Hearing that anecdote 155 miles away in Boise, Tony Faraca knew exactly what was up.
Already strong, the lust for whiskey has rocketed to a new level the past few months. Statewide, customers have been lining up and purchasing sought-after products at opening bell. Their target? Bourbon.
Crap, no wonder I can't find even my lower priced bourbons. They are being snatched up as fast as the high shelf stuff is. I like a snort of whiskey now and again but I really can't tell the difference between what I can afford to buy and the high priced hooch. I guess my palette isn't as refined...
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Bro.
DeleteI used to always be a Scotch guy, but in the last few years I finally started understanding the beauty of Bourbon. I just can't afford the good stuff of either.
ReplyDeleteFour Roses, Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace are very good bourbons at a great price.
DeleteLaphroaig 10yr is tasty and was $40 until recently. Itll probably jump to $75 now that Joe Rogan is on it.
DeleteI regularly buy the Laphroaig 10 year, but I was gifted a 25 year for my birthday last year. I have a glass on special occasions, and if I could afford it, it's all I would drink.
DeleteMy liquor store contact told me that the reason Scotch has jumped exponentially over the past coupla years is the tariffs the Biden admin has place on it, which could very well make sense, in some bizarre way...but why not English gin?
DeleteI had a glass of Laphroaig once. I thought I tasted a bit of horse barn, leather, sweat and something undefinable. The conclusion was that somewhere in one of the vats in that brewery, they have hidden the saddle from Lady Godiva's horse ride.
DeleteBuffalo Trace is about the best Bourbon for the money. 5 years ago I could walk into a store and buy a 1/2 gallon bottle of Weller 12 year anytime I wanted. I haven’t seen black label Welles in 2 years. Crazy times for us old bourbon drinker.
DeleteAmen Nels. After drinking Glenlivet then trying lafroyg for a quarter of a sip I will never drink that horse piss peat again.
DeleteWomen and foreigners are driving the price of bourbon up have been for many years now. They can't build new barrels houses fast enough. Cousin in Kentucky has sold 4 parcels of land in the last few years. All for barrel houses.
Wonder when Idaho started state run liquor stores. Back in the early '80's, when my late brother and I were heading back east from a family reunion in Greenleaf, ID, we stopped in a little town looking for an ABC store to buy a bottle. There wasn't any and we ended up buying one from a bar in town off the back shelf at normal retail. I think it was 8 bucks for a fifth of Tangerey Gin. Then onto the convenience store for a bag of ice and tonic water for Tom Collins. Sipped 'em across I-90 into Montana until I went through a speed trap on the edge of a little, no stoplight town. Wrote a check out for 35 bucks to the judge/magistrate on the spot, handed it to the cop and went on our merry way.
ReplyDeleteI recommend Knob Creek, Elijah Craig, Michter's and Makers Mark.
ReplyDeleteOff topic a little, they’re putting up for vote in our county for the sale of alcohol. We’ve been a dry county for almost ever. Presently only our county seat of Double Springs and our largest town allow sales. The license to sale they say runs around $5000. right off the bat. Nothing like Alabama.
ReplyDeleteEarly Times, Makers Mark and Jim Beam
ReplyDeleteThis is about the time I usually buy my holiday bottle of Maker's Mark 101. I guess I'll go ahead a get it when I run into town tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI stopped living near hipsters and any place cool. Now I have no problem with finding anything. Food on the shelves Cigars, etc. We might even still have a few Silverado’s around. Gotta like puckerbrush though. Bring a woman ;-)).
ReplyDeleteMF
Here's the deal. No matter what you pay, shit's gonna make you drunk, you drink enough of it. Maybe you'll throw up, maybe not. Next morning you'll have a headache and a drunk stomach, you'll tell yourself, "Never again." Proverbs 23:32.
ReplyDeleteWhich is the reason I'm not the full time drunk I used to be. Matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I got drunk. 3-4 years ago, maybe? And as I recall, it was beer.
DeleteWhen I was younger I rarely got a hangover, but now I get them that last 2 solid days and they're vicious.
Moderation is the key.
DeleteBesides, the way I look at it, bourbon is like internal hand sanitizer. I believe it's why I'm WuFlu free.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Come to think of it, it's time for my medicine.
