What did you buy at the liquor store today? (2016 - )

[PassionateAmateur]

Fridge.  It'll be fine in there for, say, a couple of months.  Flavor will start to fade a little, but it won't get nasty. 

[haresfur]

7 hours ago, Craig E said:

Also, is ruby port shelf-stable, or do I need to fridge it/drink it fast?

 

Just don't leave it in reach of my MIL

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I picked up 3-1.75 ml bottles of J.W. Dant vodka a couple days ago, as I have been doing for years, at the Cary state liquor monopoly. J.W. Dant is a lower priced vodka, $12.95, but has always been the best choice in that price range until today. I opened the first one tonight, and it immediately tasted and smelled like it was tainted with something. It smells like isopropyl rubbing alcohol. That is quite poisonous, and I'm sure that they did not deliberately taint my liquor with a poison. Maybe cleaning chemicals in a vat that were insufficiently cleaned out?

 

The worst part is that I pounded on the web site trying to contact them, which they make impossible, with Captcha after Captcha challenges, but guess what? These unethical people run a website that does not allow you to contact them, but then subscribes you to their feed, and the Unsubscribe button is as ineffective as is their Contact button. I have enjoyed their vodka for years, but at this point, I am really steamed.

 

Perhaps they really are stupid enough to poison customers in probably the most litigious society in the world? I will definitely be rethinking my regular vodka purchases, and probably deleting a lot of unwanted spam. 

 

For anyone this may affect, the only thing different on these horrible tasting, possibly poisonous bottles is in the lower left hand corner of the label. The last batch, which was fine, had 240-4672 and the way, way off batch has 240-6011 on all three bottles. I opened a second one to smell it after tasting the first one, and sure enough, chemical isopropyl alcohol smell. To top it off, the state monopoly does not allow refunds for any reason.

 

Can anyone recommend an alternative brand of vodka in this same price range that tastes okay? 

[ananth]

my last order

I usually have dolin for sweet vermouth but I'd wanted to try the Noilly. I also took Lustau out of curiosity.

 

Amontillado and Manzanilla are a first for me. I'm finally going to try the Joaquin Simo's Flor de Jerez !

 

For the rye, I always get the rittenhouse when I find it, hope the bulleit won't disappoint me

 

 

Edited June 28, 2017 by ananth (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Nice selection.

 

I needed a bottle of Buffalo Trace bourbon which for some reason my local BevMo is now selling for close to $35 (!). I used to pay that price for a 1.5L bottle. So in protest I bought one of the cheapest options (Old Grand Dad for $16). Let's hope it's decent. The ryes were also crazy expensive, and I was happy to see Rittenhouse for $24.

 

 

Edited July 3, 2017 by FrogPrincesse (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

I should have bought the bonded version apparently. Still it seems ok.

[EvergreenDan]

Rittenhouse is crazy-expensive near me -- close to $30.

[FrogPrincesse]

9 hours ago, EvergreenDan said:

Rittenhouse is crazy-expensive near me -- close to $30.

That's too bad. It might be worth looking into ordering it online then. Hi-Time has it for $22! 

[EvergreenDan]

On 7/3/2017 at 10:17 AM, FrogPrincesse said:

That's too bad. It might be worth looking into ordering it online then. Hi-Time has it for $22! 

Massachusetts is very keen on receiving all its liquor tax. No mail order.

[Tri2Cook]

My heart bleeds for you as I look at the $46.95 Rittenhouse LCBO price.  

[FrogPrincesse]

1 hour ago, EvergreenDan said:

Massachusetts is very keen on receiving all its liquor tax. No mail order.

Crap. That's super annoying.

[tanstaafl2]

On ‎7‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 8:47 PM, FrogPrincesse said:

I should have bought the bonded version apparently. Still it seems ok.

 

At a minimum! I go for the OGD 114. I already pay the local county to send water to my house so I don't need to pay Beam as well because I can add my own if need be!

[FrogPrincesse]

On ‎7‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 3:02 PM, tanstaafl2 said:

 

At a minimum! I go for the OGD 114. I already pay the local county to send water to my house so I don't need to pay Beam as well because I can add my own if need be!

