Yeah, I'm a whisk(e)y guy. At any given time, I have four or five open in the rotation. Currently, they are The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14, The Glenlivet French Oak Reserve 15, Connemara 12 peated Irish malt, Maker's 46 bourbon, and the standard Jameson Irish blend. My favorites are the peat monsters, Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Talisker, Oban, et al. Smoke, peat, iodine...I love it.
I once had a dram of Macallan 30 that was nigh on a religious experience and I didn't even have to pay for it. I was in DC on business a few years ago and stopped at the hotel bar after dinner to check their selection. A loud, out-of-town lawyer (who had already sampled a few, I think) found out I'm from Alaska, took a serious liking to my hat, and insisted on buying me a drink. He had the bartender set up four or five for us and others at the bar...at $80 per. Man, was it good.
Bourbon's are my next favorite. I have a bottle of wheated bourbon from Parker's Heritage Collection tucked away for the occasional tipple. 'Out of sight, out of mind' has helped it last a hand full of years. I also had a bottle of their cask strength 11 year old KSBW but it's long gone and I haven't seen anything else from them around town for a long time. Other favorites are Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, E.H. Taylor, Woodford Reserve, W.L Weller, and too many more.
Summertime always finds a pot of mint growing on the deck for my guilty pleasure: mint juleps. Nothing too fancy for these. I often use...and don't laugh...Costco's Kirkland label bourbon. I hear tell it's sourced from the Buffalo Trace distillery and it's quite drinkable. Not top shelf by any means but decent.
