A vatting I will do again!

Talk about rare, export, annual release and other types of similar bottlings here.

Moderator: Squire

A vatting I will do again!

Unread postby Mike » Tue Apr 25, 2006 4:37 pm

I am sipping on the last bit of my vatting of Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit and Eagle Rare 10 YO 101. I put 80% KS and 20% ER and have found it to be one of my most favoritest bourbons. Imo make some more of this very tasty spirit.

Fortunately, 'my' liquor store still has a few bottles of the ER (which has been discontinued, I believe.............shame, it is a top notch bourbon in my estimation).

Most of my attempts at vatting have not been succesful. They included a couple attempts to reduce the alcohol content of G. T. Stagg.... in my experience it is best left as is, just approach this wonderful bourbon with caution, and vatting Woodford Reserve with Elijah Craig 18 YO......forgettable.) None of these were successful enough to repeat.

Unfortunately, I don't have the knowledge or experience of our own Vatman, Gary Gillman!
Last edited by Mike on Wed Apr 26, 2006 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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
Mike
Registered User
 
Posts: 2231
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: Savannah, GA

Unread postby gillmang » Tue Apr 25, 2006 10:12 pm

Well thanks for the nod but truly one should perservere. Soon you will come up with a "profile" you like. Somewhat to my surprise, I find the one I like always incorporates some Jack Daniels. I like the taste of Jack when in the background of a good bourbon and straight rye blend. Jack is so distinctive it peeks out even when quite diluted but I miss it when it isn't there. It adds something like what a small amount of good peated whisky does to a Scotch blend. I've been dabbling with this for some years. Even my failures (and I have plenty) work out though since I keep working on them. When I can't turn them around I pour in some Canadian whisky or even vodka and it is surprising what can result, soft velvety blends. I use them for neat sipping but also they make fine cocktails. The more I get on in this area, the more I think a good bourbon cocktail should be bourbon-based, not all bourbon. The bourbon can be something like 70% and the rest straight rye and Canadian. The formulas are potentially never-ending.

Gary
User avatar
gillmang
Vatman
 
Posts: 2173
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2005 4:44 pm

Unread postby Bourbon Joe » Mon May 15, 2006 9:45 pm

Hey Mike,
One of my friends came up with this vatting using Stagg. This one is NOT a waste of Stagg and IMO is one of the best whiskies I ever drank. We call it Ron's Four Grain. It goes like this:
1/3 Stagg 141.2
1/3 Makers Mark
1/3 Evan Williams 1783
This is some super stuff. Give it a try.
Joe
Colonel Joseph B. "Bourbon Joe" Koch

Bourbon, It's cheaper than therapy!
User avatar
Bourbon Joe
Erudite Bourbonite
Erudite Bourbonite
 
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:02 pm
Location: Eastern Pennsylvania

Unread postby Mike » Tue May 16, 2006 9:50 am

I will give that a go, Joe.

I think G T Stagg is an excellent bourbon, but for someone who has a bit of acid reflux (me), to drink it straight is like pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire. I have tried a couple of vattings with GTS that didn't work and cutting it with water cuts the flavor too much in my opinion. Maybe your friend's vatting is just the thing!

First to the butcher's shop to get some bones. I will need to throw a few out in the back yard so's Barleycorn won't see me vatting this whiskey. He claims his nose is the perfect tool for the vatter.

I try to be nice to him and take his feelings into account, but he can be such a PITA (pain in the ass). Caught him in my favorite chair yesterday reading the afternoon paper, sipping bourbon (not the expensive stuff thank goodness), and scratchin his privates................IN MY DAMN CHAIR.

I jerked his ass outta that chair and told him if he keeps this stuff up, Imo have to send him to training school. He allowed as how he was sorry. He went to his room, but....... took the paper with him!

I am thinking about pawning him off on some unsuspecting person. He is probably trainable, and even though he talks and all that, he doesn't see himself as a person..................HE CLAIMS DOGS ARE SUPERIOR TO PEOPLE!

He says just look at the facts: he can hear stuff I can't hear; see stuff I can't see; smell stuff I can't smell; is completely uninhibited around the opposite sex; don't worry about his appearance or offending anybody; don't care which party wins the elections since they are all, in his opinion, a bunch of jerks; can put on a 'hangdog' face and manipulate any human; and will sleep all day if he wants to.

I reply that humans can think and make bourbon. He grants the making bourbon part, but wants to know what good thinking has ever done for humans.

Damn dog is hard to argue with...........
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
Mike
Registered User
 
Posts: 2231
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: Savannah, GA

Unread postby Strayed » Tue May 16, 2006 6:32 pm

Mike wrote:...he can hear stuff I can't hear; see stuff I can't see; smell stuff I can't smell...

Unfortunately, Mike, I'm afraid folks like you and I have reached the age where just about ANYBODY can do that :D
=JOHN= (the "Jaye" part of "L & J dot com")
http://www.ellenjaye.com
User avatar
Strayed
Registered User
 
Posts: 303
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 8:58 am
Location: Ohio-occupied No. Kentucky (aka Cincinnati)

Unread postby Mike » Tue May 16, 2006 7:31 pm

Yeah John, it is a frigging shame!

My wife is making me get a hear aid next month and I ain't too keen. I have found that I like what I THINK people are saying to me better than what they are ACTUALLY saying.

What I think they are saying is more intelligent, more flattering, and I agree with it more than when I find out what they really said.

My wife says I need that hear aid to correct that? And she is supposed to have my best interests at heart?

Well, lemme go drink my prune juice.........
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
Mike
Registered User
 
Posts: 2231
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: Savannah, GA

Unread postby Mike » Wed May 17, 2006 2:30 pm

JoeBourbon wrote:Hey Mike,
One of my friends came up with this vatting using Stagg. This one is NOT a waste of Stagg and IMO is one of the best whiskies I ever drank. We call it Ron's Four Grain. It goes like this:
1/3 Stagg 141.2
1/3 Makers Mark
1/3 Evan Williams 1783
This is some super stuff. Give it a try.
Joe


Joe, I am now giving it a go and you are right, this is very good stuff. If I worked the math out right (Barleycorn ain't here to verify it for me since he is in the backyard gnawing on those bones I tossed him to keep him away from this vatting), this is about 102 proof. Wonderful nose, and a smooth, creamy, and balanced taste, just excellent! Thanks for the suggestion.

I had my first sip of Makers in a long time and it is as I remembered, very short on the finish. This is a serious flaw in my judgement and the very reason it ain't normally in my cabinet (I bought a 375 ml bottle for this vatting). To think I paid the same for that 375 ml of MM as I paid for a liter of far superior Old Fitzgerald BIB...........mama mia, thatsa no so good!!

If I were to do this vatting again, I think I would cut back a smidge on the Makers, as I think the MM softens the finish a bit more than I personally like. Still, a worthwhile vatting that I will enjoy with the best of them!

BTW Joe, where are your latest tasting results? I look forward to seeing them and as I said elsewhere, one of your tastings led me to try Jefferson's Reserve, a very fine bourbon that you guys nailed.
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
Mike
Registered User
 
Posts: 2231
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 5:36 pm
Location: Savannah, GA


Return to Enthusiast Bottlings

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests

cron