The BEST Bourbon For $30-40 dollars - We Were Shocked!

Hey all, my name is Kurt. I'm here with Trenton. Welcome to SLB Basement Bourbon Bar and Trenton, this is another Friday in our series of bourbons. Today we get to blind taste whiskey that's between 30 and 40 dollars and I kinda got myself in trouble here a little bit. Yeah, you know, we, I'm not even gonna say we. Kurt culminates the list of the price brackets, like 30, 40 dollars, he'll send me lists and variations of everything. There was two or three different versions of this list and Kurt forgot to include in the one that he sent me, he forgot to include Eagle Rare. Kind of a moderate mistake. A little bit of an oopsie poopsie on your part but instead of just bumping Eagle Rare or doing the pullover again, we asked our patrons if they would like to see, cause in fifth place was Cooper's Craft, with like 160 votes or something and we asked the patrons if they wanted to see Eagle Rare bump that out or be included and they wanted it to be included. So instead of five, we have six. So what's in the blind here? Well, it's your fault, you can only blame yourself. I gotta live with it, it is. But what do you got in the lineup here? It is, okay, well here's how the voting went with our patrons, enormous, it was 300 and some votes for Russell's 10 year, then right after that, Knob Creek nine year, Old Grandad 114 was third place, Maker's Mark Cast Strength. Fourth place, Cooper's Super's Craft. Super's? Cooper's? Cooper, Cooper, super duper Cooper, Cooper's Craft 100 proof is fifth place and you know, from my screw up, Eagle Rare is in there in the blind as well, so that's why we have six. Yeah, and this will be fun. Yeah, before we get started though, tonight is our live stream, 8 p.m. central time. Trenton's got all kinds of tricks up his sleeve, Ket and I, you know, we're just gonna have fun tasting, I'm not gonna worry too much about it, I'm just not. You're probably gonna worry too much about it, let's get real. We're gonna have fun tasting, it's gonna be a good time, it's always a blast on our live streams, we only have one a month because it's a party. Exactly. That's what we do, so don't miss it, 8 p.m. central time. All right, buddy, let's get rolling here, what we got, A? A is on the left this time, so A, so sorry for the folks at home, I will make sure that I put what we're tasting, because a lot of people were not too happy with me tasting it last time, that they were also kind of blinding it with us, and that they didn't like that experience, so I'm gonna make sure. Oh, okay, well, at least I'm not the only one in trouble. Yeah, yeah, I get in trouble all the time in the comments if you read them enough, there's some people that really rip me in the... I try to fly a straight line, you know, but I screwed up this one, I have to admit that. Yeah, you really went off the rails with that decision there. Yeah. Great. That's good. That's good, buddy. You get some candy in there? I do. I figured you might. It's almost like one of those root beer barrel candies, a little bit. Okay, yeah, all right. There's some kind of... It's candy-ish, there's no doubt in my first sniff of the aromas, I've got candy-ish type notes to it. It smells like a, how do you say that? I would say root, but you say a root, it smells like a root. You know that? No. Come on, buddy. Yeah, it smells like that thing. Yeah, it's nice. That's good. Real nicely balanced. It's not overly viscous. That would be the one knock that I have against it if I was gonna really pick out something that I wasn't a huge fan of. First sip of the night, so it's really hard for me. Can you tell roughly where you're at with proof on your first sip? I have a really hard time with that. Unless it's super low or super high. It's probably at least like 20 proof. I'm not asking you to guess it. It was just a simple question. No, I'd go with like 90, something like that. I'd go a little more, but then again, that's how I am. You want me to put five bucks? Should we put five bucks? No. I'm gonna do it. I'll give you five bucks if I'm right. No. Or no, if I'm wrong, I'll give you five bucks. A is $5. I made it official. I put it on the legal pad. Okay. This is a bound contract, so. Well, I think it's above 90 proof. I think it's around, I think it's probably 100 proof. If it's 100 proof, I will. What you gonna do? I'll eat a raw potato. Okay. All right, well, there's some good notes in there. I got a little bit of orange in there, to be honest with you. Really? See, it's a lot different when I go back again. A little leather in there. It's got more of a earthy, not real sweet. It's not as candy-ish on the palate as the nose presents. No. Interesting. I like it though. Yeah, I do too. All these are gonna be good. This one's gonna be tough. So, I did get you some water there, but in case you need it. Who needs water after a 90 proof? Well, I had golf leagues today with Kent. In the heat, 98 degrees, 70% humidity. I'm about ready to fall out here, to be honest with you. We'll be good after this video. You can head on upstairs and pass out on the thing. Ooh, I like this one. It's good. It is. What are we on, B? B. This is B. We're on B, honey. I'm just curious here. Yeah, Rebecca's