To my whisky/whiskey drinking friends, I’d like to ask for your opinion. Boulevardier Cocktail Recipe: - Whiskey (Bourbon) - Cinzano Rosso Vermouth - Campari My go to cocktail to judge all bars is a Boulevardier. A simple cocktail (recipe above). I always ask what Bourbon they use and if the answer is Jim Beam, I immediately say - please cancel! I just won’t consume cocktails with Jim Beam Original (White Label) as I consider it characterless and boring. I am not a fan of Jack Daniel’s No.7 too as I feel it reminds me of the smell of cockroach after you have squashed it. Surprisingly, I have never encountered a cocktail bar in Asia using JD No.7 as a cocktail base Bourbon. My preferred Bourbon for a cocktail (leaving out premium bourbons) would be Maker’s Mark. Now to my question… Can you taste the character of the Bourbon used in a cocktail once mixed in? I feel a Jim Beam based Boulevardier is flat and boring. The Maker’s Mark (or Bulleit or Elijah Craig or… many other Boubons) give the cocktail more character. Am I biased or imagining things? 😝 I must arrange for a blind taste test of my tastebuds one day. 🤣 Today, I asked the cocktail bar I am in to change my order to a Negroni with a new Vietnamese gin called CHEERS. The Negroni is decent but don’t really get the gin contributing any interesting flavours. A safe middle of the road gin. My apologies to anyone related to either Jim Beam or Jack Daniel’s. I do enjoy some premium expressions from the distilleries. Just not their base product. Jack Single Barrel is one of my favourite Bourbons. #whiskydev #whiskey #bourbon #cocktail #gin

Posted by Whisky Dev at 2026-08-14 14:00:42 UTC