Bourbon Tasting Round 5: Coke Mix Results

Discuss any bourbon related topics here that do not belong in a forum below.

Moderator: Squire

Bourbon Tasting Round 5: Coke Mix Results

Unread postby ChicagoMike » Mon Feb 26, 2007 1:15 am

Thought I'd share this with you guys....

Our Bourbon Tastings continued this weekend, with special focus on narrowing down the very best bourbons out there for the perfect Bourbon & Coke.

With all due respect to the bourbon afficianados who consider this sacrilege, I'll confess it's one of my favorite drinks, and about the only time I drink colas. It was the first mixer I ever used for Canadian OR American whiskies, that's probably why it's stuck with me for at least 25 years...

Anyway, the bourbons tested were all those "winners" that participated in Round 4 plus a few others: Jack Daniels Gentleman (a "soft" category winner from Round 1, and I know, not a true bourbon), Ancient Ancient Age (came in 4th in one of the previous tastings)...

SO, there were 11 whiskies in all, here are the final ratings, after 6 rounds of BLIND TASTINGS.... the mix was 50% cola- 50% bourbon.... drumroll please...

In first place, a 3-way tie for first, in no particular order:

1st (tie): W.L. WELLER SPEC. RESERVE 7 Yr. OLD. Just a perennial Top 3 whisky in our blind tastings. Tonite we had comments such as: "Lovely balance". There was no drama to this whisky, it just tasted real good overall

1st (tie): VIRGINIA GENTLEMAN SMALL BATCH (Fox Chase bottle): "Vibrant nice flavors", "Spicy", "very nice, rich". A very pleasant discovery of late, this whisky.

1st (tie): W.L. WELLER 12 YEAR OLD: This bourbon had not fared so well in our "straight" tasting, but really held up in this mixer competition. "Smooth, balanced", "nice, good tastenotes", "delicious, on the sweet side"

4th: EAGLE RARE 10 YEAR OLD, SINGLE BARREL: Overall scored very well, just slightly under the top 3 above. "more on the bitter side", "good flavors, burn emphasis noted", "not as inspiring"

THE ABOVE 4 BOURBON & COKE MIXTURES WERE ALL NOTED TO BE AS A GROUP BETTER THAN THE FOLLOWING 7....

5th: BUFFALO TRACE. "Fair, just not that interesting", "Flavors not as developed, warm", "less interesting"

THE ABOVE 5 BOURBON & COKE MIXTURES WERE ALL NOTED TO BE AS A GROUP DECIDEDLY BETTER THAN THOSE BELOW

6th: MAKERS MARK: "Not bad, but unbalanced flavors", "a bit bitter"

7th: WILD TURKEY RARE BREED: "Shivvery quality, weird taste" "initially nice, a bit on sweet side".

THE ABOVE 7 WHISKIES ALL PASSED THE FIRST ROUND OF TASTINGS. The following did not:

No particular order, out in 8-9-10-11 place:

JACK DANIELS GENTLEMAN: "Dull"

WOODFORD RESERVE: "Unimpressive", "Yech, it's gone"

W. L. WELLER 107: "Strange taste" "so-so, musty"

ANCIENT ANCIENT AGE: "not great"

This was a tremendous showing by one of the perennial favorites of this tasting, the simple 7-year old W.L. Weller Special Reserve, and by Eagle Rare 10 Year and Virginia Gentleman which both performed very well in the straight blind tasting a few days ago...

NOW.... for the Advil please.....
"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..." (Keith Richards)
ChicagoMike
Registered User
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:24 am

Unread postby daisy3d » Mon Feb 26, 2007 8:55 pm

Nice posting! This is how I started my bourbon life, JB White Label and coke, thanks to old fraternity! Life is much better now that I now what's good and not so much.

Though I haven't been into bourbon & coke in a long time, I think I'll have to have a visit again down memory lane with your recommendations!

Thanks and cheers!
Phil D.
Brooklyn, MI
User avatar
daisy3d
Registered User
 
Posts: 37
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:59 pm
Location: Brooklyn, MI (Jackson County)

Unread postby Jubbie » Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:06 pm

That's how I started bourbon as well (Beam white). Lately I've been getting better bourbon so all it needs is an ice cube. But I always have something lower quality I don't feel bad mixing in case I'm just thirsty. I haven't found any of your top 4 so far, so I'll just stick with my latest favorite mix - Old Forester - until I hunt some down.
User avatar
Jubbie
Registered User
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:02 pm
Location: Northwest Indiana

Unread postby TNbourbon » Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:31 pm

