Best bourbon under $50?

[indykid]

Found this 1/10 pint bottle when going through some of my late father's stuff. On the back is marked "Bottled Especially for Northwest Orient Airlines". The federal seal is marked 1953!!! Unfortunately as can be seen in the photo, the tape has been torn on one side, but the cap seal is obviously unbroken.

 

[Sheepdog103]

I would but these are typically treated as 'backroom' brands and only the regular returning customers get to go into that room. Essentially it is like a loyalty program with perks at the gas station, only for bourbon, scotch, high end wine, etc.

There are several stores up here that do that. The regular customers have access to Weller and high end stuff. I'd hate to give you a store and then you waste your time for a 'one hit' shopping trip because the stores typically will direct you to their shelves.

I have an open invitation into the backroom at the largest store up here, sample for free before I buy, etc.

That makes perfect sense and I respect that highly. Had the same here for 10 years ... then the owner sold. Nice guy and good friend. Unfortunately, we have only a very small handful of locally owned stores... the rest are big chains that don't play ball unless you're a HUGE spender, and the small local guys don't give much or get any basic green label. I'm not trying to get Blanton's, just some good old Weller cheapo and I return and am a good customer. The local folks don't have the volume though.

 

[Sheepdog103]

View attachment 158750

Found this 1/10 pint bottle when going through some of my late father's stuff. On the back is marked "Bottled Especially for Northwest Orient Airlines". The federal seal is marked 1953!!! Unfortunately as can be seen in the photo, the tape has been torn on one side, but the cap seal is obviously unbroken.

That could be worth some serious coin.

 

[sparky32]

View attachment 158750

Found this 1/10 pint bottle when going through some of my late father's stuff. On the back is marked "Bottled Especially for Northwest Orient Airlines". The federal seal is marked 1953!!! Unfortunately as can be seen in the photo, the tape has been torn on one side, but the cap seal is obviously unbroken.

The few facebook bourbon groups im on I bet some of the collectors would pay a pretty coin for that. On the low end around 300$ I bet.

 

[indykid]

Continuing to go through my father's stuff, must have enjoyed himself while flying. I know he did a lot because of his work for NASA in the 60s but didn't realize how much business flying he did in the 50s.

Found an unopened bottle of Pinch Finest Blended Scotch Whisky also for Northwest Orient, and a bottle of unopened Kahlua Coffee Liqueur from Mexico. Both with the federal tape over the caps in near perfect condition. As can be seen in the photo, there are several opened bottles that I am sure he enjoyed as the flights back then, in DC-4, 6 and 7, as well as the great Boeing Stratocruiser took forever to get from our home in New York City to Los Angeles where he seems to have done a lot of business in the 50s.

 

[melensdad]

I was up in Chicago visiting my daughter and wandered into a liquor store just to see what they had.

There was a BINNY'S store pick High West Bourbon on the shelf.

I thought it odd because the store is not one of the BINNY'S chain stores. Ended up buying the bottle, cost me about $45. Figure that is an inflated price and it should be a bit cheaper if found elsewhere? In any case High West bottles some really good stuff, they have a very nice "Bourye" and some great rye whiskey offerings. So I gave it a try and if I can find another bottle, preferably at a lower price, I'll definitely pick it up.

 

[jerrob]

Traveling through Kentucky and Tennessee this weekend and picked up this old standbye on sale for a killer price. Nothing too special but it keeps me out of my JD SB BP for awhile.
Since both are from the Brown-Foreman stable, there's enough similarities to keep me interested for a bottle's worth of time, lol.
Cheers!

 

[sparky32]

Private Barrel Select Russells has got to be my #1 of anything ive ever drank all different ones so far. My palate just falls in love with it. Im trying not to open the 13year bottle because it was a pain go get that one at a decent price. Wild Turkey juice is just so good.

 

[jsharmon7]

I picked up a bottle of the Bardstown Fusion 5 today. It was kind of disappointing. It reminded me very much of Willett Pot Still, which to me is just meh.

 

[sparky32]

I picked up a bottle of the Bardstown Fusion 5 today. It was kind of disappointing. It reminded me very much of Willett Pot Still, which to me is just meh.

I have always been disappointed with Willett Pot Still. I go back to the one I have every once in a while and I just dont care for it anymore.

 

[Ballstater98]

Peyton Manning is making cold calls to Indy liquor stores to put his bourbon on shelves​

Dana Hunsinger Benbow
Indianapolis Star


Peyton Manning is not too enshrined in the Hall of Fame or too caught up in the overwhelmingly rave reviews of his Monday Night Football MegaCast to admit what his most critical job has been of late.
He's been a hustler. (His word, not ours.)
In the world of liquor, hustling is key, Manning said. Or, as he actually said. "You kind of have to hustle on it. Or it gets lost in the shuffle."

What Manning has been hustling is a bourbon, a brand called Sweetens Cove Tennessee Bourbon. For the liquor connoisseurs out there — 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% malted barley.

