re: What's a good brand whiskey to give as a gift to a whiskey snob?

Find some black market 10 Year Old Charter - nothing more snobbish than paying $500-$1000 a bottle for something that was $18 fifteen years ago. Eagle Rare is from the same distillery and as close to 10-year as you can get.
Charter 8 is literally lighter fluid and Charter 12 is too acidic and too aromatic for my taste. Their old 10 year old was the perfect blend between the bouquet and the buzz. Spent many countless nights with 10 year old Charter and Tiger Stadium Saturday nights. Sadly the distillery dumped all their 10, 8 and 12 into 4 year aged crap.

Also Calumet Farms is some really good stuff. I prefer the smoothness and aromatic pleasingness to be fuller and less acidic than Blanton’s. But I’ve never cared for Blanton’s, Woodford Reserve, or Booker’s.