Not to do with prices, but a bit more than a dozen years ago my wife and I were going through her recently deceased uncle’s two-room place in Western Arkansas, looking for his guns before somebody had a remembrance of seeing same. We found his two shotguns, two .22-caliber rifles, a nickel-plated .32-caliber S&W and a .32-caliber rim-fire rolling block, plus a S&W .357 we didn’t know about. The S&W was not 20 years old; the others were late 19th century, very early 20th century, common to all rural households at one time. We also found a half gallon of Jim Beam, unbroken. The uncle was not a drinker, but probably decided it would be bad manners to turn down an offered gift. My three kids and I did in the whiskey that Christmas. Not a great whiskey, but free bourbon is like free guns. My wife and I still have the guns.
DeleteOld Forrester is reasonable and solid.
ReplyDeleteI'll stick with sourmash and rye.
ReplyDeleteIn order for bourbon to be labeled as such, it has to be at least 51% corn. For rye, it has to be at least 51% rye.
DeletePersonally, I can't taste the difference between 51% rye or corn, especially if the rye was aged for 4-5 years in a white oak barrel.
I'm currently sipping an Evan Williams an Coke
ReplyDeleteI read an interesting article a couple of years back about how bourbon was much better in the 1800s than today. It used to be transported by wagon over dirt roads to the river where it made its way down to New Orleans. It was then put on a sailing ship and brought to New York.
ReplyDeleteModern bourbon is put on a palette and into the back of a semi to be hauled to New York.
The author decided to run a test. He bought two barrels of bourbon from the same distiller. Transported one the modern way and the other the old fashion way. The old fashion way was significantly better. Seems being jostled with changing humidity positively effected the product.
I think Jefferson Ocean is shipped by boat for just this reason
DeleteI'm currently enjoying an Evan Williams and Coke.
ReplyDeleteIn a Yeti tumbler* w/ sippy-cup lid.
Have a nice evening, everybody.
*Relax. It was a gift.
I like a bit of decent Bourbon usually Makers Mark ,and a good jolt of Jameson is a good thing , but I Cant do scotch i choke on that stuff. I usually keep a bottle or two of Jack around just for gifting purposes , lay a quart on the L.P. delivery guy for christmas and stuff like that .
ReplyDeleteBuffalo Trace has a economy product called Benchmark 8. I can't tell the difference in taste, but can tell the difference in price.
ReplyDeleteThe Canadian in me prefers rye, Gibsons Finest.
ReplyDeleteThe WOP in me prefers red wine.
No rye in the house right now so WOP WOP WOP
I like Bourbon *and* Scotch. My current tipple is Barton's 1792 Bourbon and Glenlivet 14 yo Scotch. Both are a good compromise between good taste and not having to refinance the house. I also like Jack Daniels Black Label. I have some decent Weller's stashed in the gun safe, but I only get that out for special occasions.
ReplyDeleteAll those US distillers come from the same couple of buildings on the same factory floor, from the same municiple water supply. Their marketing department has you convinced you're supporting artists, get over it, its big biznizz owned by mega-global corporations like sazerac and suntory. Ditch that swill.
ReplyDeleteSupport your small local distillers!
Chattanooga whiskey is some damned good stuff if you can find it.
Let's see, Buffalo Trace is distilled in Frankfort, Maker's Mark is distilled in Loretto, and Four Roses is out of Lawrenceburg. That's the biggest damned factory floor I ever heard of.
DeleteFrom the Maker's Mark website: "The limestone shelf where the distillery is located is key to crafting the unique taste of Maker's Mark – the only distillery with its own water source and watershed."
Kinda shoots your claim about it all coming from the same municipal water supply all to hell, doesn't it?
Woodford is distilled in Shively, Ky. Another factoid is there is a county in Ky, named Bourbon, but as far as I know, does not have a single bourbon distillery within its borders. Plenty of thoroughbred horse farms though.
DeleteWhile not a bourbon, Triple Smoke is my drink of choice. Have had rye and drinking it is like putting coarse sandpaper to one's tongue. Nasty, nasty stuff.
DeleteBourbon County, Kentucky used to be much larger, and is where the drink was first distilled. The name came from the location stamp on the barrels. At some point the large bourbon county was slit up and the name did not go with the area containing the distilleries.
DeleteWhiskey tribe on youtube and some others do great reviews of various whiskies. There's a lot of good hooch out there. Personally, I like Crown Royal...a lot. I tried the Four Roses and it is good. Makers Mark, even better. Ohio Guy
ReplyDelete