Pappy Van Winkle, the world's most coveted bourbon

[Roland99]

Don’t think I ever heard the name Van Winkle in all my years in Louisville. Must try some now!

Pappy Van Winkle, the world's most coveted bourbon

[mitch96]

1. Suppose to be good tasting bourbon. I have yet to go to a bar that has any for me to try.. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. That's because it's $4K a bottle!

That's for the primo 23 year old. The Grade B 10 year will only set you back $1K.

[mitch96]

9. Either way I'd pay for a oz or so in a glass. I just can't find a place that sells it by the glass..

Hell its supposed to be good but what if I don't like it? Then again I can't remember the last time I turned down a glass of bourbon. Even Ten High bourbon taste good to me.. YMMV.
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[Major Nikon]

11. I've never seen a bar that sells high end spirits by the glass

That’s not to say they aren’t out there, but I can’t imagine there’s many. Bottles that cost over $500 are generally in very short supply, which puts them out of reach by high volume operations.

I just paid $215 for a bottle of bourbon and for me that’s as high as I ever care to go. The particular one I bought is only available at liquor stores for a very short period and it’s gone till the next year.

Much of the stuff that costs more is very difficult to get your hands on. You either have to order a bottle well ahead of the release or know someone in the business who can set some back for you. Liquor stores often only will offer it to their best customers who are buying the high end stuff and I will never go on the shelf.

There’s also aficionado groups who will acquire bottles of the really good stuff and do tasting events.

[mitch96]

13. before the virus hit I was going to look at some of these new "whiskey" bars that were opening up.

Or maybe a very well established high end hotel bar.. I thought it was interesting in the CBS piece that Van W uses wheat instead of rye in the mix to keep it smooth. Makers Mark does the same thing using winter wheat... When I did the bourbon tour up in Bairdstown Makers Mark was one of the better tours and tastings. One of the distilleries had a beautiful set up. You took the tour and then the lead you to a nice circular bar. They had little snifters set up to test your "nose" with different herbs and spices to see how good your sniffer was at telling which was what. I failed miserably.. Zero for all . I guess my nose is dead so it probably doesn't pay for me to get the "good stuff". .
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[Major Nikon]

14. There's not that many wheated bourbons

Most use rye, but there’s big differences on which rye is used.

Most of the experience of drinking bourbon comes from the nose. There’s a particular technique I use when sniffing whiskey which is to get my nose in there, but inhale through my mouth. If you do it just right you will pick up the subtle aromas out of the ethanol. You also get the experience of the aromas when you drink. It’s not so much having a sensitive nose as training yourself how to discern what’s there.

[mitch96]

16. " training yourself how to discern what's there."

Right... and I don't know what's there... To me the sniffing camomile smelled like straw..
What do "notes of leather" smell like? An "earthy" smell... Hi end barn yard? At this point I'm ok with Makers Mark. I like it's smoothness.
As an experiment I put Ten High bourbon in a hi end bottle.. Most at the party though it was a great bourbon.. Same with vodka. I put Tito's into a Grey Goose bottle. Very few could tall the difference.. YMMV
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[Major Nikon]

17. I don't get into such identification

To me it’s just about enhancing the experience, which can be done with a $30 bottle or a $200 bottle.

At a party most are going to drown the booze with mixer and/or are drinking to get inebriated, so I’m not surprised they couldn’t tell the difference.

[Maraya1969]

15. Maybe a fancy steak house? idk. I probably couldn't tell the difference.

I'm the first one to admit I know nothing and have no discerning taste when it comes to liquor.

[Docreed2003]

3. It's an incredible bourbon but extremely hard to find

The rarity of finding it readily has driven the price up significantly. There are great alternatives from Buffalo Trace, the company that owns Pappy, that are just as good in my book.

[hlthe2b]

4. I've always wondered why I can drink scotch (esp single malt) but cannot stand bourbon...

The only other alcohol that I won't dare touch is gin. I am curious why that would be....

Then again, I love a good Cabernet, but white and rose' wines, not so much. So perhaps there is a sweetness issue or?

[Roland99]

5. Have you tried Woodford Reserve Double-Oaked?

Really smooth. Warmer flavor

And I actually sampled a wondrous bourbon at Smugglers Notch in VT

[hlthe2b]

6. I'm no connoisseur.. really my disdain for bourbon dates to college & ubiquitous Jack Daniels or

Wild Turkey. I've long suspected really good bourbon, like good scotch is quite different, but generally, I stick to wine or beer, so it hasn't really been an issue.

[Roland99]

7. I can understand that. But those are swill

[Major Nikon]

12. The legal standards for bourbon are higher than scotch

In other words there are specific governmental standards which have to be met for a spirit to be called bourbon or scotch and those for bourbon are more strict. That being said there’s a lot of middle and bottom shelf products like the ones you mentioned that meet minimum standards, but aren’t that great. Scotch that is imported to the US is more likely to be middle to top shelf products.

Generally speaking there’s a world of difference between mass produced bourbons and those produced on a smaller scale by true craftsman. Mass produced products are made to a consistent taste year after year even if overall quality suffers. Small batch products are subject to variations with the grains used to produce them and the weather conditions in which they are barrel aged. They also tend to be made with better ingredients, more attention to detail, and fewer corners cut. Quality is more important than consistency.

It’s also true that just because you like one kind of whiskey doesn’t mean you’ll like all of them regardless of quality. I can’t stand scotch, I can barely tolerate Irish whiskeys, but I do enjoy good bourbon.

[TexasBushwhacker]

10. I could never stand Scotch until I tried an unpeated single malt

I'm still not going to invest in a bottle, but it wasn't bad.