This is the correct response to Jim Beam. It's hard to imagine there's anything considerably worse out there among all liquors. Base-level Jack Daniels is not good, but Jim Beam finds a way to be like 2-3 levels worse.

You need a Michters, I don't know where you are but if there is a Bluenote around you should try it

It’s embarrassing how little I know about bourbon/whiskey esp because I’m old af.

The last two nights I went out to dinner I ordered old fashioneds.

Here’s the first and the better of the two:

Vanilla Orange Old Fashioned
1792 small batch bourbon, vanilla-orange syrup - orange & angostura bitters

Would this be considered a decent drink?

Feel like that’s a profile that leans toward that sweeter side. Have you tried an Old Forester 1910 or 1920 before? Around 50 bucks most places, super available, lot of banana and caramel flavors.

Bardstown Discovery around that same price point is one I tried recently and really liked.

So this is just my opinion:

Several years ago, as can be attested to on this forum, I was a big sushi snob. But as far as what other people have and enjoy, who really cares?

Same goes for booze/cocktails. Like what you drink and drink what you like.

(that sounds like a fine cocktail to me as long as it goes light on the syrup, I don't like an old fashioned to be overly sweet)

Drink what you like; eat what you like; enjoy what you like. Life is too short to waste it trying to impress others.

I will pick up a bottle, thank you.

I appreciate everyone’s feedback.

Anyone tried Middle West Whiskeys? If so, any thoughts? Former Whiskey specialist at Total Wine and Spirits recommended it to me after I told her I like Uncle Nearest.

I got a bottle of J. Rieger Straight Bourbon bottled in bond for Christmas: https://www.jriegerco.com/our-spirit...ottled-in-bond

Couple years ago someone gave me their Straight Rye botted in bond. Unfortunately I have the same feeling with those that I have with most other stuff from young distilleries. Stuff is pretty decent but because it's a local product and the distillery is still relatively new, they charge the same for a 6 YO whiskey than what you pay for a bottle of something like a Glenfiddich 15. That's just ridiculous to me.

I haven't, but I have enjoyed High West lol, like is there a Low West?

Their base offering is solid for a 4 year product. They are doing grain to glass so a true craft whiskey. I tend to like bourbon in the 8 year range and proofed up so it doesn't really do it for me.

I second people that have said Eagle Rare. If you like Buffalo Trace, you’ll love Eagle Rare. I wanna say it’s like $60-75 for 1L, but I don’t know how that compares to upside-down-land.

If you’re going high end, in my opinion Pappy Van Winkle is the best bourbon money can buy. It’s expensive, hard to find, and supply is artificially constrained, though.

If you find any, drink it neat. The person who got it for me (bit of a bourbon snob) was AGHAST that I wanted it on the rocks.

Likely you're just consuming more alcohol, unless you're measuring your drinks and doing napkin algebra while drinking to ensure you're consuming the same amount of alcohol when drinking wine, whiskey, or beer.

Your sleep is being affected whether you think it is or not. How do you think you're getting good sleep when your liver is metabolizing a bunch of booze while you're sleeping?

Also, as you're aware, alcohol is a depressant so it makes sense why when you consume large amounts that your mind has the opposite reaction when it's detoxifying: anxiety.

But hey, if you're down for an old fashioned OOT experiment, let us know what the ABV of the whiskey, wine, and beer you drink, and let's have you consume equal amounts (e.g., 9 ounces of 40% whiskey vs 60oz of 6% beer vs 24oz of 15% wine) alternating each night for a few weeks and document the results each day.

I think the question will also depend if you are mixing spirits vs. having them neat. Mixing them with caffeinated or sugary drinks is going to leave you either not being able to get to sleep as easy or if you wake up in the middle of the morning not being able to get back to sleep as easy. Beer generally has a much better effect of sending you to sleep (including on the couch - haha).

Yeah, I don’t mix scotch or bourbon with anything.

Definitely drinking nothing is the best way to get a better sleep. Then…sometimes I seem to manage to find a good sleep despite drinking, other times not so much. I think it depends what’s on my mind and how things are going.

I mean…I always slept better after a poker win than a big loss for similar reasons

They do this to get teenager girls to drink, don't they?

The low ABV points in that direction.

35% is low?? It would be more like 15-20% but even so I struggled to see a lot of teenagers (18+) drinking whiskey from the bottle either neat or as a mixer. What's the price?

In the European Union you're not even allowed to call your product whisky/whiskey if the ABV is below 40%.

They comin after Fireball and Crown Peach.

When I was a lad the sugar loaded starter alcohol of choice was 99 Bannanas/Oranges/Strawberries which I believe was 50%. Think I would still throw up reflexively if I ever smelled that again.

We can set up some parameters.

You down for this experiment?

If it were 50% it would be called 100 Bananas. The only one that's remotely palatable is the peanut butter flavor.

Haha. Just had 99 Bananas on Saturday. It's fine if you have it as your first shot and it is straight from the freezer. Most of the other 99s are terrible though.

That and Rump I'll buy since the airplane bottles are a dollar.

not for me right now. Going through a marriage separation so trying not to drink at all and…rather a lot more on my mind than usual so conditions aren’t ideal

Maybe down the track and I’ll follow the results with interest if anyone else does it

(Also, I live in the developed world so oz, pints, quarts, gallons etc aren’t legal tender)

All the best and looking forward to your return to drinking