Whisky and Whiskey

I’m not a whiskey drinker, but….

Attachments:

1. 

   FB_IMG_1703212241564.jpg
   

It’s always a good idea to warm up before the main event.

Attachments:

1. 

   FB_IMG_1703383757459.jpg
   

Looks like he is shopping for rum, so he is not working on my list yet.

Lindyrig – I did pick me up a bottle of the Bearface last week. Its rather good. I put it up there with the Pendleton Midnight. If forced to I’d probably rate the midnight slightly better but the bearface is real close. Last weekend I got a chance to try some Crown Royal Reserve. Needless to say that its now become my new Favorite for sipping. Then again at near 50.00 a bottle it better be. Another new item I tried last weekend was some liquor from a new distiller out of Brainard called Five Rocks. I know traditionalist will laugh at me, but they had a Whiskey infused with Coffee and Vanilla called Cowboy Coffee that I thought was excellent. They were set up doing tasting at two different liquor stores I stopped at. I probably had a few more samples than I should have between the 2 stops only about 5 minutes apart. I may have to pick a bottle of that up down the line. The Crown Reserve is on the list ahead of it for sure.

Hey thanks for the report FT. I finally just today picked up a few bottles of Bearface from St Cloud Liquors. I was somewhat driving through on my way to western MN for some more bird hunting. I drank some tonight with my father in law and we both were impressed. I still think it ranks as my favorite whiskey right now. I have some Pendleton at home but haven’t had the midnight yet. Appreciate the feedback.

I’m gonna have to find some of that bearface to try. I have like 20 different brands at home right now but haven’t had that

Well I found some today. It’s pretty smooth

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_0128-scaled.jpeg
   

Just received my bottle and made a pour.
Smooth yes at 85 proof. It will be a decent sipper.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

In general, I have found most of these new craft-distilled American whiskies to be disappointing and they quickly are relegated to the minor leagues of use for things like soaking the Christmas cake and for whisky custard for the Christmas pudding. However… Brother Justus Cold Peat filtered is shockingly good for a craft distillery whiskey. Completely drinkable.

Went to O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co. a couple nights ago, may change your mind about domestic distilling. A friend with us had recently been on the tour, an interesting background story. Among the things they’ve done to bring a first class distillery to the Twin Cities was hire Master Distiller Brian Nation, former Master Distiller at Jameson, Redbreast and Midleton Very Rare whiskey’s.

We tried all of the whiskies, they also distill gin and vodka. I brought home a bottle of the Keeper’s Heart Irish Bourbon Whiskey. I suggest giving it a try.

Brad Dimond wrote:

Went to O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co. a couple nights ago, may change your mind about domestic distilling. A friend with us had recently been on the tour, an interesting background story. Among the things they’ve done to bring a first class distillery to the Twin Cities was hire Master Distiller Brian Nation, former Master Distiller at Jameson, Redbreast and Midleton Very Rare whiskey’s.

We tried all of the whiskies, they also distill gin and vodka. I brought home a bottle of the Keeper’s Heart Irish Bourbon Whiskey. I suggest giving it a try.

just for clarity, O’Shaughnessy has been sourcing their Irish whisky from Great Northern and their American whiskey from Ross & Squibb (MGP), so their current products show off their blending skills but are not yet an indication of their own distilling and aging.

with that caveat, those guys have a ton of capital and they did bring in one of the best Master Distillers for Irish whisky in the world, so it’s exciting to see how their products develop over the next 5 years. once they change to their own product i assume they’ll change to calling it Irish-style as well.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

In general, I have found most of these new craft-distilled American whiskies to be disappointing and they quickly are relegated to the minor leagues of use for things like soaking the Christmas cake and for whisky custard for the Christmas pudding.

Haha my brother gave me a bottle of J Carver bourbon a few years ago for this exact reason. It was from one of their first productions. He’s a sipper, while I’ll mix a cocktail, and when I said thanks I’m sure it will go fine with some 7up, he said make sure you have some coke on hand too. That one is still in the back of my cupboard waiting on a very dark day. I’ve heard they have really improved since then though, so maybe worth a revisit.

Sitting here drinking a whisky manhattan made with the bearface. It’s quickly became my go to whisky.

Attachments:

1. 

   image-1-scaled.jpg
   

2. 

   image-scaled.jpg
   

Nice, FishThumper glad you enjoy it!

Try Templeton Rye, “The Good Stuff”. I love it and do not like many Ryes. Neat story behind it also.

