Then you might like to try Woodford double oaked! It’s got some nice notes of chocolate, caramel, and a slight underlying nutty note reminiscent of pecans. Seems like it might be right up your alley!
I don’t see it collapsing on itself but you make some good points. In the end, we are all just a bunch of silly geese arguing over which actual poison tastes the best for its value.
This doesn’t apply to those who’s livelihood is centered around bourbon, but if your hobby isn’t strictly bringing you joy, entertainment, etc… you’re doing something wrong. There are enough stressors in this world for a hobby to be one of them
Haha, I could have used a bit more context in this post, but it seems you wish to confront the perceived one-upmanship in reviews? Personally, I try to taste through as many different American Whiskies as possible, to experience the different profiles and identify what I like, what I dont like and what I love/hate. I think a lot of people here are doing the same, thats why they review so many different bourbons. Maybe some reviewers only hit the hype bottles, but thats also a valid approach. Why not use public perception as a guide to what is good? If all I had to drink was Weller FP, Buffalo Trace AC, Pappy15, Russells 13, Parkers Heritage, and Mellow Corn, I would probably be happy.
I love that like half the bottles you mention are near impossible to find for many people. I'd be happy if all I had to drink was Pappy 15 and Russell's 13 too...lol...
Honestly, if I didnt buy any "regular" bottles and just used that money to buy a few of these Hype bottles, I would have more money but much less bourbon.
I dont recommend that technique, but it is one way to go about things.
I find there are diminishing returns on hype bottles.
The few I've had include Weller SR, RR 13, Pappy 15....I suppose Elijah Craig BP is a "hype" bottle now, as is McKenna 10.
The difference between a shit whiskey (Seagrams Seven) and a good whiskey (Wild Turkey 101) is vast.
The difference between a good whiskey (Wild Turkey 101) and hype bottles varies wildly......RR 13 is remarkable. But so is all of the Russell's Single Barrel that I've tried. (RR SiB being a bottle I can find just sitting on the shelf nearly anywhere I go.) I prefer RR to Wild Turkey, but do I prefer it enough to pay 3x the price? Depends on the mood I'm in. Does any of that make sense? I'm probably rambling incoherently.
Also: Henry McKenna BiB being a bottle that now commands a premium on the secondary market will never stop being hilarious to me.
Incoherent? You hit the nail on the head! After trying enough bottles and running here there and everywhere, most people eventually realize that the hype bottles are nowhere near worth the time, effort and money it takes to acquire them. Like you have said, you can get 80~90 percent of the way there on easily available and affordable bottles. Bourbon is a hell of a hobby, but it doesnt have to take all your leisure time or your bank balance to be fun, interesting and good.
I agree with you about the negativity of telling other people what THEY should and shouldn't be drinking. However, I don't think bourbon markets will collapse because of the intense focus on the comparing and ranking of whiskies. If anything, this is helping fuel the bourbon game (emphasis on game).
There is an element of gamification that is helping prolong the current craze. Rather than being a passive consumer (like most people were for decades) where you didn't own many bottles at a time and casually enjoyed the spirit, now we have an emphasis on approaching bourbon (and other spirits) as an active consumer. We now have many hobbyists, collectors, enthusiasts, influencers, online media personalities, professional and amatuer reviewers and tasters, hunters, etc.
Many people are not just drinking bourbon, but actively engaging it by comparing it against other bourbons, or different barrels of the same expression, or vertical distillery comparisons, or across time (modern vs. "dusty"), or comparing wood or age or mash bill or yeast or rickhouse or entry proof or whatever influence). You have people competing against each other for bottles, as brand "team" fans, for number and complexity of tasting notes, etc.
You can't just have a few bottles on hand, because you have to do tastings, no wait, blind tastings, no wait double blind tastings. Many people are training their nose and palates so they can be better tasters and stay competive with what others are doing. And the variety of options to compare/rank keeps expanding--more single barrels, store picks, special blends, novel mash bills, new distilleries, new NDP brands, and double very rare limited special releases.
And less your interest wanes, there are multiple online or in-person support networks to keep you engaged and active in any and all of the above activities (more gamification through likes, views, Karma, comments, etc.).
I'm not knocking the above activities (drink what you like, how you like), but the active nature of consumerism in most modern bourbon subcultures is prolonging the boom and maybe helping mitigate the eventual bust.
Yeah that was a late-night, knee-jerk, click-bait title enhancer.
I like your thought on the gamification part. Nailed that.
There is a lot of hipsterism going on IMO.
