My sis who favored Jim Beam for many years, now loves her Buffalo Trace. She owned a liquor store for 10 years and and that is when her choice changed.

My choice has been Old Forester for many years after drinking Makers before that. OF is just a smoother bourbon and maybe a tad sweeter than MM. It just suits my taste better.

I have never tried the Four Roses.

hard to turn down.

I knew there was another pricey one out there but I could not bring it to mind.

… Four Roses single barrel, 100 proof, which I am drinking right now. I highly recommend it neat. It is way better than Woodford or Makers without ice.

I love Makers with ice, and Woodford is OK neat, but Four Roses Single Barrel neat is truly a wonderful drop.

One of the big 4 small batch bourbons, but much cheaper (around $30/bottle). It’s cheaper than the other big small batches, and cheaper than Woodford. Well aged, and delicious.

Have you ever seen the special UK Makers Mark with the Blue Wax?

If you want something a little different, try “Bernheim”. It is a wheat whiskey. Wheat is what Maker’s uses to make a smooth blend and this stuff is mighty fine. Plus, it is made in Kentucky and named after the forest near the Jim Beam plant.

It’s a recession, ya know.

….and even though I don’t have any new and spectacular bourbon choices to add, I just wanted to say that I’m a Maker’s and Woodford kinda girl. Those are my faves. : )

Also, with all the glowing recommendations the Four Roses has received, I will most certainly be trying that one as well, and with its very appropriate name — it sounds like a fabulous idea for a Valentine’s Day gift! So much better than real flowers and much better for you too! ; )

Hard to find the small batch stuff in NYC, but I can get Basil Hayden’s and Woodford. Both are of course good enough to drink on the rocks (but not neat in my opinion). I can also get Evan Williams Single Barrel, which is actually not too bad. I little sweet and rough at the same time, still pretty good on the rocks.

I tried a couple of small batch bourbons on a recent trip home that were excellent. One was “1792” which is actually from the Barton distillery. Fairly high alcohol bourbon, but very smooth and rich. I would highly recommend it, though it is pricey. The other was called “Bulleit.” It has an old fashioned bottle and taste to go along. Very strong flavor: a bit sweet and with a lot of spice flavor. Very different from any other bourbon I’ve ever had. I wish I could get either of these in NYC.

Another pretty pricey bourbon that is smooth as hell is Jefferson’s. If you haven’t had it, try it!

As far as the cheap route, I like AAA or Early Times too. Of course Wild Turkey is always a good choice too, and not to pricey.

I am not familar with Four Roses but isn’t the term “single barrel” redundent? Doesn’t bourbon by definition need to be aged in a new oak barrel? I am really a beer man myself. Hoppy ales. Bluegrass Brewing Company. I have a CO2 system with two taps. great for those mad March nights.

Can you even get those anymore? I loved those on our pontoon days on Green River Lake many years ago. Just enough refreshment for me when it was so hot w/o it getting warm before I could finish. It was an ale I think. Been a very long time since those great days in the summer on the lake.

They were fairly potent, but very refreshing on a hot day at the lake. It would take me about 6 swigs to down one, but my hubby maybe 2. Lol

And everyone who was there on “The Rock” as we called it, laughed themselves silly, except me, as I was the clean up wife :-). We were loading the pontoon after a great day on the rock with the kids and our friends. Well, my hubby, in good intention as always, took up the big radio and proceeded to drop it in the lake. It was a good one though, I took it to Radio Shack and they said just to let it dry out. The dang thing is still working to this day :-)

I wanted an easy place to reference the recommendations of the ASoB community, so I took it upon on myself to summarize them. These bourbons seem to have reached a general consensus. The wisdom of masses speaks.

Four Roses Single Barrel
Woodford Reserve
Pappy Van Winkle
Basil Haden
Buffalo Trace
Knob Creek
Bernheim
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit
Eagle Rare
Bulleit

Thus we can sample those we haven’t tried and judging by the way the season is going, we may get to them sooner rather than later.