ $50 and a Knob Creek 18 year @ $170, so you're just throwing that money down the drain. Start with the mid-range offerings, figure out your mojo, then expand from there.
 
Screenshot_20230124-162447_Chrome.png


From the VA ABC website...
 
Klobberer said:
In VA you should be able to find Bowman Bros products. The single barrell offering is very good.
Click to expand...
I see the small batch and port finished all the time in my state. The single barrel has been now allocated here and I’ve never seen a bottle of their cask strength and I doubt I ever will.

My buddy just texted me from an ABC store in Virginia today and they only had the small batch too.
 
Irish said:
Similar to @TX_Golf_N_Poker , I have a few different shopping lists. One is those crazy hard to find bottles with an approximate price, another is new(ish) bottles I'd like to try at the right price, and another are my staples/inventory. If you're still in the early stages of getting to know whiskey, I'd highly recommend checking out some good "standard" bottles first (bottles in the $30-$60), just to figure out where your tastes lie. Here's my standard list:
  • 1792 (small batch, bottled in bond & full proof)
  • Old Forester 1910 & 1920
  • Wild Turkey Rare Breed
  • Willett 4 year rye
  • Woodford Reserve (& their Double Oak)
  • Redwood Empire Lost Monarch
  • Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Proof
  • Maker's Mark 101
  • Knob Creek Single Barrel Select 120
  • Elijah Craig (bourbon & rye)
  • Four Roses Small Batch
  • Bulleit 10
  • Buffalo Trace
I almost always have a bottle of each of these on hand, and most are in that $30-$60 price range. Once you've tried a bunch of bottles in this range and have a baseline on your taste, it'll make selecting the more expensive offerings and store picks easier. If you've only tried a few, your palate probably won't be developed enough to appreciate the difference between say a Knob Creek 120 store pick @ $50 and a Knob Creek 18 year @ $170, so you're just throwing that money down the drain. Start with the mid-range offerings, figure out your mojo, then expand from there.
Click to expand...
That Knob Creek 120 is my favorite in the world, wow is that smooth, with a threat though. Thats the one my players have repeatedly requested.
 
warma said:
Could use some suggestions-

Was looking to expand my bourbon horizons and found the local ABC selections limited and or daunting (lots of choices with meh reviews).

I’ve come to enjoy Jefferson’s Aged at Sea & Widdow Jane 10.

When I asked the guy at the store, it was was clear he didn’t know bourbons and just went with what they sell more of.

Thoughts on what to try next? Willing to spend a bit more, if needed.

I don’t mind sticking with those, but I’ve found this is an interesting space and would like to explore.

Obviously, you’re not tracking the local ABC options, but curious what jumps to mind. If it’s easier to share options, I can.
Click to expand...
I feel the pain, spending real money on something you may not like can be very daunting.

Most VA ABC stuff is just a store that happens to sell booze. They rarely know anything about what they are selling except 'a lot of people by this.' I've known a few employees and they've told me it is not common for coworkers not to drink at all.

If you are just looking to figure out what you'd like I'd say just ask if some folks can send you some samples of various things. I'd offer but you specifically mentioned bourbons and I don't have nearly the bourbon bench as some of the folks here but can cover in a pinch and you are local.

You can use like Bourbon Outfitters to get some community organized barrel picks. Store picks aren't a thing around here. This can be a way to take something you know you like like say Old Elk, and get a barrel pick of Old Elk that is kinda in your wheelhouse but a bit different.
 
RocAFella1 said:
Those would be esters I believe.
“During the aging process, several ester-based compounds are created that gives bourbon it's aroma and flavor notes (collectively called “notes”). The alcohol pulls these esters from the wood of the American white oak barrel as well as being a result of the proprietary yeast strain used in the fermentation process.”
Click to expand...

Brings me back to my O-Chem days. FASCINATING!! Fascinating that we can take something that smells and tastes like vomit (butyric acid) and turn it into something that smells and tastes like caramel, chocolate, cherries, grapes etc. GO SCIENCE! And no, I don't remember most of that shit from ochem...
 
JustDave said:
I feel the pain, spending real money on something you may not like can be very daunting.

Most VA ABC stuff is just a store that happens to sell booze. They rarely know anything about what they are selling except 'a lot of people by this.' I've known a few employees and they've told me it is not common for coworkers not to drink at all.

If you are just looking to figure out what you'd like I'd say just ask if some folks can send you some samples of various things. I'd offer but you specifically mentioned bourbons and I don't have nearly the bourbon bench as some of the folks here but can cover in a pinch and you are local.

You can use like Bourbon Outfitters to get some community organized barrel picks. Store picks aren't a thing around here. This can be a way to take something you know you like like say Old Elk, and get a barrel pick of Old Elk that is kinda in your wheelhouse but a bit different.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Not asking for a community bourbon drive, although that would be better than any community pledge drive. :) I have (and have drunk) other bottles, I’ve sampled others. I don’t have a massive experience set, but I’m beginning to identify what I like, now I need to understand why. (I should probably start writing thoughts down.)
It’s a fun journey, and part of the fun is exploring new choices. I’m not interested in dropping $60 for something I hate.
 
JustDave said:
you know, when I scroll by and I see Oban 14 I just know it was posted by you.
Click to expand...
Hahaha, I consider myself lucky, I have a rotation of about a dozen "nice" scotches (~$60-$80) - all very different - and a couple of really nice ones, and that's more than enough for me. I find the flavor variation in bottles scratches the itch, there's not a big desire fall down the very deep rabbit hole of acquiring some of the crazy nice/rare/expensive offerings. Oban 14 is pretty high up on that list, it's my go-to bottle when I'm in the mood for something kinda peaty without the beat-you-over-the-head-with-peat bottles like Laphroaig/Port Charlotte/Ardbeg. Clynelish 14 is the other but the Oban bottle was open :)
 
Irish said:
Hahaha, I consider myself lucky, I have a rotation of about a dozen "nice" scotches (~$60-$80) - all very different - and a couple of really nice ones, and that's more than enough for me. I find the flavor variation in bottles scratches the itch, there's not a big desire fall down the very deep rabbit hole of acquiring some of the crazy nice/rare/expensive offerings. Oban 14 is pretty high up on that list, it's my go-to bottle when I'm in the mood for something kinda peaty without the beat-you-over-the-head-with-peat bottles like Laphroaig/Port Charlotte/Ardbeg. Clynelish 14 is the other but the Oban bottle was open :)
Click to expand...
So I need to crack mine open, is what you’re saying…
 

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