Good whisky/whiskey

[darksabre]

Buffalo is getting its first distillery since Prohibition.

 

http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/166842/37/Buffalos-First-Distillery-Since-Prohibition-Planned

 

Micro-Boozery!

[Eleven]

Buffalo is getting its first distillery since Prohibition.

 

http://www.wgrz.com/...ibition-Planned

 

Micro-Boozery!

 

I've got a friend who is heavily involved. I'm hoping they do it well and do it right, but I do know that the crew is capable of at least pulling off a strong local fanbase. Whether popularity translates into good liquor, and whether it further translates into commercial success, remain to be seen, but I certainly hope this works out very, very well.

[darksabre]

 

 

I've got a friend who is heavily involved. I'm hoping they do it well and do it right, but I do know that the crew is capable of at least pulling off a strong local fanbase. Whether popularity translates into good liquor, and whether it further translates into commercial success, remain to be seen, but I certainly hope this works out very, very well.

 

I just hope it's priced right :thumbsup:

[Weave]

I've got a friend who is heavily involved. I'm hoping they do it well and do it right, but I do know that the crew is capable of at least pulling off a strong local fanbase. Whether popularity translates into good liquor, and whether it further translates into commercial success, remain to be seen, but I certainly hope this works out very, very well.

 

If they make a good product I'll support them. Finger Lakes distilling is near enough that I want to support them as well but the product they are putting out just isn't something I'm interested in. Add boutique pricing and I say, "no thanks".

[darksabre]

 

 

If they make a good product I'll support them. Finger Lakes distilling is near enough that I want to support them as well but the product they are putting out just isn't something I'm interested in. Add boutique pricing and I say, "no thanks".

 

That was a similar complaint to a friend of mine who had sampled FL and just wasn't impressed.

 

Hopefully 8B gets it right.

[LastPommerFan]

I have successfully turned my Mom into a Whiskey Drinker. The primary benefit of this is that her bar is stocked with a new whiskey almost every month.

 

#winning

[Weave]

That was a similar complaint to a friend of mine who had sampled FL and just wasn't impressed.

 

Hopefully 8B gets it right.

 

One of the other forums I hang out on is a bourbon forum (shocker, I know). The owner of FLD posts there once in a while, mostly when his product comes up in conversation. He's very up front about his product. In order to see the cash flow necessary to stay open they chose to start out by aging for shorter periods of time in smaller barrels. The premise being greater surface to volume ratio of smaller barrels means the effects of the wood happen in a smaller period of time. It might work out in theory but IMO they just aren't getting the complexity and barrel flavors to justify the price they are getting for a bottle of rye. Frankly, their stuff tastes too young.

 

Their white dog (unaged whiskey aka 'shine) was quite interesting though. Leads me to believe that if they ever get to the point where they can age their stuff more conventionally that they might have something worth purchasing.

 

I have successfully turned my Mom into a Whiskey Drinker. The primary benefit of this is that her bar is stocked with a new whiskey almost every month.

 

#winning

 

Very nice.

[darksabre]

 

 

One of the other forums I hang out on is a bourbon forum (shocker, I know). The owner of FLD posts there once in a while, mostly when his product comes up in conversation. He's very up front about his product. In order to see the cash flow necessary to stay open they chose to start out by aging for shorter periods of time in smaller barrels. The premise being greater surface to volume ratio of smaller barrels means the effects of the wood happen in a smaller period of time. It might work out in theory but IMO they just aren't getting the complexity and barrel flavors to justify the price they are getting for a bottle of rye. Frankly, their stuff tastes too young.

 

Their white dog (unaged whiskey aka 'shine) was quite interesting though. Leads me to believe that if they ever get to the point where they can age their stuff more conventionally that they might have something worth purchasing.

 

While interesting in theory, that's a rather short-sighted approach to business. Someone planning for the long term would have realized that you need to take that initial hit in order to establish a reputation and a consumer base, and the only way to do that is to make a product people want.

 

Why sink money into something if the general consensus is that your product is rushed and below average?

[Weave]

While interesting in theory, that's a rather short-sighted approach to business. Someone planning for the long term would have realized that you need to take that initial hit in order to establish a reputation and a consumer base, and the only way to do that is to make a product people want.

 

Why sink money into something if the general consensus is that your product is rushed and below average?

 

I dunno mang. It wasn't my business model. :P

[darksabre]

 

 

I dunno mang. It wasn't my business model. :P

 

I sure hope not :lol:

[sabills]

Sweet, I'm a fan of ryes. I'm a bit of a wimp with straight liqour, but Canadiens/ryes are very smooth even to me.

 

I hope this works out. I love local companies, and these guys are about 5 minutes north of my place, so I'll probably mosey on up there once they get their liscense and can have some tastings. Buffalo loves to party, and loves to have some home town dog to root for. If this stuff is any good I expect we'll see it in local before long ala Flying Bison Beer.

