Uh Oh...

[Stoplight]

As a byproduct of our trip to Louisville, KY, this past weekend, I've discovered the world of "craft bourbon and rye" whiskey ! Probably NOT a good thing !!! ...and I thought the "craft beer" thing was crazy !!! Small-batch Bourbon and rye whiskey is everywhere up there...Even the ratty BBQ place we went for dinner Thursday had a "bourbon list" !!! It was longer than their beer list !!!

So our Friend's S.O. wanted us to look for "Angel's Envy" rye, or "Pappy Van Winkle" bourbon...out of stock, at the liquor store we stopped at, so she was talked into buying some expensive "Whiskey Pig" rye...proprietor said he sold more of that than the "Angel's Envy" ! Who can't love a rye named "Whiskey Pig" ???

So we get back to her place Sunday...the S.O. graciously cracked the bottle, and offered us a shot... Now....I've NEVER drank rye (to my knowledge !), and I've never paid as much for a bottle of hard liquor as she did ! But OMG !!! That stuff was AWESOME !!!

Fast-forward to today...I'm in the local dinky liquor store, just perusing the whiskey aisle, for sh*** and giggles...and to pick up some Crown for the Wife... No "Whistle Pig", but lo and behold ! Angel's Envy Rye AND Bourbon !!! I HAD to buy a bottle of the rye !!!

The young woman at the counter told me it used to only be available in restaurants, as shots, but recently became available by the bottle...when I asked her if they sold much of it, at that price (similar to the Whistle Pig), she said "Well, if someone buys the first bottle, they usually come back for another !!!" Too funny !!!

So I got bottle #469, from Batch #40 !!! Coolest bottle design, EVER !!! I'm afraid to crack it...may be just an "investment"...like the TSP !!! Already told the Wife that she CAN'T mix it with cheap ginger ale, or her cranberry/raspberry "Bourbon and Berries", but I suspect I'm fighting a losing battle !!!

Anybody else have any recommendations of their favorites ??? WorkFE ??? Remember, though....I'm retired, and on a fixed income !!! This was a "splurge" !!!


Stoplight...

 

[konakathy]

Can't help you there, buddy. I would be mixing it with ginger ale. When I was in LA last month I went out with my Irish cronies and one of them poured me a Jameson w/ginger ale...not bad. I'm not much of a hard liquor drinker. It is a cool looking bottle.

 

[burrocrat]

Anybody else have any recommendations of their favorites ???

i highly recommend 'buffalo trace' fine kentucky bourbon. i won a bet with dinicti and they sent me a bottle of this for reward. smooth stuff, goes down like velvet not paint thinner. also i think it has some psychadelic properties.

 

[nnuut]

Buffalo Trace is a great fine Whiskey but fine whiskey should be sipped slowly not mixed. For Whiskey and Coke I like Ezra Brooks, reasonable and great stuff at 90 proof. hic!

 

[jpcavin]

i highly recommend 'buffalo trace' fine kentucky bourbon. i won a bet with dinicti and they sent me a bottle of this for reward. smooth stuff, goes down like velvet not paint thinner. also i think it has some psychadelic properties.

That probably has a lot more to do with your imagination than with the libation.

 

[Stoplight]

Can't help you there, buddy. I would be mixing it with ginger ale. When I was in LA last month I went out with my Irish cronies and one of them poured me a Jameson w/ginger ale...not bad. I'm not much of a hard liquor drinker. It is a cool looking bottle.

KK,

I hear ya !!! I've always been just a beer kinda Guy, but man !!! A sip of that stuff...neat ? WOW !!! I could get used to that !!!

I'm with Burro...very smooth stuff, and downright tasty !!! Not "medicinal", like most hard booze I've tried in the past...I'll have to scope out his recommendation !!!

The BAD thing ??? So freakin' expensive !!! ($85) I'm DIEING to crack this bottle, but I don't want to get in the habit of giving up my $10.99 Yuengling Light 12-pack ! Guess I'll just keep fondling the bottle ! The back of the bottle is so cool, too...but the angel wings graphic didn't turn out so good in my pic, so I didn't post it !!! BUT...you can see them through the front ! Too cool !!!


Stoplight...

 

[burrocrat]

That probably has a lot more to do with your imagination than with the libation.

that is not true. yes i have a great imagination, and yes i have some experience with the libations, but that was not it.

this was different, i saw the other side, it was the same old other side i have seen a few times before. but when you get there, you know how you got there, and you get clues to how you made it back if you wake up soon enough and don't care to forget. the only variable in this situation that opened those doors was the buffalo trace.

and i agree with nnuut, some distillations are meant only for sipping straight, it would be sacrilege to mix it down, you can taste that the folks who brewed it considered it almost a religion. i hate whiskey in general and bourbon in particular, but this stuff was sweet, like caramel sort of, it left you smacking your lips. and the cool 'thunk' when you pulled the cork (yes a real cork cap not twist off 7-11 crap) almost dared you to do it again. i guarandamtee you, a few pulls off a bottle of buffalo trace will show you some seldom seen things.

