Ongoing VP TR, PART 2!

Leon, what is your favorite bourbon at the $30-$50 price point? Maybe you don't really have one because the good cask/barrel strength bourbons tend to be pricier. I usually find it difficult to rationalize buying anything more expensive than Bulleit because I start to get major diminishing returns on any additional dollar spent.

@hardinthepaint, I know you asked Leon but I had to chime in regarding the cask strength question. I don't know where you live but I'd search out any of the following BP bourbons - Elijah Craig, Larceny Henry Mckenna BIB, and possibly Heaven Hill BIB - I also would rank those in that order too, pricing is in that order too.

Keep in mind I live in CA so the pricing is insane. At that price I can't find a "good" barrel strength, just acceptable ones. My favorite is basic buffalo trace- it's fine and is totally drinkable at 25-30$. Barrel strength wise, the Maker's and Elijah Craig are really your only options.

My favorites are George T Stagg (Big Stagg, 1500$ bottle, I've never seen it in the wild and would never pay for this. This is a pure comp beverage), Stagg Jr (350-400$ in CA, same comments as above), and Bookers. Bookers can occasionally be found for 80$ at Costco here, they have a two bottle limit. Obv those go in about a hr once word gets out. I generally pay 150$/bottle when my local store gets them in, they price at 300$/bottle but I've worked out a deal with them where I buy in bulk and they don't charge me tax. Meh, I guess I'll have to take what I can get.

I should pin this paragraph to the top of my TR- at the end of the day, if you like something, who cares what anyone else thinks. If you can afford it and you enjoy it, you're good. I think bourbon is less like wine but there's still a ton of douchebaggery out there- people driving up prices, talking about crap they don't know anything about, and making people feel bad for their own choices that ultimately come down to perception, emotions, and a unique human experience. Those people have no idea- maybe Maker's is your favorite bc you first had some when you got married, hit the lottery, got a raise, etc. Who knows. Those unique experiences completely change from person to person and if that influences why you like something who is anyone else to tell you you're "wrong"?

To add on to what I just posted- that's why I'm addicted to nicotine and probably always will be. I have so many positive emotions and experiences wrapped up in cigarettes that at this point they're completely intertwined. I didn't start until college but from that point so many hangouts, buddies, girlfriends, amazing meals, morning coffees, etc. Then, staying up all night playing online or real poker in med school. Smoking with my future wife, family, Vegas x 1000. etc etc etc

My positive to negative emotion ratio with cigarettes is like 10000:1. I recognize it's a disgusting, stupid habit but how could my pathetic rat brain possibly hope to defeat such an addictive substance that has intertwined itself with everything good I've had or done in my life?

Thanks, all recs welcome, of course. I find regular Elijah Craig to be really good value at ~$25/bottle, so I'm sure the barrel proof is a good deal, too.

I like Buffalo Trace, too. Been a while since I've had it side-by-side with Bulleit, though. I think I'd rather spring an extra couple bucks for Bulleit.

Yep, the best wine is the wine you enjoy drinking. And in my experience, with both wine and whiskey, there's a strong correlation between price and quality up to about $50/bottle, after which there is very little correlation. There's a certain minimum cost of making a premium product you just can't get around without cutting corners, but once you're there, a lot of it is subjective, brand appeal, etc.

Ha, my buddies and I did a guys' trip to Nashville, Owensboro (where one lives), Louisville, and Cincinnati with bar trivia, bourbon tours, and gambling, and I had the same high wine experience of "hell, I could drink this".

Really recommend the Rabbit Hole tour in Lousiville, cool place, great guide, enjoyed the Bourbon. Also really enjoyed Neeley Family Distillery on the way from Louisville to Cincinnati. Their tasting lets you pick 8 of their creations, and they have a lot of different stuff, including a really excellent absinthe.

If you want cheap higher proof stuff, try Old Grand Dad 114. I usually see it for under $30.

I thought i'd be a smoker for life

then when I quit it was mostly for logistical reasons as I moved in with gf who didn't want smoking in the house and taking elevator down to the 4th floor terrace was too much to ask

took about a week for cravings to go away

it was capped off by 2-3 sleepless nights filled with cold sweats

but then, it was gone and truly gone

didn't even want a cig, they now smell disgusting to me and even when I'll occasionally bum one from someone for the lols I won't enjoy it at all, think it's kind of nasty and usually put it out halfway through - this is true even if I'm wasted

thought i'd be craving them for the rest of my life, was not the case in the slightest

Never seen this but I'll keep my eyes open now!

