Whiskey Gathering 6/24

[angelshare]

We had the pleasure of the company of esteemed forum members Bunghole & OneCube (aka Linn & Gary) on 6/24. We did no "formal" tasting - just sipped, gabbed & ate a delicious Tina signature meal of roast beef, zucchini & tomatoes, cucumbers from our garden, & freshly prepared homemade potato salad.

Some notable tastes included:

1) Gary generously brought AH Hirsch 16 year gold wax - fabulous! Smooth, rich, almost creamy - mellow with big vanilla and caramel. A head to head was done with Tribute - two different whiskey animals, both as top shelf as it gets, but I thought the Hirsch "won" this no lose proposition!

2) We all agreed that Old Charter Proprietor's Reserve stacks up nicely against Hirsch when you consider that it's price point is very different.

3) Linn burned me with a blind pour of one of my favorites - ER 17. At first I thought it was the Hirsch agagain, then OCPR, which was also Gary's first guess.

4) We had the good fortune of a super secret source providing some barrel strength Evan Williams. We all agreed that there was a rich caramel flavor that dissipated very quickly with the addition of any water whatsoever.

5) Fleischmann's bicentennial oddly had a flavor profile very similar to present day Henry McKenna Single Barrel (per Dave) & Evan Williams 1783 (per Gary) when compared side by side.

6) The Bernheim wheat was considered to be more of an interesting novelty than "great whiskey;" we agreed that it's nice to try one bottle, but it will probably be a while before anybody would purchase a second one.

7) The William LaRue Weller was considered clearly "antique" caliber and far superior in quality:cost ratio compared to the Bernheim. I also found that I liked it much better this time around compared to the last tasting of it.

8) "Old" Russell's Reserve 101 has made Gary rethink his bias against the Turkey flavor profile, although Rare Breed remmains very lackluster on the OneCube palate.

Most importantly, a good time was had by all, and we can't wait to get together again!

[angelshare]

Tina's lunch was a hit - that's Rebecca moving almost too fast to be caught on film.

[Brewer]

Looks like you all had a good time...wish I could've joined you!

[bunghole]

ima hada GREAT TIME and was very impressed by the uncut/unfiltered barrel proof William LaRue Weller. Very rich and full bodied. In a totally blind tasting I'd never guess it was a wheated mashbill.

ima also very much enjoyed his first taste of the 15 year old I.W. Harper. I have never had an 80 proof bourbon taste this good. Excellent body; color, and flavor. This one would rank highly as an on the rocks summertime back porch pour.

Tina's pot roast lunch just ROCKED

As did Wolfmother wailing on the stereo!

Many thanks to Dave & Tina angleshare for a totally awesome time!

ima

[bunghole]

ima should also thank Gary (One Cube Only) for the much appreciated chance to taste A.H. Hirsch 16 year old again as well as the uncut/unfiltered HH bourbon from an undisclosed and oh so secret source.

ima

[OneCubeOnly]

Let me echo the comments above about what a great time this was! As always the food and the company were spectacular!

For me the tasting highlight was probably sampling Dave's midshelf offerings. In particular I spent a lot of time studying the WT lineup. For the last several years I have been discounting and badmouthing the entire WT line, so I was pleasantly surprised to come to these conclusions:

1. The WT bottling I had always assumed was their champion is actually my least favorite: Rare Breed.

2. The WT RR 101 is my favorite of all (except of course for Tribute). Wouldn't you know I decide to latch onto an offering that's no longer out there!!?! Has anybody definitively tasted the 90 proof side-by-side with the 101?

3. I still prefer Blanton's to Kentucky Spirit.

I didn't taste them blind, but this would be my WT order:

Tribute > RR101 > KS > 101 > Rare Breed

Thanks again to Dave & Tina for their wonderful hospitality and generosity!!