Sweetens Cove is Manning's bourbon brand. And he's launching it in Indiana Wednesday.

Thus, the hustling. Manning has been making cold calls to Indianapolis liquor stores to pitch his bourbon as a perfect concoction to put on their shelves.

"I'm in the cold-calling business," Manning told IndyStar.

Yes, Manning has been picking up the phone and making that call — the call that must certainly seem like a prank to the person on the other end. You can imagine the pitch:

"Um. Hey, this is Peyton Manning. I've got a really good liquor brand called Sweetens Cove. It's got the craziest story behind its name, you know. It's smooth and I think your customers might like it. Would you be interested in, um, trying it out?"

Yes. Manning has been making those calls to Big Red Liquors, 21st Amendment and plenty of other stores..."

 

[jsharmon7]

The rumor is Manning’s bourbon is from Dickel. Seems like a high price tag if that’s true.

 

[melensdad]

The rumor is Manning’s bourbon is from Dickel. Seems like a high price tag if that’s true.

Why?

Just because it is from a distillery does not mean it is the same as any of the that distillery's products, in fact no distillery would likely share their proprietary recipe under a different label.

MGP makes nearly countless variations of their rye. Some are cheap and some are expensive. Some are astounding and some are crap. But they are all different.

 

[jsharmon7]

Why?

Just because it is from a distillery does not mean it is the same as any of the that distillery's products, in fact no distillery would likely share their proprietary recipe under a different label.

MGP makes nearly countless variations of their rye. Some are cheap and some are expensive. Some are astounding and some are crap. But they are all different.

A celebrity endorsed product, with a high price tag, sourced from a distiller that has never made anything really outstanding in my opinion, is a recipe for hype. If I get a taste and it’s great, I’ll admit I’m wrong. Given the above, I’m definitely not dropping $200 without trying it first. Given the way of the world in bourbon, it’ll sell out quick. If you tell people it’s expensive and limited, they’ll snap it up. I will wait and see. I’ve only seen one review so far, and it was positive, so maybe I’ll find out I’m wrong. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it.

 

[indykid]

Why does this sound like a huge scam to me?

 

[jerrob]

Just wait for the Andrew Luck bourbon to come out, Irsay says it's way better than Manning's and it has a much shorter finish.

 

[melensdad]

A celebrity endorsed product, with a high price tag, sourced from a distiller that has never made anything really outstanding in my opinion, is a recipe for hype. If I get a taste and it’s great, I’ll admit I’m wrong. Given the above, I’m definitely not dropping $200 without trying it first. Given the way of the world in bourbon, it’ll sell out quick. If you tell people it’s expensive and limited, they’ll snap it up. I will wait and see. I’ve only seen one review so far, and it was positive, so maybe I’ll find out I’m wrong. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it.

A $200 bottle of bourbon is always worthy of heavy skepticism when it comes to quality.

Dickel actually makes a couple awesome products and sells at least 1 of those under their own name already. But it is sold a Tenessee Whiskey and there less popular with the buyers, despite the fact that Tennessee Whiskey is still legally bourbon.

The point I'm concerned with is that you wrote it off because it comes from a smaller lesser known distillery like Dickel. That to my mind, is a huge mistake. No reason to presume they don't/can't and in the future won't continue to make quality products.

The bottle could be all hype. I know nothing of Manning as a bourbon drinker, so there could be **** in that bottle and some football fans would probably buy it.

 

[jsharmon7]

A $200 bottle of bourbon is always worthy of heavy skepticism when it comes to quality.

Dickel actually makes a couple awesome products and sells at least 1 of those under their own name already. But it is sold a Tenessee Whiskey and there less popular with the buyers, despite the fact that Tennessee Whiskey is still legally bourbon.

The point I'm concerned with is that you wrote it off because it comes from a smaller lesser known distillery like Dickel. That to my mind, is a huge mistake. No reason to presume they don't/can't and in the future won't continue to make quality products.

The bottle could be all hype. I know nothing of Manning as a bourbon drinker, so there could be **** in that bottle and some football fans would probably buy it.

A $200 bottle of anything from Dickel is definitely one of my hang-ups. I also wouldn’t buy a $2,000 1911 from Hi-Point. Not that Dickel is the Hi-Point of whiskey, but it’s simply a matter of brand perception vs. value for me. There are just some brands out there that I can’t justify a high price.

Again, I hope I’m wrong and everyone who buys it is really happy with it. Manning seems like a good guy, too.

Edit: If you want to mail me a sample, I’ll be happy to admit if I’m wrong.

 

[jsharmon7]

Since this thread is all things bourbon now, I can add that I found Little Book Chapter 5 today. This one seems to have gotten the least amount of love in the series, but I love it. Creamy mouthfeel, deep flavor, and easy finish. This is one of those bourbons like the JD Special Release Rye that you can just tell is different. This has overtaken Baker’s and Booker’s as my favorite Beam product.

 

[jsharmon7]

Bourbon and a fire when it’s in the 50s. You only get to go around once!