The Waxhole: Speakeasy & Whisk(e)y Lounge

Indymisanthrope said:
Guys I’ve bought like 20 bottles in the last month. I’m thinking about starting an infinity bottle.

I feel like somebody posted about High Weat Campfire recently. Was it @kvetcha? I just read that distribution of it is being halted and it’ll only be available on site in Utah from now on. Snagged a couple of bottles in my last excursion. Get it while you can.
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Thanks for the heads up! I’ll try to grab another bottle.
 
Indymisanthrope said:
Guys I’ve bought like 20 bottles in the last month. I’m thinking about starting an infinity bottle.
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I started one earlier this year. I am using a large mason jar right now, until I finish a bottle that I like the shape of. Thinking about using this St. Germain bottle, but there's no cork for it, so I may wait until I finish something else. I pour 1oz. from every new bottle into it, and have kept a running log of all whiskeys that have ever gone in, along with the date that I added it. The only omissions are very peaty scotches. I will add a scotch like Macallan or Glenmorangie, but nothing like Laphroaig or Wee Beasty. The bottle is surprisingly good.

In fact, I did a Blind Tasting this year for my birthday and the Infinite Bottle came in surprisingly high! It was a little bit of set up, but ended up going smoothly. The only problems were that we started it at 8pm after drinking since 11am, and that one of the fellows stopped rating anything and just said "this is awful" after every single sample. Actually, that wasn't a problem, that was a bonus! :ROFLMAO:

Before doing the blind test I thought Woodford Reserve was my favorite all-rounder. I wasn't too far off.

The competing whiskeys were:

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A121
Glenmorangie
Buffalo Trace
High West Prairie Bourbon
Woodford Reserve
Traverse City Barrel Proof Rye
Eagle Rare
Jefferson's Reserve
Eastern Kille Bourbon
Macallan 12 Double Cask
Wild Turkey 101
Infinite Bottle (which at this point was a mix of all of these and some Maker's Mark)

I knew there were a couple that were out of place and I would know immediately, blind or not. Like the Rye and the two scotches. The Glenmorangie looked completely different from everything else. But, I had already sunk a good $350 into this and didn't feel like buying two more dark bourbons.

Here's the order I rated them in

1. Buffalo Trace
2. Woodford Reserve
3. Wild Turkey 101
4. Traverse City Barrel Proof Rye
5. Eagle Rare
6. Infinity Bottle
7. Jefferson's Reserve
8. Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A121
9. High West Prairie Bourbon
10. Macallan 12 Double Cask
11. Glenmorangie
12. Eastern Kille Bourbon

I was pleasantly surprised that my top choice (blind) was a $26 bottle that I can easily find. Also, Wild Turkey 101 getting bronze was a surprise, too. Not surprising that Woodford sat so high, or that Eastern Kille came in dead last. The scotches were really out of place and just weren't tasting good next to all the bourbons, so they didn't get a fair shake. I will say, though, that I love Macallan 12 and this Double Cask just does not taste very good to me. Shame, too, because it is one of the more expensive bottles on my shelf. Not worth the $90 at all. I thought I would be able to pick out the Elijah Craig immediately because it's so much more "hot" than the others, but it didn't really stand out. There were a few that I thought could be the high proof Elijah Craig. I'm surprised it landed so low, though. It was fun and by the time my next birthday rolls around I'm sure I'll have a full cabinet of only bourbons to test out.
 
