What's up with this "ten dollar college kid stuff?&quot

I was once having a discussion with another bourbon drinker on "another web site" and he mentioned something about not having had much in the way of really top shelf bourbon but way back when he used to drink bourbon it was, and I believe he said "ten dollar college kid stuff" and made some reference to "regular Jim Beam."

Now, of course we had a good laugh over that and I did remark how it's hard to pick up a bottle of any kind of bourbon for a "walk-out" price of ten dollars any more, but he got his point across.

But another side of me was thinking that perhaps it was unfair for people to think along certain lines just because some "automatics" are in place. I'm always trying to be fair and balanced, truly, and always ready to see my "comfort zone" challenged if it will provide me with increased knowledge and expand my horizons.

So, is it really true that if:

(i) some kind of booze costs less than a certain amount per fifth that it's automatically diesel fuel, rot good, no good and no good for you?;
(ii) furthermore, if a company has a tendency to put a certain one or two of its products in extremely large bottles, sold at highly discounted prices, bringing it into line with the price of bottled water;
(iii) does that mean it's "no good" and you shouldn't buy it?

Well, the company's product is obviously flying off the shelves if they're packaging it in huge containers and neighborhood liquor stores are selling it for the price of bottled water. And what does "no good" mean anyway? Does that mean that it's slowly killing people by the millions, yes, that's it, over a period of 40 years 55,000,000 Americans have had their guts rotted out, hearts stopped and lungs punctured by cheap booze!

Now, don't get me wrong, there are people who drink too much in this world, plenty of them, but is the percentage of people who drink too much and whose lives suffer for it greater in the ten dollar a bottle crowd, or hundred dollar a bottle crowd?

What I mean is, if you're going to suffer from drinking too much, but you drink ten dollar a bottle bourbon in MODERATION because that's all you can afford, is it really going to hurt you? Is there some ingredient in there that rusts your body out, that we should go after major distilleries over the way the cigarette companies got raked over the coals after certain things were revealed about secret practices?

Now, of course one might be able to make the case that a lot of "ten dollar college kid stuff" isn't going to taste very nice if you're the kind who likes to sit and slowly sip his or her bourbon in moderation for flavor, relaxation and pleasure, like in front of a ball game or favorite TV show. Okay, now THAT'S a good point. But is even THAT point really true? And who says that, some stuffed shirt who's built a reputation based on nothing but pomposity and a few payoffs from well placed industry mavens? Not that all whiskey critics are such people, maybe none of them are.

But what I mean is this. About a year ago the Jim Beam distillery had a major fire in one of its warehouses and lost one million barrels of bourbon. mg:

THEY LOST ONE MILLION BARRELS OF BOURBON!!! mg:

And it was only a fraction of their warehoused stock. And it wasn't "the good stuff" either. 8)

That's many millions of bottles, people. MANY . . . millions.

But it still didn't hurt them much. mg:

Now why would a SINGLE distillery be able to produce a product that was really only diesel fuel and still sell so much?

Well, I'm finally getting to my point. And I know by now that at least half of the Standing Room Only crowd of 73,162 in Beam Bowl is still here and I don't blame the rest for leaving. We all know that yours truly, The Great Dumboni is a dumb blonde, and as such is prone to be rather wordy.

Well, the point is maybe we need to reexamine our "comfort zone" and buy something cheap once in a while just to make sure we're not missing out on something. And that's just what I did when I plunked down a little over $17 to walk out with a bottle of Jim Beam Rye from a liquor store last week, sure, not the "regular bourbon" that you can get railroad cars of for $1.49, but their basic, bottom shelf, regular screw top bottle of Jim Beam, hokey looking yellow label, but containing rye instead of bourbon. And with rye making a comeback, but by no means having taken over any great percentage of the market, you can bet that Jim Beam is not looking at this as a top shelf product.

But, are they necessarily out to make a bad one? Think about it. With the all the products that a company, any big company, but in this case the Jim Beam Distillery can put out, are they really, really looking to deliberately to fill up a few thousand barrels with stomach rusting, headache inducing diesel fuel? Are they really looking to get into medical journals and blasted in the press? Is it really true that something to drink that automatically costs very little is by extension a "bad" product?

