evanrowe is right. ANYTHING Van Winkle is great. Their 12 yr old Lot B is good and affordable, their 15 year's better. The 20 is good but only straight. The 23 year is for folks who make a ton of money. At $200 a bottle, I don't think anything is that good.

Thanks to Carl Saff (who will also vouch for the Van Winkle) I have had the pleasure of enjoying Blanton's...a fantastic bourbon he gave me as a gift. That is a damn fine drink.

abcgroupdocumentation wrote:Jack is not bourbon.

This is a factually incorrect statement.

See here to learn about what bourbon is and why Jack is bourbon.

Thank you drew.

Peripatetic wrote:Thank you drew.

No problem, Peri. Every now and then, a lesson is so important that it needs to be taught twice.

Eierdiebe wrote:Rachael, where you at?

I can see my alcoholism is well know from coast to coast!
I much prefer the flavor of Knob Creek to Maker's Mark, although I'll drink either. Maker's has a more sugar-watery taste that's just too thin. Although neither one is much sweeter than the other, I think Knob has a better maple syrupy flavor in it's sweetness - I'd rather taste that.

Pappy Van Winkle, you put a spell on me! Man, that shit could bring me to my knees.

I love the high-proof Van Winkle too. I found a liquor store around the corner from my office that had one bottle tucked away on the highest shelf, covered in dust. When I asked the guy to get it for me, he thought I was joking because no one ever bought it. They weren't planning on restocking it after I bought the last one. I enjoyed it with a single tear to bring out the flavor.

I keep getting more and more snobby about my bourbon...I was ardent with makers for years, then made the switch to Knob Creek about a year ago. Now i'm all about Bulleit ("The BULLET!"), Woodford Reserve (a ladyfriend of mine gave me a bottle for my birthday...good lord!), and recently Bookers.

Good bourbon, like Southern Women, can lead to some of the best bad ideas around.

Peripatetic wrote:
Thank you drew.


No problem, Peri. Every now and then, a lesson is so important that it needs to be taught twice.

Enjoy your lesson my friend(s), b/c Prof. ABC is hear to learn you a lesson:

TN whiskey is not bourbon for two reasons according to federal regulations: it's being made in TN and the fact that it is run through a 10 foot thick charcoal filtration column that takes out congeners and "jump starts the aging process." BTW, being made in TN doesn't imply that bourbon must be made in KY, just that TN whiskey must be made in TN (obviously).

So yes sour mash is the same process as bourbon (and is bourbon), in fact one could say that TN whiskey is bourbon up until the filtration process, which 1) alters the shit out of the flavor and 2) bumps up the aging process that otherwise naturally starts with bourbon aging.

This might seem like a technicality but it's not. Take Dickel (a far superior product to any Jack drivel) or Jack and compare it to any bourbon and you'll see the difference...night and day.

Read "Bourbon, Straight" by Charles Cowdery...a Chicagoan. The best and most authoritative book on bourbon you can find...and it's an incredibly friendly read.

It comes down to the fact that Bourbon is made exclusively in Kentucky.
If it isn't Kentucky, it isn't Bourbon.

Plus Jack tastes like rotted assholes.