Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 OK,,, so things are quiet,,, and it's a perfect time for having your music friends over for a visit, just to shoot the breeze about gear, gigs, and girls. Now, my music friends, are my SPECIAL friends, and I wanna spoil them if I can. Since most of them are Americans, I'd like to offer them a glass (or three), of the finest American Bourbon Whiskey, but, since I know next to nothing about Bourbon (except that Jim Beam white-label tastes like a blend of kerosene and windshield-washer fluid), I've come to wonderful knowledge base, to broaden my horizons. So, what's a Canuck like me,,, going to offer my special guests, eh? philbeer ($85. or less if possible) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 That's easy ... Booker's. I'm sipping it now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 OK Don,,, much appreciated. Looks like my local liquor commission carries Booker Kentucky Straight Bourbon.,,, $70.55/ 750ml (26oz.) bottle. Have you tried any others that were notable? How about Blanton? I'm also curious about some of the Woodford, Knob Creek, and Maker's Mark bourbons. (all available locally) I've spent the better part of the last few days, digging up info on "award-winning Bourbons", and came across a whiskey appreciation society from San Francisco, where they do annual(?) blind-folded taste-tests, and award medals accordingly. The very best, are awarded double gold-medals, with a notation for "outstanding". The surprising thing is, some of these Bourbons were relatively inexpensive. Selection is pretty sparse up here, choices are limited. For example, one relatively inexpensive gold-medal Bourbon ranked "outstanding", was Jim Beam Black 8 yr.old. We can get the 6 yr. old "Black", but not the 8 yr.old. Anyway, I picked up a bottle of that today, so I'll give it a whirl. I also picked up a bottle of Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey. Seems to me it had pretty decent reviews. Another one that I was looking at today, was Elijah Craig 12 yr. old. Here's an awards result posted at Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-1...ca-2013-8?op=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 I just had some Woodford Reserve last night. Very smooth great straight best I have had in sometime. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodford_Reserve I think its about 50 dollars a bottle. Beam and the like aren't even in the same league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Also [h=3]Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 9 YO is really good too.[/h] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Knob creek, Maker's and and Woodford are all good (compared to Jim Beam). Also Costo has a Kirkland branded small batch bourbon that is as good as the others listed here and much cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monthlymixcd Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Not sure how easy it would be to get in your area, but I'm here in Iowa and blessed with several local distillates that would blow your mind. Mississippi River Distilling Co. Cody Road Bourbon and Cody Road Rye. Templeton Rye is another local favorite... made in Iowa since prohibition era. I'm sure that either company would be happy to ship something your way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Telecruiser Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Bourbon can only be made in Kentucky. If you really want to treat your guests than seek out some Pappy Van Winkle. You'll never go back but your wallet will ache for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Knob creek' date=' Maker's and and Woodford are all good (compared to Jim Beam). Also Costo has a Kirkland branded small batch bourbon that is as good as the others listed here and much cheaper.[/quote'] Yeah, I read about the Costco "Kirkland Signature" Bourbon a few days ago, but we can't get it here in Canada. All of the liquors are sold through provincial government outlets, and are not available in grocery stores. Our Costco's can only sell wine and beer. Here in Quebec, we have the S.A.Q. (Societe des Alcools du Quebec), which controls all liquor sales. They run three different levels of stores, with "SAQ Classique" being the smallest (smaller towns and cities/ basic product selection), followed by SAQ Selection (in larger cities/larger product selection) and SAQ Signature outlets.(only 2 stores in all of Quebec/ very high-end products) We also have SAQ Depot, which I believe is for bulk purchasing only,,,, minimum 12 bottles. I'm not certain whether they cater to business sales only, or directly to consumers. I did manage to find several Knob Creek bottlings yesterday. I have to do a little more research before choosing a specific Knob Creek product. Same goes for Woodford. I saw some cheaper Woodfords, and some very expensive Woodfords ($125./ bottle), I didn't see any of the Blanton bottlings, but I'm very close to the Ontario border, and the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) stocks Blanton products. That's where I'll have to go in order to buy the Booker brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members monthlymixcd Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Yeah, and Champagne can only be made in France. Bourbon is a defined and refined process, sure... but are you telling me that you can't use the same ingredients; corn mash, iron-free water and new, charred oak barrels and get the same result elsewhere?!? Ridiculous. The drink was invented over 100 years before anyone in KY even tried to make it. And don't say that they then perfected it... maybe perfected the marketing of it. lol But, by legal definition of the U.S. Congress (and stipulated in several trade agreements)... I'll acknowledge that "Bourbon" can only be distilled in the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Also Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve 9 YO is really good too. Yep, that one is available here, and I notice from reviews that it gets a fair amount of respect. The store I was in yesterday, had a few different Knob Creek products in stock, but I held off because I wasn't familiar with the specific bottlings. I'll pick up the 9 yr old next time I'm there. I'm also trying to sort out which Tequila's to buy. I had just unwittingly purchased some Sauza Silver and Sauza Gold, only to read later that these are primarily marketed to college kids who wanna get drunk cheap. Maybe I'll use those for mixed drinks, and buy some of the better Tequila's for sipping. I went back to the store and picked up some 100% Blue Agave tequila's, like an El Jimador Reposado, a Cazadores Reposado, and a Patron Silver. Again, choices are quite limited here in Quebec. You can't find a good Margarita mix here either. When I was flying, and whenever I did layovers in California, I used to bring home gallon-bottles of lime or lemon squash, simply because you can't find it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Iamthesky Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Knob creek' date=' Maker's and and Woodford are all good (compared to Jim Beam).