Like my $30 weed whacker. Sure, it requires an extension cord, because I don't like messing with, maintaining and operating, as well as paying the high price for gas powered appliances, and it jams occasionally, sometimes more than occasionally, and every few minutes I have to check and see if the nylon line needs to be extended again, but hey, does it work? Sure does, real well too, and it doesn't really cost me that much more in time, all things considered, and I happen to like manual labor. So, my $30 weed whacker is more than worth it.

And after the first tasting of my bottle of plain old every day, ordinary "ten dollar college kid stuff" $17 bottle of Jim Beam rye, I can tell you this:

it's absolutely delicious and took me one step further in my understanding of the flavor profile of true American, minimally aged rye whiskey.

So, challenge your "comfort zone." Don't think that because your boat is only 16 feet that it's not "as good" as that guy's 98 foot yacht a quarter mile off your starboard bow. Instead of being a malcontent, or "professionally miserable", remember that you are as responsible for your own precious "self esteem" as anyone else in this universe.

Stop thinking "top shelf" if it's not in your price range, and remember, this may be a world that has plunged all too deep into various kinds of evils, with people trying to hustle and scam each other all over the place, but it's still possible here in America, and anywhere you are in this world to have the value of a dollar confirmed in a pleasant way. For me on Monday afternoon, it came in the form of my bedtime spirit, Jim Beam rye, absolutely delicious. More as further tastings progress, season permitting.

I can understand that being done in a bar, but Mike, you said it was done in a store. How was the bottle re-sealed to look as though it had just come from the distillery with its original seal intact?

Walt, bourbon IS whiskey, rye is whiskey, scotch is whiskey, Irish whiskey is whiskey, Tennessee whiskey (Jack, etc.) is whiskey, Canadian whiskey is whiskey, etc. Whiskey is a type of spirit, referring to the distillation method, just as rum is a type of spirit.

As for a sub-20 dollar bottle of whiskey, I assume you mean what I refer to as a "walk-out" price, meaning the price plus any applicable taxes and/or shipping charges. I am going to assume you mean that and not something that costs you $19.99 but more to walk out of the store or come off a web site with, unless you live in New Hampshire, where booze prices are low and taxes non-existent. :banghead:

Therefore, I believe that these are good suggestions, based strictly on my opinions only, and my knowledge of prices in my area and on my favorite web sites. I emphasize my opinions only, because you might try any one or all of these and conclude that I told you to buy diesel fuel. :banghead: 8)

The best whiskey or the best cigar, or the best dish of linguine with garlic and oil is the one YOU like best.

"Sub-$20" Suggestions only:

Elijah Craig 12 year old bourbon
W.L. Weller 12 year old bourbon
Old Overholt Rye
Jim Beam Rye

By the way, you asked me about sub-$20's only, but once you get into the sub-$25 category, the suggestions multiply quite extensively by comparison. People don't always have, or don't want to spend the extra $5 or so, but I'm stating that for the record, just in case.

Ahhhh, I see, sorry about that. Something sounded awry, like I guess my brain, but that's par for the course. As a matter of fact, it's probably birdie for the course, which is probably why I keep hearing "tweet tweet" in my head a lot of the time. :shock: I certainly hope it isn't done in stores. As far as what's done in bars, I drink at home, and didn't discover my "spirit" in bars, so thankfully I've escaped that deception. It is interesting to hear about, though.

To tell you the truth HP, I hope you're right because the thought of such practices appalls me. Now, I'm not God or anything like that, and I certainly have done, seen and known about more than a few unseemly things of a varying nature that should not be done on God's earth. People that I may have heard these things from or seen them do, usually knew I didn't approve, but you can't police anyone in this world but yourself and those you have influence over, and only to a certain extent at that.

Thank you for the information, HP. Scotchland Yard's Whiskey Dogg Detective is ALWAYS on the case. :wink:

Yes of course, it's always about The Almighty Dollar, but I need not speak of that at length.

I'd have to honestly say that at LEAST 99.999% of my drinking is done at home with bottles purchased from internet sources or by me personally at certain liquor stores. I've never been one for the bar scene, for a variety of reasons, and now I've got another one.

Whenever I do have the occasion to go to a bar, it's always accompanying someone who's known at the establishment, and where I also usually know the barkeep(s) and/or the owner(s).