Expensive new hobby

[disneysteve]

Kids? Do they count?

Not unless you were having them as a hobby.

[~bs]

Whiskey and guns. I smoke cigars too.

my preference leans towards Japanese scotch. taste wise, they tend to be lighter and more floral, as it's intended to be consumed with food (as opposed to having your taste buds obliterated with a heavily peated scotch).

And yes there's a large difference between the "cheap stuff" and bottles ranging up to maybe $200. When you go higher than that, differences are more subtle, and less "worth it".

bourbons, you can get really good quality bourbon sub $100, so I don't really see the need to go higher. of course I do have a bottle of pappy, that I'm thinking about selling.

Mentioned it before, but I've been collecting the zodiac series decanters. Changes yearly, and never repeats the same design. The year of the dog release for next year isn't the same as the previous releases. Think I'm up to 15 different ones so far.

https://dekanta.com/store/royal-12-years-year-dragon/

The rarest whiskey I have is a bottle of JW Excelsior, considering selling it if I can get the right price for it. I originally purchased for around $350.

All limited edition bottlings are sought-after, but the Johnnie Walker Excelsior is in a class of its own. Distilled in 1947, then bottled a half-century later, we're talking about a truly remarkable whisky.

This example of Johnnie Walker is now highly sought after, Distilled in 1947 then bottled in 1997 makes this one of Johnnie Walkers finest Whiskys. Only released to the Japanese at the time that Japans appetite for exclusive high end products was at its pinnacle.

The quantities of this expression has not been disclosed it is believed to be under 5000 most of which was consumed in the first couple of years from release.

Collecting Note

Original boxed bottles are more desirable but unboxed still worth collecting and hard to find.

https://www.whiskybank.com.au/product/johnnie-walker-excelsior-boxed/

[Bluebird]

My DH likes his bourbon, specifically Makers Mark and Buffalo Trace. He's had more expensive brands but prefers these. He makes a bacon infused bourbon with Buffalo Trace, and brings it to dinner parties, summer parties, it's a huge hit!

[SavingMoneyGoals]

I'm not a whiskey enthusiast but my hobby is also quite expensive. I'm a travel addict and I have to go on vacation at least 3 - 5 times a week. Since I live on an island, going on vacations is quite expensive.

Knowing that next year I'll probably only travel once or twice (if I'm lucky) makes me feel suffocated, a little. I promised myself I would allow myself the 2nd vacation FOR SURE if I reach a particular goal at work (I'm self-employed). It's a good incentive to work harder! Haha!

[Tabs]

I'm a travel addict and I have to go on vacation at least 3 - 5 times a week.

Wow. That is a lot of vacationing.

So when you say island, what is it exactly? Are we talking more like Japan or small private islands?

[Kimberly925]

My most expensive hobby is crochet. Yarn can get pretty pricey. I sell about half of what I make so I just use those funds to buy my yarn.

[Snicks]

Have you tried Pappy Van Winkle? I met someone who has a family member who works for that them.

[disneysteve]

Have you tried Pappy Van Winkle? I met someone who has a family member who works for that them.

I haven't gotten to try it. We thought about it when we were in Kentucky recently but couldn't bring ourselves to spend the money. Depending on the age of the product, the price for a 2oz pour ranged from $45 to $100.

[frugal saver]

I'm not much of a drinker--well, I don't drink at all--but at some point I'd like to get a bottle of Porter's Fire whiskey. It was named after my great-grandfather and has a picture of him on the front.

My most expensive hobby is probably genealogy, between all the paid subscriptions and getting copies of various records. (Colorado and California will kill you on record fees.)

I also spend way too much money on yarn, but at least it's theoretically deductible if I itemize.

Edit to link a cool picture of Porter's Fire. https://www.hitimewine.net/porters-f...0-666pf-105722

[msomnipotent]

Whiskey and guns. I smoke cigars too.

my preference leans towards Japanese scotch. taste wise, they tend to be lighter and more floral, as it's intended to be consumed with food (as opposed to having your taste buds obliterated with a heavily peated scotch).

