I thought I didn’t like bourbon. I tried some Jack Daniels in law school and it was awful. Boy, was I wrong. This stuff is smooooooooooth.
The Jim Beam website seems to say that their Knob Creek brand is even better than Black Label. I’ve always wanted to try Knob Creek, if only because of the machine gun shoot of that name. If Boomershoot had a liquor named after it, I’d drink it too.
What say ye, bourbon drinkers of RNS?
Jim Beam Black is indeed a fine bourbon, as I found out after I ran out of Jack Daniel’s. Still prefer Jack by a whisker though.
Do you drink some sort of highfalutin’ premium version of Jack Daniels? ‘Cause the regular stuff is just naaasty IMO.
I like Jim Beam Black. I prefer scotch. But Black is fine when the budget is a little tight.
Jim Beam is pretty good, but I prefer Makers Mark or Eagle River.
Bourbon is one of the reasons I love living in Louisville. I can taste all sorts of the local offerings just by walking down the aisles at the local liquor store.
Maker’s Mark, which my blogfather, the Layabout Sailor, referred me to. Neat. No ice. No water. No anything.
My Dad was partial to Wild Turkey 101, and it is OK for the outdoors, when your throat can tolerate sipping a stronger liquor neat.
I’ve never sipped a whiskey that I couldn’t stand, but Yukon Jack comes close….
Evan Williams black label does me well, but there’s nothing wrong with an emergency call for, “Dr. Beam, Dr. Jim Beam!”.
I liked Maker’s Mark until I learned about single-malt Scotches. Now Maker’s Mark has just a little too much of that paint-thinner feel. I’m sure I’ll come back around eventually. I tried Wild Turkey 101 once and didn’t care for it much, but that was long ago, so I’ll give it another shot. Eagle River and Evan Williams are new to me, so I’ll search them out.
By the way, I have yet to drink any whisk(e)y other than neat. Now that I’ve found a bourbon I like I suppose I’ll have to give that “bourbon and branch water” thing a try. But to me, these liquors deserve to be savored on their own.
An update: last night, I had a chance to try Knob Creek. It was very smooth and good, but not as tasty IMO as the Jim Beam Black Label….
David – good call on the ‘neat’ concept. But there are a couple of single malts that really need just the tiniest drop of water. Take a Lagavulin for example – it’s sometimes referred to as TSP due to it’s flavour reminiscent of household cleanser. Add 1/2 teaspoon of water to a good-sized shot and the taste transforms. It’s worth it to sometime take a few small glasses with a small sample of single malt in – test it neat, then add a drop of water and notice the difference. Some are amazing, some are more subtle.
For Bourbon’s I’m a neophyte, but prefer the ones that are less sweet – Knob Creek is usually OK, but Jim Beam seems like pancake syrup. maybe single malt has destroyed my flavour capacity 🙂
Jim Beam’s not bad. Maker’s Mark and Bulleit are the premium brands I like. For Tennessee whiskey I pass on the Jack Daniels and buy George Dickel in the tan label.
The cheapest stuff that I think is tolerable for mixing is Early Times and another one whose name escapes me.