(10-14-2023, 10:21 AM)Donnyho Wrote: So, this week I got invited to be part of the Makers Mark Whisky Drop member private select program. I’m one of a small group (not sure how many) that is going to the distillery and crafting the next Private Selection bottle that will be sent to Whisky Drop members. They’re driving us from Louisville to the distillery, we get lunch at the restaurant, a private behind the scenes tour, then into the “lab” to craft a barrel recipe.

I’m really looking forward to it. For me, at least, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

So I have a couple of questions about this:

• What is the arrival time and location for the meet up?
• Will they check ID at the meet up? Follow up questions below are only valid if this answer is "no"
• What is your home address?
• Do you keep duct tape or rope at your house, or do I need to bring my own?
  

You lucky son of a...

Did anyone else get the Buffalo Trace Burrow bottle that they released in September?

(10-14-2023, 10:21 AM)Donnyho Wrote: So, this week I got invited to be part of the Makers Mark Whisky Drop member private select program. I’m one of a small group (not sure how many) that is going to the distillery and crafting the next Private Selection bottle that will be sent to Whisky Drop members. They’re driving us from Louisville to the distillery, we get lunch at the restaurant, a private behind the scenes tour, then into the “lab” to craft a barrel recipe.

I’m really looking forward to it. For me, at least, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The Makers Mark Dis. is home. It's in Loretto but make sure you pronounce it lo-reda. It's right outside of Lebanon (leb-nun)

For all you aficionados this place is causing quite the stir locally:

https://www.wdrb.com/news/new-distillery-planting-roots-in-elizabethtown-to-make-contract-whiskey/article_ced07196-6968-11ee-9c10-7fd76ad2b6dc.html#:~:text=making%20contract%20whiskey.-,Whiskey%20House%20of%20Kentucky%20has%20set%20a%20July%202024%20opening,created%20The%20Bardstown%20Bourbon%20Company.

Quote:Whiskey House of Kentucky has set a July 2024 opening on a 176-acre campus in the T.J. Patterson Elizabethtown Hardin County Industrial Park.

Whiskey House was founded in 2022 by the same team that created The Bardstown Bourbon Company.

Its founders said it's the first distillery "designed from the ground up to focus solely on large-scale, flexible, contract whiskey production."

With no brands of its own, Whiskey House provides Custom Whiskey Production customers with visibility into the manufacturing and barrel aging process.

(10-15-2023, 11:11 AM)bfine32 Wrote: For all you aficionados this place is causing quite the stir locally:

https://www.wdrb.com/news/new-distillery-planting-roots-in-elizabethtown-to-make-contract-whiskey/article_ced07196-6968-11ee-9c10-7fd76ad2b6dc.html#:~:text=making%20contract%20whiskey.-,Whiskey%20House%20of%20Kentucky%20has%20set%20a%20July%202024%20opening,created%20The%20Bardstown%20Bourbon%20Company.

So i guess it sounds like they are direct competition for the MGP distillery in Indiana?

I didn't think it would ever happen, but I FINALLY won a VA ABC Lottery, so I'm waiting for delivery of a bottle of Blanton's Gold to my local store. The lottery underwent a new format this time, so I had already seen the emails that I didn't win either of the two Michter's bottles available (don't remember what they were, but they were priced at $1500 and $6500 IIRC, so there was actually a moment of relief that I didn't have to decide if I had to sell the bottle or not )

Been a while since I've been in here. I've found a really nice bourbon at a fair price that you can actually find. Blade and Bow. Have any of you guys tried it yet?

(10-24-2023, 11:15 AM)Wyche Wrote: Been a while since I've been in here. I've found a really nice bourbon at a fair price that you can actually find. Blade and Bow. Have any of you guys tried it yet?

After trying Blade and Bow at a friend's place last year, I now keep one on the shelf.  Lately I've been solo sippin' on Bulleit 10 year, so smooth.

