Tell me about your favorite whiskey or bourbon

[DTX2023Tremor]

Gotta admit, I'm a little excited...

 

[AZsurveyor]

In my continued quest to find a wheat boubon like TR1, I tried this last night.

Not bad by any means, but not exceptional either—still haven’t found anything that surpasses TR1.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

In my continued quest to find a wheat boubon like TR1, I tried this last night.

Not bad by any means, but not exceptional either—still haven’t found anything that surpasses TR1.

View attachment 229426

Old Emmer is a Total Wine brand (same with Chestnut Farms). I'd recommend avoiding these as they're generally going to either be underwhelming or overpriced for what's in the bottle.

If you're looking for wheat whiskies, Old Elk has a solid line-up of wheat whiskies and wheated bourbons and their straight wheat whiskey is a 95% wheat mash bill similar to TR1 . Other options to consider are Middle West Spirits Straight Wheat Whiskey, Bernheim Barrel Proof Wheat Whiskey, Journeyman Corsets Whips and Whiskey Wheat Cask Strength, Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey, and Dry Fly Cask Strength Wheat Whiskey. Total Wines in the Phoenix metro carry most of these (except for the last one).

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

 

[AZsurveyor]

Old Emmer is a Total Wine brand (same with Chestnut Farms). I'd recommend avoiding these as they're generally going to either be underwhelming or overpriced for what's in the bottle.

If you're looking for wheat whiskies, Old Elk has a solid line-up of wheat whiskies and wheated bourbons and their straight wheat whiskey is a 95% wheat mash bill similar to TR1 . Other options to consider are Middle West Spirits Straight Wheat Whiskey, Bernheim Barrel Proof Wheat Whiskey, Journeyman Corsets Whips and Whiskey Wheat Cask Strength, Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey, and Dry Fly Cask Strength Wheat Whiskey. Total Wines in the Phoenix metro carry most of these (except for the last one).

Last week, I went into Trevor's liquor store and saw a few bottles that caught my eye. I even sampled some other bourbons that I'll definitely return for. As the kind assistant mentioned to me, grab one or two bottles max to take home and go through those first, but never take everything you want, because there will always be more (new or rare releases) — always leave a reason to come back.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

Got the latest MWND in today with a couple of interesting mezcals..

 

[mattagc]

Travel Humidor

Whiskey and cigars belong together, and the Aged & Ore Travel Humidor was designed to bring them both into one perfect system. Built to fit seamlessly inside our Bottle Flight XL, this compact humidor gives you the flexibility to pack cigars alongside your favorite 3oz or 6oz Flight Bottles...

agedandore.com

Pertinent to the interests of this thread…

 

[j.p.rich]

Got the latest MWND in today with a couple of interesting mezcals..

View attachment 229532

Just split a bottle of this tep (right bottle) and it's solid. Will be curious to hear how the tobala is, I'm pretty new to the brand and so far have been impressed. The black bottle coyote is very good and I just re-tasted the black bottle Cenizo last night, it is in my top five.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

Just split a bottle of this tep (right bottle) and it's solid. Will be curious to hear how the tobala is, I'm pretty new to the brand and so far have been impressed. The black bottle coyote is very good and I just re-tasted the black bottle Cenizo last night, it is in my top five.

Funny thing is that I really don't drink Tequila or mezcal (too many whiskey options I'd rather choose first), but my wife and friends do so I've slowly been building a collection focused on additive free and boutique brands. A couple other mezcals in my collection that they have particularly enjoyed are 5 Centivos and Neta. I'm probably not the best person to give you a perspective on the tobala as I don't quite have enough experience with these to discern good from great. I'm sure one of my friends will crack that bottle in the near future and will be able to give me some perspective on it.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

Travel Humidor

Whiskey and cigars belong together, and the Aged & Ore Travel Humidor was designed to bring them both into one perfect system. Built to fit seamlessly inside our Bottle Flight XL, this compact humidor gives you the flexibility to pack cigars alongside your favorite 3oz or 6oz Flight Bottles...

agedandore.com

Pertinent to the interests of this thread…

I saw the launch of that. Looks really cool and will be interested to see what those who are cigar smokers think of it should any of them get their hands on one. I have a small zip-up travel humidor that holds about 10 cigars that I currently use for travel, but it's obviously twice the size of this one. For a day trip, this seems like a nice solution.

I also have the group buy case from a couple months ago that holds around 30 cigars, lighter, cutter, two full bottles, and glasses that's a great option for larger gatherings.

 

[j.p.rich]

Funny thing is that I really don't drink Tequila or mezcal (too many whiskey options I'd rather choose first), but my wife and friends do so I've slowly been building a collection focused on additive free and boutique brands. A couple other mezcals in my collection that they have particularly enjoyed are 5 Centivos and Neta. I'm probably not the best person to give you a perspective on the tobala as I don't quite have enough experience with these to discern good from great. I'm sure one of my friends will crack that bottle in the near future and will be able to give me some perspective on it.

You are focusing on some good brands, a few others to consider would be Real Minero, Pal'Alma and La Venenosa.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

You are focusing on some good brands, a few others to consider would be Real Minero, Pal'Alma and La Venenosa.

