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happycamper

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About happycamper

  • Birthday 11/15/1987

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    Gonzaga
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    Knoxville
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    MWCboard. Obv

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  1. rosegreen he has not owned up to his mistakes. he's made mistake after mistake after mistake, hassling moderators after waking hours, making other people clean up his shit. it has been exhausting for years dealing with jeff. mwcboard isn't a url. it's a community. and jeff's personal issues put the ability to even post in jeopardy. not in the past, but for all foreseeable time. I am tired of that. enough of the community migrated to wcsboard that, for me, that's mwcboard. i don't care what I have to type into the browser to get there and i really don't care who the owner is as long as the board is stable. personal loyalty to the worst owner in a motely line of "great, engaged" and "very disengaged, hands off" owners who largely let the community evolve organically doesn't make sense to me.
  2. dawg you missed a lot of shit on your long sabbatical from this board lol he's not making anything up
  3. Happy's annual bourbon distillery tour - report THURSDAY Went to Castle & Key and James E Pepper, stayed in Lexington. Castle and Key had the best facility of any distillery I've been to. It makes sense - it was built as a kind of tourist/bourbon getaway in the 1910s and is now partially restored. The bourbon is distilled in a castle, there is a roman bath built onsite (in the shape of a key, hence the name), the other buildings are gorgeous, there's a wonderful and quite cheap bar, they have a food truck on site (the first distillery I've been to which has one which sounds crazy, but it's true) and they have sunken gardens a la Windsor for parties. Some of the buildings were not yet re-built, which was cool as well. Who gives a shit, how was the bourbon? It was pretty good, guys. They break up their small batches by year and give them their own number and they have their own personality. I liked their #2 this year the best. Their rye was good but real peppery - so one of the guys I was with loved it, but it wasn't for me. Their single barrel was great and they're only selling one single barrel this year, so my friend group now has 3% of the total single barrel production from Castle and Key this year. Try their stuff if you get a chance. James E Pepper was cool. It was one of the oldest distilleries that got re-built so they have a very low distillery number, which they are quite proud of. Old brick building, large area that they lease out to all sorts of restaurants - kind of a party vibe and far more urban. They had a former Navy tour guide who said she was the person who kept marching count in her boot camp, so the tour was extremely well organized, we could hear everything, and she managed the group very well. How was the bourbon? It was all right, well within its price point. Somewhere in the "better than Maker's, worse than Wilderness" area. Their decanter for ~70 bucks was quite good but I knew we had better distilleries coming up. If you see their bourbon on the menu, I'd give them a shot. Lexington. I'd never stayed there before, only passed through. It has a bigger feel than Knoxville which surprised me - but the actual city of Lexington is bigger than Knox while its metro is smaller. It checks out, their downtown is bigger but the city doesn't stretch into eternity the way Knoxville does along I-40. It was HOPPING too, on a Thursday night with no college kids in town. Lots of groups of men and women on the hunt for strange downtown. Between Louisville and now Lexington, I am willing to call Kentucky the horniest state. The guy I was with who has lived up and down the Northeast and recently moved next door from Alaska said it looked like Mass to him a bit with the construction style. FRIDAY Started the day at Lexington Brewing and Distilling and later went to Wilderness Trail. I had visited these two in years past, and they were great. They didn't disappoint. Lexington Brewing and Distilling - these one deserves a bit of background. It was founded by an Irish yeast scientist as a hobby project - it's a small division of his yeast/microbiology company. So... the building is quite Irish in appearance. Their beer is great. