George T. Stagg 141.2 Proof

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Unread postby Mike » Sat Jul 29, 2006 12:57 pm

Gentlemen one and all. Sorry if I misinterpreted your comments on reviews. Maybe my own insecurities about my reviews are showing. I sometimes wonder if I am not finding things that are not there in the bourbon too.

There are days when I do a blind tasting when I wonder if I know anything about bourbon........aside from the fact that I enjoy it.

It seemed to me, maybe because I am being too sensitive, that I have been zinged twice this week, both times as I thought about it, with a certain amount of justification.

It will take a few days before I can laugh at myself about this.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. - Dylan Thomas
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Unread postby gillmang » Sat Jul 29, 2006 1:05 pm

Mike, I'll never forget many years ago I read that half the people, when they taste blind an onion or an apple, can't tell the difference. That doesn't mean that giving taste impressions with the item in front of you "with full knowledge" isn't valid. It is just that context means so much. So e.g., Bulleit really does taste like cinammon red hots. And when you have it in front of you, that memory (or say if you read the description) will assist to see if it still tastes like that, or is a bit different, etc. Absent context, it is hard to say for most people what something is like (yet still possible with a lot of experience). Keep on doing what you do, I enjoy reading it.

I should say too that there is a class of taste notes which really amounts to bourbon literature. They tell you how bourbon makes you feel (people and poets have been doing that with wine for eons). That is very valid too but not what I (for what it's worth) would call a taste note in the strict sense.

Gary
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Unread postby JH » Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:16 pm

I bought a bottle of the Fall 2005 Stagg when visiting family in Lexington for Thanksgiving. I thought it was a very good & "tastey" bourbon but was too strong for my old taste buds. I cut it with ~ 25% water & it was great. I'm new to "good" boubon & won't attempt to describe the taste, just that I liked it a lot :) . Family members thought it was great, after cutting with water to various degrees.
*** I also bought a bottle of Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot B, at a lower alcohol content, & that was the "best, as is".
Looking forward to some knowledgable reviews.
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Unread postby bourbonv » Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:38 pm

JH,
The high proof products such as Stagg, William LaRue Weller and Booker's are made to be served with water. The advantage orf adding your own water to lower them to 100 proof or so, over buying a 100 proof product to start with is that you will get more flavor. When a distiller lowers the proof, they also filter the product more, removing more flavor. Since Stagg, William LaRue and Bookers are unfiltered that flavor is still there when you add your own water. Just don't use tap water. Distilled or a good quality bottled water are best.

Mike Veach
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Unread postby TNbourbon » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:36 pm

Here's my take on the Fall '05 Stagg from first tasting back in February. I can't find a listing for it in the review section. When available, if Mark, Chris or Bob will move it -- or request that I do -- that will be fine with me:

Name: George T. Stagg, Fall 2005 version

Proof: 141.2 (barrel proof)

Cost: $56.80, after tax, in Middle Tennessee

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY

Bottle: The elegantly tall, straight-sided Antique Collection bottle, highlighted by the stag-horn stencil.

Nose: Well, the alcohol can clear your sinuses, but it's a sense, not a smell. Corn husks with underlying vanilla lead, followed up quickly by freshly-opened orange -- the fleshy center, not the peel. Give a couple of minutes, and the expected cinnamon/Red Hots take a turn. (Swirl, swish!) More, richer vanilla, and -- yep, bananas (just right this time, usually they're overripe), I always sense bananas in Stagg! Power of suggestion, or just a slippery slope? (After letting the empty glass sit a few minutes, it's all fresh, husked corn, newly-cribbed.)

Taste: The corn is first, followed by a blast of alcohol heat, then more definite corniness. Ah, there's the leather, about mid-palate (now in the nose, too -- hmmm, do we smell what we taste, or taste what we smell?). The leather softens and lingers.

Finish: No blast furnace here. No "I'm not leaving!", in-your-face attitude. Pleasant, medium, fresh. Lightly tannic, but without sourness. Virtually no aftertaste. Ready, set, again!..

Conclusions: Some of the earlier Stagg issues have been EVENTS! Big, bold, complex flavor packages that become almost a hodge-podge of sensory enfilade. GTS has matured. The Fall 2005 is a 'nice' bourbon. I suspect that will disappoint some. Even though I like it, I'm a little disappointed myself -- despite its uniform pleasantness, I'm still looking for the slap across the face to make me notice it. On the other hand, I DO like it. There are no 'off' notes, no unpleasant sensations. I can see its versatility and value -- diluted 2:1, I have a bottle-and-a-half of 94-proof bourbon suitable for drinking 'neat', mixing a Manhattan, or backboning a vatting. But, then, there are plenty of other bourbons with which to do those things. So, I leave you to your own conclusions. And, I'll just see where this bottle of Stagg takes me.

Postscript: I diluted a second pour 2:1 (whiskey:water) -- to about 94 proof -- and discovered Elmer T. Lee! Not an exact match, mind you -- the latter is a single-barrel -- but I couldn't tear myself away from the comparison. So, I popped the top of my open bottle of (90-proof, of course) ETL, and nosed. Similarities. I did what may be a first-ever for me -- I took a swig of the ETL right from the bottle. Then the diluted Stagg. I wonder how Elmer feels about this version of Stagg?

(Point of information: This review is original to me -- e.g., I wrote it -- but this is not its original posting.)
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Unread postby gillmang » Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:46 am

Great review and I recall it in its earlier manifestation.

People have noticed cinammon red hots in Bulleit too. I'd have thought there is less of it in George Stagg due to its lower rye content but probably the alcohol and lack of filtration accentuate the effect.

I would summarise Tim's description by saying this Stagg (Fall '05) is a milder version (relatively) of the Staggs that came before, in palate that is. The orange notes Tim described are prominent in this bottling, I'd call it a combination of flowers, oranges and dark tea.

I agree with Mike that dilution is necessary with such a powerful whiskey.

Gary
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Unread postby Chris » Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:17 pm

Here's my take on the Fall '05 Stagg from first tasting back in February. I can't find a listing for it in the review section. When available, if Mark, Chris or Bob will move it -- or request that I do -- that will be fine with me:


man... when i first read that post i was sure we had every release of Stagg in there... dunno how that slipped through :roll:

sorry about that... I added that bottling and copied your review into there...
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Unread postby JH » Sat Aug 26, 2006 8:09 pm

Mike, thanks for the tip (clarification) on diluting it yourself instead of buying diluted.
I used bottled water to cut the Stagg, as I used to do the same with high alcohol single malt scotch, before the prices went through the roof & I quit buying them. Bourbon makes a great substitute :) , I always pick up a couple of bottles of Elmer T Lee & Old Forrester when I'm in Lexington. Looking forward to picking up a bottle of the new Stagg & Van Winkle Special Reserve this coming Thanksgiving.
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Unread postby jburlowski » Sun Aug 27, 2006 5:23 pm

MY 2 cents...

The Fall 2005 GTS is very very good bourbon, better than most on the market. It is not up to (the very high standard) set by its predecessor siblings). It is a very comlex bourbon, IHMO best enjoyed when diluted a bit with some spring water ---- to around 50% ABV or so. (The very high alchohol content quickly deadens the taste buds and masks the richness of the taste.)

Bottom line: buy a bottle, you won't be disappointed.
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