Might as well pass along the pressing question of the day: Woodford v. Baker v. Bookers v. Basil Hayden. To me, these are all the solid second tier bourbons but Basil is a clear winner. That's likely because I like mine smooth and soft. I could see a convincing argument being made for a meatier, more acerbic bourbon like one of the others. Do you care to make that argument?
I also like mine smooth and soft rather than rock hard and turgid. I agree with the choice of Basil Hayden completely. The Knob Creek line is a bell curve of enjoyment for me, with basil at the center and knob --- baker/booker at either end. Knob creek seems unrefined and brutish to me and I feel like the goal for Bakers/Bookers was just to see if they could make something 140 proof palatable. They can if drinking 140 proof bourbon was my modus operandi, but if I want to get faced and not feel it going down I'll just have 14 tequila sours.
With that in mind, Basil is the clear winner for reasons you just mentioned. It is smooth and woodsy without any hint of harshness, both in the initial flavor and in aftertaste. Now, BB is pretty good for the salient fact that it conceals the truth that it is torpedo fuel and it only burns initially, but it just isn't my bag. People that say they like it and you are too much of a pussy to handle it generally have tiny cocks. If I want to set my face ablaze with high octane booze, I won't stop because it burns. But this is bourbon, a sipping delight that says you like life a little sweeter than the surly scotch drinker. You don't mind taking more than 14 seconds to drink your drink, and when you want to get faced...you'll stop drinking bourbon rather than trying to combine the two elements.
I'll tell you something I found the other day at the ABC that surprised me, Sam Houston 12 (or 10?) year. Smooth tasting, yet big and expansive, just like the great state of Texas from which this drink derives its namesake. It wasn't expensive either. That also happens to be my problem with BB, $45-55. What the shit? It simply is not that good. When I buy BB I feel like I am buying Johnny Walker Black or Gold. Most of my money pays for marketing, the name, and that stupid wooden box it comes in. Who gives 2 shits about what the presentation of the bottle is? The Rip Van Winkle 23 year I recently acquired was nothing more than glass, a label, and fake velvet. Why? because what is inside is what counts unless you are a vodka distributor selling to 17 year olds that like the shiny stainless steel on their bottles.
Mmmmmmmm. Tastes like socialism.
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I first saw a bottle of that Kalashnikov vodka for sale in a bar in the basement of a Moscow hotel. Of course I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. Luckily my poverty saved me from another embarrassing, weapon-related college tchotchke, since the vodka comes from a British company and is about as Russian as I am.
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