Van Winkle Lot B 12 Year Old Bourbon

After many months I broke down and decided to splurge on a nice bottle to make up for my b-day, my ten year anniversary with Xty and June’s lamenting of my father. I felt I deserved a nice bottle, it’s been a while… what the hell?

I went ahead and got the 12 year old Lot B Van Winkle since I really wanted the 23 year old 🙂

I also purchased the Lot B because it was the first bourbon I ever drank neat. It was the first bourbon that I had that was just pure sipping satisfaction. It was sweet but robust and very old for its age. Albeit it is the Van Winkle way of making bourbon. All bottles in the Van Winkle line up taste rather mature to me. Perhaps it is because it sleeps in the barrel for so long.

For the money it is probably the best bourbon you can buy in the $50.00 range. There are a few other bourbons that can kind of give it a run but at the end the Lot B always wins in my book. I love the wheat and if I were a baller it would be my “regular” pour.

Lots of love for this and you should always go Van Winkle if the option is available. It’s great bourbon for the sake of bourbon, how it should be.

12 year old

The ol’ 23 Year Old

Here is the elusive 23 year old Van Winkle bottle before it was clobbered in a way containing little to no dignity. Poor thing went out like a regular bottle of piss whiskey. I won’t lie there is still a little nectar left in the bottle, I  dip into it every friday. It is so good it’s just wrong. The strangest of it all being that after having my try at all ages of the Van Winkle bottles I still think the 12 year old is the better of them all. Maybe because it’s easier on my wallet? I don’t know but it brings me just as much joy as any of the other bottles. Obviously the 23 year old is the piff but we can’t always be drinkin out the $250 bottles.

Pappy Van Winkle 23

Latest tastings

I found the Sazerac rye whiskey to be quite tasty. I found a liquor store that has it for pretty cheap. I don’t know what it is but something about this whiskey tastes so like what I imagine a whiskey tasted like in the cowboy days. It is a mid shelf whiskey with a good price and a good sweet flavor.

I also picked up a few other bottles. I got a Pappy Van Winkle 15 year old and a Elijah Craig 12 year old. The Van Winkle is of course a tasty treat and lives up to the high standard it has set in the world of whiskey. Coming in at 107 proof it’s a bit warmer than the 20 year old and packs a similar rich flavor. To me the Van Winkle bottles all taste like wood (in a good way) it’s a really sweet flavor. I usually have a glass after a nice meal, it is complete dessert bourbon. Sometimes I swear I can smell hints of vanilla.

The Elijah Craig is a goodie as well. It is right up there with the Elmer T Lee and the Buffalo Trace. I will always have a bottle of this stuff around as it has a good price and some nice flavor.

Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old Bourbon!

Elijah Craig 12 Year Old Bourbon

My next goal is to find a bottle of 23 year old Van Winkle bottle, I can currently only find them online for the ludicrous price of $400.00!! I will get one soon.

If the river was whiskey

…and I was a duck, I’d dive to the bottom and I’d never come up. What you know about Charlie Poole?

I have been lurking around straightbourbon.com forums and have been taking names and really they know their stuff. I went to bevmo today and bought a bottle of Elmer T. Lee and Eagle Rare both are single barrel bottles. I prefer the Elmer T. Lee though, it is simply delicious. I have also purchased a 20 year old bottle of Pappy Van Winkle and another bottle of the 12 year old Special Reserve, Lot B. I think Elmer T. Lee and the Special Reserve are tied for my favorite after work sippers.

The 20 year old is awesome but the fact that it’s a $100 a bottle has me rarely drinking it unless it’s a special occasion… like friday or days I mourn the loss of my father (the 12 of every month) or something else (the day I quit my job and go somewhere where they actually pay me at least half of what my time is worth). It’s only been around for a few weeks but every now and then a special day will come up and I will pug a few fingers.

And now for photos from other peoples sites:

Elmer T. Lee

Eagle Rare

12 year old

20 year old label

Mo Garga

As I figured a picture of the awesome full size Globby has surfaced! This guy will be available at Tentacles, Horns, and Scales at Apr. 19th Thrash Out in Tokyo. Yet another cool ass figure I will not be getting 🙁

Globby!

I suppose I will have to be happy with my minis.

Now to speak of things I actually can acquire. Today after consulting with a client in Coronado I decided to head to the liquor store a few stores down looking for a bourbon bottle I’ve yet to find here in Dago Town. They indeed had the bottle of Pappy Van Winkles 20 year Bourbon, I was ready to drop $70 on it but it was a cool $99.99, since I’m a cheap bastard I decided I should go with the Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 year old that was only $44.95.

I raced home to have a pour and my lord was it tasty. This the type of whiskey you break out for your grand dad who drinks so he can say “Damn boy that is some good bourbon!” The flavor was subtle but present, not just some warm burning sensation. At first I tasted a somewhat moldy flavor (?) but it soon morphed into a sweet almost fruity taste that was very subtle.

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been drinking the poop spectrum of bourbon’s lately or what but it is so good. I swore by the old Woodford but I don’t know anymore. I also bought a bottle of Bulleit Frontier Whiskey upon a recommendation from Dr. Burrito himself and I soon realized why he is Dr.Burrito and not Dr. Bourbon. I can only describe it as the flavor of a liquid penny. It is now the whiskey my old lady can mix with her cola 🙂

This post started sad and ended happily, I will now retire to some foods and more sips of the sauce.