 

Also, their name is pretty good http://eightbuffalospirits.com/?p=86

 

Our Name

 

Posted on April 20, 2012

We’re proud of our Buffalo roots, and want our hometown to be stamped on every bottle, inventory sheet, drink list and advertisement in any market our products make their way into. In brainstorming how best to achieve this, partner Jon Mirro remembered something both amazing and obnoxious: “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.“ is a grammatically correct sentence.

Discovered by a University at Buffalo professor in 1972, it is the longest sentence in the English language using a single repeated word. It means ”Buffalo-origin bison that other Buffalo bison intimidate, themselves bully Buffalo bison.” Sounded pretty awesome to us, and thus EIGHT BUFFALO SPIRITS LLC was born.

Edited April 25, 2012 by sabills

[darksabre]

Sweet, I'm a fan of ryes. I'm a bit of a wimp with straight liqour, but Canadiens/ryes are very smooth even to me.

 

I hope this works out. I love local companies, and these guys are about 5 minutes north of my place, so I'll probably mosey on up there once they get their liscense and can have some tastings. Buffalo loves to party, and loves to have some home town dog to root for. If this stuff is any good I expect we'll see it in local before long ala Flying Bison Beer.

 

Also, their name is pretty good http://eightbuffalospirits.com/?p=86

 

Looks like I'm coming over to your apartment a lot more. :angel:

[Weave]

Another go around with Van Winkle Lot "B" last night. I'm really liking that particular label. Unfortunately I had too much of it and had quite a bit of difficulty at the gym this morning. Workouts and hangovers don't mix well.

[biodork]

What say you regarding decanters? My mom sent me one as an early b-day present, and I'm trying to resist my initial knee-jerk response of "why the heck would I use this?" and figure out the pros/cons. I'm seeing mixed info online as far as whether (or how quickly) the liquor deteriorates after being decanted, and since it takes me a while to go through a bottle, that's a legitimate concern. Seems a bit silly to pour something out of its original bottle with all the label info into something unlabeled.

 

Edit: I should add that the decanter is lead-free crystal (Ravenscroft).

Edited May 18, 2012 by biodork

[darksabre]

I finally gave Old Overholt a shot and I have to say, I'm very impressed. For the price, it's about as good as you can get.

 

I'm a convert for sure.

[Weave]

What say you regarding decanters? My mom sent me one as an early b-day present, and I'm trying to resist my initial knee-jerk response of "why the heck would I use this?" and figure out the pros/cons. I'm seeing mixed info online as far as whether (or how quickly) the liquor deteriorates after being decanted, and since it takes me a while to go through a bottle, that's a legitimate concern. Seems a bit silly to pour something out of its original bottle with all the label info into something unlabeled.

 

Edit: I should add that the decanter is lead-free crystal (Ravenscroft).

 

Lead free is definitely important. You don't want lead leeching into your booze. I've heard good and bad about decanting, more bad than good. Decanting is fine if you are expecting company, plan to finish what you decant in a short period of time, and want to make a splash with the presentation, but given what I've read I don't think there is any benefit to long term decanting, and plenty of drawbacks.

 

Keep it for special occasions I guess.

[biodork]

Lead free is definitely important. You don't want lead leeching into your booze. I've heard good and bad about decanting, more bad than good. Decanting is fine if you are expecting company, plan to finish what you decant in a short period of time, and want to make a splash with the presentation, but given what I've read I don't think there is any benefit to long term decanting, and plenty of drawbacks.

 

Keep it for special occasions I guess.

 

That's kind of the impression I was getting, too. I just wanted to check since I can be overly practical at times (it already comes in a bottle... Why do I need to pour it into another bottle?). I feel bad she spent the money, and it's a nice-looking piece but I have a hard time seeing myself using it. :/

[MattPie]

Everything in moderation, including moderation.

What's up Shi!?!?!

 

Clever wordplay.

 

Don't know why I did it, but I bought a bottle of Bulleit instead of the usual Maker's Mark today, and I am REALLY enjoying a glass right now. Part of it, I'm sure, is due to the nature of this particular Saturday night (family stuff...), but I am really liking the taste of this. It probably will be September before I buy a bottle of bourbon again, but this one will be in strong contention.

 

On a whim, I picked up a bottle of Bulleit Rye awhile back and liked it a lot. Had Bulleit Bourbon the other day, and I might finally be making a transition away from the sweetness of the bourbon since I really prefer the rye.

[Weave]

Been awhile since we've had some action in this thread......

 

Stopped in to the local whisky bar last night. For the last couple of months they've had a bottle of Talisker teasing me. Yesterday I gave in to temptation and ordered a glass. Just a hint of smoke on the nose. But WOW tons of smoke on the finish. Nice mouthfeel, a bit of honey sweetness, some peat, and then huge smoke and pepper. Not for the faint of heart. I was still tasting the smoke from this pour in the morning.

