Hahahaha! And this is from Joe who is drinking $6 a bottle whiskey, hahaha!

 

Having no idea whats moderately priced in the US, I'll just throw out some tips.
And having scrolled through this thread, damn you need them!

So, first of all, most, but not all whiskeys and ryes you've posted here is reasonable, as long as you mix them for whiskey drinks. drinking them straight, no. just no, better than straight vodka, but far from good.

so:

Glenfiddich is a good "first scotch" the 12yo will do, my favorite is the 18 yo, it doesn't really get better with age in my opinion, even though the 21 yo rum-aged one is good for variation.

If you are into scotch and a little more smoke, my absolute favorite whiskey is the Aardbeg, the old 17 yo is the absolute best whiskey I've ever tasted, but sadly, they've rebuilt the destillery and that one will never be made again, I think there is about a hundred bottles left in the world right now, kind of premium. BUT, the 10 yo is really very good and i recommend it if you feel like having a whiskey that is good with a tale, or a movie, or after sex. it's just... good.

If you like the high seas, don't miss the Auchentoshan, a good, medium smoke scotch with a great deal of salt to it. I hear this is sea captain Horatio McCallisters prime choice, and it is a really good one.

That said, the bourbon with a horse on the cork, whatever its called, is a nice american one, I enjoy that when i visit.

 

Yeah, that's $50 a bottle. You are posting in the wrong thread.

That's the "Drinking like a King" thread. And, yes, Blanton's is good Bourbon.

 

So I picked up two different bottles on Friday, based on member recommendations.



The Canadian Club is actually pretty decent. It started out a little mellower than the bourbons I've been going through, with a sort of very vague floral note, but after a couple of sips it creeps up on the tongue with a nice bite. I find this extremely palatable, and at $20 for the 1.75l size, it gives Sam Grant a run for his money at the bottom shelf.


I'd also seen a couple of recommendations here for the various Red Stag products and while I'm not generally a fan of flavored drinks, I decided to give their cinnamon spiced variant a try.

It's complete garbage.

Seriously, I regret buying even the little 750ml bottle. I was expecting something like a whiskey version of a good spiced rum. But this tastes more like someone dropped an atomic fireball candy into a glass of Southern Comfort. It's overpoweringly cinnamony and sickly sweet- you can't taste one bit of the underlying whiskey. Don't get me wrong, I like cinnamon- I put it on toast, in rice pudding, in tapioca, on vanilla ice cream, on apple pie, etc etc. Cinnamon goes very well with a lot of things, but sugary bourbon is not one of them.

 

I think that's the marketing ploy, is to get younger folks to buy their whiskey because it tastes like candy. Much like the sweet fruit flavored chewing tobaccos. I've tried the black cherry one, its okay, but I run away from any alcohol that is cinnamon flavored, as it gives massive heartburn.


I've been drinking whiskey instead of beer here lately, so here's my reasoning as to what a 'cheap' bottle of whiskey is.


There are 3.24oz of booze in a 6 pack of Coors for around $7.

This brings us to around $2.16 per oz.

Following this pricing scheme of $2.16 per oz, a similarly priced 750ML bottle of whiskey would be around $21, and a handle would be roughly $51. Anything below this line is fair game in my eyes, but the spirit of the thread is cheaper is better.

 

In the past, I've historically avoided "flavored" anything when it comes to booze. There are a few "flavored" beers that I rather fancy (eg: stouts brewed with coffee, cocoa, etc), but these are rare exceptions.

I figured on this occasion, I'd stop acting like a sourpuss and give it a shot.

Well **** that. I'm going back to my old ways.





Eh, there's more to it than just dollars per unit of alcohol. If that was all that mattered, we'd all be buying nothing but 190 proof Everclear.

 

Yup. I have a friend that drinks nothing but Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey. It's terrible. It absolutely tastes like an Atomic Fireball or Red Hots dissolved into cheap whiskey. I mock him for it.

 

Bought a 750 of this last night for around ten bucks. Very impressed.

 

Might put this on my list next time im out. Also plan on giving Evan Williams black label and Old Crow a shot.

 

Let me know how you like old crow. Thats next on my list. And this Benchmark Old No. 8 just gets better and better. I had some more last night and then had white label Beam right after, and the Benchmark made the Beam taste raw and unrefined.

 

I've always been a fan of Crown. Maybe it's just my high school years stayed with me.

 

I had some at the bar last night and it seemed ok, but I couldn't really tell because she watered it down with ice even though I said just a little ice. Maybe I need to start ordering it neat and stealing a cube from my water.

Edit: I thought you said "Crow", Ningai. That's what I was referring to.

 

The Benchmark has impressed me so much I'm not sure if I want to spend money on trying Old Crow.

Has a clever name considering the price and flavor, too.

 

Benchmark is good enough to complete with gentleman Jack in my opinion. Maybe not quite as good, but close.

 

Tried a bottle of this. Not impressed. Its got a generic bourbon flavor with no character and its not especially smooth. And at $13/750ml its not what I'd call a deal.

 

Bought a 750 of Kentucky Gentleman this week. I left 3/4 of a bottle in my hotel room when I checked out. Probably the only time I have intentionally abandoned alcohol. Did not like.

 

Thought I'd throw this out there for anyone in the upstate NY area. My neighbor has been working for years to develop his own whiskey brand. It launches this week.

Iron Smoke Whiskey, coming to a liquor store near you. Give it a try. No idea of the price point, but I like it, and I'm not much for the hard stuff, sticking mostly to beer.

 

Do me a favor? Find out if anyone in Hoboken, NJ, Jersey City, NJ or Manhattan is carrying it?

 

Will do. I will post the info in case anyone else is wondering.

 

to quote the owner: " I think that Marketview Liquor will be selling on-line out of state. We will just be on the shelves in New York State for now."

Distribution is supposed to be state wide, but I'm not sure about any specific stores right now. Marketview sells online, but doesn't appear to have Iron Smoke in the lineup as of yet. Give it a couple of days.