(10-24-2023, 11:15 AM)Wyche Wrote: Been a while since I've been in here. I've found a really nice bourbon at a fair price that you can actually find. Blade and Bow. Have any of you guys tried it yet?

I've consistently kept it in my stock for the last 3 years, but I finished it off last weekend.  Although I do really enjoy it, it will probably be awhile before I get another one.  My collection is currently out of hand, and I promised her I would scale it back by only keeping a few easy to obtain varieties on hand.  If I can get as many bottles as I want at any local ABC on any given day, then it will now be part of a rotation instead of always on hand.  With that said, there are still a few things I need to finish off to start that rotation up.

(10-24-2023, 01:16 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: After trying Blade and Bow at a friend's place last year, I now keep one on the shelf.  Lately I've been solo sippin' on Bulleit 10 year, so smooth.

That's me. I keep one. I finished off some of that Bulliet a few months ago. I get it ever so often.

(10-24-2023, 07:07 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: I've consistently kept it in my stock for the last 3 years, but I finished it off last weekend.  Although I do really enjoy it, it will probably be awhile before I get another one.  My collection is currently out of hand, and I promised her I would scale it back by only keeping a few easy to obtain varieties on hand.  If I can get as many bottles as I want at any local ABC on any given day, then it will now be part of a rotation instead of always on hand.  With that said, there are still a few things I need to finish off to start that rotation up.

I hear you. Mine's not real extensive, but there's enough to keep you going throughout the year. I'll still keep it and Eagle Rare on the shelf I really like both of those. The rarer stuff is for special occasions. I haven't bought a new bottle in a couple of months either. I need to finish a few off myself. Blade is one of those fluke buys for me. I'd never tried it as of a year or so ago. I was browsing, and saw a bottle on sale. I read that Stitzel-Weller legacy on the packaging and said what the hell. I've kept it on hand since. 

(10-24-2023, 07:07 PM)jfkbengals Wrote: I've consistently kept it in my stock for the last 3 years, but I finished it off last weekend.  Although I do really enjoy it, it will probably be awhile before I get another one.  My collection is currently out of hand, and I promised her I would scale it back by only keeping a few easy to obtain varieties on hand.  If I can get as many bottles as I want at any local ABC on any given day, then it will now be part of a rotation instead of always on hand.  With that said, there are still a few things I need to finish off to start that rotation up.

So now I’m curious (for you and anyone else who wants to jump in…), what constitutes “extensive” to you? That number varies wildly from person to person so I’m wondering where the line is for you.

For reference, I’ve got over 70 bottles just of whiskey, and my only real limiter is shelf space [emoji28]

(10-25-2023, 11:06 AM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: So now I’m curious (for you and anyone else who wants to jump in…), what constitutes “extensive” to you?  That number varies wildly from person to person so I’m wondering where the line is for you.

For reference, I’ve got over 70 bottles just of whiskey, and my only real limiter is shelf space [emoji28]

Well, I’m up to something like 170, 175 right now. I don’t find that too bad. My wife on the other hand….

(10-25-2023, 11:06 AM)MileHighGrowler Wrote: So now I’m curious (for you and anyone else who wants to jump in…), what constitutes “extensive” to you?  That number varies wildly from person to person so I’m wondering where the line is for you.

For reference, I’ve got over 70 bottles just of whiskey, and my only real limiter is shelf space [emoji28]

Ditto.  If I had the space, then neither of us would care, but we don't have the space.  We have bottles tucked all over the place, which is the problem.  Part of it is also the way VA sells things.  Being a state run store, everything is sold at MSRP, regardless of what it sells for on the secondary market.  So a lot of things are quite affordable in our stores, even though they would cost considerably more in other states where the price can be based on demand.  To counter that, those bottles become scarce and start to only be offered as limited release.  Because of that, we end up grabbing stuff we really shouldn't because you never know when it might be available to you again.  So, as I mentioned in the previous post, we're now trying to remove everything from the collection that is readily available so we can try to reduce the space we are using up.  Maybe in the end this only moves me from the upper 70s to the upper 60s, but every inch of space saved is helpful.

