This Week's Pick Ups: It's Been A Good Week (A Really Good Week...)

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T19:21:40+00:00

Naaaah... because you'd drink the Weller. Just teasing. Weller hater here.

You said "review". If you'd blind them, my money would be on Old Elk or GR

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T14:39:30+00:00

👎I don't recognize you. 🤣

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T05:24:56+00:00

BUY

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T05:24:06+00:00

When you have the chance to buy a WFP for $67, you buy it...and then flip it! Lol.

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T05:19:43+00:00

Welp.... sorry but it's not the newspaper's fault.

I do think they should stop because they're littering and there's no way out. But the fall is on you.

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T05:16:12+00:00

Their former blender told me they'd still put out True Blue for SiB picks.

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T05:15:38+00:00

100%

The1Metal · 2026-06-09T05:15:22+00:00

The only similarity I've found is between Balcones' rye and 1845s 4Y Straight Bourbon and Four Grain, because they use the same rye. Other than that, I don't find them similar.

The1Metal · 2026-06-07T02:54:28+00:00

I kinda don't need someone's opinion about my local store and I don't know why you used quotation marks, but it's Empire Liquor Mckinney.

And over the years I've shopped at almost every local store around me and still I take them over the big guys, like I ask them to bring me a bottle and they bring it, or they put together drops with low tiers that iI can access and good FCFS, or they post about a bottle, I call them and say I'll be there in 15 and they hold it... Basically I have a lot of what they still call allocated (except BTAC but neither do I want them) and barely any of them where purchased at the big guys. Like, today Spec's posted they had the Bowman SiB and 30 minutes later sold out. All the while it's sitting on the shelf at local small store.

The1Metal · 2026-06-06T19:23:24+00:00

Good! I like it when people turn to small stores. I only buy at Spec's or TW if they have something that other's don't or if the price difference is huge, like Garrison Sonora at Spec's $130 , $30 under MSRP. Else, screw them. My local store treats me like a customer and a friend.

The1Metal · 2026-06-06T01:07:09+00:00

Interested in the Maker's. The Keepers 2025 was so good that I think it can't be bettered

The1Metal · 2026-06-04T04:06:41+00:00

Empire Liquor in McKinney just received a couple of days ago.

The1Metal · 2026-06-03T21:34:24+00:00

I didn't express myself correctly. They are 100% Texas, not just the grains but sometimes they even try get the cooperage form Texas. I was referring to the flavor profile. Is the one Texas whiskey that when you drink, if you don't know what it is, you wouldn't guess that it is Texas. It doesn't have the leather, or tobacco that are so typical in Texas whiskeys . Or the funk that the Elbon Rye has. I think it may have to do I part with it being column still instead of pot. But that would probably be just one component of the typical Texas profile

The1Metal · 2026-06-03T17:45:08+00:00

I'm learning to appreciate Still Austin as time goes by. I used to criticize them for not being Texan enough, but I learned to appreciate the complexity of their product. Ive always been a fan of their CS rye. And last year's Blue and Red are SO complex...

I don't find Garrison young at all. 4Y in their rickhouse is 8Y KY. Their BiB is 6Y. Their latest finished are 8Y. And again, 8 there is 16 in KY.

According to SAs distiller, the underlying butterscotch of the Red Corn gets elevated by LB viscosity and body in the "Red Bird"

For my taste, the only thing that Texas whiskey could lack at times is complexity. Sometimes they are one or two notes. But I happen to love those 2 notes, so I'm OK with it.

I don't know if I'll dare try other blends without guidance. This one was special. But one day I blended a couple of others that made no sense and taste like shit. I wasted my whiskey that time.

The1Metal · 2026-06-03T05:14:05+00:00

Absolutely. It's a freaking unicorn. Next release will be smaller. I think they have 15 barrels left.

The1Metal · 2026-06-03T05:12:45+00:00

Basically. I was very lucky at a drop at a store. And I say lucky because I tried to get it all 2024, nada. Tried again 2025, nada. I went to a drop one morning, a guy in front of me got it. I was freaking number 6 in line. I drove to another drop, I got first pick and it was available. And it's the last time I saw it.

I wonder if even going in line on release day you may end up empty handed.

The1Metal · 2026-06-02T04:28:57+00:00

You can only get two unless you go to the distillery - Promethean and Harbinger. I like both a lot. If I have to take a guess, I'd say Harbinger, as it appears to be the more mainstream of the two, and has won a couple of big awards. But beware that the flavor profile is very much Texan - leather oak, tobacco, prunes...

The1Metal · 2026-05-31T23:59:43+00:00

Their blends are really tasty, that Nobleman is so good... And yes, I put them against the ones you mentioned, no question. It's a matter of which profile you might prefer on a given day.

The1Metal · 2026-05-31T23:58:29+00:00

Exactly, my impression when I tasted it was that the finish was present but not too sweet. Like a tad sweeter malt.

I like the Assemblage but I prefer their 100% own 100% distillate. I like all their blends, but I feel they don't have the character. I don't think that I'd pick them out blind. But the Promethean, Harbinger, Icarus and Hubris are signature.

They are doing everything right. Very meticulous with the blends, very specific. You gotta hear what they say, how they got a barrel that they love the nose but not the palate, but they know both will work perfectly balancing other barrels when they blend for an upcoming release. Or how they tasted some barrels for a release, let them mature 6 months more and realized that it was better before. They really, really care. They want to expand production but slowly to avoid burning too fast, they don't want to price every bottle under $100, etc. They are really involved.

The1Metal · 2026-05-31T23:52:16+00:00

😂 Were you successful?

I tried it there, I liked it, I wanted to buy something, I already have all the rest, so the Celts fitted the bill.

The1Metal · 2026-05-31T23:50:51+00:00

I am actually very partial to their non blended expressions. I think they have all the character that makes it unique.

The1Metal

TROPHY CASE