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale is the progenitor of the "aged in bourbon barrels" beer fad, and in my opinion, none of the others come close. It's good in the bottle and fantastic on tap, one of those beers that take a huge leap. They have other beer too but that's the flagship. I tried their extra aged "old fashioned" beer that was like 111%. Nothing like starting with a strong ale at 11:30 in the morning. Their bourbon is.... all right. They make more spirits than any other company though. Their gin is great, they make a rhubarb infused gin that's delightful, they make a single malt that is... fine, and they make the best Irish whisky I've ever had (they also have a distillery in Ireland - their single malt is an American single malt, but their Irish whisky is actually Irish). Should you get some if you see it on the menu? eh. Maybe if it is just them and makers. If you see their beer or Irish whisky though snap it up. A gin lover would love their gin too - that rhubarb one make a delightfully tasty gimlet. Wilderness Trail Wilderness trail is what made me fall in love with bourbon over scotch. It is tasty, it has a great price point, and you can find it. We went in 2021 and we're back. What's changed? Well recently they sold ~70% of their business to Campari for 600 million. Get it, guys. Wilderness trail ALSO came out of a yeast microbiologist starting a company, but in this case, the distilling company ended up wagging the dog of the yeast company, ha ha. They're a sweet mash company, very scientific, and have all their own rickhouses. This was the only tour where we got to go in to full sized rickhouses and they look and smell super cool. Heaven hill lets you do that too, we didn't do them this year. As an aside, they're moving to 100% non-gmo grain to have total entry to the European market. I would not be surprised with this aquisition of Wilderness Trail became just The Bourbon, or maybe the top shelf bourbon, you see worldwide in 10-20 years. It has that quality and now the distribution muscle behind it. So how was the whisky? It was great! they have their wheated bourbon and their high rye bourbon. They don't use cold weather rye - they buy a heritage rye from Kentucky that's a lot less peppery and more floral. Combined with their sweet mash process, their high rye bourbon is smooth, viscous, with a butterscotchy mouthfeel. I love it, it's fantastic. Their single barrels are great as well, but I didn't end up getting them - their "normal" bourbon is so good at a 50 dollar price point I simply don't care to spend the extra money for a marginal increase (unlike a lot of companies where their single barrel is in a different universe from their normal stuff). I got a boubon aged tea for my wife there. Hooray remembering stuff! We had lunch in Danville at the Copper and Oak. Danville is cool - nice town, clean and pretty, an the Copper and Oak has great food, the waiters are awesome, and they have a deal with Wilderness Trail to get a discount from their gift shop if you ate there. Unfortunately we did not spend the night in Danville, we spent the night in Bardstown. Bardstown has seen better days. It seems to be benefitting from the bourbon resurgence but it was rough finding a place to eat after 6 (!) and the place we chose - the Scout and Scholar - had the worst beer I've ever had. Even my dad, who knows jack shit about brewing and who had no control over temperature of his yeast, does a better job. Their "saison" had a burnt tire taste that led to 70% of the beer being left on the table. Between me and my two buddies the fact that this happened is an earth shattering event. It tasted like a burning tire filled with farts. The food was ok. We went to a liquor store with a bar that had all sorts of whisky to pour - you could get a shot of pappy if you wanted to pay 75 bucks (pass). We tried some cool stuff there and stumbled back to the motel. Shoulda stayed in Danville. NE guy said Bardstown kinda looked like towns in Jersey - from what he's said, he grew up in a rough part of Jersey. SATURDAY I will say, Bardstown is a great town to run in. Went on a ~6 mile run that I could have made ~10 miles. Great trails, good sidewalk system (rare in the south), pretty views. OK, maybe the town isn't that bad. On to Louisville. Louisville is hopping. NE guy said it's a strange mix of PA. To me it kind of looks like the big brother of all the Wyoming brick/railroad downtowns. We have two tours today - one at Peerless, one at Rabbit Hole. Again, louisville was horny the way LExington was. It's a big city, you guys know how that is. We stayed downtown. It was full of PGA fan/douches who were there for the championship. We had no idea it was going on when we booked. They were very easy to spot though. Same uniform, same hunched posture. Was strange. Got the kids mini bats from the Louisville slugger museum. Hooray! sanctioned whappers! they were happy. I know nothing about Peerless. We get there and it's right by the Ohio and looks like we're gonna get stabbed. well, here we go. Go in, it's fairly nice, start the tour. The owner is there. He comes in to the tour a few times and gives us anecdotes. He went to military school with the Allman