[Ron756]

Hate to not see posts on this thread. Finished off a bottle of Ezra Brooks 99 Rye in December. A tab bit sweet, but at 25 bucks a bottle it's affordable and tasty.

I have a bottle of Jefferson’s Ocean voyage 28 open at the moment.   
Still my go to.  Started to smoke it with maple and oak.  Very good.


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[MDixon]

Bought a bottle of Knobel Tennessee Whiskey which seemed expensive in the grand scheme of things. Opened it last night and while I need to hit it more it ain't seeming as if it will be a favorite. Left an impression of cherry life saver on the palate. Of course that could have been due to something I ate so I'll hit it again with a clean palate.

[MDixon]

Finished off a bottle of 25 buck Speyburn 10 Year Single Malt last night. Was surprised at the level of packaging on a budget friendly single malt scotch. At first I didn't think much of it because the flavors were so light. Eventually it captured my attention and in the end it's worth picking up. Kinda boring, but a great one to pour when you don't want to overwhelm the palate and need a Speyside scotch.

[MDixon]

I hit the Knobel over a few days this weekend and I've come around to it. Must have been my palate was off kilter when I first opened it. Still not sure it's worth the price of admission. More sampling will be required to know.

[fredthecat]

lol, i had wild turkey yesterday for the first time in maybe 15 years.

the aroma did bring me back, i always loved it. a lot of good things going on in it, i always get this menthol character from it that i only get fragments of in some other bourbons on top of all the typical bourbon notes.

i definitely am not a spirits guy though. its simply that i dont like the feel anymore of getting that drunk off little sips and i like the flavours of a good one in spite of the ethanol involved, rather than because of the ethanol elements. and thats in a GOOD spirit, let alone a mediocre one.

ive been trying to get those elements in whiskey/bourbon i like in beers i make for the past few years. bottled another one about 6 weeks ago, and from years when i did a stronger toast on already toasted oak cubes, i would go even hard, possibly charring them a bit. see how https://suigenerisbrewing.com/index.php/2020/09/13/an-experimental-maillard-bochet/ turned out

[jeffy]

Quick question for Mike Dixon - is liquor cheaper or more available in North or South Carolina?

[MDixon]

This is a long answer to what should be an easy question, but it's complex. So NC is an ABC state and SC is not.

In NC it depends upon which ABC board you are in as to what they have ordered and have in stock.

In general Bourbons which aren't highly sough after are less expensive in SC, but each store is independent. Scotch tends to be less expensive in NC, especially when it goes on sale. If the bottle is highly sought after then it's typically less expensive in NC, but likely very difficult to find.

Sales in NC are announced ahead of time and run for a month. Every ABC in the state will have the same price on a sale item. Now we recently allowed discount sales so if an ABC board decides to do so they can discount the extra bottles to get them sold. I recently go $75 bottles of scotch for $30, which is lower than I had EVER seen that bottle in more than 15 years. Discounted bottles are typically not announced and some ABC boards mark them as being on sale, while others just mark them down and you have to figure out if they are discounted or not.

In NC we have 168 ABC boards and 432 ABC stores in the state.

Here's a link to the sale prices/discounts by month:
https://abc2.nc.gov/Pricing/MonthlyReductions/3