This is basically my wife. Ex smoker all through college, grew up in Paris LOL. Basically born with a cigarette in hand. When she decided she was done, she just quit. No cravings now, thinks it's gross. Never tempted. I envy you guys. I still use multiple pieces of nicorette on a daily basis. My take- you guys aren't true addicts LOL. Congrats on kicking the habit though.

Bourbon TR part 2

B and I drive to Frankfort for the Buffalo Trace distillery. Ahead of time, I'd have said this was the one I was most looking forward to. It's the only one my wife was not able to book for me way in advance. The booking for the tours open 3 mo in advance and they are complimentary.

I literally set an alarm the day the bookings opened. When I got on the website, the specialty tour had already filled! I hastily grabbed a slot that I thought would be convenient, then checked the rest of our agenda, realized we wouldn't be able to make it, went back to the website and in that 3 min or so almost all the slots had gone! I'm glad B and I were able to get this in. As I mentioned before, basic BT is my go to for regular bourbon. Definitely drinkable and one of the few that isn't insanely overpriced in CA. Plus, the antique collection has some of the best in the world, including my absolute favorite George T Stagg, its baby brother Stagg Jr (not part of the antique collection itself but my second favorite). I'm well aware I will neither get to sample anything amazing, nor purchase during this tour, but I still want to see my "favorite" distillery.

Thought this last one was cool. This was, until very recently, BT's onsite fire house. It's probably obv to most, but millions of gallons of alcohol + tons of wood lined up in neat little rows = massive fire hazard. I can't believe that the fire house was this small, honestly.

The relative loss of volume as bourbon gets older to evaporation/ the "angel's share". Pretty sick how little is left in something that's really old and it kind of explains why the price gets so high.

What we got to sample. The fact they pass out free samples of Blanton's, on what are free tours, should tell you exactly how "special" Blanton's really is.

After the tour, B and I hit the gift shop and go to town. Not much alcohol-wise to grab, but I do get a bottle of bourbon cream as a gift for a friend back home. Pick up some gifts for my family and a Stagg T shirt for myself. Score.

Cool things I learned on this tour-

- BT is one of the oldest and biggest distilleries in the world, AND STILL they couldn't make it on their own, and eventually got bought out by Sazerac.
- Weller got bought out by either BT or Sazerac, and Wellers are aged and bottled on site. Same process, same barrels, same everything. Slap a different label on the bottle and it's a "different" bourbon, but realistically 99% of all bourbon sold today is from the same 2-3 giant multinational corporations that own everything.
- The site tries to use gravity/take advantage of the local surroundings wherever possible. It just makes sense especially when you think about how stuff was done back in the day before a ton of machinery. So the barrels start at a higher place on the floor when they get assembled, then get "rolled" down to be used when done. Same thing with the rick houses where the aging occurs- put those lower than the assembly and distillery if possible. Put them higher than where the bottling occurs (and where you have to end up getting the barrel to).
- the blackening all over the walls, etc is alcohol fungus that literally eats the alcohol vapors from the air. It's totally harmless to people, but back during Prohibition was one of the ways the feds would find illegal distillers- just look for the house/trees etc that have black on them (more on this in a bit).
- the difference between basic Weller and BT? Literally what part of the warehouse the barrel sits in. That's it. Other same mash bill, same wood, etc. It's amazing to me how much of a difference the location can make, bc I'm not a huge fan of basic Weller (and it's definitely overhyped) but BT is just fine by me.

B and I head back to Lexington. After chilling for a while, we hit a live music place before dinner. The place is empty (it's late afternoon on St. Paddy's day), looks like a college bar (it is) and quickly fills up. I manage to get a pour of Stagg Jr in a plastic cup lol. B skips it, not wanting to be served that bourbon that way. Later, we find he made a mistake bc I paid 12$ for that pour haha. Cheapest I've ever had Stagg Jr. Honestly I think the bartender rang it up wrong, I don't think he had any idea what he was serving and they had it on the bottom shelf.

