A newbie's "first" taste

[gdsmit1]

As I said in my intro thread, I've been a long time beer drinker. The whiskey that I drank when younger was in order to quickly get plastered and was always whatever was cheapest and could be bourbon, rye, whatever. Just as long as it was cheap and got me drunk. Fast forward 20 years and now I no longer have the goal of getting totally drunk, but to appreciate what I'm drinking. To sit there and relax while imbibing and enjoy what I have in that glass.

I decided that since bourbon is very American, I would start there. I got a bottle of Buffalo Trace the other day because it rated well.

Last night the kids didn't have any activities, so I grabbed a glass and poured myself a shot. I let it breathe for a couple of minutes. I then took a sniff and it smelled great. There was a bit of a fruity aroma with some spice mixed in. I couldn't wait to give it a taste.

I sipped a little bit of it and moved it around in my mouth. That's when the years of drinking beers in the 4%-12% showed me that there is hardly any alcohol in a beer. That 90 proof smacked me hard in the face. All I tasted was that alcohol. For some reason, I coughed and that just pushed some of that alcohol up into my sinuses. I just about sprayed that drink all over the place.

But I got the coughing under control, took a sip of water and sat back down to continue. By the end of that drink, I was tasting something other than the alcohol. It was kind of a grape juice taste in there, along with some unidentified spiciness. I may have tasted some vanilla, but I'm not sure.

In the end, I did like the final taste of it. I think that the alcohol caught me off guard. I'll get part of the way through this bottle and then step into some other tastes.

Anyone have a suggestion on what I should look to next? I'd like to stay under $25. Since I don't have a preferred taste yet, I want to explore the world of bourbon. I figure I need to taste all the different tastes to develop that preference.



Now for the REALLY newbie question. Is there any taste difference between a 750ml and the small pint bottles behind the register? I would assume there is no difference since they are the same product. But I could be missing something. If there is no difference, at this stage in my tasting career I might be better served to stick to smaller bottles if available?

[Satty Beach]

Start at the bottom. Drink the same thing all the time until there is a reason not to. You decide what that reason is; after taste, no taste, sick of it, etc. In your case I would suggest Ancient Age 3 y/o 80 proof. You already have a bottle of Buffalo Trace, so bounce them back and forth against each other and see where you stand, if you need to move up or down or in between.

I don't see any difference in the small bottles vs the big bottles, as long as they are glass and not plastic. One thing you don't get with the small airline bottles is you don't get to know what that whiskey is about in such a small sampling. 375ml that's stretching it as far as sampling goes. You need a multi day sampling from the same bottle to START to know what a whiskey is about. Small bottles cause people to miss the forest for the trees on most occasions.

[gdsmit1]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take a look for it at my local store. The reviews here at BE seem very split on if it's good or not. But even if it isn't good to me, I'll learn something about bourbon.

As for the little bottles, I meant those pint sized bottles. I can see the problem with the airline bottles.

[Squire]

The whisky is the same in all size bottles, the only difference is when the maker might make a subtle shift in the blend of barrels (to compensate for a change in proof perhaps) but that would be for all the bottles in that brand.

The major producers, Heaven Hill, Barton, Beam, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark, all have certain character traits identified with their house style so a good way to start is with a representative brand from each company. Once you determine which brand you favor most then began exploring the other brands from that company.

I suggest you choose those in the 86-100 proof range for comparison purposes. I know, sometimes it seems everybody on these Boards drink their whisky straight but darned if I know why, I don't. Professional tasters dilute their samples down to 20% alcohol by volume (ABV) and there's no rule we should have to slug it down straight.

[gdsmit1]

That makes sense. The brand would use the same master distiller (I don't know if there's such a thing as a master distiller, but since there are master brewers, I would think there is) and that master distiller would have a certain style to what he makes. Along with Ancient Age, I'll also look at what each of the major producers and stick to about the same proof as this Buffalo Trace.

I had it on the rocks last night. That really improved my experience. I was no longer smacked by it. It allowed the flavors to develop a bit more slowly. I'm sure that by the end it was well watered down, but I still enjoyed it.

[Mike]

The whisky is the same in all size bottles, the only difference is when the maker might make a subtle shift in the blend of barrels (to compensate for a change in proof perhaps) but that would be for all the bottles in that brand.

The major producers, Heaven Hill, Barton, Beam, Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Maker's Mark, all have certain character traits identified with their house style so a good way to start is with a representative brand from each company. Once you determine which brand you favor most then began exploring the other brands from that company.

