If you are a fan of Jack Daniel’s, try and track down a bottle of their Barrel House 1. Superb. I had one bottle, and curse myself for not buying several when I had the chance.
But you’d honestly have an easier time finding a Magpul lower on sale.
And I agree with spamsammich - Dalwhinnie is quite nice, and very easy on the palate. I use it to introduce a lot of people to decent Scotch. It’s really nice for a 15-year-old single malt. And affordable at around $45.
An under-appreciated single malt is Glendronach. Fifteen years old, aged in sherry casks for the last three years for a really good finish. I have found it on sale for about $50 at times, so it would fit the OP’s price requirement.
If you enjoy a cigar, look around for a bottle of The Dalmore Cigar Malt. It’s fair by itself. But with a nice Cohiba or some other good stick, it’s amazing. No longer bottled, it was about $45. If you find one gathering dust in a store, buy it.
Austin Nichols, Wild Turkey, Single Barrel Select. It’s poured from the barrel, and all hand written on the bottle neck as to what rick, barrel, and alcohol content, AND NO LIME WATER AT ALL! Just pure Whiskey.
You are then a man.
If her name is Jameson then I’m a Jameson fan too:p
To me Scotches are like wine there is no perfect Scotch only a perfect Scotch for the moment. I like Bourbon too.
Scotch
Caol Ila (medium peat very complex curret favorite)
Macallan (12 is my base line for all Scotches its right in the middle, 18 & 21 great, I do like the Cask Strength when I need something full bodied but not too peaty… tho I like peaty)
Oban (low peat very complex the perfect light bodied Scotch)
Knockando (med/hi peat easily found in India)
Lagavulin (med/hi peat)
Laphoaig (med/hi peat)
Irish Whiskey
Red Breast
Bourbons
Beam is perfect
Makers is great
Old Grandad is sentimental and easily found in Southern Africa
Went through a scotch phase a few years ago, single malts and blends. The only ones i still regularly get are JW Black Label and Glenrothes. The Glenrothes i go out of my way to get (it’s not stocked in every grocery store). Oh, Jameson is a staple too.
Anything over $50 a bottle seems stupid to me; champagne included. I defy the great majority of connoisseurs to show how a glass of whiskey is worth 10 times another one.
If your answer is “I just don’t get it” then you would be correct. I’ve smoked it, drank it and banked it. Is a $30 bottle of cognac better than a $5 brandy? Yes, it is, but is a $500 cognac better than a $45 VSOP? Not that much.
My parents used to have parties where they would remove the labels from all of the bottles of wine and replace them with numbered cards. Everyone would then rank the wines per their taste.
It was always funny to watch the connoisseurs(particularly the Europeans,) pick a $20 bottle over a $90 one which they had been praising as the greatest thing just a few hours earlier.
My guess is that it would work with whisky as well.
Are there connoisseurs out there who can tell the difference between A and B? As long as neither are true rotgut there are plenty. But when both are quality but one is supposedly super duper, I doubt that many folks could.
I’ll second this. Most of the time I drink Makers Mark when I’m having bourbon, but Bookers is good too. Hell, most of the bourbons mentioned are (except I steer clear of Weller - it’s good, but it makes me mean). I prefer scotch, though, and my hands down favorite is Caol Ila.
