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Just had a nice snort of Woodford Reserve. Smoooooth.
Whatchall drankin'?
JR

I like to buy the best tequila I can find in a plastic bottle, that leaves me enough $ for a 30 pack of Keystones!
Life is good here on the Frontera!

I'm not sure my experiences are noteworthy but....when I imbibe the cheaper stuff (i.e., the rotgut) I seem to pay a higher price the next day, so accordingly I've gotten fairly selective about what and when I'll indulge that particular vice anymore. The lost time simply isn't worth it to me. The better stuff (& that includes wine) seems to take less of a toll. It's rare that I get to completely skate-by anymore, but some clearly do less damage. And, of course, that's a trial & error process.

I can completely "skate by" with Ezra Brooks, or Evan Williams. Anything cheaper ........ I don't try. I can tell no difference in how I feel the next day with E.B. compared with Weller, Jefferson's Ocean, Buffalo Trace or Pappy. But then, moderation is key to it all.

I’ve fooled a lot of people over the years with self proclaimed refined palettes and high end liquor taste with a few fingers of Ezra. I love the look on their faces when they get done exulting on this mystery liquids fine points (you know, the really wordy, flowery talk some folks like to use when they’re describing the hints of this and that…), they ask what is this…..and I then drop it’s a $12 bottle of Ezra Brooks😂😂

François:

I prefer stump water as it keeps you acclimated.

Serbus,

Raimey
rse

Unfortunately, LR is right. Since the Confederate monuments here in Richmond were torn down and everyone dodging the Confederate heritage in their woodpile, Virginia has become Yankeeland lite. But I digress….

To Stan’s point, I do know the difference between moonshine and bourbon. A local fellow make Apple Pie and Blackberry moonshine, but it’s a novelty item. He also makes and sells a two year old “bourbon” for something like $40 a fifth that goes down like a garden rake. Yikes! IMO bourbon has a flavor that is universal with some better than others but it’s all corn likker. As has been pointed out a $12 Evan Williams has great drinkability and compares favorably to more expensive brands. It begs the question are the expensive brands worth it? My preferred Old Forrester hits the nail on the head with a flavor that doesn’t deviate much from high dollar varieties. And when the topic of bourbon pops up on a double gun internet board that discussion has to be lite hearted. There’s way too much seriousness in the world anyway. Yesterday was my 62nd bday and my oldest son and my precious DIL gave me a bottle of 15 year old Glenfiddich. I thanked them profusely but didn’t tell them that since covid a year ago all alcohol tastes like burnt rubber tires. Maybe this will kick start my taste buds. Cheers Stan

Ed Blake

Stan, I still use some VG fairly often. It is no longer made by Smith-Bowman in Northern Virginia and is now under Sazerac ownership. It is distilled down south and redistilled?? in Virginia. Still tastes OK, but does not have the history of the old product. When it was distilled locally, it outsold Jim Beam and Jack Daniel. No more. It is now described in the trade as a bottom shelf bourbon not actively advertised by the Sazerac corporation.

Neither bourbon nor Tennessee whiskey is all corn.

Not really. We drink bourbon over here and piss scotch.
JR

GlS,
The video you posted was Chris Stapelton singing Tennessee Whiskey, not Whiskey River. My favorite version of Whiskey River is Mr. William Nelson's arrangement. I agree with your assessment of Chris Stapelton's ability, though.
Mike

Luckily I live 20 minutes from there and able to drop in and buy the days offering from the gift shop. Could be Eagle Rare, Weller or Colonel Taylor. All good and hard to find at any retail store. Woodford Reserve is about 10 minutes away and my favorite.

Bullshit.......... maybe to you.

Ever tasted much moonshine? It can range from the worst thing you ever put in your mouth to some that rolls across the tongue just as smooth and easy as artesian well water. But how could that be? ............after all, it's all "just corn likker".