 

[burrocrat]

before you laugh about the 'vision quest whiskey', research 'ergotism' or 'salem witch trials' or 'grain fungi'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotism

[h=3]Salem witchcraft accusations[edit][/h]The convulsive symptoms from ergot-tainted rye may have been the source of accusations of bewitchment that spurred the Salem witch trials. This medical explanation for the theory of “bewitchment” was first propounded by Linnda R. Caporael in 1976 in an article in Science. In her article, Caporael argues that the convulsive symptoms, such as crawling sensations in the skin, tingling in the fingers, vertigo, tinnitus aurium, headaches, disturbances in sensation, hallucination, painful muscular contractions, vomiting, and diarrhea, as well as psychological symptoms, such as mania, melancholia, psychosis, and delirium, were all symptoms reported in the Salem witchcraft records. Caporael also states there was an abundance of rye in the region as well as climate conditions that could support the tainting of rye.[SUP][13][/SUP] In 1982, historian Mary Matossian raised Caporael’s theory in an article in American Scientist in which she argued that symptoms of “bewitchment” resemble the ones exhibited in those afflicted with ergot poisoning.[SUP][14][/SUP]

the story goes a servant gal made bread with tainted rye. whether that was on purpose to spread evidence of her 'powers' or on accident and folks traced the 'spells' to her but for the wrong unknown reason at the time are debatable. but as in all things, there is some truth to this.

 

[Stoplight]

that is not true. yes i have a great imagination, and yes i have some experience with the libations, but that was not it.

this was different, i saw the other side, it was the same old other side i have seen a few times before. but when you get there, you know how you got there, and you get clues to how you made it back if you wake up soon enough and don't care to forget. the only variable in this situation that opened those doors was the buffalo trace.

and i agree with nnuut, some distillations are meant only for sipping straight, it would be sacrilege to mix it down, you can taste that the folks who brewed it considered it almost a religion. i hate whiskey in general and bourbon in particular, but this stuff was sweet, like caramel sort of, it left you smacking your lips. and the cool 'thunk' when you pulled the cork (yes a real cork cap not twist off 7-11 crap) almost dared you to do it again. i guarandamtee you, a few pulls off a bottle of buffalo trace will show you some seldom seen things.

Burro,

Note the "Angel's Envy" has that real cork cap, too ! You heard the same "thunk" that I heard, when the "Whistle Pig" was offered !!!

Geez....can I please take a sip from the Angels ???


Stoplight...

 

[burrocrat]

Burro,

Note the "Angel's Envy" has that real cork cap, too ! You heard the same "thunk" that I heard, when the "Whistle Pig" was offered !!!

Geez....can I please take a sip from the Angels ???


Stoplight...

that question can only be answered by your cowgirl/shield maiden/helpmate. but if i had any input then yes, drink up buttercup. 3 or 4 good slow pulls off that bottle and spare the glass or ice, just makes more work for later.

if you are lucky she will have one or two too. please do not tell us the details of what happens after except for in general g-rated terms.

enjoy your whiskey, that is what whiskey is for.

 

[FogSailing]

Stoplight: All I can say is "THAT'S ONE SWELL LOOKIN BOTTLE". You need to let me know if what's inside tastes as good as that bottle looks. If so, I'll be petitioning Shield Maiden to make a small side trip in June from our Tulsa excursion just to find a bottle of that stuff.

And that is saying something because we traveling to Tulsa just to feast on the BBQ at the Knotty Pine....an ancient local establishment on the outskirts of Tulsa in the wrong neighborhood where everyone who is anyone goes just to feast on all things BBQ ...in other words...or as I think of it.... "BBQ anointed by that heavenly barbequer in the sky".

I'm thinking this is going to be a great trip..

FS

 

[alevin]

never know what I might learn around here on a given night. I've tried sipping the higher end stuff in the little hotel bar bottles before, nothing ever earned my interest in drinking more of whatever was on offer.

I typically mix a Seagrams with a 7, when I drink any whiskey, which is not often. Although there is a craft whiskey made around here these days, I haven't sampled any yet but people who do seem to like it quite a bit.