I got to go on my Maker's Mark Private Selection last week. First we had lunch at Star Hill Provisions where the chef made us a 3 course meal (braised pig cheek in red lentil soup, crispy skin chicken with potatoes and bread pudding with apricot and bourbon glaze). I also had a Gold Rush, because I was at a distillery. Then we went on a behind the scenes tour that went more in depth on how they make the whisky.

And then it got REALLY good. They split us up into groups to make the stave profiles (because they need two different bottles to send out) and my group got into a couple Lexus SUVs, drove back  through the rick houses and went to the new Private Select lab on the lake, which was amazing (the other group did theirs at the "regular" lab). Then we got down to making the whisky. I think it came out awesome (if you're in the Whisky Drop program look for it this spring!).

This was really an amazing experience. I'm just glad they picked me to take part.

So we’re out running errands and my wife says she needs some bourbon cream for a cupcake recipe. We’re right by a Liqour Barn that was opening in a few minutes (if you’re not from KY, the liqour stores open at 1 on Sundays). There are 5 people waiting outside, but only one of which looks like a “bourbon guy”. Doors open and I see some BT on the counter so I’m not expecting much else. Turn the corner an 2 bottles of E.H. Taylor Single Barrel 2 bottles of a Weller Full Proof store pick are next to the BT. I grab one of both and the old “bourbon guy” says “I think they’ll only let you buy one of those from the table”. Replied with “my wife will get one of them”.

So I got an EHT Single Barrel and Weller Full Proof store pick today.

(02-11-2024, 05:03 PM)Donnyho Wrote: So we’re out running errands and my wife says she needs some bourbon cream for a cupcake recipe. We’re right by a Liqour Barn that was opening in a few minutes (if you’re not from KY, the liqour stores open at 1 on Sundays). There are 5 people waiting outside, but only one of which looks like a “bourbon guy”. Doors open and I see some BT on the counter so I’m not expecting much else. Turn the corner an 2 bottles of E.H. Taylor Single Barrel 2 bottles of a Weller Full Proof store pick are next to the BT. I grab one of both and the old “bourbon guy” says “I think they’ll only let you buy one of those from the table”. Replied with “my wife will get one of them”.

So I got an EHT Single Barrel and Weller Full Proof store pick today.

Nice score.  VA did a HUGE statewide release during the holidays on a Saturday, and I had every intention of getting out there at 6 AM to camp on the sidewalk because the list was about 100 varieties, luck of the draw as to what is at each store.  Alas, Friday afternoon it became evident I was going to be on-call the entire weekend, so I decided I was not going to park my butt on the sidewalk in subfreezing temps for several hours only to receive a call to get to work before the store opened and have to leave.  10 AM opening time arrived and I had not received a call, so I ran up to the store.  Line was wrapped around the store and out the door, but it was moving fast.  In line I learned that had my original plan come to fruition, I would have walked out the door with one of the 6 bottles of Stagg that my store had.  I settled on a Weller as my consolation prize of the 10 or so options they had for limited release.  Also picked up a Horse Soldier which is tasty.  Another good score I got during the holidays was The Holiday Toast by Lucky Seven, and got a gift from Maine called Liquid Riot from Old Port.  

I am a bit of a newbie in the bourbon world.

What are some of the better value and experiences I should consider in building a collection?

My ideal is keeping 3 good regular rotations and two special occasion bottles.

I favor smoky caramel and vanilla, but good spirits are good spirits!

(10-18-2024, 07:31 PM)FormerlyBengalRugby Wrote: I am a bit of a newbie in the bourbon world.

What are some of the better value and experiences I should consider in building a collection?

My ideal is keeping 3 good regular rotations and two special occasion bottles.

I favor smoky caramel and vanilla, but good spirits are good spirits!

3 of my bargain favorite flavors are Jim Beam Devil's Cut, Bulleit 10 year, and my personal bargain favorite Buffalo Trace.