We really don't know any liquor store owners, we know the winery owners and as I said, we see/talk to Julian multiple times a year. So to rub it in, we get them for free if you want to be particular, lol...damn dude sell me a bottle next year! I hate playing the "i know a guy who knows a guy who knows the owner of a liquor store and they save me a bottle in the back room every year" bullshit.
If you want the best and smoothest vodka, pay a little bit more, around $50, and get some Jean Marc XO. The best vodka you will ever experience in your life, perfect to mix and perfect for drinking straight on the rocks. Almost like drinking spring water, that's how smooth it is with no bite or burn...Not much of a whiskey guy myself. Prefer vodka over pretty much everything. Most expensive/best tasting kind I have ever had has been Greygoose. Smoothest vodka I have tasted to date, granted I haven't had much variety over the years.
I'm far from a connoisseur, but I've had a number of different sakes as well.I am on a cheap Sake binge atm. Been grabbing every $5-6 bottle I run across, surprisingly so far nothing has been bad. It's a nice palate cleanser between beers.
Canadian rye and American rye are two different beasts. From distillation to finishing they are made differently. In short Canadian ryes are going to be subtler with a complex profile while American ryes are going to be bolder with a more limited depth. AFAIK all Candian rye is blended in a manner similar to scotch - even 100% Canadian rye is produced from a blend of lower proof rye distillations and higher proof more neutral distillations and they are usually aged in bourbon barrels. American rye basically follows the same rules as bourbon except the mash bill has at least 51% rye instead of corn. The distillation proof and new barrels are the same.I wanted to see what the whole "rye" thing was about, so I went to the liquor store and all they had was Pendleton 1910 for $42, and then Jim Beam and some $12 no-name stuff. I am not a Jim Beam fan so I bought the Pendleton and I'm not particularly impressed with it. Is this a good example of what rye whiskey is like? If so I'm going back to bourbon.
Thanks, I thought there had to be a bit more to it. I doubt I will be able to get any of the stuff you suggested but I'll keep my eyes open. Bulleit is the bourbon I drink and I kind of like it for the reasons you mentioned. I like my whiskey to kick me in the teeth personally. When someone starts telling me how smooth a certain brand is, I usually think that it probably isn't for me. Crown Royal seems like the Coors light of whiskey to me. I am also a fan of Jonnie Walker Black but it's not worth the extra $10 a bottle to me vs. Bulleit.Canadian rye and American rye are two different beasts. From distillation to finishing they are made differently. In short Canadian ryes are going to be subtler with a complex profile while American ryes are going to be bolder with a more limited depth. AFAIK all Candian rye is blended in a manner similar to scotch - even 100% Canadian rye is produced from a blend of lower proof rye distillations and higher proof more neutral distillations and they are usually aged in bourbon barrels. American rye basically follows the same rules as bourbon except the mash bill has at least 51% rye instead of corn. The distillation proof and new barrels are the same.
For mid range stuff I think the Knob Creek rye is a fantastic example of what American rye is and should be, but it does occupy a weird price point for rye between the mid and high end stuff. Russell's reserve is a nice entry, but I think a step bellow the Knob though it is cheaper. And then there is Bulleit. Their bourbon, which I like even though I don't think it's a great bourbon, tends to lack refinement and is a brawler, but their fucking rye is very well rounded, while still keeping that rye character. Go figure.
A step up the quality chain will get you High West's Rendezvous rye, which is really, really good. All of High West's whiskeys are good even though they are blends from other distilleries - though they aren't blended in the same way that Canadian rye or scotch is. That is a different sort of blending.