I can't stand anything more than a whiff of peat in my scotch. Most don't use peat anymore, except for the Islay area. Binny's let us sample their best example of an Islay scotch and it tasted like I was sucking gasoline through a burning cow pie. I also like a nice, medium bodied cigar while having a drink in the summer. I don't allow smoke in my house or near my doors and it gets way too cold during the winter here, so it is a summer only kind of thing.

What Japanese brand would you suggest? I keep meaning to try it.

[disneysteve]

it tasted like I was sucking gasoline through a burning cow pie

This made me laugh out loud. Love it!

[phantom]

One of my husband's friends won a bottle of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle in our state's lottery. He paid $250 for it, but supposedly he would have had to pay a lot more on the secondary market. He shared a glass with all his whiskey drinking buddies, and I had a small sip just so I could say I'd tried it. I thought it smelled great, but I still don't like whiskey and can't say I enjoyed the taste. But, all the whiskey drinkers agreed it was the best whiskey they'd ever had by far. I'm just glad the odds of my husband winning the lottery to buy another bottle are pretty low.

[Nutria]

One of my husband's friends won a bottle of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle in our state's lottery. He paid $250 for it.

To clarify: he bought $250 worth of lottery tickets?

But, all the whiskey drinkers agreed it was the best whiskey they'd ever had by far.

That just screams for the need for a blind taste test...

[disneysteve]

To clarify: he bought $250 worth of lottery tickets?

No, he won the lottery giving him the right to buy a bottle for $250.

That just screams for the need for a blind taste test...

Even I agree with this one. If everyone who said that knew what it was they were drinking then their opinion was influenced by that knowledge.

We were recently at a whiskey-tasting event. There were about 50 products available for tasting. I tasted 11 of them. There was a clear "winner" among the ones I tasted as far as what I liked the best, but at the time I was doing the tasting, I did not know the prices of the products.

After I had my list of tasting notes, I sat down and looked up each product. It's no surprise that my favorites were among the more expensive products but there were also a couple that I definitely didn't care for that were also among the more expensive ones. So price alone doesn't mean you are going to like something better. It helps, because there is a legitimate reason why they are more expensive, but it's not the only factor.

[phantom]

To clarify: he bought $250 worth of lottery tickets?

No, he won the lottery giving him the right to buy a bottle for $250.

Correct.

That just screams for the need for a blind taste test...

Even I agree with this one. If everyone who said that knew what it was they were drinking then their opinion was influenced by that knowledge.

I have no doubt knowing what it was made it taste better, but most of them were surprised by how much more they liked it. Some of them were expecting a better Blanton's since that comes from the same distillery, but said there was really no comparison. Many of them have had comparably priced whiskey, like Johnnie Walker Blue Label. But, that's a readily available scotch and Pappy's is a bourbon, so maybe it's not a fair comparison. My husband actually likes less expensive Johnnie Walker varieties better than the more expensive varieties and calls Blue Label too smooth. But, he likes peaty Islay scotches, and I don't know what to make of the opinion of someone who actually enjoys a drink that tastes like dirt.

For someone who really loves whiskey, my husband is really bad at identifying it. I like to play a game with him where I'll pick a bottle of whiskey off his shelf, pour him a glass, and see if he can guess what it is. The last time we played, I picked Jefferson's Ocean (a bourbon) and his first question was if it was a scotch. His next guess was Hibiki Suntory (a Japanese whiskey) since I've managed to confuse him with that one in the past. After that, he had to think awhile, but he finally came up with the right answer.

Jefferson's Ocean is a great example of a gimmicky whiskey. It's aged at sea, because supposedly, moving while aging makes a difference. My husband decided he wanted a bottle even though he was pretty sure it was just a silly gimmick. He likes it, but not any better than the slightly-less-expensive, aged-on-land Jefferson's Reserve.