I tell wine shoppers in the store where I work part-time, "The best wine is the one YOU like", and I really believe it. We can't all cellar the first-growth Bordeauxs or Screaming Eagle, but that doesn't preclude us from enjoying wine.
Bourbon's the same: the best way to enjoy it is the way you want to. I've admitted before mixing my George T. Stagg with diet cola (store brand!). It's pretty good! Mood and money are factors in what we enjoy, and enjoyment trumps money.
Weller Special Reserve was my very earliest favorite bourbon, so I'm not surprised to find it among your toppers, Mike. Offer it to me anytime, any way.
TNbourbon
Registered User
 
Posts: 430
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 10:11 pm

Unread postby ChicagoMike » Mon Feb 26, 2007 11:03 pm

Just a follow up to this tasting...

Here are 3 of the top 4...

Weller 7yr
Virginia Gent Small Batch
Eagle Rare.

NOW... I did a bit of follow-up tasting just of these 3, and the difference is immediately obvious...

First, all three have a very balanced flavor impression with cola. Whatever your dilution of whisky to cola, be it 75-25 (as alot of bars that just splash a bit of cola), or closer to 50-50 which I use...

Anyway, the obvious difference here is that Weller 7 is MUCH DRIER, and more "singular" in flavor than either V.G. or E.R. which are more complex, sweeter, more "caramelly", etc....

The bottom line for me is that Weller 7 is my preference, because you already have all the caramel & sweetness, etc. that you'd ever need from the cola (some would say an overdose)... so by adding a nice straightforward, pleasant-tasting uncomplicated bourbon like Weller 7 to the mix, it's just delightful...

When I re-sample with both V.G. and E.R., while there's nothing not to like, the flavors meld well, these are really quite sweet given that you have the additional sweetness coming from the bourbons themselves.

My next experiment will be to ratchet down the cola to, say, a 75-25 mix, and then just "whisky and splash", and see if V.G. and E.R. don't come across better as a the cola % is reduced.

BTW, this completely dovetails to the prior posters who (like me)... we all started out with Plain Jim Beam and coke. JB being a very listerine-dry singular essence that improves with coke.... (ditto for Jack Daniels, etc.).... the non-descript drier whiskies show fairly well with a sweet mixer like cola.

My goal here was to find a bourbon that scores high BOTH on it's own and with cola, and so far in this tasting exercise, Weller 7 is the one to beat.
"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..." (Keith Richards)
ChicagoMike
Registered User
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:24 am

Unread postby LogicalFrank » Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:47 am

Interesting results. For bourbon and cola, I've mostly just stuck by the "whatever's cheapest" rout for the bourbon (and the cola for that matter) but then again I prefer my bourbon neat nearly exclusively. If I do mix my whiskey my weapon of choice tends to be ginger ale. Old Forrester and Vernor's is a match made in heaven or so I recall somewhat less than clearly.

Interesting results, by the way. I could see how some of the more complex whiskeys might clash w/ the flavors of cola as your results indicate. If your livers are up to it, it'd be really interesting to see how/if your impressions change if you use different colas.
Howdy Doody's past the House of Aquarius. Bring me more whiskey and rye!
LogicalFrank
Ice Giant
 
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 8:58 pm
Location: Chicago

Unread postby ChicagoMike » Wed Feb 28, 2007 4:16 am

LogicalFrank wrote:I prefer my bourbon neat nearly exclusively. If I do mix my whiskey my weapon of choice tends to be ginger ale. Old Forrester and Vernor's is a match made in heaven or so I recall somewhat less than clearly.
.


Thanks alot for this....

Why Vernors, btw?

In Ginger Ales to mix with Bourbons, do you prefer the "harsher" ginger style or the sweeter ginger style ? A more subtle ginger or more pronounced ? And what would your typical dilution be ?
"It's just that demon life has got me in it's sway..." (Keith Richards)
ChicagoMike
Registered User
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:24 am

Unread postby LogicalFrank » Wed Feb 28, 2007 5:08 pm

Vernor's tastes different than other ginger ale. It's like halfway between normal ginger ale and a craft ginger beer--a little sweeter and more spicy. I have to admit having suggested the combo, I like the combo because it's what we used to drink in college as much as for it's taste. Normally, I go for about a 50/50 mix which has this strange tendency of becoming a 75/25 mix as the night progresses and my whiskey-pourin' hand takes on a mind of its own.
Howdy Doody's past the House of Aquarius. Bring me more whiskey and rye!
LogicalFrank
Ice Giant
 
Posts: 43
Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 8:58 pm
Location: Chicago


Return to Bourbon, Straight

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 22 guests