It’s definitely a headache.

Blue laws, blue balls…

Bourbon can be made anywhere - not just KY.  You can look it up.

I refuse to chase secondary markets and will buy at Costco or Kroger when I see a bottle I want to try.

People paying hundreds of dollars for Blanton, Eagle rare, Weller just boggle my mind.  Not sure if its hype or what? They are decent at retail prices, not more than that!

You can buy a whole lot of good bourbons to try for the price that people are gouging for on the secondary.

$50-$75 per bottle will buy you a really wide variety of good bourbons to experiment on different flavors.

I started drinking Woodford when they came out in the mid 90's (it's funny because they claim to be one of the oldest brand/distillery but are relatively young) - it was around $50 a bottle iirc.  Went on a distillery tour to Heaven Hill and sampled 18yo Elijah Craig and it became my daily drinker.  At that time it was about $60 or so per bottle, not much more than Woodford at the time.  Now its about $180 a bottle if you can find it!!

Four Roses Small batch, Single barrel, Small batch select
Russels Reserve (about $40 around here)
Evan Williams Single barrel - about $45
Old Forrester Distillers series (prohibition style is my favorite)
Mckenna bottled in bond $60ish
Heaven Hill bottled in bond $40
Makers 46 Cask strength
Knob Creek (90 proof I think, but if you find a "store pick" they are around 120 proof?)

I refuse to pay more than $200 for a bottle of bourbon (I drink all mine - they don't just sit on a shelf).  For me to pay that price it has to be 15+ years old.
Probably my all time favorite was Orphan Barrel Old Barterhouse 20 year old.  I read some reviews that said it tasted like a charcoal briquette - I really liked it.  
They all have a different flavor.

Sourced vs made in house.
If it says "distilled in Indiana" it is most likely from MGP which is the old Seagrams distillery right across the river from me in Indiana.
Some will say "distilled in KY" bottled by "x" brand
Unless it says bottled by and distilled by - it can come from a lot of places!!
Some labels will claim a certain age, if you read the back label its a blend of various ages - just read the labels to be sure!

"Barrel strength" = as it comes from the barrel
"Single barrel" = can be diluted may be anywhere from 90.4 up to 131.9(highest proof I have seen)

The high proof stuff can be interesting.  Bakers is really spicy to me at 107 proof, whereas I have a bottle of Knoebel whiskey (Mike Rowe's brand) and at 131 it is smoother to me than the Bakers!

Anyway - they all taste a little different.  Don't waste money because of hype.  Buy several bottles and try them and branch out from there.  
Enjoy the journey and drink what you buy!!

I swear probably more than 50% of people that are "bourbon drinkers" have only convinced themselves they like it because it is the in thing. I have seen plenty of co-workers throw back a sip, react like they just took a swig of diesel fuel, then talk about how good it is.

20 years ago we were weirdos for drinking bourbon. Just like cigars. Everybody loves cigars now.....

Appreciate this.  Literally ALL of the ones you listed are for sale near me and look to be in stock.  Prices range from high $20's to high $70's for 750ml bottles.  At this point the only bourbon I've tasted is Maker's Mark.  I do have an unopened bottle of Woodford Reserve Double Oak I bought a couple weeks ago.  

However, up until this point I enjoy certain beers, tequila (blanco varieties), rum, and scotch/whiskey.  Just never was introduced to bourbon.  

Now I have the first row on all 3 of my bar shelves filled with plenty of room for 2nd and 3rd rows/layers on the upper two shelves.  So I don't mind buying a few to try.  But how to know which I'll like?  You may say that's part of the game but at least scotch has a chart that organizes the options.  So I can zero in on the fruity/woodsy ones and leave out the sweat socks/used band aid ones.   Does bourbon have any sort of similar guides??  

Thanks!

I see the same and have never tasted it.  People seem to really price BT, Blantons and Eagle Rare along with the bottles people pay thousands for.  So there must be a culture that supports and perpetuates the admiration.  I'm getting the impression that people like having their bottles admired so they grab what is chased.  I wouldn't mind people admiring my collection, I'm just not going to concern myself with the chase.

Yeah, you have a lot of rare bottles of UNOPENED bourbon. What's the point? If anything, you're part of the problem why things are the way they are. Sit in the shelf to collect dust. Cool.

no legitimate online retailer ships spirits to PA addresses. if you are buying alcohol to resell you are breaking laws.

maybe you have nothing to lose, more likely you are the reason OP can't find what he wants to buy on the shelf.

i tried to help, if you think you know more then by all means. the floor is yours, i am done here.

Yes, and poor OP!

All I know is I have a bottle of hooch and no one stopped me!

Buffalo trace, blantons and eagle rare are all decent, but there are hundreds if not thousands of generally readily available choices that are just as good.

I think it would have been around 2011/2012 when I first heard of eagle rare. I walked into a store in michigan and the guy talked me into grabbing a bottle. It was under $30. He must have has 30 cases of it piled up.

If I could only have seen into the future, I would have bought a ton of it. Not because it was amazing, but because people are willing to spend piles of money on the stuff now. Although we could all say the same about many things in life I suppose. Like my buddy that bought two brand new transferable M60s for pennies on the dollar many years ago. One is still unfired.

