Tastes
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This is one of those bourbons that hits all of the right spots. Not exceptional but passable. Enjoyable but leaves no lasting impression. At alll. No age statement no information no lingering finish just bourbon. Solid. Memorable only in that you remember you drank it and it was nice and you felt nice . I was expecting a fraud like the actual Duke and the whole western cowboy america scene but in that I was pleasantly disappointed. It’s good. Buy it. Drink it. Nod your head in approval. Carry on with your life and gradually forget about it. It’s the only thing you can do with it.
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Belle Meade Cask Strength Reserve Bourbon
Bourbon — Indiana (bottled in Tennessee), USA
Reviewed December 29, 2022 (edited June 16, 2023)When first I read the back story I thought this was just another propped up fabrication weaving threads of truth into a vast blanket of lies, like much of our history. Upon tasting this however, I no longer cared. This is the real deal. The cask strength reserve is hot. Unlike Pelosi's leathery hide, this bad boy has aged remarkably well and I find myself wanting to believe in fairy tales again. Leave it to some rural dwellers in Tennessee to restore my faith in the sordid world of bourbon backstories and gimmicks. I imagine that the unsung heroes of Appalachia will also bear the brunt of restoring this once-proud nation to the glory we were always told it embodied. It didn't and we were lied to, but it can be and if it do be, I imagine the core of its strength will be sourced somewhere near Tennessee. I salute thee Nelson brothers, sincerely. From your newest-ish fan. -
Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye
Rye — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed November 11, 2022 (edited October 21, 2024)I am not a huge rye whisley fan. I drink them fairly often but its not my go to. Thats what not being a huge fan means. Youre still a fan, just not a huge one. Knob Creek is part of the Jim Beam/Suntory hybrid frankenstein mega-company so in my mind they are part of the worlds problems and not on the solution side in any way. Most of their products are shells of their former glory and/or marketing gimmicks that only prove how dumb we as consumers truly are. But deep down in their deep dark place of deepy deep, they know how to make good whiskey. And Knob Creek is one of their most consistent outputs. This one, a barrel strength rye, is very very good. Oak and leather and spice and that minty peppery dill thing ryes often bring and if you’re like me which is unlikely you realize halfway through the dram that even the most bullshitty of bullshit artists sometimes do something positive, which is more than we can say about our installed leaders and mostly anyone who lives and works in Washington DC . So whether thats praise for JimBeam'SuntoryStein or a fiery insult to the wannabe powers that be, the interpretation is up to you. This is ghoulbuns, signing out from the banana republic formerly known as USA -
The dust tells me I’ve had this case of Weller Full Proof longer than it feels like I have. I want to say 2019 but perhaps longer. But ever since the intentional sabotage of our currency and our food supply chain it seems everyone has forgotten how to produce and ship goods and the supply hasn’t been able to find and reach rhe demand and so now we have to dig into our stashes and we are not happy but sometimes secretly happy about it. Any excuse to drink this gem is a good one. It’s hot and butterscotch and apple and oak and vanilla and it’s manly AF. I realize I may have just offended some birthing person somewhere for daring to define what a man is but once you drink this you’ll find out what gender you are, for real. I follow science.
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Its hard to approach any Jim Beam product anymore without a suspicious glare as you approach, but in my earlier days of grocery store-sourced whiskey consumption, this was a safe bet that sdidnt break the wallet and made me feel better than buying something generic or bland or merely single oaked (insert snobby scoffing laughter here.) Now Jim Beam is just another foreign-conglomerate owned has-been of its glorious past intent on churning out the most generic content possible and though sometimes they make a mistake and release something fantastic, for the most part they are soulless and joyless offerings. Double Oaked is leaning towards becoming the latter. In a side by side with other Jim Beam offerings, the oak is slightly noticeably more. Certainly not Doubled. If not Double oaked, most definitely not double aged. Im guessing an additional 6 months in a non-first-fill barrel at most. Its not bad, its just not memorable. And maybe thats what $30 gets you these days. I dont know. If the idiots that run this world dont get run out of office soon I expect $30 will get you nothing soon, so I guess I should be grateful. We're supposed to "own nothing and be happy" so maybe, like Jim Beams former commitment to value, Im just not meant for this mediocre world. So on that note, um, I guess Ill awkwardly dismount.
