Favorite Spirits - TOP SHELF ONLY

[InkEd]

Over the past 8 years or so, I have become a bit of an alcohol snob. (According to some people..... who just have poor taste, if you ask me. LOL)

Anyway, I am a especially a fan of higher end vodka but do like whiskey (but not scotch) and gin too.

Vodka is definitely the one of which I am the most particular.

I was curious if anyone else is the same way and what are some of your favorite TOP SHELF spirirts?

 

[imarcus]

I became an alcohol snob before I could buy it. A friend bought it for me and he would only buy me the good stuff. He always told me that I should drink less... and drink better. I became more of an alcohol snob after I turned 21 and worked in a number of fine dining restaurants. Here are some of my favorite top shelf spirits:
Bourbon: Buffalo Trace / Pappy Van Winkle
Scotch: Ardbeg / Macallan 18 / JW Blue
Tequila: Herradura Anejo
Rum: El Dorado 12 Year
Gin: Cardinal (A craft gin from North Carolina! Better than Hendrick's IMHO)
Vodka: Chopin

 

[MrDentini]

To me, Vodka tastes of absolutely nothing! Surely it's because I didn't try the "top" ones, though.

 

[InkEd]

Chopin is my favorite too.

They do have some subtle "tastes" to them.

 

[Kazeryu]

To me, Vodka tastes of absolutely nothing! Surely it's because I didn't try the "top" ones, though.

I'm pretty sure that with vodka, the less it tastes like anything the higher it goes on the shelf.

 

[the_edski]

+1, totally agree. I like Belvedere or Effen. The only time vodka should have a taste or flavor is when it is purposely added by the distiller.

I'm pretty sure that with vodka, the less it tastes like anything the higher it goes on the shelf.

 

[superbleu]

Vodka is for people who don't like the taste of spirits and just want to get wasted!!!!

 

[MrDentini]

So what's the use of drinking it, if it has no taste? Just to get drunk? Just asking.
I knew a Russian girl that once said that they (in Russia) drink vodka before lunch just to have a happier meal

 

[Doc4]

I have become a bit of an alcohol snob. (According to some people..... who just have poor taste, if you ask me. LOL)

Anyway, I am a especially a fan of higher end vodka

I am an alcohol snob, I freely admit.

I find vodka to be pointless, and "high end" vodka a game for suckers and label-snobs.

So there.

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

I am an alcohol snob, I freely admit.

I find vodka to be pointless, and "high end" vodka a game for suckers and label-snobs.

So there.

+1

 

[Shaving_CHENG]

Though I cannot stomach vodka, and am fanatical about gin, let's be honest, gin would be vodka were it not for the botanicals added to a distilled grain alcohol. I don't need to get above the level of Beefeater to make a nice G&T, but if I indulge it's usually Hendricks or Plymouth.

 

[Shantytownbrown]

Black Maple Hill Bourbon

 

[joshua1970]

I am an alcohol snob, I freely admit.

I find vodka to be pointless, and "high end" vodka a game for suckers and label-snobs.

So there.

not a vodka fan, and also a self admitted single malt snob - but Tito's Vodka is as good as the top shelf brands but costs a buck mroe than Banker's (at least here in PA)


Tito's philosophy is to distill a quality vodka (filtered 6 times) and not have the consumer pay beaucoup bucks for fancy bottles and marketing costs...
also only distillery in TX (or at least it was)

 

[BlackBard]

I am an alcohol snob, I freely admit.

I find vodka to be pointless, and "high end" vodka a game for suckers and label-snobs.

So there.

+2

 

[dreadpirate]

Favorite "Top Shelf"? Oh hell, that excludes me.

 

[dreadpirate]

I am an alcohol snob, I freely admit.

I find vodka to be pointless, and "high end" vodka a game for suckers and label-snobs.

So there.

haha

 

[Shantytownbrown]

I posted a favorite "top shelf"-(ands its even a great price point whiskey), but there are plenty of spirits on the "lower shelves" worthy of space in my cabinet...

Beefeater's Gin for one, Famous Grouse and Johnny Walker Black Scotch for seconds, The formerly made and now sadly gone Wild Turkey 101 Rye..(thanks god i stockpiled 3 bottles of that brown gold liquid)

I agree with the above poster that alot of the "high end vodka" is all about marketing...

Sobiesky Vodka carries its weight right along with the pricey boys...want to make your own triple filtered vodka, run it thru a britta three times...

 

[Jeff C]

Agree on the Vodka, last time I drank it was as a student with some people from Finland. If you can attest to drink it as part of your cultural DNA that's fine, otherwise stick with a spirit that has some taste like bourbon, scotch, brandy, armangac, tequila, etc.

 

[KyMash]

+1 to the Pappy Van Winkle above. That is a very fine bourbon! I have come to enjoy Laphroaig Qtr. Cask if I'm in a Scotchy, Scotch, Scotch sort of mood.

 

[facetime]

About 10-12 years ago decided that if i was going to drink (or serve) spirits that only the best would do. SO, like a total idiot, I set out researching and reading every rating article I could find to buy a complete home stock of the "finest" beverages. I do remember F. P. Pacult's Spirit Journal and also Beverage Institute as particularly useful (translation - I tended to agree with their ratings, lol).
Anyway, to make a long story longer, of all the "top-shelf" or at least "top-rated" recommendations only two stick in my aging mind as particularly exceptional, and those are:
A. H. Hirsh 16 year-old Bourbon, and
Belle de Brillet Premier Cru Pear Cognac/Liqueur.

Of course, I have yet to open The Macallan 25 Year Old Single Malt we picked up so i'm guessing there will be at least 3 standouts from my research. Still need to decide whether to taste it or sell it. Happy hunting in your quest for the best.