Perhaps I've been a little too hard headed.

[collin]

Whiskey...one of my true loves.
For more years than I care to remember..Jack Daniel's has been the only whiskey I've ever poured over ice into a tumbler of CocaCola twice every evening. That's a lot of Jack Daniel's, fifteen gallons a year to be exact.

I drink several other whiskies straight up and I love them,...but JD is the only one I mix.
Lately with my retirement looming on the horizen and my wife's having started two years ago, we've been looking at ways to cut out some of our wasteful spending habits in an effort to save a bit of cash here and there.

(Not to mention the fact that having to fork over as much as $35 for a bottle for Jack Daniel's as of late was starting to piss me off anyway.)

So at the liquor store the other day I gagged for the last time on the JD sticker-price, and shaking my head I reached down on the next lower shelf for the same sized bottle of "Evan Williams", a bourbon I'd never tried only 'cause it was too "cheap", and I'd always figured for that price it had to be rot-gut.

Didn't take long to realize I'd been laboring under the wrong impression for a long time.

After a just a couple of Bourbon-n-Cokes the other night I not only got used to the ever-so-slight difference in taste but was actually quite impressed with it and had to admit that after all these years I found something I liked better.

And at half the price,....I gotta say I liked it a hell of lot better!
It pains me to think that perhaps my wife has not been so wrong in the past when making comments about my being hard headed.

 

[hobie1dog]

It would be nice to end up in resource based world instead of the money based world. You would simply be able to pick out and try things based solely on their inherent quality/taste, with no price tag to bias/prejudge them with.

http://www.thevenusproject.com/en/a-new-social-design/resource-based-economy
:clap:

 

[romeowood]

DO NOT let your wife know she may have been on to something.

 

[hauntedmyst]

If you like JD, you should give Buffalo Trace a look. It's been very well reviewed on the net. I don't drink (too many alcoholics in the family) but I do a lot of cooking with alcohol and BT is wonderful stuff. A splash on chicken or fish adds a wonderful flavor. It's also a bit less expensive than JD.

 

[tanless1]

It has come to my attention that you will have more available time on your hands. Perhaps you should consider bootlegging. A time honord tradition; and what you don't deem suitable to consume you can use to operate your gardening tools.

 

[octavius]

There are two whiskeys that are always available in my bar: Glenlivet and Maker's Mark. I consider them both to be priced well, and I believe they taste great. However, the other day I ventured through the bourbon section and stumbled onto Jim Beam 8 yr, and with some reservations made the purchase. After tasting it I felt silly for being hesitant. It is a great bourbon and I never should have been pig headed. It reminds me of the pipe brand article posted on the forums. Sometimes we need to get past our own perceptions (and habits) and venture deeper.

 

[oldmaus]

@ Tommy

I also "found" Evan Williams. I really enjoy bourbon.... maybe to much for my own good sometimes.

I like to drink it straight and find Evan Williams to be very respectable and tasty.....perhaps not as smooth

as something like Eagle Rare, Makers, or Buffalo Trace. It is a really nice bourbon and the affordable price puts

it over the top for me.

 

[lordnoble]

Not whiskey, but for fans of Bacardi Rum, Castillo Rum is almost a dead ringer for it (supposedly...they taste the same to me) and get this... they're both produced by the same manufacturer. Now Evan William's and JD aren't produced by the same corporations but if you check THIS PAGE you'll see other whiskeys that are from the same corporation that owns JD... I'm not saying that they'll be an identical product as JD, but they may be closer. Except for Southern Comfort. That's in a class of its own.
-Jason

 

[baronsamedi]

I sort of had the same experience with Canadian Hunter. I used to drink quite a bit of Crown Royal and one day I was on the cheap and picked up a bottle of Hunter. To me it was smoother and tastier than Crown and I'm usually not a cheap date when it comes to drinks! I drink my Martinis with Bombay Sapphire, my favorite rum is Matusalem Gran Reserve and I'll think nothing of plunking down $75 for some Scotch or $90 for some Absinthe on a special occasion.

 

[mjtannen]

I'm working down an old bottle of Pinch and another of Johnnie Walker Red. On deck is Chivas, and Johnnie Walker Blue. Then in line is a bottle of Inver House. I've finished the Jim Beam. I guess I'm covered for a while. Looking forward to retirement in two weeks so my driving to work ends. I'll have more time for some good smokes and great drinks. If my keyboarding goes South you will all know that I am blissfully drunk on some great whiskey.

 

[pstlpkr]

Ok.... I guess I'll stick my two fingers worth in here.

