I love bourbon drinkers and American laws. Since Bourbon must be made with "new" oak barrels every time, the old barrels get shipped across the pond to Scotland where they get filled with my favorite drink of choice, Single Malt Highland Scotch Whiskey. Without bourbon drinkers I wouldn't have as good a drink. "Here's tae us - Wha's like us - D*mn few - And they're a' deid - Mairs the pity!" "Here's to all those that I love Here's to all those that love me. And here's to all those that love those that I love, And all those that love those that love me. I drink to the health of another, And the other I drink to is he - In the hope that he drinks to another, And the other he drinks to is me! Here's to them that like us - Them that think us swell - And here's tae them that hate us - Let's pray for them as well!"
I'm a Scotch drinker, but do enjoy a Bourbon on occasion. Many nice Bourbons have been named... I'm a big fan of the Pappy Van Winkle 23 or 20 yr.... A very nice sipping whisky, either neat, or my favorite... With a ice ball.
I'd like to share something a coworker gave to me with all of you. I was gifted with a short paperback book published in 1934 that has a lot of old fashioned drinks that were popular at the time. Most are bourbon based drinks. There's a lot of history about the drinks and great images as well in the booklet. I scanned it and am hosting it on my Dropbox account. I'm sharing with you: The Irvin S Cobb Recipe Book here. Take a look at it and let me know what you think. I thought that considering that we all share one joy, shaving, that is something our fathers or grandfathers also enjoyed, you might want to know how they drank their bourbon as well. I found this booklet fascinating!
Interesting, although I suspect my grandfathers just drank whiskey straight out of the bottle. My 82 year old dad usually takes a nightly swig before going to bed. The last two pages are upside down, but that's OK because they contain the egg and milk drinks (which I can't stand)
Oops. Sorry about that. Erik. You know, you bring back memories of my grandfather. I remember once, my Dad and I picked him up from his house to take him to our house for a week long visit and as we were driving he said he saw a snake in the road. He then reached into his bag and took a swig of his "snakebite medicine"! I wish I could remember what he liked. I think it might have been Old Crow, but I'm not sure. My Dad enjoyed Jim Beam in his last years. I prefer Makers Mark, Blanton's, Old Rip Van Winkle, Pappy Van Winkle (when I can get the Winkle's) and to mix with, I picked up a bottle of Kentucky Gentleman which is surprisingly good with Coke.
Makers Mark 1 Knob Creek 2 Woodford Reserve double oaked 4 Willett Pot Still reserve 4 Knob Creek Smoked Maple 3 Wild Turkey Rare Breed 5 Prichards Dounle barreled - OMG 1 Blantons 3 My choices and ratings as to how I like them. I have one of each except the Blantons because I drank the last of it yesterday. ( never dilute a good whiskey, just drink it straight up "neat")
I'm working through a bottle of Jefferson right now. I received it as a gift and I've really been enjoying it. Blantons isn't definitely on my list for next winter.
I don't mean to shoot off my mouth, but my fave is Bulleit. Man, that stuff has special vitamins found in no other substance.
I was going to pick up a bottle of Evan Williams on the way home, but the local Total Wine had the following description of it and I wasn't sure I wanted it after reading this. (True... the manager let me have the description because I thought it was so funny):
I do enjoy the green label rye. Most of the time I have a bottle of Wild Turkey Rye around. It is about $8 cheaper than the Bulleit here.
Here lately bourbons are all I've been buying as far as liquor. I've bought buffalo trace, woodford reserve, Jim beam black, Evan Williams white and green label for on the cheaper side and Jack and Evans honey. Plus plenty in between that I don't remember. There has been plenty of airplane bottles to try along the way also. From cinnamon, maple, cider, etc. and just plain non flavors. I would like to try the eagle rare and bulleit also. Just haven't bought any yet.
I have found few bourbons I don't like....Here are some noteworthy ones in my book 1) Four Roses Small Batch 2) Buffalo Trace 3) Maker's Mark 4) Bulliet (Haven't tried the Rye yet) 5) Evan Williams (Inexpensive and really quite good) Then for American or Tennessee Whiskey's 1) Jack Daniels Single Barrel 2) Gentleman Jack The only one I can't stand, except for mixed drinks, is Costco's Bourbon. It's just tooooo hot! Reminds me of Wild Turkey.
For the Tennessee whiskey's, I prefer George Dickel #12 over Jack Daniels. Actually, I even prefer the #8 over Jack, but the #12 is even better. George Dickel only has a fraction of the market share Jack Daniels has, so isn't as easy to find.