 

Not quite my cup of tea. But an interesting pour nonetheless.

[LaLaLaFontaine]

Been awhile since we've had some action in this thread......

 

Stopped in to the local whisky bar last night. For the last couple of months they've had a bottle of Talisker teasing me. Yesterday I gave in to temptation and ordered a glass. Just a hint of smoke on the nose. But WOW tons of smoke on the finish. Nice mouthfeel, a bit of honey sweetness, some peat, and then huge smoke and pepper. Not for the faint of heart. I was still tasting the smoke from this pour in the morning.

 

Not quite my cup of tea. But an interesting pour nonetheless.

 

Oh yeah i love Talisker. I have got a 10 year, 18 year, two special destillers editions and one 12 year filling. Talisker is a mouth filling scotch.

There is a lot of smoke taste, some sharpness like pepper ( not cheap wodka sharpness) some hints of leather, sometimes it tastes a little salty to me. I love this whiskey. The destillers edition tastes a little more fruity and smokey because of the use of a second barrel type. It is my favorite so far.

 

I also really like the smokynes ( i do not know if this is a real English word) of a 16 year old Lagavulin.

 

I really like fine scotchs

Edited August 12, 2012 by LaLaLaFontaine

[Weave]

Damn, its too bad Braedon and Korab aren't posting anymore. This thread is dead in the water with noone active in it.

 

I hit the local watering hole last night and was pleasantly surprised. They had three bourbons I hadn't seen before. That's pretty tough to do as I actively seek out new and different bourbons. I had heard of all three but assumed they weren't distributed in W and CNY as I've never seen them on a shelf anywhere. Of course, if you are going to tease me with three new selections, it isn't going to be very long at all before I won't be able to say I haven't tried them. :)

 

The first pour was Colonel EH Taylor, it is a premium level wheat bourbon made by Heaven Hill to compete against the great Van Winkle line of wheated bourbons. Wow. I fell in love at the first sip. The nose was sweet and soft with nice caramel and licorice notes. And I had the same impressions at that first sip. It is really, really soft, yet interesting enough at the same time. Instead of the usual sweet vanilla this one was more like honey sweet, but not overly so. Not the most complex whiskey but an enjoyable, terrific pour.

 

The second was a conventional rye-based bourbon named Old Forrester. This one was classic, bold American whiskey. Lots of caramel and vanilla. A bit of heat and a bunch of spice. And I swear I was getting a good strong hint of wintergreen in the finish. I've not detected that in bourbons before. I really liked this one too. It was rich and chewy and caramel sweet and spicy all at the same time. I wanted to light up a Cohiba to accompany. I think it would have been a great foil. This is a very contemplative dram and I would recommend it to any whiskey fan.

 

Last was the cheapie of the bunch, Old Bardstown. I'm guessing it is meant to compete with the Jim Beam Blacks, Buffalo Traces, and Evan Williams, etc. And it was plenty good for what it is, younger, moderately priced bourbon. Not nearly as nuanced as the two above but it had plenty of barrel notes to make it worth pouring. And it was certainly smooth enough to be a sipper, neat or on ice (I had all of these neat). I would gladly keep a bottle of it around for a utility pour. Seems like it would be a good entryway bourbon, or as Korab likes to label, a good hunting camp bourbon.

[Rip Titwide]

Knocking back a Chivas Regal 12 blended. Over one ice cube, pretty standard but stuff but, in the tumbler from the gift pack.. which opens up a ton of flavors that I had no idea existed in this particular brand.

[biodork]

That first pour sounds good, weave. Wish we had bars around here with a decent selection so I could try more of this stuff without buying an entire bottle. Around here, most places consider Johnny Black top shelf, lol.

[Eleven]

Okay, so this came up in the Complaint Thursdays thread this week and since a lot of you seem to know your alcohol, figured I'd ask this here. I'm primarily a vodka drinker; I enjoy the clean taste and versatility in mixing, but I'm a little bored with it. I also enjoy light rum in a mojito during warmer weather, but I'd like to try whiskey or scotch. So what I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me with is: just how does one begin drinking whiskey or scotch? I'd eventually like to get to the point of being able to enjoy some of the good stuff neat or on the rocks, but I'm guessing I'll need to work up to that point since I don't drink it now. Two main questions come to mind:

 

1) What are some good "starter" liquors, i.e. something good enough I'll have a chance at liking, but not so good that I'll hate myself if I buy a bottle and don't end up liking it, and

 

2) Is it best to start with a mixer, or jump right in with the undiluted stuff?

 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated -- thanks in advance for the help!

That first pour sounds good, weave. Wish we had bars around here with a decent selection so I could try more of this stuff without buying an entire bottle. Around here, most places consider Johnny Black top shelf, lol.

 

Well, look who's come a long way!

[biodork]

Well, look who's come a long way!

 

:lol: :P

Edited September 2, 2012 by biodork