Can't get it up here north of the border but, through a wine distributer I am able to order a case. Would like to hear from someone who knows their stuff and has tried it before I order.
Templeton Rye. Al Capone's favorite drink. You can find it in Hy Vee stores here in Iowa. Locals around Des Moines still have connections to folks with the original recipe. [Reply]
I love Booker's...it is very distinctive, but pretty expensive...usually around $50 a bottle. I typically buy Knob Creek for sipping, but if cash poor will buy Wild Turkey. [Reply]
You done good - Buffalo Trace is a really nice bourbon at it's price point. I buy it locally for $16/750 and it's a steal at that price. 90 proof, if memory serves, which is a nice proof for sippin'. I like 100 proof or 101, or even the 'barrel proof' whusk now and then, but for day in, day out drinking 90 is fine by me. A lot of vanilla, leather, spice. Good neat or on the rocks, nice in a Manhattan or Old Fashioned.
Bourbon doesn't have to be made in Kentucky, but it must be made with at least 51% corn, and it must spend 2 years in new charred oak barrels. There's some bourbon made in Virginia and Indiana, and we made McCormicks in Weston for decades. The Tennessee whiskey like Dickel and Daniels is basically bourbon made within Tennessee and filtered thru charcoal, and you're welcome to my share.
When you read the term 'straight' whiskey, it hasn't been blended with grain alcohol or other spirits (American blended whiskey like Kesslers) altho they may have mixed some 'straight' whiskey from a barrel made in 1998 with a similar barrel made 2 years ago, that mixture (or 'vatting') is still considered a straight whiskey (but not a blend. The word blend implies some bad things in US whiskey).
Sour mash - they just use some of the last batch of 'beer' to start the fermentation of this batch when they run it. Think sourdough, same idea, the yeast doesn't have to start from scratch. Bourbon is one of America's many gifts to the world. Y'all enjoy! [Reply]
I mentioned 'vatting' above, where you mix various straight whiskeys to 'vat' a new drink. I do this at home by mixing some 'dry' tasting bourbon with some 'sweet and spicy' bourbon, add some rye whiskey and drink it up.
If you're interested in trying this, just mix a shot of Wild Turkey with a shot of Old Charter, or what have you, add another shot or two, tasting all the time until you find something you like better than the original whusk. My current go-to recipe is 1 part wild turkey 101, 1 part old charter 8 year, 1 part wellers 7 year, 1 evan williams (black label), 1 Ezra Brooks and 1/2 part Old Overholt rye. I usually mix this with 1.75 'handles' of bourbon and a fifth of rye. I re-bottle and relabel the result and drink it year round + give some away to a few pals. It proves you don't have to pet to be popular, just show up with a bottle of tasty whusk and you're welcome almost anywhere. [Reply]