Thanks for the recommendations. I've never heard of these before, but am generally unfamiliar with brands in this space so will certainly add them to my list to keep an eye out for. Based on other recommendations I've gotten, the other brands I currently have bottles from are: Arette, ArteNom, Bozal Mezcal Artesanal , Cantera, Codigo 1530, Corazon, Del Maguey, Desert Door Texas Sotol, Don Fulano, El Tesoro, Fortaleza, G4, La Luna Mezcal Artesanal, Lalo, Mezcal Vago, Mijenta, Paladar, San Matias, Siete Leguas, Tapatio, Tequila Corrido, Tequila Ocho, Wild Common, and You Baal.

The Corazon bottles I have are those that are finished in various Buffalo Trace barrels. Probably a gimmic, but got them on sale so figure they'd at worst case be a good mixer. If I understand correctly (and let me know if I'm misinformed), most Reposado and Anejo are finished in used bourbon / American whiskey barrels so not sure how much better or different it is to use barrels from Buffalo Trace versus wherever else they're getting the barrels from.

 

[j.p.rich]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've never heard of these before, but am generally unfamiliar with brands in this space so will certainly add them to my list to keep an eye out for. Based on other recommendations I've gotten, the other brands I currently have bottles from are: Arette, ArteNom, Bozal Mezcal Artesanal , Cantera, Codigo 1530, Corazon, Del Maguey, Desert Door Texas Sotol, Don Fulano, El Tesoro, Fortaleza, G4, La Luna Mezcal Artesanal, Lalo, Mezcal Vago, Mijenta, Paladar, San Matias, Siete Leguas, Tapatio, Tequila Corrido, Tequila Ocho, Wild Common, and You Baal.

The Corazon bottles I have are those that are finished in various Buffalo Trace barrels. Probably a gimmic, but got them on sale so figure they'd at worst case be a good mixer. If I understand correctly (and let me know if I'm misinformed), most Reposado and Anejo are finished in used bourbon / American whiskey barrels so not sure how much better or different it is to use barrels from Buffalo Trace versus wherever else they're getting the barrels from.

lol that's a broad spectrum of brands, some of which I'm not familiar with. I've not had any aged mezcal so can't really comment on the barrel influence here. There is already a huge flavor spectrum which originates from different agave types, my understanding is that many (most?) brands avoid wood influence altogether.

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

lol that's a broad spectrum of brands, some of which I'm not familiar with. I've not had any aged mezcal so can't really comment on the barrel influence here. There is already a huge flavor spectrum which originates from different agave types, my understanding is that many (most?) brands avoid wood influence altogether.

Ah, sorry for an confusion... most of the brands I listed are tequila brands. Of the ones listed that are Mezcals, I have 5 Sentidos, Bozal, Del Maguey, La Luna, Mezcal Vago, Neta, Paladar, Yuu Baal, and of course El Jolgorio. There's a separate tequila thread where I got a few great recommendations from as I was looking to build out a collection with a little variety to it. Aside from the ones you've suggested, I probably won't look to add much more to my collection in this area as I think it is more than enough to meet the needs of anyone who come over. Also gives me a pretty diverse selection to start my own journey into this category (some day).

 

[HBTFD]

Stick to bourbon or whiskey……..

 

[Briski]

@DTX2023Tremor
I like Eagle Rare but my supply line dried up. What are few alternatives with similar taste?
Cheers

 

[DTX2023Tremor]

@DTX2023Tremor
I like Eagle Rare but my supply line dried up. What are few alternatives with similar taste?
Cheers

Good news is Eagle Rare 10 year is becoming increasingly easier to find. Even Costco is getting pallets of it in some states (e.g., California). Give it a few months and you should be able to find it on the shelf at your large chain stores at MSRP.

In the meantime, you could seek out E.H Taylor (small batch is everywhere in Texas right now) as it's the same mashbill as well as regular Buffalo Trace (which is younger by 2 - 4 years). If going the Buffalo Trace route, go for store picks which tend to be single barrel versions and a bit better. On the higher end, Stagg Jr. but you're probably not going to want to jump from $40 to $200 a bottle.

Moving away from Buffalo Trace products, Henry McKenna 10 year has become increasingly available, hasn't been "allocated" here in at least 6 months. You could also try Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.

1792 uses a higher rye mashbill than Buffalo Trace, so a little more bite on the finish but I'm seeing several different ones from that line-up on shelves around me.

Good alternatives that are slightly different flavor profiles are Russell's Reserve 10 year and Single Barrel store picks as well as Wild Turkey Rare Breed. You might also consider Evan Williams single barrel vintage bottles.

A little off the beaten path (and a bottle of which I'm enjoying this evening) is ASW Fiddler Georgia Heartwood Bourbon.

Other easy to find whiskies that could work for you would be Woodinville' Bourbon (regular will be closer in proof than the cask strength version) and Redwood Empire Pipe Dream.

All of these will have the sweet, carameland vanilla profile of Eagle Rare to varying degrees. Most have an option near the proof point so will match flavor intensity.

 

[Camarox2]

Yes, @DTX2023Tremor is correct. I am seeing Eagle Rare 10yr, EHT small batch and even Blanton’s in the grocery stores all day long.

 

[Briski]

Thank you for recommendations. Not sure why it is so hard to find good whiskey in Colorado? When you do find it, it is marked up significantly. I did get a couple of the High West MWND today. Thanks for the tip on joining their saloon club.

Cheers