here, my wife. She's the keeper of the key. We need to get you like a SLB referee shirt. I hate that. Striped? Yeah, it'll be black, but the stripes will be like the color of the hole here. Well, tan. Yeah, it'll look good. Black and khaki. I like this pillow. It might also look. Black and khaki. It also might look like you're in prison if you wear that, but I'll make it look good. That's so good. I like it. Yeah, the aromas pretty much match the palate for me too on this one. That is so, how do you say, quintessential. I don't know what the sweetness is, though, but I like it. It's a little bit syrupy for me. It's honestly quite oaky, like a dusty oaky or something, and it's pretty upfront, but I like that about this one. It's not obtrusive. Definitely a little oaky. Nice oak present. Gives it some backbone there. Yeah, it's got some nice sweetness to it, but it also has some kind of a, a little bit of an earthy note to it there too, like some tobacco or something. It has a little bit of like a waxy finish. You know what I mean? If you ever accidentally like, not swallowed, but like. Chewed on. Consumed, like candle wax. If it's like hot and you dip your finger in it, and you're like. What about the wax with the juice in it, the little bottles, remember? I swallowed, I swallowed those as a kid. That's nasty. Because I didn't realize that it was, like you shouldn't eat it, and I think it was edible, but it didn't taste like anything. I was like, why does anybody like this candy? You're not supposed to swallow it. That's like. I thought it was not. It's not gum. I swallowed gum too. I think I took one bite or something like that, and I was like, this is nasty. It's kind of dumb. Like that, and those little like roll up papers with the little candy dots on it that you pull off, and then you get paper with your candy. Who wants that? Nasty. I didn't write anything down for A. Yeah, I didn't either. That score out of that score. Are you on C? Yes, I am. Moving on, buddy, moving on. We got six. Because of my genius mood. I didn't even eat anything, and I have to burp again. What? Oh, God, babe. That's from that. See that Coca-Cola can sitting back there? No, that's old. Oh, I'm sure. It's almost vaguely like licorice-y, or kind of has some like hints of an anise flavor. Okay. But I kind of dig it. Yeah. Or kind of herbally, like a chartreuse kind of note in there somewhere. That's different. I like, I love it. You do? Yeah. I'm struggling with that one just a little bit. It's quite a bit, like for me, maybe the word would be astringent, but not in a way that I would scoff at. Is that a word, scoff? Yeah. I guess I'm struggling with it a bit, because I really liked the first two quite a bit, and this one not as much. Super different. Definitely lower proof, seems to be. Either that, I'm getting used to sipping some bourbon. My... Second sip's a little bit better. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, second sip's a little better. A little bit of caramel, some oak in there. Not bad. It has some burnt aspects to it. Definitely. You're going with single digits? I got an 8.89. I'm going to the second, I'm rounding to the second decimal. Stop. That's just like... This is super scientific work we're doing here. What are you talking about? Too complicated. Yeah, so like some nice barrel char coming off there? What you're saying, for three? Yeah. Or, I'm sorry, C. Yeah, I'm getting you there. I haven't got three heads of D. On first nose, I got a hot dog. And I just got off of a plane an hour and a half ago, so I might be experiencing some of the... My mind might still be a little bit turbulent, like the flight. Might have knocked around some brain cells in there. We're probably really impaired tonight. You just got off a plane. I just spent two and a half hours in 98 degrees, 70% humidity, played nine holes of golf. I don't know why you did that in the first place. I don't either, and I probably hit the ball twice as much as Kent does, so you don't get twice the workout. I don't get much on the nose. No, I'm working on it. That's why I kept rolling the glass. I'm with you there. I'm struggling, honestly, with this one. It's not super apparent. Like, even this one, C, you weren't a huge fan of, but it's still presented nicely. This one just smells like nothing. You're right. I'm not getting a whole lot there. Got a bit of cherry. It's a tad muted compared to the other ones. Yeah, it is. I don't think it's as... The mouthfeel is nice, but there's really not a whole lot of... It's kind of a one-noter, to put it in layman's terms. And I do know what that is, layman's terms, so. Wow. I know. I picked up some vocabulary on my work trip, you know? Well, good. It's not bad, though, Trenton. I mean, that's not bad. It's pretty decent. I mean, all these are good. What am I saying? It's not bad, but I'm getting a little cherry. I'm getting a little... I still struggle with picking up a cherry note on much of anything. Yeah. I should really, like, go buy some. It's kind of like a light caramel, but it's got kind of like a weird... I don't want to say weird. A different type of toffee note to it. Not a sweet, luxurious toffee. Burnt. More of a rugged, like a... Like you baked it in an F-150, rugged? