I take a day off of BI, and my favorite topic gets discussed without me.
First of all, I drink American Whiskey, with the occasional scotch. I started collecting Bourbon, now I have equal parts Bourbon and Rye. Rye is really the classic American whiskey, except that during prohibition the American pallet got accustomed to the Canadian whisky that was smuggled in.
If you like Bourbon, but wish it was less sweet and had less aftertaste, Rye may just be your drink.
In the $20-25 price range, very approachable, I highly recommend the Rittenhouse Rye Bottled-in-Bond, and Jim Beam Bourbon BLACK (not the usual Jim Beam White).
My shelf is too long to list. Some of my current favorites are Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon, Elmer T Lee Bourbon, Templeton Rye (noteworthy for the pre-prohibition recipe), Eagle 10-year old Bourbon, Elijah Craig Reserve Bourbon.
The only way to drink a good whiskey is with a single ice cube (two if they are really small), or whiskey stones (to chill without diluting).
For Manhattans, any low to mid whiskey will do, but I prefer Maker's Mark Manhattans.
Knob Creek is very *hot*, and is the only whiskey I will pour over a glass full of ice.
If you have read this far, you get to read that my all-time-number-one whiskey is Pappy van Winkle Family Reserve 13 year-old Rye. Very hard to find, very-very worth it.