This. I've had a store pick of Buffalo Trace sitting at over 60% full for the better part of a year now. YMMV, but to me, it's not that good, so I never reach for it. There are SO MANY great bourbons out there now. Just focus on ones you can readily acquire and find some you like. Forget the hype, focus on flavor.

I went down that road with Buffalo Trace when I got back from Louisville. It took awhile but I found a small liquor store that got it in quite a bit last summer. I stocked up. It's not my favorite but it's nice to have. I'm liking Traveller at the moment.

Yeah honestly I got addicted to the chase for a coupe years, hunting allocated bottles and trying to "collect". What a freakin waste of time and effort. I'm honestly so fed up with how hard it is to buy allocated bottles and I refuse to pay secondary prices. I drink a lot less now and I'm really losing desire overall for the bourbon game due to how out of control it has gotten. There are literally people who make a living off of standing hours in line at every damn store in the area to turn around and resell bottles online. They have no intention to drink any of it, it's all to flip bottles and cash in, and it just really blows my mind that the market has gotten to what it is and sustained the nonsense. I hope it dies some day.

My opinions:


Favorite "Budget" Sippers:

Knob Creek 9
Knob Creek Barrel Picks (usually $45-50)
Heaven Hill 7-year BIB
Eagle Rare 10 years*
Buffalo Trace
Larceny
Maker's Mark
Weller Special Reserve*

Favorite "luxury" picks:

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof
Elijah Craig Barrel Picks
Smokewagon Uncut / Unfiltered (UCUF)
Larceny Barrel-Proof
Weller Antique*
Jack Daniels Barrel-proof
Maker's Mark Barrel Picks
Michter's Sour Mash
Michter's Toasted Barrel*
New Riff Barrel-Strength Bourbon
Distillery 291 Barrel-proof Bourbon

Don't like or "meh" picks:
1792 - all variants
EH Taylor
Old Forester

I also find Blantons to be pretty mediocre given the time/expense

*Allocated / Hard to Get

Appreciate this!  

Last night, a member reached out and offered to trade me 1.75L Buffalo Trace for 750ml of Old Forester 1897.  So I bought two of the 1897 and will also have the BT now.  While I had the store manager educating me more on bourbons, I wasn't ready to grab 750ml bottles randomly because I have no clue what their flavors are.  I need to find out more kinda like the scotch/whiskey graph that breaks it down.  

But I did buy a sample bottle of Rebel Wheat and Wild Turkey 101.  

My hope is with the 5-6 bottles I have, I can start to understand my palette better and steer more in the direction of what I enjoy vs. ending up with bottles I can't stand that'll just sit on the shelf until a guest wants it.  

Also hoping I don't evolve to the point I crave the $5k+ per bottle stuff or this is going to get fucking expensive!  

Thanks again!

YGPM

ALSO... just wait until you have hundreds of dollars of bottles that you don't even open but keep for Nostalgia reasons.

Replied!

And NEVER!  I drink my booze!  Only exceptions are if we buy it specifically for company to enjoy.  With the sorts of guests we host it's crucial to make a good impression! Hell, that's how this started until this past week with bourbon.  I might have tasted it twice in my life....and now I have 6 bottles of it!

I see people in my local bourbon drinkers FB group flashing picks of this.  Is it worth the $70?  A store near me has it.

https://www.finewineandgoodspirits.com/yellowstone-single-barrel-straight-bourbon-fwgs-exclusive-barrel/product/000083181

With a barrel pick it's impossible to say without tasting it. However, Yellowstone isn't my favorite typically.

Ok, good to know!  

Still curious if there's a good chart that sorts bourbons into different flavor notes the way there is for scotch/whiskey?

Thanks

Edit: Just realized this is not what you were looking for but might find it interesting anyway

Attached File

Still interesting.   Thanks

You have to update this thread when you get the Buffalo Trace.

Let us know what you think of it and if it is worth the chase.

I just cracked open a bottle of buffalo trace I got for Xmas a few days ago and it's almost gone already


It's not bad

I got a store barrel pick of the Yellowstone last year up in Michigan, I enjoy it but it's not a "wow" for me.  A good bottle, but probably wouldn't seek out another one to hard.

But as said, it's always a bit of an adventure getting store barrel picks, you never know what nuance it will have vs. a big market batch run product.

For state run allocated bourbon drops at MSRP, they should deface the bottle to limit the resale value for people who don't intend to drink it.    or even make you open it in the store though I see the legal issues with open container laws.

I used to often grab Eagle Rare or Henry McKenna 10 before bourbon got popular during covid.   Blanton's and Buffalo trace would collect dust in ABC store because there were always better choices in those respective price ranges.

daddyscott2001 posted a solid list of bourbon that is available every day and better than many that are on allocation.

