Best bourbon?


I noticed there are threads for scotch and vodka so we need one for bourbon too.
What do you think is the best bourbon? I can't pick just one but I think that buffalo trace and Elijah Craig are both very good, especially at ~$30 for a fifth.

Mark
mhedges
Evan Williams single barrell, Makers Mark, & Woodford Reserve are my favorites....

I'm getting 2 bottles of sealed/unopened Crown Royal that's stamped 1970 or 1975 (I forget)...how good do you think this will be?
Hi Roscoe,

Yes and it is fabulous - it isn't a single barrel though, it is a small batch meaning made in small batches from a select few barrels. Knob Creek does make a single barrel bourbon which is also excellent!

Bulliet is 95 percent blend of rye - very nice but a little on the spicey side for me and it is not aged as long as KC. I like them both!
Pops,

I assume you are referring to the Single Barrel Knob Creek Rye. And yes, it is fabulous.

Though I haven't had a chance to compare them, when I was applauding the Knob Creek rye, a knowledgeable bartender friend told me she found Bulleit Rye eve better, due to the even higher rye grain content.
Knob Creek just introduced a Rye - a must if you like manhattans especially while spinning wax or vinyl!
Pappy Van Winkle is made in very small batches and they can be hard to find in stock.

So I usually buy 4 bottles at a time, if I can.

Love the stuff, but I just don't drink that often so my bottles are even older than what the label says (not that it means anything).
went and tried to preorder some pappy's the other day. Lady laughed out loud. Essentially zero chance. I'm about 50th on the waiting list and she says that something like 47 folks before me have to decline. Got some makers 46 as I noticed it and recalled the mention here. disappointing. for the price it should be better than the EW single cask but it's not. Keep the suggestions flowing yawl!
Pops is right. The Devils Cut is great. Has more of what I like to call "Bourbonness" than anything at the reasonable price range it sits in. I find some of the pricey ones to be too smooth and lacking in "Bourbonness" Makers is a good example of ths when compared with lets say Wild Turkey 101.
I tried Basil Haydens and Woodfords Reserve,they just didn't do it for me.Maybe I'm not a bourbon guy.
Tempted to try Phaelon's recommended Whistlepig but for now its back to tequila.Riazul Anejo and Casa Noble are on my top shelf
Okay, first of all, donÂ’t beat me up because my recommendation isn't a bourbon; itÂ’s a rye and a really, really exceptional whiskey. Now, IÂ’m a bourbon man through and through and... oh, the hell with it; IÂ’m just going to put my reputation on the line and ask you guys to trust me. Buy a bottle of Whistlepig. Just do it.
I recently had a scarce Willett's 20 year. It challenges the Pappy Van Winkle 23 year for pinnacle bourbon ranking, honey smooth with a trifle more spice. The Van Winkle 20 remains a not-cheap but still more affordable weekly sipper.

Phil
In my old age i just stepped up to Bourbon.
I started with Haydens simply because it was only 80 proof and had good reviews.I will work up to Blantons
Enjoy the game
Just finished Woodfords Reserve (wasn't that impressed) and getting ready to open Knob Creek for the 'Big Game'.

I think I still prefer Blanton's and Basil Hayden for sentimental reasons.

Enjoy Responsibly.
Gonna try to re-start this thread.
Right now its Basil Hayden
Woodfords Reserve is waiting patiently on the shelf.
Has any one found something new and changed there opinion ??
Pappy's 23 years is best, and can convince even a Scotch snob that Bourbon is a serious drink. Right behind it is Willett 18. Pappy's 20 years is terrific, and almost an entirely different thing from the 23, more rye-like in being spicier.

Woodford Reserve, Basil Hayden, Booker's, Blanton's, Maker's 46 all offer distinctly different spins on Bourbon at daily prices, to equally good quality levels.

Not a Bourbon, but I have to mention Bernheim Original Wheat Whiskey for being an exceptional medium for ingesting alcohol, and it happens to be quite affordable.

Phil
Jim Beam is introducing a bourbon called Devil's Cut - it is a play on the "Angels Share" which is the roughly 30% that evaporates while aging in the barrel. There is bourbon left in the wood after dumping, Beam has found a way to extract that and marry it with 6 year old Jim Beam and bottled at 90 proof. I just tried some - it is spectacular! The wood and tannins from the barrel give it full-bodied flavor with a nice long finish - yummy!
I just finished my first bottle of MakerÂ’s 46 and find it much more complex, and flavorful than MakerÂ’s Mark. If you are unimpressed with MakerÂ’s Mark, and have little interest in MakerÂ’s 46 because youÂ’ve heard that itÂ’s regular MakerÂ’s Mark, given a little extra aging with some additional Oak staves (true), donÂ’t let that deter you. ItÂ’s quite an improvement, IMO.

FYI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePKd69z9qOw
Pops,
I really, really liked Bruce Pearl...and think that what happened was a real shame...the SEC will miss his incredible talent as a coach.
Hope your new guy does great things...I really do.
Rivalry is fun...I'm a designer, but just posted a thread about Manufacturer's I Have Known, and featured Bobby Palkovic, one could call him a competitor... but more importantly he's a friend and incredible talent.

We can all coexist, support one another...

Thanks for the nice comment.

Good listening.
Larry
Larry - awesome story! I am a Vol - so we are rivals but SEC brothers!