You know it's a college bar when they have a beer pong table ready to go.

We hit a pretty upscale restaurant and it's 7-8/10. Forgot to take a lot of pics but you're looking at the biggest lamb shank I've ever had.

Sat night, downtown Lexington, on St. Paddy's day. This is the busiest I ever saw the place get.

B and I crash. We're checking out tomorrow and headed to Louisville.

Day 3

Our first stop is the bed and breakfast we're staying at. We're a little early for check in. The owner is very gracious, he sets us up with our own unique security codes so we can get in/out of the place and our rooms. We had reserved one room and a rollaway bed, but for no reason whatsoever he gives us another room free of charge. Score! Shout out to the Louisville Bourbon Inn.

B and I have our last tour of the trip soon- Stitzel-Weller. I've got some pics of the BnB later in this report.

Things I learned on this tour-
- after hearing about Weller being owned by Sazerac on the BT tour, B and I naturally wondered, "which Weller are we seeing on the Weller tour?". In a nutshell- Weller was its own distillery. The line was sold to Sazerac. The name Weller was left on this distillery.
- well then, what of the most expensive bourbon that everyone knows of, Pappy Van Winkle? It's owned by Sazerac, but... Pappy worked for Weller. Eventually had an ownership stake in this distillery. Distilled and bottled Weller, not Pappy (didn't exist). Pappy Sr dies. Bourbon market crashes, Weller name sold to Sazerac. Weller distillery eventually bought by Diageo. Diageo doesn't want any of the bourbon aging but can't physically do anything with it yet (you can't just dump the alcohol and close up shop). Pappy grandson gets nostalgic, wants to honor his grandfather's legacy. Buys up all the Weller barrels, still aging in the now Diageo warehouse, that were the exact mash bill Pappy Sr used. Diageo only too happy to get rid of the stuff.

- can't sell Pappy to save his life. Pappy literally gathering dust on the shelves and selling for fractions of its current value. Pappy grandson has to sell to Sazerac, thus Sazerac owns the Pappy line, and the Weller name, but the alcohol is literally Weller alcohol, aging in the Weller distillery, owned by Diageo, who wants nothing to do with any of this. Got all that? Then, Pappy gets rated at a global spirits convention as the best liquor, ever. Cue insanity and fuel for the current bourbon craze.

- Post script to all of this- Diageo immediately stops selling all the Pappy barrels so they can bottle and sell their own. They can't use either the Weller OR Pappy name. SO, if you see Blade and Bow 22 yrs, just know that's 22 yr old Weller. Or Pappy. Literally, all three are the same. You're welcome. Another further irony to this- as I just said, if you took "old" Weller, it's the exact same as Pappy. Any "new" Weller is bottled at BT- completely different mash bill etc. Same with more recent Pappy- any newer Pappy is going to come from the BT distillery and is NOT the same mash bill and aging conditions as original Pappy. The only place you can get anything approximating old Pappy is from the one place that CAN'T use the name.

LOL I hope you all followed that. I thought it was super interesting.

Other stuff- to get around the black fungus/Prohibition issue, local communities would ALL paint their houses, fences, trees black in solidarity with the bootleggers. Can you imagine being a fed and driving up to some small rural community, and see rows of houses painted black? I think I'd turn around and just get the hell out of there. You're on enemy territory now.
- IW "Harper"s last name was actually Weinstein or another Jewish name. Being the smart guy that he was, he changed his last name to make sure he could sell to a prejudiced country. After he made his fortune, he donated tons of money to the poor people of Kentucky, established all the Jewish hospitals in the area, and bought up a huge plot of land specifically for the poor. To get a loan back in the day, you had to have land as collateral, which basically ensured the poor could never get a loan and never get ahead. IW used the land as "free" collateral for any poor person trying to get a loan. He sounds like a remarkable person.
- Bulliet's label is purposefully "not straight", bc when the eventual owner was just an employee at another distillery, he got docked pay for a label that was slightly off center. So now all of his bottles do that purposefully as a subtle FU to his old employers.

It's time for the tasting!

So, what does SW actually bottle and sell? Bulliet, IW Harper and Blade and Bow. I'm not a huge fan of any of these, but we do get to try Bulliet single barrel which is both higher proof and MUCH tastier IMO. I grab a bottle of that on the way out.

