whiskey

when I was in Savannah GA over the summer we had this funny bartender who had a geographical theory of the Manhattan and claimed if I told him what region of the country I was from he could tell me which liquor I wanted in my Manhattan. but then I said "New York City" and he guessed "Canadian whiskey" (?) so it sorta threw his expertise into question (I wanted rye). has anyone ever had a Manhattan with Canadian whiskey?

xpost - aw yeah

wtf

he wrote it down on a napkin all secret-like and then had a reveal. I'm sure I was o_0

I've been gravitating more and more to Four Roses when I'm on a bourbon kick - I usually drink rye so I'm looking to balance it with something on the smooth side when I switch to bourbon. The Four Roses 2008 Mariage is especially amazing.

Considering switching from Eagle Rare 10yr to Bulleit for cocktails at home, it mixes very well.

Canadian Whiskey is usually shorthand for Rye though, no? Canadian Club, Alberta Premium, Crown Royal - Lighter, more Rye. never drink it myself!

I liked Four Roses, felt I was being gypped paying £23 for a bottle though. Might get a bottle of Woodford today, tempted to go for something with a less stupid bottle though

what?! the woodford bottle is awesome!

http://www.beveragewarehouse.com/images/products/2350.jpg

egh sorry i can't seem to post reasonably-sized images anymore

but anyways yea the baker's was unreal. really really intense, burned like crazy (in a good way) and almost left this numbness feeling on my lips. the bar was pretty expensive (it was $9/glass, tho i guess that's not too rare) but i pretty much didn't care after the first few sips. will definitely buy a bottle of this soon

despite the burn & the numbness tho it was strangely smooth & rich, LOTS vanilla. felt like there were big nutmeg & cinnamon notes on the nose. it was delicious

baker's is great, i like it with a few drops of water

had michter's for the first time a couple nights ago. didn't make too much of an impression.

do you remember which kind of michter's it was?

have been curious about it for a while

while most review aren't critical a lot of them seem lukewarm. the bottle/label design is pretty awesome tho:

http://www.klwines.com/images/skus/1015028x.jpg

I like the Michter's rye better than the bourbon

it was the small batch

as far as i know no one says 'canadian whiskey' here (in canadia, quebec and otherwise), but we do call booze like canadian club 'rye' yeah
xposts

i had buffalo trace for the first time a couple of months ago when friend brought it back from usa, and damn, lovvve it. can't find it on the shelves here :/

my only experience with canadian club was being really confuse when i was like 14 and my aunt ordered a 'cc and ginger' at dinner. but they live in buffalo, which is close to canada.

my good friend has a big bottle of canadian club on hand as a pretty affordable 'house whiskey' but tbh i'm not that crazy about it. i'd rather just have a cheaper bourbon.

tho apparently a lot of the canadian blended stuff is recommended for mixing rather than sipping

we do call booze like canadian club 'rye' yeah

huh! did not know that

the woodford bottle is a little bit too faux-classy for me maybe, i don't know. i still bought it. i was also really tempted to get a bottle of 'jefferson's' and considering what that looks like i guess i can't really talk

bulleit bottle is tip top

the jeffersons bottle has that cool etching of him on it tbf

guys do I go for highland park 12 year or suntory Yamazaki 12 year single malt

have never had the yamazaki (or any japanese whisky) but the highland park is pretty outstanding

good price too for a solid single malt

ha, just about every thursday i find myself up late sipping on whiskey and finishing my homework due at 8am friday morning

I'm leaning towards the suntory cause it's something I probably won't be able to find back in the states

wish I could taste them first :^(

while every reviewer is different and it's no guarantee you'll really like or dislike something, i tend to trust the reviews at whiskymag.com (the famous beer/spirits writer michael jackson has a ton of reviews there)

looking them up, the yamazaki got pretty good to good reviews, the highland park outstanding reviews (is "whiskymag recommended")

but yea you can find highland park basically anywhere. i've never seen the yamazaki in shops before (granted i'm limited to MA shops)

plus it's got a dope bottle:

http://www.antennamag.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/yamazaki12y_exp.jpg

pick up the yamazaki and then a highland park a few months down the road

btw i think i'm gonna buy a bottle of baker's tomorrow

yea the answer clearly is buy both :o)

free jameson promotion at the bar tonight. nice treat after my burger/beer.

