Bourbon & Rye | Page 23 | The Boneyard

Bourbon & Rye

Chuck said:
I'm going to be in Louisville in mid June with a few other couples for a wedding. I like bourbon but I'm not super sophisticated on the nuances and don't really have a big interest in becoming a true connoisseur. I've already booked a little driver + tours outside Louisville for 4 couples.
  • Any "can't miss" tours in Louisville itself? With the wives, we are just as interested in a great facility as we are the liquor. I was told Old Forester is totally commercial but fun. Maybe Michter's, Rabbit Hole (heard it's nice, but not great bourbon).
  • Any restaurant recommendations?
  • Should I be looking to buy stuff at the distilleries, and if so should I bring a spare bag and bubble wrap to bring back bottles (I get free bags on flights) or is it worth it to ship?
  • Happy to hear any other tips also.
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I did some bourbon tours last year. While we didn't hit up Louisville, here are some general observations which may help you. We went to Four Roses, Woodford, Wild Turkey, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill and Castle and Key.

1. Absolutely look for special or limited releases at any distillery gift shop. They'll have plenty of stuff you can buy elsewhere but look for specials and buy them that day. Locals will just go to the gift shops and buy up limited stuff, so what is there today, may be gone tomorrow.
2. Look for engraving services. A few of the places we were able to get a "regular" bottle of something but get it engraved with a name and gave them as gifts to our friends.
3. Bringing an extra suit case and packaging material is probably a good idea. I'd trust that over any shipping options.
4. Every tour and tasting we did was super chill. The hosts know very few people are skilled bourbon drinkers. Most people going on the tours are just curious and want to learn. Every guide emphasized every person has unique taste buds and sense of smell, so no matter what some expert says, you may experience the flavor profiles differently. I never saw any snobbery.
5. Many of the places have several tour options but only allowed one tour per day. So, we tried to mix up what we were doing for tour experiences.
 
The job does have its perks. Interested to see how hot this one is. Anyone had this release yet?

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Deepelm said:
Swing by our store, we have plenty. Its in South Carolina though, so you may want to wait for the ice storm to do its thing.
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Where in SC? You can DM me if you don’t want to say.
 
Grabbed this yesterday. $36 for 8 year old MGP, a blend of five barrels. I should probably buy the rest of what they have, this is excellent.
IMG_0729.jpeg
 
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Deepelm said:
This was a hot mess. No matter how much water I put in it. Glad I didnt pay for it.
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Yeah. 141 proof is gonna be hot and no room to hide any flavor hiccups.
 
HuskyHawk said:
These, including the new recipes, are $42 at my local. I don't even bother buying things like WT 101 anymore because these are so great at that price.
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Haven't pulled trigger on one of these yet - may have to.

My favorite cheapy right now - Penelope Wheated. Not terribly complex, but a great sipper in same price range.
 
Dove said:
View attachment 116585
Freakin' cold outside. Freakin' warm inside.
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Very nice. A friend of mine took me to a gun range yesterday to do some pistol shooting. He has an annual membership so there wasn't any range cost. On the way home, as a way of saying thanks, I had him stop at a liquor store and picked up a bottle of Heaven Hill 7 Year Bottled in Bond.

After I paid and we were getting ready to leave the cashier casually mentioned they had an allocation drop off earlier Friday and still had some Blanton and Eagle Rare behind the counter. I'm soft boycotting Blanton because I feel like priced are being jacked just for the hell of it. They wanted $90 which isn't obscene l, but I passed.

Eagle Rare 10 Year was $55. I had a few bucks to use from their rewards program so I got it for about $45.

20260131_062400.jpg
 
Chin Diesel said:
I am searching for the Wild Turkey 101 8 year which is worth the upcharge over the NAS WT 101.
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...but is usually close enough in price to much-more-available Russell's 10 to probably not make it worth it.
 
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I have been way into craft brews and have been accumulating bottles of bourbons and takillya. I have stopped drinking beer at home on weeknights and am starting to sip 2 fingers of the swill per night. You'll see new bottles being cracked soon. Nothing extravagant.
 
Dove said:
I have been way into craft brews and have been accumulating bottles of bourbons and takillya. I have stopped drinking beer at home on weeknights and am starting to sip 2 fingers of the swill per night. You'll see new bottles being cracked soon. Nothing extravagant.
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There are some damn good tequilas out there and they wont break your wallet.
 
pepband99 said:
...but is usually close enough in price to much-more-available Russell's 10 to probably not make it worth it.
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Funny you should mention Russell 10 year. Picked up a bottle last week and was thoroughly unimpressed. Won't buy it again. In the $45-$55 range there are many other options I like better including Wild Turkey Rare Breed.
Now, the Russell Reserve Single Barrell??? I'll drink that any day of the week.

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Dove said:
Woooooo. Ice ain't winning this battle. A mallet to the palate.
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Tried it a few times and Mrs. Diesel always had some nasty hangovers the next day after drinking the Maker's 46 French Oaked.
 