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe like that toffee. Maybe like a little bit of an overbaked brownie-type thing. Not fudge, not fudgy. It's not fudgy. No, it's definitely not fudgy. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Not as big of a fan as that one as I am the first three. I understand where you're coming from. I smelled this as soon as I picked it up. You did? I did. And that's worrisome because there are only a few bottles I know of that have that kind of... Vibe. It's just that kind of like the oozing of the aroma was just like, if you could see it, just it'd be like, just kind of spilling over like dry ice. Pluming. Plume, yeah, yeah. It's like an atomic bomb of flavor, just like a mushroom cloud. Yeah, yeah. That's really sweet. Got a lot of confectionery sweet aromas coming out of there. It's giving me like an off-butterscotch profile a little bit. Maybe on this one I could see a little bit of a cherry aspect to it. Kind of like maraschino cherries. Yeah, I'm with you there, for sure. Not like a dark red cherry or like whatever that you might find at a store, but more of like a manufactured type thing that you would use in cocktails. That's a really nice sipper. Nothing obtrusive there. The oak is tame. A little bit of caramel. It just falls way flat at the end, like Bonnie and Clyde sending it over that cliff or whatever they did. You get a lot of nice up-front flavors, and then it's almost like, did I just drink something? Yeah, that's why I'm trying at the beginning. I'm saying it's just, it's a nice soft sipper. It's soft on the palate. Yeah, soft is a great way to put that. But boy, I'm starting to struggle after that. There's just not a whole lot, like you said, on the back end there. I get that. Yeah. Last one, eh, bub? Yep, yep. Ooh, that's like a totally different world right there. It smells dense and rich, like a bakery, almost. Good word, rich. It does. Chocolate, a little chocolate in there, too. Wow. That's delicious. That's really good. How about that? I don't know that I'm gonna really try and pull out many notes on this one. It's just good. It's very good, yeah. It's got a lot of chocolatey notes to it for me. It's like a, I feel like there's two types of dessert, people. You like desserts that are really sweet, and then you like desserts that are also sweet but aren't as overly sweet. So like me, I'd get a dark chocolate croissant, like a little bit of savory, a little bit of chocolate, and I feel like this one gives that kind of vibe to it as opposed to, what is it, E? That was just way sweet, like you'd go get a lollipop from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory or something. This is night and day compared to the last one in terms of what it offered. Yeah, I can see exactly what you're saying, buddy. We gotta pull out one, pal. I'm gonna have to re-taste, because between, for me, it would be C, D, E that I don't think quite held up to the rest. Okay, I'm not really putting E in that category yet. I was kind of appreciative of the sweetness up front. I understand where you're coming from, it lacked the depth in the back end, but is it, for me, worth sending out of here first, but past that trend, C and D were my lowest scores. So I'm gonna go back to C and D. Now C almost gives me, well, smell it first, before I say something. Yeah. I got like a buttered popcorn, in a way, like you're standing outside a movie theater and you get that wafting. And almost nutty. Yeah. Almost. I should've wrote down my initial notes where I gotta get better about doing that, because I don't know how this compares after it's sitting for an extra five, 10 minutes as we're talking about it. That's a good idea, yeah. I don't do it either, so. Okay. I didn't even give that one a score. You didn't? Mm-mm. Okay, even still on D, I'm not getting anything on the nose. I'm not either. D is a little bit stronger on the palate, but the flavor is basically, for me today, the flavor notes are more around the leather, the tobacco, earthy. There's not a lot of sweetness for me coming out of D, so that has to be my first output. Maybe a little bitter. It is a little bit bitter for me. I'm gonna taste E one more time. Okay. I know you were a fan, but. I can't say I ranked it in my top three, E. Yeah, yeah. But I ranked a little bit higher than C and D for me, personally. Based on the score I put down for D, I think it would be a little bit higher, so I'll pull D out also. All right. So D is in sixth, ref. All right, pal. That's what's the problem with six. We got a lot to get through here, so we'll try to get through it as quickly as possible. For me. I know what route I would go. What's that, pal? I would move out E next. Oh, okay. I think C, although it's a little bit not bitter, but you can definitely sense the oak in there, whereas E has some nice sweetness. You don't get much oak, and also it doesn't really have much of a finish to the palate. It's just kind of gone. C lingers around enough, and the mouth feel for me is better on C. Let me retaste. At this point, Trent, for me, those are my next. I just tasted A and B really quickly just to refresh my palate on those two. So let me get a