Buying advice

James_H

Hi, im travelling to America in the next few days and wanted some advice on which bourbons to bring back. Im looking for 2 or 3 good quality bourbons and dont mind paying up to around $100-$150 for each. Im fairly new to bourbon and as yet have only tried a few.

Thanks.

Xounlistedxox

"James_H" wrote:
Hi, im travelling to America in the next few days and wanted some advice on which bourbons to bring back. Im looking for 2 or 3 good quality bourbons and dont mind paying up to around $100-$150 for each. Im fairly new to bourbon and as yet have only tried a few.

Thanks.

Bourbons are not as dynamic as other whisky in my opinion. Elmer T Lee is a really good one if you can find it, Pappy Van Winkle again... If you can find it. My favorite relatively easy to find bourbon is Woodford reserve. Gentleman Jack is a Tennessee whiskey that I find to be grear especially at its decent price point. Blanton's is another good one

cjustl

Xounlistedxox gave you some really good options in Elmer T Lee and Pappy Van Winkle (15 yo and 23 yo especially). But again, the problem is they are extremely hard to find. If you find one, buy it! I also agree that for the most part, Bourbons are not as dynamic as Single Malts for the most part - overall they are pretty one note (brown sugar is what usually what immediately comes to mind for me).

For easier to find Bourbons (and significantly less expensive), I recommend the following:
- Four Roses Single Barrel
- Blantons
- Willet
- Noah's Mill

Enjoy your trip!

James_H

Thanks for the advice, if I see either of those ill grab them quick! I'll let you know how I get on.

J

Godslayer

A big thumbs up for Woodford, its easy to find and is an amazing product, I recently tried the double oaked, amazing, I believe in another thread horst said woodford was among his favorites, Pappy 20 was good, but its nigh impossible to procure and Im guessing it excedes 150 now, could be wrong. For Budget friendly american whiskies ( They make more than bourbon)

1.Woodford reserve (They make a few variants) all are 85+ point whiskeys
2. George Dickel .... the other tennesee whiskey, ralfy gave it a good score
3. Bookers Bourbon 60+ percent, bourbon monster, smooth as most blends and loaded with strong vanilla and caramel.
4. Makers 46, makers being so common this variant is like seeing a long lost friend 10 years later, and seeing hes grown. laced with french oak staves this exibits spicier flavours not common in bourbons. Think Glenlivet 15 vs 12, really interesting
5. Any corn whiskey, this will be a suprise for your pallet, dont go all out here there are many -$40 options which represent good value
6. Bonus keep an eye out for canadian malts, alberta springs 10, ninety 20 year old and alberta premium all come to mind, you'll be able to procure malts not easily available in Europe.

ben_2

From the US whiskeys I only had the Jack D. range and the Blantons Gold.

From the Jack D.
No. 7: hmhm not quite a strong buy.
Single Barrel: Better. But still not my kind of whiskey
Gentleman Jack: I don't quite remember why, but I liked it a lot.

Blantons Gold: That was my kind of whiskey. It had everything I wanted in a sweet whiskey. Vanilla, Honey, Seetness. The only letdown was a bit of a soapy taste in the finish after the second dram.

James_H

Hi guys,

As was suggested the pappy and elmer were too difficult to find. There was one shop selling the pappy but for a horribly inflated price of around $1300. I have got my name on a list however for the elmer at a very reasonable price so hopefully that will work out.

In the end I brought back 3 bourbons.

1. Hudson Baby Bourbon
2. Widow Jane
3. Bookers

Will post tasting notes as and when.

DrBourbon

I doubt you'll find the special Pappy Van Winkle, Parker's Heritage and Buffalo Trace Antique Collection whiskeys. So here are some that are really good and much more available:
1. Jefferson's Reserve Very Old, very small batch
2. Angles Envy Port Cask finished
3. Buffalo Trace
4. Evan Williams Single Barrel
5. Col Taylor Small Batch
6. Elijah Craig 23, 21, 18 or 12 yr.
7. Maker's Mark Cask Strength

Ask in the stores and do some research for other great bottlings. There are many great bourbons in the USA.
Sorry this is after your trip. Keep in mind for next time. Your selections are pretty good.

James_H

It's wierd how things work out. Having spent ages looking for the rare bottles in America it turns out a local wine shop just round the corner from me has one of the largest collections of rare bourbon in the UK. Including all the pappy's and elmer t lee. Who knew! Anyhow, got a couple of bottles of elmer so will add tasting notes as and when.

ADramGoodDrink

Pappy Van Winkle gets a lot of recognition and excitement, but even if you can track down a bottle (which is *very* hard!), you'll pay a ridiculous price for it. Instead, I'd recommend checking out the W. L. Weller 12 Year Old. It's made at the same distillery as Pappy (well, the newer Pappy, anyway), and has a pretty similar flavor profile. Plus, it's downright delicious in its own right! Depending on where you go, you can probably find it for $40-60 a bottle.

If you want something a little different, Willet Family Reserve Rye is absolutely excellent, if you want an American whisky with a unique character. It'll hit you in the face with peppery spice and menthol, and I mean that in the best way possible.