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I stopped drinking Van Winkle a while ago when the price to quality ratio when sideways. That said, claiming it isn't good is a stretch. Its very good whiskey

I stopped drinking Van Winkle a while ago when the price to quality ratio when sideways. That said, claiming it isn't good is a stretch. Its very good whiskey. Just not much better than a load of other very good whiskey. That said, when I was drinking it, I preferred the 12 year to all the other expressions. The sweet spot for bourbon seems to be in that 8-12 year market. Unfortunately that stuff is basically the hardest to sell these days. It used to be that a 6 year bourbon was fairly easy to find (VOB for instance used to do that at bottom shelf prices). But now thats treated like an antique. While if you have 12 year old barrels sitting around it makes sense to hold them until they are into ridiculous ages for the collector market.

tptacek 8y ago
We had at the old office a 15 and a 20, and they both tasted like grass clippings. Not hay, not tobacco, just fresh, slightly sour cut grass. I think that's how it's supposed to taste. I've had a 23 in a glass and liked it fine, but I've had vanity whiskey that completely blew my head off --- Thomas Handy, Stagg, Booker's Rye --- and the Pappy wasn't one of them.
- kasey_junk 8y ago
  I mean, I've had vanity Laphroag that only tasted of wood fire. Doesn't make it not good. I certainly wouldn't pay for it but I'm not saying its bad whiskey.
  - tptacek 8y ago
    I'm like 90% sure they make Laphroaig by distilling ground up burnt swamp frogs. I'm comfortable saying it's bad. (I'm off to Michigan this weekend and my plan is to spend a fixed % of the price of the beach house we rented on whiskey, so this stuff is very top-of-mind for me right now. Had this thread not occurred, I'm like 90% sure I'd have gotten talked into buying Kavelan, so it's already a major win.)
    - kasey_junk 8y ago
      Try some of the micro distillers up and down the state of Michigan. Then judge 'bad' vs 'good' whiskey. At the end of the day, not liking something and not believing it is appropriate value are different than 'this stuff is broken'. Which seems to be the state of lots of micro distilleries. [edit] also, i didnt want to imply I didn't like the Kavalan only that everyones whiskey guy is selling that stuff in Chicago right now. I havent actually tried it, mostly cause i blew my budget on mezcal a while back.

tptacek 8y ago

We had at the old office a 15 and a 20, and they both tasted like grass clippings. Not hay, not tobacco, just fresh, slightly sour cut grass. I think that's how it's supposed to taste. I've had a 23 in a glass and liked it fine, but I've had vanity whiskey that completely blew my head off --- Thomas Handy, Stagg, Booker's Rye --- and the Pappy wasn't one of them.

kasey_junk 8y ago
I mean, I've had vanity Laphroag that only tasted of wood fire. Doesn't make it not good. I certainly wouldn't pay for it but I'm not saying its bad whiskey.
- tptacek 8y ago
  I'm like 90% sure they make Laphroaig by distilling ground up burnt swamp frogs. I'm comfortable saying it's bad. (I'm off to Michigan this weekend and my plan is to spend a fixed % of the price of the beach house we rented on whiskey, so this stuff is very top-of-mind for me right now. Had this thread not occurred, I'm like 90% sure I'd have gotten talked into buying Kavelan, so it's already a major win.)
  - kasey_junk 8y ago
    Try some of the micro distillers up and down the state of Michigan. Then judge 'bad' vs 'good' whiskey. At the end of the day, not liking something and not believing it is appropriate value are different than 'this stuff is broken'. Which seems to be the state of lots of micro distilleries. [edit] also, i didnt want to imply I didn't like the Kavalan only that everyones whiskey guy is selling that stuff in Chicago right now. I havent actually tried it, mostly cause i blew my budget on mezcal a while back.