[/quote'] I'd second that. My personal favorite is Woodford Reserve, but I'm very happy with the other two as well. These days I'm more into the Irish, but when I kept bourbon around the house it was always Woodford or Makers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Bourbon can only be made in Kentucky. If you really want to treat your guests than seek out some Pappy Van Winkle. You'll never go back but your wallet will ache for a while. Yep, Pappy Van Winkle's 15 yr old won the "best Bourbon" award, at the 2013 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. http://fredminnick.com/the-inside-story-to-best-bourbon-at-the-san-francisco-world-spirits-competition/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 I'd second that. My personal favorite is Woodford Reserve, but I'm very happy with the other two as well. These days I'm more into the Irish, but when I kept bourbon around the house it was always Woodford or Makers. I haven't found an Irish that I like,,, mind you, i haven't looked hard. I sampled and picked up a 12 yr old Bowmore Islay single-malt Scotch yesterday, and that was quite nice, especially considering the somewhat reasonable price. ($60. or so) I'm not much of a drinker actually. I like having it on hand when I have company over, but that's about it. I like a nice glass of Port now and then (with cheese and fruit), and I like my Grolsch Lager (Holland), but a case of 24 often lasts me 3-4 months, if not more. BittBurger (Germany) is another one I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Knob creek' date=' Maker's and and Woodford are all good (compared to Jim Beam). Also Costo has a Kirkland branded small batch bourbon that is as good as the others listed here and much cheaper.[/quote'] Don, I just contacted the SAQ Select main store in Quebec City (4 hours east of here), and they're going to send me a bottle of Bookers. I was surprised to learn that they offer free next-day delivery. WoW !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dboomer Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Great! You'll only be drinking half as much as you might have if it were Knob or Maker's. Booker's (a Jim Beam brand btw) even though it is incredibly smooth is a very slow sipping whisky. Maybe one ice cube or just a splash of water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 23, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 Yeah, one ice cube usually works for me, or sometimes straight up in a snifter. I ordered a few extra bottles beside the Booker's, in order to do some comparisons. I ordered a Maker's "46", and a Woodford Kentucky Straight. I wanted to order a Knob Creek 9yr single-barrel too, but they had none in stock for the moment. I did a bit of digging around re the Maker's "46", and the comments were unanimous and very positive. I'm really looking forward to trying them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted April 23, 2014 Members Share Posted April 23, 2014 The Woodford double oak is an excellent choice too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 24, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 The Woodford double oak is an excellent choice too. The sheer number of brands, and then individual bottlings within the same brand names, some being named almost identically, is enough to make your head spin..(mind you, too much Bourbon, will also make your head spin) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted April 24, 2014 Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 Yes Pappy Van Winkle is the best but too expensive to drink. I have had it one time but Woodford and one cube of ice is my favorite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cappttenron Posted April 24, 2014 Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 Best Vodka I think is Tito's made in Texas believe it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Audiopile Posted April 24, 2014 Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 I'll suggest the "Jim Beam Devil's Cut" has a really cool label... haven't tried it personally yet, but it looks good on the shelf.... that's gotta count for "something". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 24, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 I'll suggest the "Jim Beam Devil's Cut" has a really cool label... haven't tried it personally yet' date=' but it looks good on the shelf.... that's gotta count for "something".[/quote'] Well Mark, after my Jim Beam White Label taste-test yesterday, I'm thinking that the label is probably tastier than the bottles' contents. As Don pointed out though, "Booker" is a Jim Beam company,,, as are a few other hi-end brands if I'm not mistaken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted April 24, 2014 Author Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 Best Vodka I think is Tito's made in Texas believe it or not. I'd like to try Grey Goose (France). My go-to vodka since the 70's is Moskovskaya (Russian). A lot of the other popular brands I've tried are either too "fruity/flowery" tasting, or too medicinal tasting. Keep a bottle of Moskovskaya in the freezer, along with your shot-glass, and drink it straight up, no ice. Makes a heckuva good vodka-martini too, as long as you have a good bone-dry vermouth like Noilly-Pratt (France). Just a drop of Noilly does it, with a twist of lemon. It's the perfect vodka to have with Caviar, served Russian style. yummmm!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wesg Posted April 24, 2014 Members Share Posted April 24, 2014 You can get Maker's Mark at the LCBO. Good chance the SAQ carries it, too. It may not be Booker's, but it is a fine bourbon...and you can get it at the last minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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