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Beam Suntory as a brand is as frustrating and polarising as the lame hyphenated company name it currently holds. So many products makes it lack any identity. Coupled with the various departments of Beam distilled offerings , the inconsistent values and the sometimes insulting marketing gimmicks makes it hard to pin down. The Basil Hayden line therefore, is the quintessential Beam Suntory product. It doesn’t look flashy but carries itself as if it did. It’s not that great but it thinks it is. Toast is a continuation of that mindset. Priced too high. Generic bottle with a flashy faux-brass belt buckle to hide the fact. And the name…Toast…is somehow not in reference to anything charred or barrel-related but instead to the substitution of brown rice instead of rye? Baffling. The juice is solid. The rice for rye swap is surprisingly very pleasant. This goes down easy but not memorable. So why isn’t it priced accordingly? This doesn’t make consumers warm towards you, rather it makes them wary and suspicious of anything you release. So Beam. Suntory. Whoever you are now. STOP. Just make decent bourbon at decent prices with no gimmicks. Is it that difficult? I wish this wasn’t watered down to 80 proof and I wish it were $20 cheaper. Then this would be very good. Instead, it’s kind of annoying. Glad I tried it but I’ll never buy another bottle.
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Maker's Mark Cask Strength Batch 21-03 (109.4 Proof)
Bourbon — Kentucky , USA
Reviewed March 30, 2022With the bumbling criminals that run our country at the helm, the supply chains are broken to the point that the once ubiquitous Makers Mark is now unavailable. This has forced me to dive into my coffers of cask strength and served to remind me how great these are, what value they provide, and how sad it is that many may never know the silky touch of its velvet hand. This is strong, smooth, rich and manly. Its a shame for you, dear reader of this worthless review, that you arent here sharing it with me. But youre not. And now its gone. Just like the mind of Our Dear Leader. -
Bacardí Superior White Rum
Silver Rum — Puerto Rico
Reviewed February 19, 2022 (edited May 26, 2023)Its diffficult after all this time to retrtace ones steps to visit a mega brand like this and give it a fair shake. Its also fair to assume that a product this ubiquitous and global is a far cry from where it began. I assume at one point Bacardi was a respected name in rum. Not just a mass produced mainstay, I mean RESPECTED. At one point this brand had to have had either great value, quality, marketing, or all three. This is probably the first silver rum most Americans are introduced to, most likely procured from a dusty patch-covered Jansport in a high school restroom and served in an opaque plastic cup filled with ice and some cola. Most likely its the first rum most americans overindulge on and repel into the gaping maw of the porcelain throne. Its become a staple of nearly every bar in the country simply because people ask for it, maybe out of loyalty to an amazing brand, but most likely because they dont have a list of availabke spirits and thus they take a shot in the dark, and call out a name that will most likely land them with a drink vs the "we dont carry that" alternative response. At this point I will not deep dive into when and where and how this product achieved such prominence to the point tht they can now remove any and all redeeming qualitites from the rum it once must have been and it still wouldnt touch their bottom line. Yet at some point this must have occurred. This is barely a rum. In fact if it werent for the flash of sugar that appears befre dissolving into the vapid neutral papery world normally occupied by vodka and nail polish remover, I would guess this is generic plastic bottle vodka. Its been distilled to the point all character is obliterated. This is rum for people who dont like rum. Rum for people who only drink "vodka crans". Rum for the guy who drinks rum once a year at his work christmas party. But this isnt rum for anyone who has any interest in rum. This isnt rum for anyone who has any interest in anything outside of getting the fastest possible ticket to drunk town at whatever cost necessary. So congrats on your success in the world of "product", Bacardi, but you must harbor the knowledge somewhere deep inside though you may never admit it. You must know it all centers around one word. Trash. That word not only descibes this product, it also serves as the name of the verb describing what action youve taken in relation to this brand... and its also the word which describes the state the unwashed masses who imbibe this find themselves in and its also the name for the medium in which which every bottle of this should be lying in were this a just world. Trash. Own it, for it is your legacy. Good day, sirs. -
Cutwater three sheets white rum Aged 2 years in bourbon barrels. Oaky front end, bitter wood tannins. Nice dark color but in the rum world that could mean anything. This is solid and kudos for making this so affordable despite the obvious aging process length. I need to taste the base rum to be able to really tell but there is something missing in this. Not that its bad. Its not. I like it. Its just not as memorable as I wanted it to be.
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I understand aging whiskey in port barrels. I don’t understand simply mixing whiskey with port as it looks and tastes like it was done here. What a weird approach. i disapprove. To name this dark rye is the same misleading gimmicky Jim Beam nonsense as they often pull. Why would you waste basil haydens mixing it with port. Not that BH is that great but you wouldnt, and they didnt. Too much wine for it to be whiskey and too much suck for it to be a success.
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