i want to branch out a little - if i pick up the baker's then 4 out of the 6 whiskeys that i currently own will be beam brand. tho i don't really care that much, the baker's was soo good.

motivation for stocking up is that my good friend who is the main person responsible for turning me onto whiskey is visiting next weekend. last time i visited him he laid out this spread of like 12 different whiskeys to chose from, i prob sampled maybe 4 or 5 of them. i kinda want to have some nice things for him to chose from when he visits

jamey's is a good whiskey imo! xxp

<3 yamazaki bottle

the box looks cool too! I'll get some cash and pick it up today or tomorrow

just picked up a bottle of talisker 10 year :)

Maker's Mark = good generic wheater, lacking in complexity, but convenient in its ubiquity. B
Knob Creek = slightly better than Maker's. B+
Woodford Reserve = Somewhat inconsistent from bottle to bottle. Nice subtle Rye notes. A-
Bulleit = Big unsubtle spicy flavor. Too heavy on the rye. Not enough heat on the finish. D-
W.L. Weller Special Reserve = Nice Caramel sweetness upfront, mellows into a strong finish with a nice kick. A
Old Weller Antique 107 = A little more complex in the body than the Weller Special Reserve, imo, but not as big up front. Nice bite on the finish, but not overwhelming considering the proof. A
Buffalo Trace = Too thin. So mellow as to be bland. C
Ridgemont Reserve 1792 = Similar to Buffalo Trace but worse. D-
Baker's = Absolute best Beam has to offer. This and the Weller's are basically uncriticizable. A
Booker's = Very good. Smooth with nice heat. B+
Basil Hayden's = Swill. D-
Jefferson's = Nice. Not very complex journey from caramel to a modest bite. B+
Sam Houston = Slightly better (more going on) than the Jefferson's. A-
George Dickel = I like it, but I hardly ever mess with it b/c I psychologically associate it with those nights when you get a little to drunk, fight with the gf, and regret everything later. B+ probably.
Jim Beam White label = tastes like rubbing alcohol. F

Still need to try 4 Roses and the Evan Williams single barrel, both of which I've heard good things about.

I have to politely disagree with your assessments of Basil Haydens and Jim Beam White Label.

Although, your tasting of both Bulleit and Buffalo Trace are spot on.

I recommend getting some of the Van Winkle line. Tops.

Also - Booker's is the finest out there, and therefore the best that the Beam brand has to offer.

And I've always found Knob Creek to be thinner than Maker's. Perhaps I will give it another go around. It is getting to be whiskey weather.

Yeah Van Winkle, that's another I need to try.

You could persuade me that Maker's is better than Knob Creek, actually. It's just that in a given week I generally drink at least one bottle of Maker's such that Knob Creek feels like a nice change of pace sometimes. But I don't care that much about either one really.

Basil Hayden's is something I had one overpriced shot of at a bar one time and never looked back. Still won't, but maybe it's better than I give it credit for. Jim Beam white on the other hand...

George Dickel = I like it, but I hardly ever mess with it b/c I psychologically associate it with those nights when you get a little to drunk, fight with the gf, and regret everything later. B+ probably.

looooooool

but yea baker's is exquisite

ok i am trying bakers next time i go to a bar that has it.

which will probably be sometime in 2012...

Guy who owns one of the liquor stores I frequent keeps trying to push Hancock Reserve on me, but am reluctant to try it because his selling points are that (1) he doesn't like whiskey and (2) it's really smooth. And at $55 a bottle, it sounds like too much to pay for something that's probably going to be too thin for me to enjoy.