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What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 8:06 pm
by Dump Bucket
We have a lot of discussion on the "best era for bourbon", so I thought I would throw up a poll (14 days) and give you three votes. Dates given are for bottle dates, not distillation dates.

Once we get the top three, I will repoll with a single vote of the top three.

Looking for 3 votes and a post with what drives your answer.

Re: What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:03 am
by Brewer
I just cast 1 vote for the present. There's no time like the present. Seems to me that there are lots of interesting things happening at the distilleries with new products coming out & pretty good availability. Just think of all the interesting bottlings that have come out over the last 10 years. Amazing. The industry is definitely aware of the enthusiasts out there. We're even able to buy our own barrels! I'm also looking forward to seeing the impact that micro-distillers have on the market. I am hoping that a number of them that make good products, have lots of success and get recognition for their capabilities. If micro-distillers can have an impact that even slightly resembles the impact that the micro-brewers have had, I think that would be very cool. I couldn't vote for the future, but I think the future should be very interesting.

Re: What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 10:19 am
by Brewer
I have been to the Polling Place, and have now officially vast my singular vote. :)

Re: What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:03 am
by sailor22
For me it is hard to beat some of the current offerings - that combined with the diversity available makes NOW my favorite choice. Plus I can actually buy them without too much trouble.

My second choice would be The FUTURE if it was available because I think there is a lot of interesting american whiskies coming as the product from some of the artisan distillers ages out. Not to mention that the majors all seem to be working overtime to develop some different Bourbons. Time will tell on both counts.

Given that there is no future option I chose the 70-79 era just because I have had some really tasty pours bottled in that era. I'm not aware of any offerings from then that compare to some of todays high end offerings as far as market placement - but the mid and bottom shelf stuff I have had generally compares favorably to todays mid and bottom.

Re: What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:16 pm
by Dump Bucket
My choices, the 50-79, are driver by the great bourbon release prior to the start of the consolidation in the 70s and 80s.

With the loss of so many of the individual bourbons the quality and choices were reduced...

Beam and Sazerac put a hurt on some of the best bourbons ever made... But there are many guilty parties...

Re: What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:38 pm
by Mike
My first choice is now.............for the following reasons:

Availability.

Many wonderful MD's around now, many of whom are experimenting.

Barrel Proof bourbons are everywhere and offer a lot in my opinion.

As good as some of the older bourbons I have had are (and that number is small), I don't find them noticably superior to today's stuff............although I am still pissed about Russell's Reserve going to 90 proof.

Re: What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:39 pm
by gillmang
I'd have to say the 1970's, not so much because of whiskeys I've tasted in recent years made then, but because of what I remember from drinking whiskey at the time.

I remember that Maker's Mark was superlative. I remember Old Yellowstone with its rich fruity taste. I remember the rich, dark rum-like Benchmark. And Old Fitzgerald 80 and 86 proof (the regular age) with a fine medium caramel-like taste, and Kentucky Tavern when a rich whiskey made by Medley - and ditto Ezra Brooks.

There are many fine bourbons today but those particular taste profiles seem hard to recapture. A noted exception is the current JD I've been discussing, it has 1970's quality, IMO. But I like many bourbons of today too (many from Four Roses, Rare Breed, Evan Williams Single Barrel, EC 12, Weller 107, BMH 18 rye, the A.H. Hirsch bourbon bottlings when available and numerous others).

It is not so much that the 1970's were great as such, but that particular choices were available then that seem largely absent from the market today, particular taste profiles I liked. Whereas the taste profiles that are available today must, I assume, also have been available in the 1970's (or mostly so, setting aside perhaps super-aged bourbons, but they are not my first choice). This would be I think because there were more producing companies then so there was more choice overall.

Gary

Re: What are your favorite decades for Bourbon?

Unread postPosted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:41 pm
by independant
My vote went to 2000-2009 because mostly that is all that I have had the pleasure of having. I think that I will always look at this time as the best time for bourbon because it was the time period that I fell in love with bourbon.