I threw a summer party yesterday called Bourbons and Barbecue. Each couple brought a bottle (all unfinished bottles to go home with their owner later). We had two hours of tasting and note taking, then dinner, and afterward guests helped themselves to amaros, vermouths, bitters and other mixing ingredients (orange slices, luxardo cherries, mint) to make cocktails.
After dinner, I polled each guest about their favorites. Using the same weighted point system I'd use for wine wherein a first place vote is 3 points and a 3rd place is only one point, the result was staggering. Though everyone agreed every bottle was good and something they'd enjoy at home, it was a landslide of 37 points (11 first place votes plus) for the Angel's Envy.
A tie for second place with just 14 pts each was shared by Buffalo Trace and the Basil Hayden Dark Rye (port barrel finished). At only 5 pts each, there was a four-way tie for third by three of my favorites, the excellent and elegant Woodinville Whiskey Company (Seattle), the earthy Dry Hills Four-Grain Bourbon (Montana), the delicately sweet Makers Mark, and the sharp and focussed Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor.
With no or almost no votes, the delicate Basil Hayden Bourbon (high percentage rye), Knob Creek 9 yr, and High West Double Rye were the collective last place group.
My contribution was the Montana bourbon and, at the last minute, I threw in the Basil Hayden Dark Rye which I'd recently received as a gift, thinking it would be a fun comparison to the Basil Hayden bourbon someone was bringing and as well give the High West rye some company.
Best comment of the night came while I was polling, from a guest who I had not realized only drinks gin: "when I first tasted them, I hated them all. Now I love them all and am having a hard time choosing which I liked best."