The samples were whatever size the drinker wanted. Usually about an ounce or two in a cup, but we didn't finish most pours. We did this back in March at a hotel, so we had a bucket of ice on hand for the second pass-through. There were only 3 of us doing the tasting. It was a "vaccinated friends only" weekend since we were going to be swimming and hanging out in a common room. Next years will be more people. But, with the 3 of us it took about 2 hours. We tried to stay on the same glass and talk about them together before we moved on the the next. We had been drinking for a while, so sometimes it was 10 minutes of bullshitting between drinks. After we went through once and had our lineup in the order we wanted, we put ice in them and took another sip of them. That went way quicker. I only moved a few around, but my friend Steve pretty much rearranged his whole lineup on the second pass. The other friend was laying on the bed at that point telling us he hated us and all whiskey tastes like musty satan sweat. At least our significant others had someone to laugh at while we went through these. Ha. We cleansed our palate with domestic pilsners we grabbed at the hotel bar downstairs. We each had a glass of water, but I used the Miller Lite more than the water. We had some hunters sausage, cheese curds, beef jerky, and pretzels that we grabbed at a shop in town. Then, what was probably my worst decision of 2021 so far, we all ate a spicy pickled egg after the event was complete. It was funny......but also horrible.

my pours
4BC20790-75DD-4930-B55E-52BEF36CB213.jpeg
The horrible egg
4512D303-C35C-4D93-9C50-6A6881005BE9.jpeg
 
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Skeletonframes said:
The samples were whatever size the drinker wanted. Usually about an ounce or two in a cup, but we didn't finish most pours. We did this back in March at a hotel, so we had a bucket of ice on hand for the second pass-through. There were only 3 of us doing the tasting. It was a "vaccinated friends only" weekend since we were going to be swimming and hanging out in a common room. Next years will be more people. But, with the 3 of us it took about 2 hours. We tried to stay on the same glass and talk about them together before we moved on the the next. We had been drinking for a while, so sometimes it was 10 minutes of bullshitting between drinks. After we went through once and had our lineup in the order we wanted, we put ice in them and took another sip of them. That went way quicker. I only moved a few around, but my friend Steve pretty much rearranged his whole lineup on the second pass. The other friend was laying on the bed at that point telling us he hated us and all whiskey tastes like musty satan sweat. At least our significant others had someone to laugh at while we went through these. Ha. We cleansed our palate with domestic pilsners we grabbed at the hotel bar downstairs. We each had a glass of water, but I used the Miller Lite more than the water. We had some hunters sausage, cheese curds, beef jerky, and pretzels that we grabbed at a shop in town. Then, what was probably my worst decision of 2021 so far, we all ate a spicy pickled egg after the event was complete. It was funny......but also horrible.

my pours
View attachment 102507
The horrible egg
View attachment 102508
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You either have a giant hand or that’s a sparrows egg 😆
 
Optical illusion? It seemed to have shrank somewhat in the vinegar brine, because whatever water was inside of it definitely got sucked out. It was maybe a little smaller than normal. Eating it made it seem like a fucking ostrich egg, though. It wasn’t the taste or spiciness that got us, it was the dryness. Every bite my mouth filled up with more dry egg crumbles. The more I tried to swallow dry bits of hot egg, the more I laughed, which made it even tougher.
 
Skeletonframes said:
Optical illusion? It seemed to have shrank somewhat in the vinegar brine, because whatever water was inside of it definitely got sucked out. It was maybe a little smaller than normal. Eating it made it seem like a fucking ostrich egg, though. It wasn’t the taste or spiciness that got us, it was the dryness. Every bite my mouth filled up with more dry egg crumbles. The more I tried to swallow dry bits of hot egg, the more I laughed, which made it even tougher.
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Spicy pickled eggs are awesome. You just need more practice.
 
Englishbob said:
Spicy pickled eggs are awesome. You just need more practice.
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Oh I'll eat anything pickled. Well, maybe not pigs feet. I've had some pickled eggs, spicy and non, a few times, but these were so dry it was like eating cornstarch compressed into egg form. 10/10 would sahara again.
 
Heaven Hill distillery employees are going on strike. My house whiskey has been Rittenhouse Rye for years, but I will be switching to Wild Turkey 101 for the foreseeable future. Other brands I like that I will not be buying are Henry McKenna BiB, Elijah Craig SB (and all their brands tbh), Evan Williams black label, and Larceny.

Frankly I like just about everything from their juice but I'm not gonna buy it. I hope you don't either.

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