brothers. Cool old guy. Anyway. The tour is great, most of their stuff is on site in an old brick building. They date back to before prohibition and managed to bring the label back. Tour is fun, tour host has a heavy hand. We got to taste extra - they had a new double oaked rye and bourbon to try, and they let you try their single barrel. But... they only had 2 bottles of that barrel left, so we got two single barrel tastes. How was the bourbon? It was the best, guys. Makes Angel's Envy rye look like a kid playing with sugar. Make Rabbit Hole good, but anticlimactic. Their bourbon is fantastic and it is the starting point. Their rye is better, more flavor and great mouthfeel. Their first single barrel was smooth, sweet, and subtle, tasted like the smell of cookies in the oven. The second barrel was more herbal and a bit higher proof, had a lot more going on with a similar backbone. Their double oaked rye and bourbon were fantastic, just full of flavor. The tour - 10/10. The whiskey ( I know I'm using "bourbon" a lot when sometimes it's a high rye bourbon and sometimes it's a rye whiskey, sorry guys) 10/10. The location? No stabs! They start at the top of the market and price like it. Fortunately, they sell 200 ml bottles in the gift shop scaled to price the same as a fifth in terms of volume. I get one each of the bourbon and the rye and I'm happy. If you see their stuff on the menu and you have money to burn, get it. It's the best thing on there. Last tour, Rabbit Hole. It was a miracle that we got these tickets. They open them almost randomly and we checked for them every day. My buddy got them when they opened just after midnight eastern (he lives in Casper, he was still awake). The tour was great. The tour guide was knowledgable and enthusiastic, their building in Louisville is super cool, and the tasting room is up high where you can see the city. I'm tired of writing. It was rad, the only tour that rivalled Peerless. How was the whiskey? It was great! If it weren't for Peerless it would be the winner. Their Cavehill is pretty good, it's their base level bourbon. Their Heigold high rye is great. It was better than Wilderness Trail. Their full rye was... fine; I'm not a big rye guy lol and Peerless' rye stole the show. Their Darenger finished bourbon in sherry casks was GREAT. I really enjoyed it. At the distillery, they had other finished whiskeys - I tried a darenger mash bill aged in port instead of sherry. IT was... not as good. Too sweet and cloying for me, the darenger was better. They had other options but they're a premium brand, I didn't want to spend 60 bucks at the bar trying a pour of everything when I could spend 65 bucks downstairs for a whole bottle. Verdict: Similar to Peerless. They're expensive, and they are more than worth it. The haul:
  4. I mean, Cincy's recent highs in both football and basketball are higher than Utah's. Their lows are a lot worse though. They are more like a Mountain West program though, more dependent on coaching hires than overall program stability.
  5. Appreciate it... but I live in Tennessee! Shipping alcohol to me is illegal (from anybody, you can't even order it delivered).
  6. Real good. I really like it. Mezcal Ilegal. The reposado is nice and smoky and smooth with just a bit of sweetness. Their joven is pretty good too, a little more raw and a little rubbery in a pleasant way? Oh no I had to stack them like that for the photo! I have plenty of room for more... but the more I have the faster I drink them (instead of wine or beer).
  7. All right, ya guys got me. Here is my relatively small vice cabinet. My favorite of it is the makers 46 '19 special batch. The most flavor while being as smooth as the Angel's Envy.
  8. I sure have! I signed up in May of 2021 so I should have 1-3 years to go. In fact joining my buddy on a trip to Kentucky and Tennessee when his Makers barrel was ready both is what really kindled my love for bourbon and also is indirectly why I live in Tennessee now.
  9. Angel's envy was 35 bucks (the bourbon, not the rye lol) see above. they had a sale on the makers 46, buy two get 10 bucks off the already cheap 30 dollar each price. They had a set of makers .375 bottles, one cask strength, one 2019 special aged, one 2023 special aged for 50 bucks. Jeffersons reserve was ~50 bucks, so not much savings. a 1.75L of woodford was like 50 bucks. bookers was about 75 bucks. so as far as savings... it's all over the place, from ~10% discount to ~40%.
  10. I bought it about 5 years ago because it's like 57 bucks in Casper
  11. Yes. I think Arizona's liquor taxes must be lower than other states. I haven't found the Angels Envy bourbon for under 50 bucks in Tennessee (and then tack on another 8,9% for sales tax).
  12. I was yeah. My in laws live in Scottsdale. That I think was the one on Hayden.
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