Eagle rare's claim to fame was it was a decent bourbon for the money.  The equation changes when you have to hunt and overpay,

Agreed, but I didn't know it had a claim to fame...  I don't follow much social media, I would occasionally buy something I had never tried before to find new stuff... Eagle Rare quickly made it into my normal rotation.   But covid and the taters ended that, so now I have to suffer with OF1920 being my "go to", poor me

Just bought a bottle of Travelers.   People say its good.  We shall see!

Pretty good considering it's probably mostly Canadian.

But I applaud more blending experimentation like that.

Go down to the liqour, see what bottle of bourbon for $50 bucks.
Buffulo trace is fine, for <30.  If liquor is really that hard to come maybe take a weekend and drive to kentucky/tenne and come back. Plenty of good stuff there.

God bless you for that. We are missing out on what could be some amazing whiskey because of our unbending prejudices.

Here's the mash bill chart for Buffalo Trace
Attached File

I just bought a case of Very old Blantons 86.

From what I have heard, the FB group has a "membership" that you have to subscribe to. I heard rumors its $25/month. You get PM's on when the drops are at different stores. 90% of the people waiting in line for the stores to open are flipping them, though that is illegal in PA.
For you in the LV, Cedar Crest or Saucon Valley Promenade are probably the best bet for getting BT drops.
Evey now and then the lower tier shops get some,  but mostly are the Holidays. I know some did this past yr near me in Montgomery. I miss the days when I could walk into a premium store and they would have EHT on the shelf. It has been at least 4yrs since I've been able to do that. There is also a reddit sub, r/PLCB, that has daily threads on what and where stuff is dropping. I've pretty much given up on chasing bourbon in PA.
I'll drive down to KY every other year and stock up instead.

Very Old Barton?

My go to mixer is the Evan Williams bottled in bond 100 proof.

It’s an inexpensive mid-shelf and not bad for the price. $20/750

https://www.thewhiskeyshelf.com/evan-williams-bottled-in-bond/

My brother-in-law lives 30 miles away from me as the crow flies. He has a bug up his ass about Buffalo Trace. Claims he can't find it and is hearing rumors of it for $300 a bottle.
I go to Costco 5 miles from his house and find it spread out on a shelf that reaches halfway down the aisle.
No idea what he's on about.

Weller, Eagle Rare, Blanton's all that crap is hard to get because retards are making it hard to get.

A few years ago there was a Bourbon thread. We talked it out and advised to stop chasing the rumor mill. Find something cheap you like and drink it.
If it gets hooked in a fad cycle and becomes unobtainium find something else.

Arfcom has had many threads where available, drinkable, and affordable bourbon is suggested.

The conspiracy that is real is a bunch of meat donut, mouthflapping hipsters are driving demand and creating artificial scarcity.
Don't fall for it.

Holy crap are you serious?  A $25/month FB GROUP???

Yeah I honestly don't get the hype around Buffalo Trace.  50% of the stores I walk into now and then have it on the shelf too...I don't find it that hard to come by.  Hell, Blantons isn't even that hard to get.  EH Taylor isn't easy...Pappy of course is basically impossible to touch.

Honestly, I steer clear of most of it now.  Same with Scotch...the price on Macallan got to be preposterous.

If I'm going for anything these days, it's High West.  I love their Ryes, they have some interesting limited-run bottles, and it's not difficult to get anymore.  It used to be pretty hard, when their distribution wasn't great, but now I can get it most anywhere.  That does for me just fine.

I have zero interest in standing around with a bunch of other neckbeards trying to get a bottle of Buffalo Trace or Blantons.  Most of those guys either stack it with the other bottles in their bedrooms or try to hustle it online.  The ONLY thing that would get me in line these days is Pappy at retail, and that's not gonna happen.

Last year it was found a couple of liquor control board folks weren't behaving ethically here in Oregon.  Kind of made the lottery pointless.

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/bourbongate-scandal-olcc-purchase-rare-liquor-lottery/283-ca060cfa-7aa7-4ced-863b-b81fe597544f


In February, two top executives were ousted from the OLCC after investigators found that for at least eight years, a group of OLCC employees would set aside hard to get bottles of liquor when it came into the state in order to purchase it for themselves. In Oregon, the state buys and taxes all hard liquor then sells it to independently operated liquor stores. That includes rare booze like Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, which was at the center of the investigation. The OLCC said each year, they only get around 3 or 4 bottles of it.

Bourbon is just not that hard.

It's not hard to find decent bourbon at decent prices.

Contrary to popular belief, you can't taste money.

I'm not saying bourbons that have hit the popularity jackpot and have become expensive by popularity driven scarcity are bad.

I'm saying they aren't multiple times better than other decent bourbons at normal prices.

Find a bottle you like, find out what kind of bourbon it is and try others that are similar.

John Wick did this.

Sipping those funny looking bottles of Blantons in the basement of the Continental.   That started the craze and it spread to Weller, Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace.

That stuff is stout.  Plantation 5 year is smooth.

I have a toasted version of theirs. It is good. I got it at the distillery last year. I do have a a limited single barrel from there also, which I have not opened yet.

Well, when they can find a bottle of BT, Blantons, ER and can flip it for double what they paid for it, yes.
Especially if they land several a month.
It's not about drinking the juice, its about flipping them unfortunately.