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Chin Diesel said:
Funny you should mention Russell 10 year. Picked up a bottle last week and was thoroughly unimpressed. Won't buy it again. In the $45-$55 range there are many other options I like better including Wild Turkey Rare Breed.
Now, the Russell Reserve Single Barrell??? I'll drink that any day of the week.

View attachment 116599
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Russell 10 is fine, but is $38 for a reason. The single barrels are fantastic, but sadly have moved from $55 to more like $68. So when I see OF 1920 at $52, I tend to grab that instead.

As for Eagle Rare, a 375 ml of it was my first ever bourbon purchase. Was such a great value for so long. @Dove I shifted away from beer except in social setting several years ago. Whiskey and Agave as @Deepelm mentions fill in nicely with no carbs. Don't forget Rum, the best value of all. If you run across Pusser's Gunpowder, there's really nothing better under $40.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Don't forget Rum, the best value of all. If you run across Pusser's Gunpowder, there's really nothing better under $40.
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This has become my summer go to. Its a million degrees in NC in the summer, and I just dont want whisk(e)y then. Another amazing value is if you have a Total Wine that sells booze, look for their Doorly's 14. Its a Foursquare exclusive to TW and for $60 it competes with FS's dated releases they do, that will run you twice that cost. Even the Doorly's 12 is pretty good and around $40 as I recall. I am partial to Barbados rums, not much into the Jamaican style.
 
Deepelm said:
This has become my summer go to. Its a million degrees in NC in the summer, and I just dont want whisk(e)y then. Another amazing value is if you have a Total Wine that sells booze, look for their Doorly's 14. Its a Foursquare exclusive to TW and for $60 it competes with FS's dated releases they do, that will run you twice that cost. Even the Doorly's 12 is pretty good and around $40 as I recall. I am partial to Barbados rums, not much into the Jamaican style.
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The Doorly's is incredible stuff. As is Foursquare when you can find it at a decent price. Had a chance to do a tasting with Richard Seale just before Covid, he signed a bottle of the Exceptional Cask series for me. I never see Doorly's b/c I don't have TW nearby. But the other one you can find, which is also Foursquare, is Real McCoy. The 12 is very good. Love Barbados rums and never any added sugar. I like some Jamaican rums, and the Pussers is kind of a mix of Barbados with hints of Jamaican funk. Follows the original British Navy recipe.

Up in New England, Privateer in Ipswich, MA makes some outstanding rums, very much in the Barbados style.
 
HuskyHawk said:
The Doorly's is incredible stuff. As is Foursquare when you can find it at a decent price. Had a chance to do a tasting with Richard Seale just before Covid, he signed a bottle of the Exceptional Cask series for me. I never see Doorly's b/c I don't have TW nearby. But the other one you can find, which is also Foursquare, is Real McCoy. The 12 is very good. Love Barbados rums and never any added sugar. I like some Jamaican rums, and the Pussers is kind of a mix of Barbados with hints of Jamaican funk. Follows the original British Navy recipe.

Up in New England, Privateer in Ipswich, MA makes some outstanding rums, very much in the Barbados style.
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We sell the Real McCoy but I am not a buyer at 40 abv. The Doorlys are 48, which is a good spot for rums. We have a place about 20 min from me called Muddy River that if you didnt know better, you would think it was rum made in a tropical climate. Their Navy Strength version is a total banger. And their spiced rum is actually made with real spices, you can see sediment in the bottles. Its in an old mill right on the river.


www.muddyriverdistillery.com

Rum Distillery & Events | Muddy River Distillery

Muddy River Distillery offers award-winning rum, a bar, & restaurant. Join us for events & tours. Experience the taste of Carolina rum!
www.muddyriverdistillery.com www.muddyriverdistillery.com
 
Deepelm said:
We sell the Real McCoy but I am not a buyer at 40 abv. The Doorlys are 48, which is a good spot for rums. We have a place about 20 min from me called Muddy River that if you didnt know better, you would think it was rum made in a tropical climate. Their Navy Strength version is a total banger. And their spiced rum is actually made with real spices, you can see sediment in the bottles. Its in an old mill right on the river.


www.muddyriverdistillery.com

Rum Distillery & Events | Muddy River Distillery

Muddy River Distillery offers award-winning rum, a bar, & restaurant. Join us for events & tours. Experience the taste of Carolina rum!
www.muddyriverdistillery.com www.muddyriverdistillery.com
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The Real McCoy I was buying wasn’t at 40. It was a 12 year partially aged in Madeira casks at 46%. I bought like 4 bottles of this. Looked for a picture and found my old review. But I agree at 40% it’s behind the Doorlys.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
The Real McCoy I was buying wasn’t at 40. It was a 12 year partially aged in Madeira casks at 46%. I bought like 4 bottles of this. Looked for a picture and found my old review. But I agree at 40% it’s behind the Doorlys.
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Yeah I dont know if that is around anymore lol. We just have the regular 12.
 
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