B and I head back to the B+B. We check in with our host and check out our rooms. We also grab some recs from him for stuff to do. He recommends the Louisville Slugger museum- as he puts it, he's not a baseball fan but the museum is super cool. The bar he recommends is very close to where we're eating dinner, so I think we know what we're doing for the remainder of this trip!

Coming soon...

One other really cool thing I learned on the SW tour I forgot to mention- during the bourbon bust in the 70s and 80s, the Japanese were really keeping the industry alive. In contrast to America where people were either avoiding the "old person's drink" or "something only dumb white trash drinks", the Japanese had learned to appreciate a good bourbon. So, when American/Japanese trade really took off, what did the Japanese serve their honored guests? American bourbon!! Where did they take them after meetings? To Japanese bourbon bars! They were literally flabbergasted that they were teaching Americans about their own drink. You literally can't make bourbon anywhere BUT America- it's like champagne, where it comes from is part of the definition. The Japanese were in very many real ways responsible for a) keeping bourbon alive and b) reintroducing it to its home country.

Awesome write-up!
I've been on 4 or 5 bourbon tours and learned something on each one. And I learned something new from your tours that I took vicariously. Sadly, no tasting between the tour and the gift shop though.

If I ever get back in the neighborhood, I think BT will be at the top of my list.

Interested to hear your impression of Louisville as a city.

Now that is a fun fact. 😀

leon
that was my favorite sequence of your illustrated thoughts
artful eye for framing interesting industrial architecture combined with a phonographic memory card plugged deep into the core texture of your brain
i can not echo how iconic you sound once or when repeated within my cerebourbon

Leon-you’ve taken your trip and the ability to take us all along to a whole different level. Thanks to you for sharing, and taking us with you. May your life run good continue!

Yes, truly a fascinating trip, with great pictures!!

Leon I am curious. I’m a big whiskey fan but stopped drinking as my hangovers get REALLY bad with age, especially when I am in Vegas and mixing it with dry air and lack of sleep. How do you deal with whiskey and hangovers and what’s your count? If I am at the blackjack table my limit is usually a double Macallan, anything more than that and I will be hating life the next day.

I'll do my best in the next installment when I talk about the B+B, downtown etc.

I basically don't get hungover. Lucky, I suppose. As I said earlier, once I started drinking decent stuff it's not a problem, I have to way overdo it to run the risk of a hangover.

The lack of sleep definitely doesn't help. As you might know I try to get a nap in every day in Vegas and I'm sure that helps.

i can't speak for hard alcohol but in my 30s I had to start cutting out beer because if i had just 3-4 beers on a light drinking evening where i wasn't even drunk then the next day I'd feel absolutely terrible with migraines and being glued to the bathroom and my skin would just be terrible the next day with fresh outbreaks of adult acne

meanwhile, if i were drinking heavily and getting blackout drunk on wine or spirits until 6 am i'd wake up feeling 10x better than if i drank just 3-4 beers without the skin or digestive problems

so i naturally began writing off beer as "gives me nasty hangovers - avoid at all costs" and switched to hard wine and hard alcohol instead

years later i discover i have celiac disease - it wasn't that beer gave me hangovers, it was that beer is basically just liquid gluten and that's what was causing all those issues - i wasn't hungover at all, i was just having a gluten reaction and that wasn't acne, it was celiac blisters

even though a lot of spirits are sourced from stuff that has gluten, the distillation process leaves it behind so it's good to go, also loving life that things like whiteclaw are big now because now i can casually chug again instead of taking very controlled and measured sips while at parties

celiac is something that can sneak up on you slowly as you age and thus you learn to cope with the results, rationalize it as just part of aging/whatever, and would refuse to believe you have celiac unless your doctor told you directly, and even then you'd ask for a second opinion

This. I've tried to eat low carb and esp zero gluten for many years now. It started off as a fitness thing but now it's more a lifestyle goal. I'm almost hesitant to type this next part bc nutrition is kind of like politics- it's a fight waiting to happen. That said, there's no question in my mind that the human body runs better on low/near zero carbs. Of all the carbs, gluten containing sources are the worst. Don't get me wrong, I love bread and pasta, but that protein... man, it's inflammatory. I actually think all humans are gluten intolerant to varying degrees- some get celiac, while others just get microscopic inflammation and never know it. But the damage is being done to all of us.