With the long Holiday weekend, I had a chance to drink myself a fair share of Whisky’s. At a Buddies house I had the chance to try a new one. This one was the JP Wiser’s 15 year old. It was rather tasty and I now have a new one to add to my list of Favorites. Speaking of my Favorites, here is my current top 5 list:

#1 – Crown Royal Reserve. Although I am not a real big fan of the original Crown Royal. The reserve is a different story. At 45-50 $ a bottle, it is near the top of the most expensive on the list.
#2 – Pendleton Midnight. This one is a little different in flavor due to the fact that it is aged in used Brandy Barrels. At 29-32 $ a bottle I think its a great value.
#3 – JP Wiser’s 15 year old. Since it is rather new to me I’ll put it here on my list. After getting a chance to drink a little more of it, it may move slightly up or down the list. This one is the most expensive on the list at 46-50 $ a bottle.
#4 – Bearface ( Thanks to LindyRig79 ) – currently around 29-32 $ a bottle.
#5 – Original Pendleton. This is a good daily drinker at around 23-25 $ a bottle.

Keep in Mind I’m mostly a Canadian Whisky fan. I’m also rather new to drinking Whisk’y and have not tried any of the more high $ brands out there. My current drinking taste tops out at around 50 $ a bottle.

Lets here some of your current Top 5 Whisky list. Nothing against your Bourbon and Scotch drinkers but I’m talking pure Whisky’s.

Crown Royal 18 year on the rocks is my favorite, and Crown Black if I am making a old fashioned.

fishthumper wrote:

Lets here some of your current Top 5 Whisky list. Nothing against your Bourbon and Scotch drinkers but I’m talking pure Whisky’s.

THat’s like picking favorite light beer…so Coors Light and Crown I guess

I went in search of some JP Wiser’s 15 or 18 year after work last night – No Luck in the 2 places I checked. On the recommendation of a employee at Southside Liquor, I picked up a bottle of Basil Hayden Kentucky Strait Bourbon Whiskey. Had a taste of it last night and I will have to say its one of the 1st Bourbons that I would say is good. Its rather light on the smoky flavor, so that is probably why I like it. Most all the other bourbons I’ve tried seem to be rather heavy on the smoky side for my taste. Maybe if I start slow I will learn to like some bourbons. I will say this one was rather smooth going down.

mojogunter wrote:

Crown Royal 18 year on the rocks is my favorite, and Crown Black if I am making a old fashioned.

Have you tried the Crown Royal Reserve? If so how does the Crown 18 year compare?

mojogunter wrote:

Crown Royal 18 year on the rocks is my favorite, and Crown Black if I am making a old fashioned.

Wow – Just looked up the price point on that Crown Royal 18 year. That one is getting up there in price

I have a drink or two of Crown every night. Makes me sleep like a baby.
At $40 a bottle I was wondering what would be just as good but less money ?

Got a 12yr bushmill that is quite good recently. Whistler double oaked is still probably one of my favorite pours, along with Keepers heart irish + American .

Whiskey has taken a backseat to lawless claws for the summer tho

Was in Kentucky over the fourth. There’s a reason I have a pile of St. Croix rods for sale.

I have had the reserve. I do like that as well. It just isn’t available regularly. The 18 year also has a really good flavor like the reserve, but smoother yet. It is spendy, but a bottle lasts a long time. Only one or two bottles a year. I used to drink Martel XO, but I enjoy the whiskey more and the 18 year is about half the price of Martel XO. Win win

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mojogunter wrote:</div>
Crown Royal 18 year on the rocks is my favorite, and Crown Black if I am making a old fashioned.

Have you tried the Crown Royal Reserve? If so how does the Crown 18 year compare?

wkw wrote:

I have a drink or two of Crown every night. Makes me sleep like a baby.
At $40 a bottle I was wondering what would be just as good but less money ?

If you’re looking for a comparable to straight Crown, you can’t go wrong with the Kirkland Canadian Whisky from Costco. It’s like $18 for a 1.75L and aged 6Yrs. The bottle even resembles a Crown Royal bottle with the shape, purple colored label and cork for the top. I know it’s not a high end whisky like some of the others mentioned here, but at $18 it is a good whisky for the price. In fact Costco’s Irish Cream is like about the same price. I think around $20 for the 1.75L bottle, and taste much like Bailey’s, and in fact I like it even better than Bailey’s.

I’ve had various Costco branded liquor’s and some of them are rather good. For the price point some of them are excellent value’s

wkw wrote:

I have a drink or two of Crown every night. Makes me sleep like a baby.
At $40 a bottle I was wondering what would be just as good but less money ?

Pendleton may be slightly less $ but they are close in price. Of the 2 I prefer the Pendleton.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>wkw wrote:</div>
I have a drink or two of Crown every night. Makes me sleep like a baby.
At $40 a bottle I was wondering what would be just as good but less money ?

Pendleton may be slightly less $ but they are close in price. Of the 2 I prefer the Pendleton.

I agree

A helpful chart for the whiskey and hotdogs connoisseurs!

Attachments:

1. 

   Whiskey-and-hotdogs.jpg