I too like Evan Williams... However; you might give Ezra Brooks a spin on your next foray to the "State Store".

It is a bit sweeter than Evan Williams but to my taste and a bit smoother as well.

As I have mentioned on numerous occasions here... It makes one very fine pipe sweetener as well.

 

[baronsamedi]

George Dickel is decent, too. The George Dickel Barrel Select is possibly the smoothest whisky I've ever tried. Just don't put too much Dickel in your Pickle.

 

[menckenite]

Tommy,
I've had similar experiances in other consumer goods. I try to give my preferences (in just about everything) challenges that keep me sure of what I want.
I don't drink whiskey that often but when I do it's ...

It's always available and not that expensive.

 

[stacen]

Hey Tommy, Glad you found something you like at a cheaper price! I am a big jack fan as well. I do have a point to add for your consideration. I visited the JD factory on a driving holiday once and I didn't drink anything but Jack for a couple of years after the visit! The stuff is virtually organic! (The tour was free and really impressive, I would both recommend it to anyone who likes whiskey and do it again myself) Jack Daniels really does have an impressive operation and for me the knowledge gained during the visit added a new level of admiration for my drink of choice. I had always drunk Jack because it was universally available, and the quality never varied. After seeing how it was made, (no chemicals, never touches anything but stainless, copper and oak, same recipe and ingredients as when it was created), I think it would be very difficult for a modern company to match the quality and come in significantly under the price. I'd probably try to find the extra money somewhere in the MRs's portion of the budget!!! - just kidding Cheers and enjoy whatever you drink mate!

 

[collin]

Thanks Stacen,.....Jack Daniels has been my whiskey for decades now,.....I still love it dearly, but being in a brief spot where I need to cut back a bit, Evan Williams is not a bad temporary replacement.
Somewhere around here I have a boatload of photos of the Daniel's distillery,...taking the afternoon tour of it was one of the coolest things I'd ever done!

I expected a huge modern "factory" complete with long assembly lines with thousands of people working feverishly to turn out millions of bottles a day. What a suprise the real place was!! A rather smallish distillery made up of wood and corrigated metal buildings tucked away out in the middle of nowhere...down in a real live "hollar", (a valley thats so narrow and deep enough that the inhabitants can hollar across to the neighbors on the other side).
Once I retire I'll have more money than Ben Gump but for now, just for the fun of it, I think I'll stick to what I was once a little too snobby to drink, a pretty danged good second shelf bourbon. :D

 

[collin]

Found some:
There's the little fella himself

His home and office

Part of the distillery

 

[portascat]

My grandpa is, or more was, an Ezra Brooks drinker. Sipped it (didn't mix it). Had all kinds of weird shaped bottles, decks of cards, coasters, all the crap they give away with bottles over the years. He and my grandma started traveling when he retired, and he made a trip to the place it was made, whatever was on the bottle. Nobody in town knew anything about it, had heard of the place, or anything.
I enjoy Makers Mark for sipping, as well. Especially now with a pipe.
Sailor Jerry rum is a fantastic base for a rum and coke. Sublime actually. Much better than Morgans or Barcardi, in my eyes.
Most any vodka (regular, not flavored) is good out of the freezer, in straight shots.
Patron tequila made me a tequila fan again. I don't drink lots of it, but its smoothness is great for those times when women want you to take a shot of tequila so they feel inclined to bare their assets in return.

 

[maduroman]

the older i get, the less i drink mixed drinks. i figure if the taste is so bad you have to mix it why bother.
makers mark is a good bourbon, glenfidich is my single malt of choice with famous grouse being my blend. i drinl laphroug on special events, and bombay blue when i crave a martini. potato vodkas are something worth sipping and some verry nice ones are made here now.

 

[portascat]

ditto on the potato vodka.

 

[pstlpkr]

My grandpa is, or more was, an Ezra Brooks drinker. Sipped it (didn't mix it).

The closest it gets to being mixed around me is 3 fingers and an ice cube.... otherwise... neat.
@ Tommy... I've been there many times... It is a regular on the old Saturday or Sunday ride. (The turn-around point.) Just head up 11 and left through Hunstville. (A beautiful ride by-the-by.)

My favorite part of the tour is when you get to smell the whiskey as its being filtered through the charcoal.

It has to be one of the best aromas on the planet. If you can snatch 3 or 4 good lung fulls, you then have to be careful walking down the stairs... :? It'll take a good half hour before you can ride again... safely.

But, that aroma will stay in your sinuses for a couple of days... Oh man... That's livin'.
@ William... Turkey 101, Top O' the Heap! And always neat.