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Good bourbon

Doing the bourbon trail mid-September for my brothers 30th birthday. Any recs?

I really enjoyed the Maker's Mark tour. It's a surprisingly small operation and they really let you get close to the process. You don't get to taste anything particularly unique, but it's still good bourbon.

Heaven Hill (I think it's called the Bourbon Heritage Center) isn't a particularly great tour, but the premium tasting - which wasn't that expensive at all - allowed you to sample some very pricey and very unavailable (at least here in NC) bourbons.

Edited to add: Just went back and looked at some old photos and for like $25 at Heaven Hill we were able to taste Elijah Craig Single Barrel Aged 23 Years (retailed in the shop for $279.99 a fifth), William Heavenhill Small Batch Bottled-in-Bond ($129.99), Heaven Hill Select Stock ($149.99) and Larceny (which was somewhat new at the time).
 
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Thanks for the input guys! It looks like we are going to do two tour days as follows:

Maker’s Mark
Lux Row
Barton 1792

Woodford
Buffalo Trace
Stitzel-Weller

The Friday that we are doing the first tour day is also the WF/UNC football game so substantial drinking will be required. Pretty pumped up for this trip!
 
To my fellow NC bourbon drinkers...if you drink enough bourbon to respect values...note that in NC we are blessed to get 7 year old, 101 proof Virgin Bourbon that (1) is made by Heaven Hill and (2) may or may not be the exact same stuff as another awesome value bourbon, Old Ezra 101 7 yr old which is sadly now RIP. But you can get Old Ezra barrel proof for $39.99! (sarcastic - the 101 at 40% of the price was better). Anyway the Virgin 101 7 yr is $13.95 for a fifth (glass) or $24.95 for a handle (plastic). AND the handle is $3 off this month - $21.95. One of the best steals in bourbon you will ever find. Why is this important? Because the 7 year age statement is done - new bottles coming in are NAS. So again, smoke em while you got em.

Also, don't google 7 year old virgin unless you enjoy long talks with the FBI.
 
To my fellow NC bourbon drinkers...if you drink enough bourbon to respect values...note that in NC we are blessed to get 7 year old, 101 proof Virgin Bourbon that (1) is made by Heaven Hill and (2) may or may not be the exact same stuff as another awesome value bourbon, Old Ezra 101 7 yr old which is sadly now RIP. But you can get Old Ezra barrel proof for $39.99! (sarcastic - the 101 at 40% of the price was better). Anyway the Virgin 101 7 yr is $13.95 for a fifth (glass) or $24.95 for a handle (plastic). AND the handle is $3 off this month - $21.95. One of the best steals in bourbon you will ever find. Why is this important? Because the 7 year age statement is done - new bottles coming in are NAS. So again, smoke em while you got em.

Also, don't google 7 year old virgin unless you enjoy long talks with the FBI.

Yep, great value and a great mixer. Not something to sip neat (IMO) but isn’t bad over ice. Have definitely gone through some bottles over the years. It’s available in Alabama as well... not sure why they skipped over Georgia.
 
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Just put together a care package for a friend:

New Riff Single Barrel - 4 years, 1 month, 112 proof

Old Forester SB - 90 proof

Barrel Bourbon SB - 14 years, 99.04 proof

Jack Daniels SB Barrel Proof - 130.9 proof

Belle Meade Cask Strength - 125.8


The JD is reeeeally good.
 
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Just put together a care package for a friend:

New Riff Single Barrel - 4 years, 1 month, 112 proof

Old Forester SB - 90 proof

Barrel Bourbon SB - 14 years, 99.04 proof

Jack Daniels SB Barrel Proof - 130.9 proof

Belle Meade Cask Strength - 125.8


The JD is reeeeally good.

I like care packages. I’ll take the JD and New Riff.
 
To my fellow NC bourbon drinkers...if you drink enough bourbon to respect values...note that in NC we are blessed to get 7 year old, 101 proof Virgin Bourbon that (1) is made by Heaven Hill and (2) may or may not be the exact same stuff as another awesome value bourbon, Old Ezra 101 7 yr old which is sadly now RIP. But you can get Old Ezra barrel proof for $39.99! (sarcastic - the 101 at 40% of the price was better). Anyway the Virgin 101 7 yr is $13.95 for a fifth (glass) or $24.95 for a handle (plastic). AND the handle is $3 off this month - $21.95. One of the best steals in bourbon you will ever find. Why is this important? Because the 7 year age statement is done - new bottles coming in are NAS. So again, smoke em while you got em.

Also, don't google 7 year old virgin unless you enjoy long talks with the FBI.

Yep, great value and a great mixer. Not something to sip neat (IMO) but isn’t bad over ice. Have definitely gone through some bottles over the years. It’s available in Alabama as well... not sure why they skipped over Georgia.

My FIL gifted me a bottle a couple years ago. Lots of friends turn their nose up at it, but it is a pretty decent pour, especially for the price. Going to hit up the store this weekend to grab a few bottles.
 
My FIL gifted me a bottle a couple years ago. Lots of friends turn their nose up at it, but it is a pretty decent pour, especially for the price. Going to hit up the store this weekend to grab a few bottles.

Will I find this in upstate SC?
 
To my fellow NC bourbon drinkers...if you drink enough bourbon to respect values...note that in NC we are blessed to get 7 year old, 101 proof Virgin Bourbon that (1) is made by Heaven Hill and (2) may or may not be the exact same stuff as another awesome value bourbon, Old Ezra 101 7 yr old which is sadly now RIP. But you can get Old Ezra barrel proof for $39.99! (sarcastic - the 101 at 40% of the price was better). Anyway the Virgin 101 7 yr is $13.95 for a fifth (glass) or $24.95 for a handle (plastic). AND the handle is $3 off this month - $21.95. One of the best steals in bourbon you will ever find. Why is this important? Because the 7 year age statement is done - new bottles coming in are NAS. So again, smoke em while you got em.

Also, don't google 7 year old virgin unless you enjoy long talks with the FBI.

Confirmed by Fred Minnick on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/FredMinnick/status/1151492895419117573
 
I picked up a bottle of the 7 year old not saying the name bourbon. Will taste it this weekend.

I got my case. For some reason I was thinking it would be a case of 6, but it was 12. Oh well. Have a few friends that are interested in a bottle or two.
 
^^^^ Some of my favorite Scotch. I was there last year! Great place to visit.
 
Best shot of bourbon for least amount of dough?

This is a tough one. Not a lot of good shots (if any) come out of a less than $20 bottle of bourbon.

I would have to go with Evan Williams 10 year which can be had for $22 in some places. Really good but not perfect but for $22 what would one expect?
 
Uh...so many of those “local” whiskeys are sourced from MGP in Indiana or from one of the big Kentucky distillers. Then for Indiana they pick some gross moonshine? For Kentucky out of the thousands of bourbons there they pick Michters which is sourced as well, possibly not even from Kentucky.
 
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