So yes, spirits are great for that! Zero gluten. Bonus- zero sugars. 100% of the calories comes from alcohol and alcohol sugars (which aren't the same thing). It's part of the reason I tend not to drink cocktails either- why would I add back in more calories and sugar?

I drink decent stuff too. If I drink whiskey I get hungover no matter what. If I stick to top shelf tequila then my threshold is a bit higher, I was told because of clarity of the alcohol. Either way, sticking to edibles for my upcoming trip!

Long time drinker. Gonna drop some knowledge here, so take notes.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Bourbon TR part 3

B and I head to the Louisville Slugger museum. I'm a casual baseball fan, B is more into the game. His son plays Little League, B is an assistant coach and he wants to get his dad a souvenir if possible.

This bat is gigantic and is actually made of steel.

We sign up for the factory tour so we can see how the bats are made.

Pretty ridiculous the stupid hoops we make women jump through. Who gives an F about beauty, etiquette classes etc? They're supposed to be athletes.

The tour was pretty cool. They can make a professional grade bat in minutes from the raw materials. It was fun to watch modern machinery do in seconds what took weeks by hand back in the day. Afterwards, they gave us little mini replica bats. We briefly considered hitting the batting cages but there was an extra fee and a line, so we hit the gift shop instead. I didn't get anything, but B picked up a custom bat for his dad- early Father's Day gift taken care of!

Some pics of the B+B. It was a 3 story Brownstone, decorated like grandma's house inside. Definitely good enough for a 1 night stay.

B and I head out to NULU which is supposed to be the "happening" part of town, and where both dinner and the recommended bar is. I might as well put this here- my overall thoughts on Louisville is that it's pretty run down/has seen better days. Lexington had more of a college town feel, and of course we didn't get to see very much but there were no obvious areas where I wouldn't want to go at night. Driving to our B+B, we passed a ton of boarded up houses, chain link fences, people pushing shopping carts, etc. B and I actually commented to each other that the B+B was in a pretty ghetto part of town. Same thing with NULU- when we got there, we briefly walked around but just saw more boarded up buildings, etc. We intentionally walked away from the bar at first to see other stuff, only to turn around rapidly when we realized there was nothing TO SEE in that direction.

Walking towards the bar, more of the same. We passed a block of nicer shops, etc but nothing remarkable. Then, we got to the block the bar was on- a few pride flags, an art gallery, and the bar! So, overall thoughts on Louisville- not enough data, obv, but I suspect the town has seen better days.

B and I sit and have the place all to ourselves. We start picking the owner's brain and she recommended several flights to us that are only available in KY.

This place was the score of the trip. Amongst the bourbons we sampled was one called Ingram which might as well have been Stagg Jr! Except, it was 80$ a bottle vs 350-400. We emptied the store out of that stock, and got multiple other bottles as well. SO happy we got this recommendation. We literally walked to the restaurant carrying two cardboard boxes full of booze LOL.

The restaurant is New Orleans style food, I think it was called Lou Lous?

I grab the wings and gumbo. Wings were 8/10, gumbo 7/10. Beignets 9/10, that chocolate sauce was amazing.

Afterwards, we hear blues and country coming from somewhere downstairs, so we head down and find a small bar with a bunch of old people, and a live band.

This was pretty cool, for me anyways. The band honestly wasn't very good, but live music is ALWAYS good just bc it's live. I think the band and crowd were all friends and family haha- at multiple times, people in the audience would just come up and start singing, or playing instruments, etc. At least one song they played had to have been an original- it was so cheesy and weird, yet everyone in there knew it (except us, obv). I could have stayed longer, but we bail when I see B starting to fade. Turns out he feeling a little hungover and tired.

Day 4

Nothing on the agenda today but the B+B's homecooked breakfast, and then the long travel back to SD...

We're flying Southwest, and the best that can be said is all the flights are on time. Soon enough, we're back home!

Bourbon haul from the trip.

Very happy B and I got to do this, and the best part is I have to power through a couple long days of work and I'm back in Vegas! Part 2 of the TR coming soon...

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply you drink swill. It's just weird how it hits everyone differently. The water advice obv is spot on.