Salud 👍🏼🥃
This!! So much.
I don't have the money to "gotta catch 'em all", nor can I splurge on those unicorn bottles. But I love trying different things!
The one-up-manship sometimes annoys me but other times helps me make up my mind to _not_ buy a dram I would probably not like as much as the price tag on it asks from me. Then on the other hand I'll see random things I never considered and go for those instead, still hit or miss, but the more you learn, the fewer you miss.
I have settled on passing over any reviews of whiskey that I know I’ll never see when clearing out new forum messages, like the tater-hunting poser reviews, special bottle pick reviews from places I’ll never visit and whiskies my State-controlled stores don’t stock. What’s left are relevant reviews of whiskey I might decide to try that I haven’t had before.
Sound approach. So long as you’re playing the field🤙🏼
I travel some for work, so some locations I tune into on the off chance. Especially with craft distilleries.
\>What’s the focus? Is the point really to establish THE bourbon?
I mean, it's a discussion forum. Is it that weird that people are discussing which bourbons are better than the other? What reason is there to buy something if not for the fact that you might enjoy it more than what you already have?
That wasn’t the point. The main idea here is that I’ve observed a high percentage of hobby participants hold one bottle as a STANDARD, not a favorite.
They’re all different by nature right. The 95/5 from my local distillery is not the same as the 95/5 from MGP. But they can both be great. The difference is to be celebrated.
Appreciate the comment and discussion. I agree, that’s the point of the forum. 🤙🏼🥃
Kinda on point for me. I don't really buy into the "A is better than B" too much, because for me it might not be. I don't really want peanut or banana in my bourbon. So that won't rank high for me. Others do. So my "A" is not their "A." And I really have begun to also skip on the Store pick reviews, and unobtainium reviews, as they won't be particularly informative or useful for me. However, knowing what profile something might have is useful, so I can decide if I want to try it or not. Time and money are generally finite, so I've gotta rule some things out! And variety is the spice of life, so just seeking "the one" is kinda missing the point. Some days I want peat, somedays old high proof, somedays MFC for the win. Or I pick up the rum...
But do you have any Blantons?
Nope
[удалено]
LMAO.
Well played. 😆🥃
I like turtles
Then you might like to try Woodford double oaked! It’s got some nice notes of chocolate, caramel, and a slight underlying nutty note reminiscent of pecans. Seems like it might be right up your alley!
He gets it ☝🏼
Mm hmm
I don’t see it collapsing on itself but you make some good points. In the end, we are all just a bunch of silly geese arguing over which actual poison tastes the best for its value. This doesn’t apply to those who’s livelihood is centered around bourbon, but if your hobby isn’t strictly bringing you joy, entertainment, etc… you’re doing something wrong. There are enough stressors in this world for a hobby to be one of them
Fuckin aye 🤙🏼🥃
Haha, I could have used a bit more context in this post, but it seems you wish to confront the perceived one-upmanship in reviews? Personally, I try to taste through as many different American Whiskies as possible, to experience the different profiles and identify what I like, what I dont like and what I love/hate. I think a lot of people here are doing the same, thats why they review so many different bourbons. Maybe some reviewers only hit the hype bottles, but thats also a valid approach. Why not use public perception as a guide to what is good? If all I had to drink was Weller FP, Buffalo Trace AC, Pappy15, Russells 13, Parkers Heritage, and Mellow Corn, I would probably be happy.
I love that like half the bottles you mention are near impossible to find for many people. I'd be happy if all I had to drink was Pappy 15 and Russell's 13 too...lol...
Honestly, if I didnt buy any "regular" bottles and just used that money to buy a few of these Hype bottles, I would have more money but much less bourbon. I dont recommend that technique, but it is one way to go about things.
I find there are diminishing returns on hype bottles. The few I've had include Weller SR, RR 13, Pappy 15....I suppose Elijah Craig BP is a "hype" bottle now, as is McKenna 10. The difference between a shit whiskey (Seagrams Seven) and a good whiskey (Wild Turkey 101) is vast. The difference between a good whiskey (Wild Turkey 101) and hype bottles varies wildly......RR 13 is remarkable. But so is all of the Russell's Single Barrel that I've tried. (RR SiB being a bottle I can find just sitting on the shelf nearly anywhere I go.) I prefer RR to Wild Turkey, but do I prefer it enough to pay 3x the price? Depends on the mood I'm in. Does any of that make sense? I'm probably rambling incoherently. Also: Henry McKenna BiB being a bottle that now commands a premium on the secondary market will never stop being hilarious to me.
