Jim Murray 2020

William Larue Weller and Thomas H. Handy as # 2 and # 3 is OK. 1792 Full Proof as # 1? I have serious doubts about that choice. I think that I sampled 1792 Full Proof. Good. Not pick of the litter. Maybe 91 points. Maybe. 91 points is virtuous, but will not come near finest in the world I'd love to see first rate obtainable barrel strength or near barrel strength bourbon come out of Barton/1792 Distillery. So far I haven't been convinced that anything they do equals the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection whiskeys. Now get me a bottle of William Larue Weller and I will be happy to give you $300, maybe $400. $400 is still $ 643 below current world average secondary market price for William Larue Weller, for a reason.

Hear hear! @Victor

I have sampled a few store picks of the 1792 Full Proof. My impression (in the store) was that they were too round, thin and soft. I was shocked that they were “full proof.” On both occasions I left with their store pick of Four Roses which always had more character and flavor.

I agree that the WLW and THH are always good picks. I wish I had more.

What is fascinating to me is the almost total drop off of the George T. Stagg. Murray once adored the GTS. The 2002, 2004, and 2005 won his World Whisky of the Year respectively in 2004, 2005, 2006. The 2010 GTS won 2nd finest in 2012. But since then he has been all about the William Larue Weller and the Thomas H. Handy. He still scores the GTS very high but it never seems to beat the WLW or THH.

I guess I am just a bit surprised that this year’s winners are all back to American Whiskies. I had thought he was “strategically” trying to spread out the whisky love. I mean he did name WLW the WWOTY in 2019 with the Handy as the 3rd place. But the previous year he had a bourbon (E. H. Taylor 4 grain), an Irish (Redbreast 21), and a scotch (Glen Grant 18yo).

Oh, well. This does make me think Murray just has his own ways. And maybe he does just publish what he likes. Clearly, what he likes (BTAC) has been consistent for many, many years. And I would agree with that. I do share a partial agreement with the man.

@Nock yes, I think that Jim Murray does exactly what he wants to do and nothing else.

I too was surprised that he named 3 US whiskeys at the top this year. It would be politic to spread the love around, as you suggest, but Mr. Murray does not pander to anyone. I have long thought that those who accuse Mr. Murray of favouritism are really more expressing disbelief that he does not prefer the same whiskies that they do. Something like, "You must be crooked if you do not like the same things I do!" And, "You must be denounced if you do not like the same things I do and have a wide audience and a lot of influence."

I used to read Mr. Murray a lot, but his information is now mostly old, because there is no way he can re-review the new batches of even the common whiskies every year. The job is too big. What I most want to read from Mr. Murray now are his comments on industry trends.

And, my commonality of taste with Mr. Murray? Maybe 5 on a 10 scale. That would be average or slightly above average. So, less than my commonality of taste with, say, @OdysseusUnbound. Or you, of course.

My bottle of 1792 FP took months to open up into a decent poor. I doubt that my bottle is anywhere the same quality as the bottle he received. The day WLW is really second to 1792 FP I may switch to Vodka :)

I saw his list of all the "winners" and for the 4th time in 5 years he named CR NHR as Canadian of the year.I have serious doubts he had a pour of Canadian whisky this year and defaulted to the drech he always names.Me thinks Corby's had better start to wine and dine the palate challenged reviewer as NHR would not rank in the top 50 Canadian Whiskies for me.

I take issue with anyone who uses the word 'Bible' in the title of a book.

Yes, I still point the finger and Murray, and the media hype around his Yamazaki Sherry cask matured 2013, for Japanese whisky jumping up in price.

@ajjarrett Just for clarification, does that include THE bible?

@Nozinan I was going to qualify my sentence with, ",especially when it comes to a subjective topic of what people will find enjoyable to drink," but I didn't think I had do.

But if it is necessary, I don't mind saying, I am a non-believer, but some of my friends are.

@Astrok, I’m pouring right now. Two fingers or three? ????

It may be time for Mr. Murray to produce a Scotch whisky "bible" and an American whiskey and the rest of the whisk(e)y world "bible."

@paddockjudge love that name and bottle art for Loon Vodka. Great touch putting the Canadian flag on the bottle. I'll bet it costs more than one Loonie, eh? But not as many Loonies as the bottle next to it.

(Some on Connosr may not be aware that the Canadian dollar is often called a "Loonie" because the $1 Canadian coin features a loon on the reverse side of the coin.)

@ajjarrett - I hear you on that. I don't take offence personally but find it a little, disrespectful, shall we say? Imagine the furore if it was named The Whisky Quran . . .

Similar to bars etc using Buddha statues. I don't get angry or anything but smile wryly whilst wondering what he'd have thought about folk 2500 years on having statues of him where people imbibe intoxicants. Not very 'Buddhist' is it, really? Mind you, he'd probably just tell me to go back to my breath and leave it so ...

OK, rant over

I enjoy Mr. Murray's writings, and I tend to like what he does, though our head to head scores are rarely identical. Like @Victor I think many people who freak out over Mr Murray's scores are generally people who have very different tastes than he does. I enjoy Scotch Noob's reviews even though my palate is incredibly different than his. I read his tasting notes for whiskies I've tasted and it's generally nowhere near my flavour notes. This makes sense since we aren't the same people; our palates, preferences, flavour and aroma references, genetics, environments, etc. are all different.

@OdysseusUnbound I know what you’re saying. Each of us knows what we like and don’t like, and our preferences and dislikes don’t necessarily have to coincide with those of the “big time” reviewers. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to get the opinions, and they are only personal, subjective opinions, from as many sources as possible. I take my cues from a few well respected members here on Connor, of which, incidentally, you are one.

Cheers.

@BlueNote I agree. I have to say that I find it juvenile when people accuse Murray of accepting bribes and then follow it up with the equivalent of “Jim Murray is a big stupid-head so I don’t care.”

@OdysseusUnbound @BlueNote

I have never paid attention to Murray's opinions. But people's freedom of expression, at least in Canada, is limited when it affects the "security of the person" of others.

Naming CRNHR whisky of the year caused someone to gift me a bottle of it. Sorry, that was harmful...

@OdysseusUnbound, I STRONGLY DISAGREE

@OdysseusUnbound, I STRONGLY DISAGREE with you. I don't believe a hyphen is warranted for stupidhead.

He still has Glen Grant 18 YO as best Scottish malt, so he sure as heck isn't re-tasting everything, it won by points. (This is not a criticism of Glen Grant 18, this is a statement that he hasn't even re-tasted his 'best of' winner for the category)

@Frost I’d suggest he hasn’t re-tasted many Canadian whiskies, but who knows? I personally think most batches of the standard Lot 40 are tastier than CRNHR, and then there are the Cask Strength variants. But that’s me, not JM. And nobody’s paying me to test and rate whisky.

The job Mr. Murray is trying to do is too big for any man to do.

I came across this yesterday whilst looking for the 2019 Diageo Special Releases

blog.thewhiskyexchange.com/2009/10/…

He pretty much agrees with the comments here and I resonate with his views on scoring, in general, 100% (although I do rate them, it's fun!). I have to say though, I had no idea some folk got so uppity abut other people's reviews and scores ... grow up!

I can't find the last issue of The Whisky Bible I bought. I think it was 2013. I must have got rid of it. Haven't bought another one since, but I might pick one up this year just to see what Jim is hot on these days.