Dusty Hunting in Taipei

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Dusty Hunting in Taipei

Unread postby VaderTime » Wed Sep 15, 2010 11:49 am

Hey there folks, greetings from Taipei!

I have picked up the bourbon bug recently and at first it was rough going looking for Bourbon in Taipei. Scotch is everywhere, the market is huge, but Bourbon is under the radar. I did end up finding a nice slate of Bourbons after some searching but something I found today made me want to brag.

I found a store here that has a ok selection of mid level bourbon (woodford, jbb, jd, a few others) and one odd selection. In the store they have no 200ml bottles except for a Wild Turkey Old No. 8 86.8 proof. Well, I had no idea what it was, but I figured why not, it ain't 101 (I can get 8 year 101 here btw), but it is only a small bottle so what the hey.

Turns out, the back had three Taiwan distributor stickers, one on top of the other, and once I peeled those off the back label said 10/25/94. The bottom of the bottle had 93. I poured a bit over some ice and DYNOMITE!

8 year old WT 86.8 proof from 1994, barreled in 1985, woot. I gotta go score the rest! :drunken:
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Re: Dusty Hunting in Taipei

Unread postby VaderTime » Thu Sep 16, 2010 2:59 am

I went back to the store and cleaned out all their stock. In the end, I picked up 22 200ml bottles for a total of about USD $112. I guess that is about $25 dollars a liter of 1994 8 year old 86.8 proof WT Old No. 8. Plus I have all these handy bottles. If I pass out a few it won't really affect my stash too much. Telling someone the booze is from 1986 is sure to impress :lol: .
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Re: Dusty Hunting in Taipei

Unread postby p_elliott » Tue Sep 21, 2010 10:57 am

The WT 86.8 is an outstanding bourbon good find and welcome to the site.
If you don't stand behind our troops then feel free to stand in front of them.
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Re: Dusty Hunting in Taipei

Unread postby VaderTime » Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:02 am

I appreciate the warm welcome! I recently found two bottles of newer vintage WT 101 8 year at an upscale supermarket. It was a touch pricey (~40 usd for a liter), but it is also excellent. The older WT is in another league taste wise, but the new stuff is my second favorite pour I of the juice I have on hand. I think I might prefer a bolder rye character in my bourbon. More drinking is required to fine tune my taste!

I have a friend going through Japan next month, I will ask him to pick me up a bottle of WT 101 12 year at duty free for me. I gave him a 200ml of the old WT and he told me our other friend tasted it and loved it. I heard the other friend wants to trade me Johnny Walker Blue for the WT. I think I won't make that trade, lol.

So far in Taiwan I have found from various channels:

JBW
JBB *
KC
Bakers
Basil Haydin
JD
Gentleman Jack
Woodford reserve
JDSB
HH 4 year *
EWB
EWSB 2000
EC12 *
EC18
WT 101 8 year ( I might have bought the remaining 2 bottles, in additon to the 22 200ml of the old stuff)

*= good values, projected everyday pours. The HH is a bit thin for my taste though, even thought is it really nice for the price over here.

In addition, I after some sleuthing I uncovered the Sazerac (Buffalo Trace) agent in Taiwan. He seemed rather uninformed about the brands he represents, but he did tell me that BT, 1792 RR, and Kentucky Tavern will be coming in November. I am connecting him to a retailer of high dollar spirits, so I think some of the more expensive BT brands will be available in the near future as well.

All in all, the selection is not so bad, better than I expected. The larger distilleries have some market here, and I have may have even more flexibility to order BT products than I would back home in Georgia (I think I might have to order by the case though, hehe).

Cheers :drunken:
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Re: Dusty Hunting in Taipei

Unread postby VaderTime » Sun Mar 09, 2014 11:33 pm

Long time no update. I have found Bourbon Nirvana in Taipei, or at least as good as I think it is gonna get. They have the following:

JD family- JD, Silver Select, SIngle Barrel (?), Woodford, Early Times 354
WT: 8 year old Export WT 101 from 2003, and a case of Old #8/86 from 1997
Blantons Silver- Old and rotted, bottled in 1995- a bit afraid to buy it, I picked up a bottle from another vendor and it had strong cork taint (delicious otherwise).
Beam: Small Batch and MM Regular (alas no 46)
4 Roses: Yellow, SM, and SB (not sure if they still have this now- they did before).

The owner said he had other US dusties in the back, but I should inquire when it was less busy as he was swamped on Sunday night.

The supply of EW family has dried up, it seems. I am checking with the HH agent to see if he can get a few cases of BiB products and such. We shall see.
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Re: Dusty Hunting in Taipei

Unread postby VaderTime » Wed Mar 19, 2014 5:44 am

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