quick taste here from these two, and I'll let you know. Yeah, my order would be taking E out, and then C, based on my initial scores. Okay. I said that plain had to have messed me up. Yeah, I'm with you on that. I get it. Especially after I've been drinking a little bit of bourbon. I've been sipping some bourbon here. This has really fallen flat. Yeah. Even more so than the first time around. So I do like the front of the palate's a little bit sweet, but yeah, honey, for me too, it's gonna be the same. I'm gonna pull out. I mean, this would be a great E beginner type thing. Fantastic, but it's extremely smooth, and I know you're not supposed to use that word, but it is. I use it anyways. It is. For us, I think, and me, I lean obviously towards a little bit more of like a cast strength barrel-proof type of thing, but for me, when I have C at the end, and it might be different for some other folks, it's not, I don't get much of alcohol at all on the finish. Maybe a little bit towards the mid of the palate, but it's just so sweet. It's very nice. Sure. I would pull E out next. So E is in fifth, and C is fourth. You would also? Yeah. Okay. Yep. I'm okay with that too, because that's where I was at. That's my lowest scores the first time through. So that leaves us A, B, and E. No, F. Yeah, sorry. I'm not used to that. It's all your fault. I'm taking it. My shoulders are big. I take the blame. I'm gonna start with it. Actually, I'm gonna go in reverse order. All right, okay. Let's do it. I'm gonna go with F. Jesus, I'm doing that too. F. I have to say, this is my highest score first time through, so we'll see what happens. For me, F was tied with B. Same score. Liking it. Still the same. I'm still rich. Got some deeper toffee notes, almost to the molasses, almost, with a slight hint of a baking spice in there. The oak is really nice. It's really good in this one. It's not in your face. It's not bitter. Do you get any bitterness on this one? Sometimes I struggle with identifying a bitter aspect for like a barrel char kind of aspect, but I think in this case, a little bit of a bitterness, but not something that I would hate to finish on if it was my last sip or pour or something. It's pretty good. It's frickin' hot down here, too. What, like 75 down here? I'm about to sweat. Probably 70. That's what it is. All right, I gotta go back to A and B. I have to admit, though, that I did like F, but next time around, not as much as the first time I sipped it. Okay. Not quite as much. You took my, you got my pen? Okay, I'll just, I'll mentally cross it off with my finger. B is good, dude. How does it compare to F? B is good. B, I get, it's a little bit different. I get, B is when I get a little bit of orange, I think, in there. B, to me, is a little bit more toasty. And I think that toast really offers a little bit more of a viscous-type mouthfeel and really drives home the flavor that it's picking up along the way. That's nice. I get a little bit of orange and it hits like a syrupy note, but then it's also supported with a little bit of a leather tobacco note, but very suppressed, so it's almost a supporting character in the palate. I love that. It's like the, what do they call it, antagonist, protagonist? It's like the antagonist of this blind story, you know? We're being really poetic about all of it. It's a symphony of liquid that we have in front of us. Okay, I know what I'm taking out next. I'm gonna take out A. That would be fine. Oh, you just say, okay, I'm taking out A next. On that sip through, it did not hold up to these two, for sure. It leans more towards an oak note at the end, and that's about it. I'm good where it sits in the grouping, but it didn't stand up to the final two that we have out here right now. So I think this is where it's gonna be kinda difficult. I already have my decision. I don't, I'm torn. I really am torn. What would Bruce Russell do? Probably call it a day and, you know, go do something fun. It's kind of an inside kind of thing. We were fortunate enough to be able to do a Russell's Reserve pick and a Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit pick, and Bruce Russell was actually our guide through that experience, and it was awesome. Great time. Really, unbelievable. Very knowledgeable. Yeah, we got to spend some time with some of the other YouTube channels out there with the Bourbon Judge, Stuffin' Whiskey. Such great folks. What a good time. All right, yep, I got my decision. Two. Good, but what you got? For me, my winner in this blind would be B. I'm shocked. I really thought you were gonna go F, and I'm not, my highest score is this one through, but this one really took a hold of me in my next few sips, and I have to go with that, too. I really thought you were gonna pick that one, honestly. The finish is what won me over. I think, like, viscosity, too, is a big aspect to this. It carries all the way through the front of the palate to the back. Ain't no lie there, so, honey, we have to put F in second there, and I'm not, that was my decision, too, as well, Trenton. I really thought first time tasting through that F was gonna take it, but the more we tasted in this area over here, boy, B just stood out. I have to say, I'm a little