Yeah, right.

wow- this interesting thread of good bourbon whiskies sure went into the dumpster right darn quick like>> RWTF

Never, ever seen Wild Turkey in a plastic bottle.
JR

I tried for years to find some Virginia Gentleman on the shelves, to no avail. Why? Because Gene Hill wrote about it and I just wanted to try some.

Pretty much true of all of'em it seems to me...Geo

Virginia Gentleman was what we drank in college, just because that’s what you drank at football games at a small college in Southside Va. It wasn’t great but we drank it with coke or ginger ale and the Sweetbriar girls loved it. I haven’t had any in years.

My take;

Find one you like that you like and will afford, enjoy it, privately. Buy another that should impress, serve it up. After a couple switch over to the lesser one(s), no one will notice! Come on, this is biblical! Cheers!

Chief

Stan- I have all of Gene's books, and signed. He and Michael McInotosh and Brian Belinski came here in October 1991 on an Orvis tour, and the manager of the local Orvis Shop in Ada was a close friend and hunting-fishing pal, so he set it up that Gene would go out with us for a morning duck hunt- Gene shot his Remington 12 auto--one of the best hunts ever, and he is/was the "real deal". But I also recall in one of his stories his mention of an older gentleman, an avid waterfowler, who favored Old Forester bourbon-- but you are right, I'd always wanted to try Virginia Gentleman, as I also sought J.T. S. Brown whiskey- closest I've come so far is Rebel Yell. Good stuff indeed. And of all of Gene's writings, my all-time favorite is "The Stranger". RWTF

I don't serve bourbon unless someone asks for some. Then, it's WT 101. I don't play games with my whiskey.
JR

Foxy, you are unconscious if you don't find entertainment value in George Herter's catalogs and writings. His home made Southern Comfort is way better than the overpriced commercial product.

I doubt that the famous abuser, Janis Joplin, was using 100 proof Southern Comfort. If she was drinking the "whole bottle" that was claimed, it was probably the girly bottle of 80 proof. I would be the first to admit that a bottle of SC is hard to put down if no one is watching.

It had to be better and "the world's finest" to be drank while swaddled in a "world's finest" Hudson Bay Blanket.

Southern Comfort would probably be more acceptable if mixed half and half with an inexpensive bourbon to kill off some of the sweetness.

The manufacturers can’t keep up with the quantities consumed by the boomer generation. So, by introducing flavored products, they sell three times as much liquor with 1/3 the spirit in it.

It was a case of supply and demand being out of balance.

Flavored liquors are very very popular.

I made the mistake of buying a fifth of Southern Comfort when I was in college. I quickly learned that it is a mistake to buy a bottle of any liquor without having ever tasted it first. I had one taste, and gave the rest of the bottle away... apparently to someone who had no sense of taste. To me, Southern Comfort is like Rap music. Some people like it, but I'll never understand why.

Did someone mention Tennessee Whiskey?

Stapleton's "introduction" was much more entertaining for his live audience than it was for the You Tube viewers. Not very pertinent to bourbon drinkers. ZZZZ

'georgia on mah mine"...

souns like foxie is anglin fur ah jawja duv hunt invite...

I have been a big fan of Willie Nelson for years- toss up between Willie and the late Ray Charles as to which one did the better cover of my all-time favorite song: "Georgia On My Mind"-- RWTF

+1...

I vote John Roberts' reply here "Best Reply of 2022!"

Not me roads.

I feel sorry for heavy drinkers. I know the toll it takes, and the strength of the calling.

Nope.
I just pick up the trash, and hope they find a better way forward.

Crown Royal? Like Canadian whiskey is a legitimate use for alcohol.

Go out and mow the grass. It's hot. You're sweaty.

Park the mower. Get a dry shirt.

Take a red Solo cup. Fill it halfway with ice. Add a double shot of Ten High. Add a splash of tonic. Top off with soda.

Park your considerable ass under a shade tree, and sip this through a straw. Your mood will slowly improve.

This is known as drinking 'long' or 'tall' and you will find considerable merit in this strategy.