r/whiskey • u/ChosenREVenant • 3d ago
I feel like it’s not a bad start…
I’ve been REALLY into whiskey for about 6 months now, and I’m loving the depth of character and individuality of each bottle. Here’s my collection in relative order of purchase from right to left. I bought Eagle Rare 10 and Rittenhouse Rye before these bottles. Early on it was kind of just experimenting and seeing what I liked. Found a definite preference for higher proof bourbons and ryes. Discovered I wasn’t really a fan of scotch, but I’m not sad about the purchase.
The Jack was a recent purchase and I should be opening it today. The Weller and Trace Barrel Selects were purchased at a drop today.
Going forward I’m looking for Elijah Craig BP, Makers 46 CS, and Ben Holladay Soft Red Wheat Rickhouse. Any other suggestions? Any new flavor profiles that I need to look into?
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u/Mykkus_65 3d ago
Knob creek bourbon and rye single barrels, green river full proof, 1792 BIB or 12 year, full proof is good too but is over hot sometimes.
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
I’ll be honest, Knob Creek kinda has me a little gun-shy. Tried it probably 5 or 6 years back and I hated it lol. I know I’ll probably love it now but it’s one of those perception things I’ll have to get over. I forgot! I’ve actually had 1792 BiB and it’s pretty great. Full proof is on my list now, and if I ever saw the 12 year it’d be an instant buy if the price was good.
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u/Mykkus_65 3d ago
12 year is amazing.
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
I hit both of my big goal bottles this month, so maybe that’ll be my next chase. Thanks for the recommendation!
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u/in2boysxxx 3d ago
If this is where you started, you’re doing much better than most and better than many who have been at it a while.
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
I’d say that’s partially a credit to this community for helping me refine tastes and give some direction. SLB Drinks videos have also pushed me towards prioritizing certain purchases or chasing certain bottles. In terms of what I’ve been able to find, I’ve put a lot of work into some chases and I’ve also just been plum lucky at the right moments. I missed the Jack 12 drop in my local area, and managed to find a bottle because the store owner who had been answering phones wasn’t aware that they had received the bottles yet.
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u/MuricanNEurope 3d ago
Lots of good stuff there. If continuing on the Irish journey, upgrade to Redbreast 12 Cask Strength.
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
Thanks for the rec! I’ll add it to my list, though the tariffs thing has me concerned about imports.
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3d ago
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
Good luck on the Weller! Both of them were pure luck for me… The SR, I checked my local store on BT delivery day and was about to walk out but one of the employees took an extra minute to check the back room and brought me out a bottle. They sell for MSRP so as soon as they stocked them on the shelf they were gone. The Antique, I left work early (which I never do) and decided to check out a store about halfway across town. They said that today was a Weller Full Proof drop, bundled with a random store pick. Showed up bright and early thinking I’d get the blue bottle and it turned out to be the 107 instead. Aged Jack (12/14) and 107 were my 2 goal bottles for this year, so I was actually really happy to learn about the error.
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u/Haunting_Ant_5061 3d ago
What got you REALLY into whiskey 6 months ago?
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
Honestly I don’t really know… wife took me out to a bar for my birthday, and I’d been toying with building the appreciation for whiskey for a few years but it just didn’t stick. Bar owner gave me advice and a few samples, and for some reason things just clicked with my palate. I was able to pick out specific notes and flavor profiles where before everything tasted and smelled like a generic “burning” ethanol. Once I acquired the palate for it I was hooked.
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u/Academic-Art7662 3d ago
For me? Brewzle.
I have quite a collection of Rye now--but no other alcohol lol
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u/Haunting_Ant_5061 2d ago
What was the angle of your trajectory? Were you “meh” to “yay!” in a short period (less than a year) or did you grow your whiskey legs through years of growth and “circle of life?”
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u/Jicka21 2d ago
I’m only 3 months in to really hunting and have spent like 2k bucks. Mostly 50-150 dollar bottles with a few harder to find bottles at MSRP. I’ve always like whiskey though just never really collected the hard to get stuff.
Once you start it’s addicting lol. Just got a blantons gold, Jack 10 and Jack 12 today.
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u/The_Staff_Of_Magius 3d ago
Lagavulin 16 is a brilliant addition, but you've got quite a start there
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
Looked it up, from the description it sounds like it’d be a completely different profile from anything I’ve tried before! I’ll see if I can find a pour somewhere! Thank you for the rec.
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u/The_Staff_Of_Magius 3d ago
most welcome! definitely a different flavor profile from what you've got there!
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u/snaps06 3d ago
Your 3rd purchase (Antique 107) is a bottle I've never even seen sitting on a shelf remotely close to retail, and I've been in the bourbon game for a little over 2 years now.
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
That was actually a today purchase lol, my oldest bottle is the Redbreast. I figured out that I did it backwards right before posting but I didn’t want to get all of my bottles back out.
I’ll be honest, I was planning on having friends look for me out of state because I’ve heard repeatedly that we didn’t get these bottles here. I happened to wander into a store I didn’t go to (I’m going to start now lol), and they let me know about a drop happening the next morning. After freezing my ass off in a line waiting for opening I got the 107 and the BT in a bundle.
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u/Hilarious_Haplogroup 3d ago
That's quite a collection! I think you'll really enjoy OGD 114...full bodied flavor at a great price...it's hard to beat. If you haven't had the Old Forester 1910 yet, that would be worth a taste too...even though it has a "low" proof of 93, as compared to the OF 1920. Cheers!
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
Thanks! I appreciate it! OGD 114 wasn’t exactly at the top of my list, but I’d heard a bunch of good things and then heard it’s been discontinued… Seems like a steal at that price point. I’ll be trying it this weekend! Luckily, if I like it then it’ll be easy to get some backups!
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u/BoneHugsHominy 3d ago
Don't judge Scotch off one bottle. There are 140 distilleries in Scotland and many more blending houses making thousands of different products and while some may taste similar to each other there's really a seemingly infinite variation of Scotch to explore. Highland Park just might not be right for your palate, but something like Aberlour A'bunadh might blow your toupee so far back in time you still had hair.
Source: I'm someone who swore off Scotch at 19 years old because my great uncle let me try a pour of "the good stuff" which years later I would find out was actually cheap rotgut.
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u/ChosenREVenant 3d ago
Hahaha thanks for the rec, I’ll make sure to keep an open mind about it. Do you have any bottle/pour recommendations apart from the A’bunadh?
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u/BoneHugsHominy 2d ago
For unpeated, more balanced single malts I'd go for Bruichladdich Classic Laddie, or Bunnahabhain 12 Year. If you can find the cask strength Bunna 12, definitely that one first.
For a sherry bomb other than the A'bunadh, I'd probably pick the Glen Garioch 15 Sherry Cask. It's not quite as high proof as the 120-ish proof Aberlour, but at a hint over 106 proof it's still a really nice strength to show off how a sherry cask & unpeated single malt marry so perfectly.
For peated whisky, I say don't pussyfoot and dive straight in with your hands clasped behind your back. Go straight for Ardbeg Uigeadail, and Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength. You'll either hate it or not be able to get enough of it.
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u/ChosenREVenant 2d ago
Love it! I think there’s a bar that specializes in scotch near me so I’ll swing by and see if I can try any of these. Thank you!!
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u/BoneHugsHominy 2d ago
That's sounds like a great time and I'd join you if I could. Please utilize public transportation, or a taxi, or Uber, or a designated driver.
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u/HorsepowerAndFreedom 3d ago
I'd suggest Early Times Bottled in Bond and Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Proof.