surprised. Yeah, great. It always is that way. It's always that way. Why are you surprised? Because it's like, we never really follow chalk in these blinds. It's like, you know, it is what it is. It's what we feel, what we're tasting tonight, you know, but we'll do it again tomorrow, and we'll have a completely different lineup, I'm sure, because these are all great. These are all fantastic bourbons for the money. All right. Last place, what do we got, babe? Last place was D, and that was O'Brandon. Wow, I did not expect that at all. Really? I thought that was what we picked first. I'm with you. I really did, as well. Wow. So that's sixth place. Wow, okay. That's wild. I'm a bit surprised. All right, now I'm kind of concerned. Me, too. I am, too. Can I guess? Because I think I know what fifth place was. Sure. I think fifth place was Eagle Rare. You would be correct. Okay, yeah. Yeah, and you know what, Trenton, I mean, I don't guess, you know that, but that one doesn't surprise me, being Eagle Rare. It's such a solid, consistent sipper. It is. What letter was that, babe? Eagle Rare was E. E. But, and this is the one reason why I don't drink it a ton at home, is that it just falls kind of flat. And that's, you know, that's fine. And that's the one that I said was super smooth. Yeah. Easy sipper. I mean, and it is. It's everything like that. But, a little light on the flavor palette. Okay, fourth place. Any guesses on fourth? Oh, man. Which one is that, babe? What number was fourth? Fourth place was C. C. You wanna taste it again, just to? Okay, I put Maker's Mark on my list for C. Kurt? But I'm not, I'm not. Cooper's craft. I'm not notoriously good with Maker's Mark profiles, so I have no idea. Oh, you're both incorrect. Oh, shoot. This was surprising to me. Yeah. Okay, well. Okay, I'm gonna be forthright with everybody that's watching this particular show. For me personally, being a Wild Turkey guy, or Russell's guy, the Russell's 10-year, although I feel to be extremely solid for the price, is not my favorite in their lineup. So, that doesn't surprise me where it lands for me personally. Well, congrats. I think it's a great buy, though. Great buy for the price. We have three left, and they're all 100-proof or higher, so you get five bucks. And thank you very much. Congrats, yep, yep. That pains me to say that out loud. And I will make him pay for that. All right, what do we got? We got. Was A. Third place was A, is that what you said? I'm all screwed up after this. Okay. After the Russell's. That's gotta be Cooper's. It is Cooper's. The only reason I say that, because I remember that last sip of A, it was a little bit not as robust on the flavor as the other two. And when I'm looking at Maker's Mark and Knob Creek 9, they're a little bit more, they've got a little bit more meat and potatoes in the flavor department. Given this last two, which are Maker's Mark, Cast Strength, and Knob Creek 9, I know what's first. I know what came first. You do? This gives me Jim Beam profile all day long. This B, which was, was that our first place? Was B? B was your first place? Okay. Yeah. Yes. I feel, that's gotta be Knob Creek. You'd be incorrect. What? No! First, well, first place was B, and that was Maker's Mark. What? Wow. This lineup really surprised me. Well, not me, because I love Maker's Mark Cast Strength, but I have to be honest. As always, I'm gonna be honest on this show. I thought Trenton was 100% correct when he threw that out there. I really thought Trenton that F, which was second place, right babe? F was second, yes. I really thought that that was the Maker's. I have to be honest about that, I really did. This one is sweet, like traditional Maker's Mark products. And on B, wow. It just goes to show you, you never know when to apply it. I thought Trenton was money when he made that statement. I love Maker's Mark Cast Strength, I really do. What a great buy for the money. 110 proof. But I just, I didn't think that was the winner. I didn't think it. That was B, right honey? Yes, first place was B. I think at some point in this video, I committed to eating a raw potato. I'm gonna go through again and figure out what that is, but if you wanna see me eat a raw potato like Creed from The Office tonight on the live stream. What? You've never seen The Office? I cannot watch The Office, because this goes here and there, I get dizzy. The Office is top five shows of all time. I can't do it. Hot take. Not even a hot take, that's just, that's facts. Okay. Let us know in the comments what you think of the lineup, what you would have picked. If you have all these bottles out, what is your go-to pour of these six bottles that we have here on the bar top? This was the most wild rollercoaster of. Yeah. What did you do here? I don't know. It's all because you forgot to put the Eagle Rare in. I think the biggest surprise for me in this whole lineup is this one right here. Yeah. You'd be shocked. I'm kind of sad, actually, but. Yeah. Dave, that's Blind Tastings, and that's how it goes. That's all we got for you today. I hope you enjoyed it. Please, as always, drink responsibly at all times. See you next time right down here with Trent and I in a good old basement bourbon bar. See you later.