I know, I know. Rookie mistake on my end. But a quick Old Fashioned with the 80 proof was good, so I will have no trouble finishing the bottle I am sure.

[scubadoo97]

While in Chicago I took a long walk over to Binny's and picked up a 20 yr old Armagnac and a Binny's single barrel pick of a Barton's 1792 Full Proof bourbon

 

The Armagnac is quite tasty and is similar in age and flavor to barrels my bourbon group picked from a producer in Gers France recently.  We were so taken by the picks that in a couple months  we are going back to pick more barrels.  Our European scouts are already tasting samples to narrow down the selection.  It should be a fun trip

 

Edited July 9, 2017 by scubadoo97 (log)

[scubadoo97]

On July 7, 2017 at 11:47 AM, FrogPrincesse said:

I know, I know. Rookie mistake on my end. But a quick Old Fashioned with the 80 proof was good, so I will have no trouble finishing the bottle I am sure.

OGD 114 has been my go to to fill my 5L barrel for barrel aged Manhattans.  Due to the warmer weather it was refilled with 114 and sugar (750ml + 1/4 cup sugar) +  Angostura orange and regular bitters for  barrel aged Old Fashioneds 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I mentioned upthread that the J.W. Dant's vodka from Bardstown, KY, that I've been buying for years had gone so far south in the last batch, that I entertained throwing it out. If I had any disposable income at all, I would have, because no refunds at the state liquor monopoly for any reason. I'm still here, so apparently it's not poison, just tastes that way now. 

 

When I went back for my next rounds from the liquor monopoly, I'd written down the lot numbers from the good and bad batches. All the bottles I checked of J.W. Dant's were of the bad batch, and there was more on the shelf than I have ever seen before, so others who buy it are probably finding it unpalatable as well. Now that I think of it seriously, there was less and less smoothness to it recently, it's just that this last batch was so vile, one couldn't help but ignore it. I, for one, will never buy it again, if this dreck is what they let escape their quality control system.

 

I went with Bowman's which is currently distilled in Louisville, KY, although this site claims it originated in Virginia. I selected this because it's in the same price range, and when my longtime neighbor, who has since moved up to Kerr Lake, would come on Sundays seeking a loan of vodka because the liquor monopoly is closed, she'd pay me back with the Bowman's. It's much cheaper than what I was buying at the time, so I sort of resented it, but I remember it not being bad, and it isn't at all. So I am not poisoned, and back to drinking odorless, flavorless vodka. That is just like I like it, and all is right with the world again, except I still have a consuming hatred of the state liquor monopoly.

 

And! the Bowman's was in short supply on the shelves. They will probably have a hard time moving the J.W. Dant's except to unsuspecting victims, and not stock enough Bowman's. I see that coming, as a monopoly does not have to be responsive to consumer preferences or normal market influences.

[FrogPrincesse]

9 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I mentioned upthread that the J.W. Dant's vodka from Bardstown, KY, that I've been buying for years had gone so far south in the last batch, that I entertained throwing it out. If I had any disposable income at all, I would have, because no refunds at the state liquor monopoly for any reason. I'm still here, so apparently it's not poison, just tastes that way now. 

You could try filtering it if you have a Brita!

[EvergreenDan]

On 7/9/2017 at 5:13 PM, FrogPrincesse said:

You could try filtering it if you have a Brita!

Or add some juniper berries to the bottle and drink it with dry vermouth or tonic water.

 

[tanstaafl2]

On ‎7‎/‎9‎/‎2017 at 7:11 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I went with Bowman's which is currently distilled in Louisville, KY, although this site claims it originated in Virginia. I selected this because it's in the same price range, and when my longtime neighbor, who has since moved up to Kerr Lake, would come on Sundays seeking a loan of vodka because the liquor monopoly is closed, she'd pay me back with the Bowman's. It's much cheaper than what I was buying at the time, so I sort of resented it, but I remember it not being bad, and it isn't at all. So I am not poisoned, and back to drinking odorless, flavorless vodka. That is just like I like it, and all is right with the world again, except I still have a consuming hatred of the state liquor monopoly.