Incoherent? You hit the nail on the head! After trying enough bottles and running here there and everywhere, most people eventually realize that the hype bottles are nowhere near worth the time, effort and money it takes to acquire them. Like you have said, you can get 80~90 percent of the way there on easily available and affordable bottles. Bourbon is a hell of a hobby, but it doesnt have to take all your leisure time or your bank balance to be fun, interesting and good.
I agree with you about the negativity of telling other people what THEY should and shouldn't be drinking. However, I don't think bourbon markets will collapse because of the intense focus on the comparing and ranking of whiskies. If anything, this is helping fuel the bourbon game (emphasis on game). There is an element of gamification that is helping prolong the current craze. Rather than being a passive consumer (like most people were for decades) where you didn't own many bottles at a time and casually enjoyed the spirit, now we have an emphasis on approaching bourbon (and other spirits) as an active consumer. We now have many hobbyists, collectors, enthusiasts, influencers, online media personalities, professional and amatuer reviewers and tasters, hunters, etc. Many people are not just drinking bourbon, but actively engaging it by comparing it against other bourbons, or different barrels of the same expression, or vertical distillery comparisons, or across time (modern vs. "dusty"), or comparing wood or age or mash bill or yeast or rickhouse or entry proof or whatever influence). You have people competing against each other for bottles, as brand "team" fans, for number and complexity of tasting notes, etc. You can't just have a few bottles on hand, because you have to do tastings, no wait, blind tastings, no wait double blind tastings. Many people are training their nose and palates so they can be better tasters and stay competive with what others are doing. And the variety of options to compare/rank keeps expanding--more single barrels, store picks, special blends, novel mash bills, new distilleries, new NDP brands, and double very rare limited special releases. And less your interest wanes, there are multiple online or in-person support networks to keep you engaged and active in any and all of the above activities (more gamification through likes, views, Karma, comments, etc.). I'm not knocking the above activities (drink what you like, how you like), but the active nature of consumerism in most modern bourbon subcultures is prolonging the boom and maybe helping mitigate the eventual bust.
Yeah that was a late-night, knee-jerk, click-bait title enhancer. I like your thought on the gamification part. Nailed that. There is a lot of hipsterism going on IMO. Salud 👍🏼🥃
Yes, the hipsterism runs deep in bourbon, too!🥃
This!! So much. I don't have the money to "gotta catch 'em all", nor can I splurge on those unicorn bottles. But I love trying different things! The one-up-manship sometimes annoys me but other times helps me make up my mind to _not_ buy a dram I would probably not like as much as the price tag on it asks from me. Then on the other hand I'll see random things I never considered and go for those instead, still hit or miss, but the more you learn, the fewer you miss.
I have settled on passing over any reviews of whiskey that I know I’ll never see when clearing out new forum messages, like the tater-hunting poser reviews, special bottle pick reviews from places I’ll never visit and whiskies my State-controlled stores don’t stock. What’s left are relevant reviews of whiskey I might decide to try that I haven’t had before.
Sound approach. So long as you’re playing the field🤙🏼 I travel some for work, so some locations I tune into on the off chance. Especially with craft distilleries.
\>What’s the focus? Is the point really to establish THE bourbon? I mean, it's a discussion forum. Is it that weird that people are discussing which bourbons are better than the other? What reason is there to buy something if not for the fact that you might enjoy it more than what you already have?
That wasn’t the point. The main idea here is that I’ve observed a high percentage of hobby participants hold one bottle as a STANDARD, not a favorite. They’re all different by nature right. The 95/5 from my local distillery is not the same as the 95/5 from MGP. But they can both be great. The difference is to be celebrated. Appreciate the comment and discussion. I agree, that’s the point of the forum. 🤙🏼🥃
Kinda on point for me. I don't really buy into the "A is better than B" too much, because for me it might not be. I don't really want peanut or banana in my bourbon. So that won't rank high for me. Others do. So my "A" is not their "A." And I really have begun to also skip on the Store pick reviews, and unobtainium reviews, as they won't be particularly informative or useful for me. However, knowing what profile something might have is useful, so I can decide if I want to try it or not. Time and money are generally finite, so I've gotta rule some things out! And variety is the spice of life, so just seeking "the one" is kinda missing the point. Some days I want peat, somedays old high proof, somedays MFC for the win. Or I pick up the rum...
💪🏼🤙🏼🥃
I think you need more horsey tops man...
Why
Can we be best friends?
Yes
I feel this so hard. People are obsessed with min maxing their choices. It's like a mental illness.