Whiskey Social, VA Style

[angelshare]

We had the pleasure of hosting Linn, Gary, Greg and Mark G for a gathering on Sunday. I hesitated a little to post this under "Bourbon" as it was Greg's generous contribution of Jack Daniel Silver Select that swept away the afternoon. At 100 proof and (I suspect) significantly older than Jack Black or even JD SB, it woody notes I've never appreciated in JD products. The finish seemed to last forever. It's heartbreaking that it is export only. This whiskey clearly demonstrates JD's potential.

That said, there were a number of bourbons that got attention, my personal favorite being Greg's Binny's hand picked Weller 12 yo (which was actually 14, I believe) - FABULOUS! Rich caramel/toffee with a smooth lingering finish.

Of course, the best part of the afternoon was the company. Bourbon enthusiasts are good folk and fun to be around!

[Bourbon Joe]

Great photos. Thanks for sharing. Looked like a good time.
Joe

[angelshare]

More photos!

[angelshare]

Still more photos!

[ggilbertva]

I'll publicly thank Dave and Tina for hosting this event. We had a good time and it was nice meeting fellow enthusiasts. I'll post some pics later this evening.

[mozilla]

Great pic's! Looks like a fully stocked bar as well. Gatherings are alot of fun.

[cowdery]

According to Jimmy Bedford, Silver Select is exactly the same as Single Barrel except for the proof. The customer selects the barrel, of course, but the options given are always barrels that would be suitable for Single Barrel. Those barrels probably do vary in age, but there's no standard for Silver Select that automatically would make it older than Single Barrel. The profile is the same, just the proof is different.

I, too, have a barrel of Silver Select of which I am very fond. Definitely the best whiskey to come out of Lynchburg.

[angelshare]

Thanks for the info, Chuck. I'm surprised by this, but when it comes to whiskey facts, you've never steered us wrong.

Did Jimmy Bedford acknowledge and quantify an age difference between Jack Black and JD SB?

[ggilbertva]

Couple more pics that I took during Saturday's tasting. Dave and Tina have quite the bar selection so we were definitely not without choices.

[TNbourbon]

Thanks for the info, Chuck. I'm surprised by this, but when it comes to whiskey facts, you've never steered us wrong.

Did Jimmy Bedford acknowledge and quantify an age difference between Jack Black and JD SB?

JD Black and Gentleman Jack both are 4-6 years old. The single-barrels run 6-8, generally.
For what it's worth, I've always been told exactly what Chuck has related about the JD export bottlings -- the only difference is the proof.

[MikeK]

I asked Jimmy Bedford once if the whiskey that goes into their "collector" bottles was a different recipe. I think these bottles usually taste horrific, but I didn't tell him so. He insisted that it was just plain old JD at a slightly higher proof. Weird.
I do like a pour of Single barrel from time to time, I'll have to get me some Silver Select some time to try...

[ggilbertva]

Mike,

Maybe I just got a really good bottle but I found it to be delicious and something that I would go to on a regular basis. Of course, it being a single barrel, there will be variances from bottle to bottle. In any case, the bottle we opened on Sat was a big hit which surprised pretty much all of us.

[OneCubeOnly]

This was definitely a spectacular time! Thanks again to Dave & Tina for putting up with us!

I'm surprised nobody has commented about the Blanton's Silver that we sampled. I have a special place in my heart for Blanton's, and from what I've heard the international offerings are not any different 'honey barrels' than the domestic, but this particular bottling was sensational! I can't imagine it just being from the proof difference, but who knows? Many times the atmosphere and company adds a few points to the score!?

It was great meeting Greg & Mark--these guys put my scrounging efforts to shame!

[cowdery]

Thanks for the info, Chuck. I'm surprised by this, but when it comes to whiskey facts, you've never steered us wrong.

Did Jimmy Bedford acknowledge and quantify an age difference between Jack Black and JD SB?

Yes and no. He acknowledged that it's older but not by how much. Brown-Forman generally doesn't talk about age, they talk about maturity.

[bunghole]

What a glorious day, and what a wonderful time! Many thanks to Dave & Tina Angleshare for their fine hospitality. The Virginia chapter of Bourbon Enthusiast simply wouldn't exist without them.

The stars of the show were brought by our newest members - the Gilbert Bros, Greg & Mark.

Blanton's Single Barrel Silver Label was absolutly the very best Blanton's that I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. What a great barrel!

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Silver Select was just plain killer! It was easily the very best Jack Daniel's whiskey that I have ever tasted. Again just as with the Blanton's, barrel selection was the key to greatness.

In a simple 'nose off' I poured a Glencairn each of Blanton's Silver and Jack Silver and passed them around asking which had the best nose. Jack won. I liked them equally well for very different reasons.

The Gilbert Bros. also brought a Binny's selected single barrel expression of 12 year old W.L. Weller. This too was suburb, and very much like Pappy 15 year old. Just a delightful wheated bourbon, well balanced with a butterscotch topnote and sweet creamy finish. Such a treat!

The afternoon was capped off with Chef Dave grilling big thick cut chops of pork tenderloin, and the lovely Tina serving up the very finest southern fare. I ate very nearly to the point of bursting!

And lets not forget the cookies! Mmmmmm - COOKIES! Tina has an old family recipe for molassas cookies that are so damn good and just plain killer. I can't say enough good things about those wonderfully tasty cookies.

Linn