Cheers
Pops,
I am a Kentucky Wildcat fan--for half a century.
My dad, not really a sports fan per se, listening to Kentucky games on Armed Forces Network--as Kentucky had, even then a wide following of fans. (Rupp used to take the 'Cats into MSG for games and they quickly became fan faves).
One of my earliest, warmest memories was dad sitting in the kitchen in front of an old Emmerson Vacuum Tube radio, listening to UK play. 'Whatcha doin' Dad?'
'Come over here and listen to this game with me.'
Well, sitting with one's dad, listening to the 'Cats, or Cincinnati Reds, Yankees--just bein' with one's dad--does it get any better.
That was the 'first time' as my friend and author John Powers says...the 'last time' was December of 1976--at our family Christmas party. Never saw him again--alive.

Great memories--some of my best ever Jerry.

Good listening,

Larry
Larry - I shouldn't have called you on that as most every bourbon is make in KY - You are right! But is one of the stringent laws to define a bourbon whiskey.

Enjoy your bourbon and music! I just hope your not a KY Wildcat!

Jerry
Pops,
Having grown up in Kentucky, I had always heard that--up to and including a quote from a movie which I've forgotten, however, you're right--I'm wrong.
Checking just now, figures show that all is NOT made in Kentucky--I thought that, as it emanated from Bourbon County, (hence the name I'm guessing) that that was the reason. But no. Sorry to mislead.
However, according to what I just read, (assuming that's correct) 95% of all Bourbon is made in Kentucky.
Whisky is made in may locales, but generally, not emperically, Bourbon is made in Kentucky.
As my dad used to say, NEVER, NEVER make definite, emperical statements of absolute fact, NEVER. lol

Good listening, and good catch Pops.

Larry
Larry, actually that is not true. Bourbon can be made anywhere in the U.S.
I may be repeating--but if it's not made in Kentucky, it cannot be bourbon.

Good listening, er drinking.

Larry
It means MM uses red winter wheat in the mash bill, of course all bourbons by law must be made from 51percent corn MM is no exception. Some other bourbons like Basil Hayden for example use a higher mix of rye, giving it a lighter, spicier character. That's what makes bourbons special, strict standards but leeway to make each unique.
when you say 'wheated' are you referring to rye content? i dont care much for knob creek.

i notice that when i drink a bourbon like Bulliet, it has a much more raw or spicy flavor. i've been told thats because of the high rye content (relative to maker.)

i still think for my buck there's no better buy than Eagle Rare 10 year, if your going to drink it neat or on the rocks.
The Hirsch 16 and 20 year old bourbons are not cheap, but smooth and extraordinarily complex.
In selecting bourbons, one should distinguish between wheated (eg Makers Mark) and non-wheated (Knob Creek) as they are very different one from the other.
George T. Stagg.

It will redefine your understanding of what bourbon can be. But drinker beware: 141 proof or so.
Eagle rare is good stuff.

I have been enjoying Old Weller 107 lately. It's got a nice rich chocolaty flavor.
checking back in a year later:

Eagle Rare 10 year single barrel is about all I drink, bourbon-wise.
Four Roses, Single Barrel. Ultra smooth, amazingly rich sippin' bourbon. In a warm handed, ever so slightly melted, ever so slightly swirled glass of ice...it "gels" with the sweet spot chair.
blantons green lable
bulleit
makers mark
woodford reserve

for some reason i preferred the lighter proof'd blantons over everything i've tried. im not a big bourbon guy, sad, cause i live so close to KY, the blantons green lable just doesnt have all that fire that i can't seem to overcome.

Some of you would argue that there is no fire in bourbon. different palates i guess. at 26 i think ive still got some time to settle in to my beverages.
Knob Creek Kentucky Bourbon. Hide your keys and have a couple perfect manhattans.
I had both Woodford Reserve and Maker's Mark at a Christmas party last Saturday. Both are very good.

Again, Jack Daniels is not bourbon. Having grown up in Tennessee I'm well aware of its' appellation as "Tennessee sippin' whiskey". :-)

Wendell
Woodford Reserve, Knob Creek, and Maker's Mark. These are my favorites, as the term "best" can only be in the eyes (and palates) of the beholder.
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Woodford Reserve, followed by Makers Mark, and the old Standard, Jack Daniels (Black Label) I don't care what is says on the label, it's bourbon.
Agreed, Middleton and Ardberg are excellent antidotes to sobriety. But we were discussing bourbon.
Sit

I actally like American vodka, Titos, made in Austin, probably by red necks. :)
I'm quite sure you are correct about the taste quality of Midleton. I'm rather well traveled myself and have had a good taste of such brands during my frequent trips to England and elsewhere. Wonderful spirits.

However, to call Bourbon a "redneck" beverage exhibits rather narrow thinking. Bourbon evolved as a true gentlemen's drink enjoyed by distinguished, fine gentlemen such as Robert E. Lee.

Do you feel the same way about the Eastern European peasant beverage, vodka?
Lloydc and Sit

Travel to Ireland and have the other brown spirit. Midleton has a better flavor backbone than these red neck beverages. :)
Lloydc is right on about the differentiation between bourbon and whisky. From my days working marketing with Seagram amd then Buckingham-Wile in NYC I recall that bourbon is the ONLY authentic American distilled spirit.

My choice spirits have been Scotch and Bourbon for a long time. For me I like them both over ice or with a splash of cold spring water. Although I enjoy the expensive brands I am a regular for Old Grand Dad. It's more affordable and satisfies my palet quite nicely.

A lot of those folks responding to this question are wrongly identifying whisky as a bourbon. Take a taste test (organolyptic test) and experience the difference.