 

And! the Bowman's was in short supply on the shelves. They will probably have a hard time moving the J.W. Dant's except to unsuspecting victims, and not stock enough Bowman's. I see that coming, as a monopoly does not have to be responsive to consumer preferences or normal market influences.

 

Bowman's distillery is located in Virginia and is owned by Sazerac which also owns Buffalo Trace in Frankfurt and Barton distillery in Bardstown. I am not sure whether Bowman's vodka is in fact made at the smallish Bowman's distillery in Virginia but I doubt it is made in Louisville. Buffalo Trace makes a lot of vodka (Wheatley, Rain) as does Barton so if it isn't made in Virginia then it may be from one of those two places. Maybe like the Bowman bourbon, it is made at one of those places and then redistilled in Fredericksburg at the Bowman distillery.

 

JW Dant is a Heaven Hill brand name and while HH still have their headquarters in Bardstown the distillery burned down over 20 years ago. The bought a distillery in Louisville and now do all their distilling there. I did not even realize they made a vodka under the Dant name (they make several brands of vodka) as I have only seen the bourbon. Then again HH makes a couple zillion brand names and I rarely look for or buy vodka. I would guess that Louisville is where it is made. I know they make a Heaven Hill brand vodka. Probably just slap a Dant label on it for certain markets.

[tanstaafl2]

So I finally gathered the odds and ends from my recent trip to London and Paris last week. I stopped into The Whisky Exchange because I am able to get them to hold things for me and have always liked a lot of the store barrel picks. After picking up a Perique and a couple of Amer Picon Black Labels I moved on to their selection of store picks. Tried pretty much everything they had available to taste (couldn't have been too much as I could still walk afterwards! Well, sort of since the bar I was headed to was just around the corner). Ended up with their barrel pick of Redbreast from a sherry cask that had been aged about 15 years and was served up at a robust 59.9% along with a very tasty Kavalan that was perhaps 8 years old (which seemed pretty old for Kavalan given that didn't start making whisky until about 2006) that had been aged in an unspecified Islay whisky barrel. A nice touch of smoke without overwhelming the whisky I thought. Also at barrel proof but a bit gentler at 52.4%.

 

 

The rest came from Paris and primarily from LMDW. Once their I quickly ran out of space to be able to haul it all back home in my luggage since I was flying steerage. You have to pack at least a few clothes because you can only turn your underwear inside out so many times before it starts to chafe...

 

So I picked up a few Chartreuse elixir vegetal as well as a special green version Chartreuse 9E Centenaire because I am a sucker for unusual bottlings of Chartreuse. Came upon an Vulson Old Rhino French rye from Hautes Glaces which was likely something I wasn't going to see at home either so in the bag it went. Joining it was a Charon Armagnac from 1995 that was bottled in March 2017. I have had a much younger Charron before so I thought this older version deserved a try. Also picked up a couple of rums from their new rum store next door. One was a 6yo Jamaican Velier from the Hampden distillery at a modest 67% and the other was a special barrel that LMDW did of Bielle Rhum Agricole from Marie Gallant at 56% that is "extra aged" but not age stated. I did track down another Marc de Bourgogne from Domaine Dujac that is an Hors d'age but again not a specific vintage so may be a blend of several years. Finally I picked up a couple of Nikka from the Barrel at Duty Free because duty free selections generally suck these days but you just can't have enough Nikka from the Barrel!

 

 

Oh, and the little sample bottle is from our visit to Compass Box in London where we went through a very enjoyable blending exercise with John Glaser using various components to create a personalized blend. Components used were all bottled in about 2016 and included a 2008 Clynelish, a Highland Blended malt aged in hybrid casks (something like Spice Tree as I recall), a 2005 Laphroaig, a 2005 Benrinnes sherry cask and my favorite, a 22yo Part Dundas grain whisky. I was tempted to just bottle that grain whisky! But I ended up blending all 5 with the Port Dundas as the base at 65%, 15% Benrinnes sherry, 12% Clynelish, 5% Spice Tree and just a touch of the young Laphroaig at 3% just to see if I could taste it.  Now that it has had time to marry a bit I will see how it tastes.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