 

[nnuut]

If you've never tasted straight whiskey and comparing it to other great Whiskeys you have no idea what is meant by the term GREAAAT WHISKEY, there are so many qualities to look for when you taste it, like the age of it, any flavors that are added, the wood of the barrels, smoke, sweetness, first taste, linger after taste, smoothness, bite, woodiness and many I don't know. Some are totally worth the money like Glenmorangie Single Malt Scotch the best Scotch I ever tasted.
https://glenmorangie.com/us/glenmorangie-the-original

 

[Stoplight]

So the background of the bottle shows the Wife's beading stuff she's prepping...she's gotten herself into teaching a beading class, (her hobby !) to a bunch of little Kids, in an after-school program, at a local church...go figure !!!

What a win-win !!! The Kids get some fun after-school time, and the Wife gets to do her thing...teaching Kids !!! Been a while since she's done that, since she retired...but she's BORN to be a Teacher !!! I don't understand it...but it's her "thing" !!!!


Stoplight...

 

[burrocrat]

yes, we noticed the organized containers of supplies in the background and obvious purpose of 'your room' that you get to use sometimes...

now put the angel wings down and go tell her you love her. and then just shut up and listen or whatever she wants to do.

 

[Stoplight]

never know what I might learn around here on a given night. I've tried sipping the higher end stuff in the little hotel bar bottles before, nothing ever earned my interest in drinking more of whatever was on offer.

I typically mix a Seagrams with a 7, when I drink any whiskey, which is not often. Although there is a craft whiskey made around here these days, I haven't sampled any yet but people who do seem to like it quite a bit.

Alevin,

LOL !!! Yeah....the TSPTalk crowd is an eclectic mix !!! No telling WHAT you might read around here !!!

A "7 and 7"...what a classic !!! That was my bar order for more years than I care to remember...and some I CAN'T remember !!!

Just saying...sipping whiskey from those little bar bottles isn't what we're talking about here...that was probably Jim Beam, or "Black Jack" Daniels...we're talking about WAY beyond those mass produced whiskeys...although I like them all !!! Reminds me of the time I was in the Air Force, in Utah, back in the 70's...long story...

Sounds like your area has a craft whiskey distiller...no surprise there !!! Like I said...it's a BIG thing !!! If you get a chance, just try a sample...sip it ! ...Or find some of the others that have been mentioned here on this thread !...


Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

yes, we noticed the organized containers of supplies in the background and obvious purpose of 'your room' that you get to use sometimes...

now put the angel wings down and go tell her you love her. and then just shut up and listen or whatever she wants to do.

Burro,

Oh BS !!! You did NOT, until I mentioned it... !!!

But yes...this latest project has taken over the Dining Room...and yes...she has a bedroom that's designated as the "Bead Room"...she tried to expand into the "Computer Room" with her crap, but I said "No !!!" Heck....I'm the "Man of the House", right ??? Right ???

Whatever...just finished up the last of the Yuengling...trying to keep my hands off the "Angel" ! Not good to mix them both...just saying...


Stoplight...

 

[Stoplight]

OMG !!! Cracked the Angel's Envy Rye the other night !!!

DANG !!! Paired it with a a Padron cigar...I've died and gone to heaven !!!

The rye has (to me) a very strong vanilla taste...but smooth !!! I love it !!!

Wife liked it, too...but already caught her mixing it with her "Bourbon and Berries" (Applebee's) concoction...that's just NOT RIGHT !!! She didn't know I heard the cork "pop" when she uncorked it !!!

FS...just saying...if you can find a bottle, pick it up, and let me know what YOU think !!! If nothing else, the bottle is TOO COOL !!! :smile:


Stoplight...

 

[FogSailing]

Nice picture!!!Thanks Stoplight. I'm excited. Our trip takes us through New Mexico, north Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky in 3 weeks. We're looking forward to the trip and I'm looking forward to bringing home some quality Angel's Envy Rye during this adventure. Man oh man...the world's best barbeque and steaks and chicken; the world's best desserts, and comfort foods (sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet corn, fresh lima beans.....gravy and biscuts.....YEAH! Of course, we're also looking forward to seeing all the family (well most of em) and friends along the way.

FS

 

[Stoplight]

Nice picture!!!Thanks Stoplight. I'm excited. Our trip takes us through New Mexico, north Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky in 3 weeks. We're looking forward to the trip and I'm looking forward to bringing home some quality Angel's Envy Rye during this adventure. Man oh man...the world's best barbeque and steaks and chicken; the world's best desserts, and comfort foods (sweet potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet corn, fresh lima beans.....gravy and biscuts.....YEAH! Of course, we're also looking forward to seeing all the family (well most of em) and friends along the way.

FS

FS,

SWEET !!! That's what "retirement" is all about !!! Safe travels !!!

Don't get discouraged if you can't find this expensive stuff...I just lucked out when I wandered in my local liquor store !!! They told me, "It all depends on what's on the truck that day..." They have no clue when they'll get more...


Stoplight...