I suggest you choose those in the 86-100 proof range for comparison purposes. I know, sometimes it seems everybody on these Boards drink their whisky straight but darned if I know why, I don't. Professional tasters dilute their samples down to 20% alcohol by volume (ABV) and there's no rule we should have to slug it down straight.

Good points, Squire. I drink mine straight most of the time, but I sip, I do not slug. I like the more intense flavors of a higher proof........... most of the time.

[RandyG]

I would suggest Evan Williams Single Barrel. It is probably the smoothest, easiest drinking bourbon I have come acrosss in the past 2-3 years of whiskey exploration. Before that, I always enjoyed a whiskey every now and then but never took it seriously. I had settled on Woodford for many, many years and only started exploring differents whiskeys the past few years. I grew up in a small town and my "drinkin years" started around 1980 or so. Maybe it was the lack of selection (small town) or the quality of the whiskey during this period, but the whiskeys of the day did not impress me one bit (taken neat). Later on, I remember trying Woodford neat and thinking that was pretty good, so I stuck with it. A few years back I was hearing about all the quality whiskeys being produced today and thought I would try a few. Well, now my cabinet has 10 or so bottles of what I think are exceptional bourbons. One thing I have learned is if you come across one you are not that impressed with, don't give up on it. In fact finish it before getting a bottle of something else. This is two fold, 1) It gives you a better chance of getting to know that particular whiskey, and 2) if you think you don't care for it that much and you buy another [that you DO like], it will just sit on your shelf collecting dust. Do this, buying a second bottle of only those you like, and you will have a nice collection of bourbons on your shelf that appeal to you.

Enjoy the journey,
Randy

[gdsmit1]

A former coworker recommended that I try Evan Williams Single Barrel next. I guess that's on my list.

[Squire]

A few others would be Forester Signature (100 proof), Barton BIB, Beam Black (regular or double aged) and Knob Creek.

[gdsmit1]

I've gone through a lot of the posts here that were geared towards newbies. Knob Creek, and Barton were on there. I'll take a look at Forester Signature and Beam Black

Thanks again.

[Birdo]

Sounds like you're cool with the price of mid-shelf bourbon, I am too. Why not try the two biggest mid-shelf bourbons? Wild Turkey 101 and Maker's Mark. Wild Turkey is full flavor, spicy, old style bourbon that's great. Maker's has great taste in a smooth easy drinker. WT1`01 is traditional bourbon made with rye, and MM has wheat which makes it smooth, so these two will give you expousure to the two main types of great mid-shelf bourbon.

Stay away from youngish 80 proofers, they belong in Coke or 7-up.

You can spend more money on high end bourbon, and they are good, but I don't get the extra value for my money. I like the Heaven Hill mid-shelf stuff real well. The guy that said Evan Williams Single barrel is right, it's good stuff, as is Elijah Craig 12, both from Heaven Hill. Also suggest moderation and drinking this stuff on the rocks. Too much bourbon at one time will make for bad time tonight or tomorrow morning.

[Squire]

Since the subject of wheat recipe Bourbons came up I suggest you add Weller (any of them) to the list.

[Birdo]

I actually took my own advice. I grabbed a 1.75 liter of Wild Turkey 101 at Sam's Club for $36.99., Makers was priced at $41.99 for the 1.75 which is also a pretty good deal. THe 750ml in both of these run from $20-25, so the real deal is the bigger bottle.

Had a single WT101 over ice during the Grammys, bourbon was great, Grammys sucked.

With Makers dilution announcement, I grabbed a bottle of 90 Proof MM too. I plan to meter that on out slowly over a long period of time.

[gdsmit1]

Based on a thread in the Industry News section, MM is dropping their proof a bit to keep up with demand. So I'm thinking that I should pick up the higher proof MM to experience it prior to the drop. Not that it would make much difference to my new palate.

I've been enjoying the Buffalo Trace on the rocks over the past week. I'm finding that it's too watered down by the time I get to the last swallow. Maybe I should keep the bourbon in the fridge so it doesn't melt the ice so quickly?

But thanks for the continued recommendations.

[EllenJ]

...I've been enjoying the Buffalo Trace on the rocks over the past week. I'm finding that it's too watered down by the time I get to the last swallow. Maybe I should keep the bourbon in the fridge so it doesn't melt the ice so quickly?

Some folks keep it in the freezer. It won't freeze (alcohol is antifreeze, y'know), although it will get a little thicker and kind of syrupy. Then don't use any ice at all!