Whiskey King of the Hill: 002

Let’s start with a question. A simple question. What’s your favorite whiskey? Sure, it’s an easy answer…until you start thinking about what the occasion is. Do you have a favorite summer whiskey? Perhaps a favorite autumn, or winter whiskey? Maybe a bottle or two tucked away for special occasions. No matter how we looked at it, we couldn’t name just one–so we decided to stop trying to!

The format

In an attempt to constantly appreciate great bottles, and to keep an open mind toward new or different bottles, we wanted to come up with a way to expand our ever-growing list of favorites. Starting with our two winners from the 2019 Bourbon Battle Royale we will expand into an evolving head-to-head series we’re calling our Whiskey King of the Hill.

Each month a new bottle will go head-to-head with the current reigning champion. In true Bourbon Finder fashion, though, this will only feature bottles we are able to find and buy. Having an outstanding sample sent your way is always fun (and by all means send us samples) but we started The Bourbon Finder to share our love for bourbon–combined with the angst of remaining on the prowl just to find the bottles you need. Because this is hobby of passion, we understand that choices on the “best” bottles will always be subjective.; hopefully, we’re able to express our love for bourbon and other whiskey in a format that is enjoyable and helps our readers keep an open mind about their whiskey. We use some aggressive titling and like to refer to blind tastings as battles, but in reality there is enough controversy in the whiskey world–we’re really about trying to highlight the positive side of this hobby and enjoy the juice as well as the experiences that come along with having a pour.

King of the Hill 002 Contenders

Having a reigning King (Van Winkle 12 “Lot B” – 2018) we took a bit of input from our readers and Discord users to decide who would drop into the battle zone for KoTH-002. We had originally planned to use an Old Weller Antique 107 pick, but after getting our hands on a decanter of Old Fitzgerald 15…well, we just had to put it up against the King!

Round One: Old Fitzgerald 15

Round Two: Van Winkle Special Reserve 12

Round Three: Van Winkle Special Reserve 12

King of the Hill 002:

Well this was a total slugfest! In split decision the Van Winkle 12 has taken the victory, and reigns as King of the Hill to begin 2020; however, this battle drained the last of our Van Winkle 12, and we will therefor retire the bottle with the honor it is due. This poses an interesting angle to the next Whiskey King of the Hill, though, stay tuned for the next contender!

Who will take on the King in a head-to-head blind battle? Let us know what you think in the comments, or hit us up on Twitter or Instagram. Until next time…may he rest in peace!