15 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

 

Bowman's distillery is located in Virginia and is owned by Sazerac which also owns Buffalo Trace in Frankfurt and Barton distillery in Bardstown. I am not sure whether Bowman's vodka is in fact made at the smallish Bowman's distillery in Virginia but I doubt it is made in Louisville. Buffalo Trace makes a lot of vodka (Wheatley, Rain) as does Barton so if it isn't made in Virginia then it may be from one of those two places. Maybe like the Bowman bourbon, it is made at one of those places and then redistilled in Fredericksburg at the Bowman distillery.

 

JW Dant is a Heaven Hill brand name and while HH still have their headquarters in Bardstown the distillery burned down over 20 years ago. The bought a distillery in Louisville and now do all their distilling there. I did not even realize they made a vodka under the Dant name (they make several brands of vodka) as I have only seen the bourbon. Then again HH makes a couple zillion brand names and I rarely look for or buy vodka. I would guess that Louisville is where it is made. I know they make a Heaven Hill brand vodka. Probably just slap a Dant label on it for certain markets.

 

Well, with all due respect sir, I was writing about information from the very product labels that I bought here in the North Carolina state liquor monopoly store I am forced to buy from. Thanks for the info, but it sort of makes me bridle a bit if someone accuses me of spreading false information, to the point that I fetched the J.W. Dant's vodka bottle from the recycling bin, and it only identifies Bardstown, KY. The label does not acknowledge an association with Heaven Hill, but I have no reason to disbelieve you, or interest in researching it, because after years of using the product, I find their current quality control process totally unacceptable.

 

Again, after checking, the Bowman's bottles are only owning up to a Louisville, KY location, but also acknowledge being bottled by the Sazerac Company. I don't mean to argue and recognize that your are probably much more conversant in the origin of spirits than I. I just do not want to be reflected as a person who is not able to read the label on a product I buy and then communicate that accurately.

 

The labels for booze containing products of all kinds seem to be exempted from many laws that apply to other consumables. Case in point: I consumed something in a can called "Peacherita" at a party my brother gave on the fourth. I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it because the flavoring would be artificial and the sugar content too high for me. No ingredients or nutrition info to be found on that label, though. IMO this should change. And as anticipated, I hated this overly sweet, artificially flavored drink.

 

Peace out. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

There should be a number somewhere on the bottle that identifies the distillery.

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

24 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

There should be a number somewhere on the bottle that identifies the distillery.

 

 

Okay, now how would one translate this into a location? As I said above, the bad batch of J.W. Dant has a number: 240-6011. This differed from the previous batch I bought in the last four numbers. The monopoly has a full shelf of the bad batch for the first time I've ever witnessed for J.W. Dant vodka. Even longtime fans like me are unable to choke this crap down. So probably the first three numbers might indicate where it was made, and the next four indicate the lot number, but to us great unwashed, how would we discover where it was distilled and processed?

 

Also, the Bowman's label is forthcoming with a toll free phone number and email address for feedback from consumers. Not so on the J.W. Dant's.

[EvergreenDan]

4 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

someone accuses me of spreading false information

Wut?

 

I re-read @tanstaafl2's reply. He is helping you determine the actual distillery. He neither contradicted anything you said nor implied that you were spreading false information. I appreciate @tanstaafl2's expertise, enjoy his posts, and usually learn something.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Okay, now how would one translate this into a location? As I said above, the bad batch of J.W. Dant has a number: 240-6011. This differed from the previous batch I bought in the last four numbers. The monopoly has a full shelf of the bad batch for the first time I've ever witnessed for J.W. Dant vodka. Even longtime fans like me are unable to choke this crap down. So probably the first three numbers might indicate where it was made, and the next four indicate the lot number, but to us great unwashed, how would we discover where it was distilled and processed?

 

Also, the Bowman's label is forthcoming with a toll free phone number and email address for feedback from consumers. Not so on the J.W. Dant's.

 

This may help:

 

http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/view_distillery.php?did=DST385