Am I the only one who likes Pikesville?

[Josh]

Pikesville is a good rye. It's the same juice as Rittenhouse. It's just not widely available.

I posed this question in a roundabout way in the Bulleit thread, but I'll pose it explicitly here:

Chuck has stated in a Rittenhouse thread that Ritt will be B-F distillate (presumably dsp 354) until 2013. What about Pikesville? Since it's younger, could it already be HH/Bernheim?

[cowdery]

I believe that was based on learning that DSP-KY-1 took over rye production in June of 2009, so best case scenario, the first 4-year-old from there will come of age in June, 2013. The first three-year from there will come of age in June of 2012.

How soon it will get to stores is another question.

The distillers all have to report how much whiskey they have aging, by age, although they don't have to break it out by type since it all taxes the same. That data used to be compiled and made public, though it no longer is. I assume the un-compiled reports are considered matters of public record. Any research eager beaver want to take that on? I made a few calls to the KY Dept. of Revenue a few years ago but didn't get very far.

Which is a long way of saying, I wish we knew how much of which type each distillery puts down each year. I know all of Heaven Hill's ryes are on allocation, and assume that's true industry-wide, but that's hard information to get.

[fussychicken]

I believe that was based on learning that DSP-KY-1 took over rye production in June of 2009, so best case scenario, the first 4-year-old from there will come of age in June, 2013. The first three-year from there will come of age in June of 2012.

At the Heaven Hill Whiskey tasting I went to last weekend (thanks HH & K&L!) I asked the HH sales rep this exact question about when the BIB will go DSP-1. She sent a message off "to her guy back in Kentucky" and she told me in "about 2 years." I know, not a very robust source or answer, but correlates with your info Chuck.

Not all was lost though as I did get a chance to taste the Parker's 27 and Rittenhouse 25. Never thought I would agree with you guys on the Parker's but it was surprisingly not too woody! Or was that the 8 other HH samples we had preceding it clouding my taste buds?

[p_elliott]

I believe that was based on learning that DSP-KY-1 took over rye production in June of 2009, so best case scenario, the first 4-year-old from there will come of age in June, 2013. The first three-year from there will come of age in June of 2012.

How soon it will get to stores is another question.

The distillers all have to report how much whiskey they have aging, by age, although they don't have to break it out by type since it all taxes the same. That data used to be compiled and made public, though it no longer is. I assume the un-compiled reports are considered matters of public record. Any research eager beaver want to take that on? I made a few calls to the KY Dept. of Revenue a few years ago but didn't get very far.

Which is a long way of saying, I wish we knew how much of which type each distillery puts down each year. I know all of Heaven Hill's ryes are on allocation, and assume that's true industry-wide, but that's hard information to get.

Chuck

Won't there be a transitional period for a while, while BF continues to bottle up the rye they have left and HH starts bottling their rye?

Paul

[AaronWF]

What is the significance of the Ritt rye moving to a different distiller as far as what to expect in regards to quality going forward? I know we all love the B-F stuff; are there reasons to expect a quality downgrade or price hike when they start selling the HH juice?

[Josh]

What is the significance of the Ritt rye moving to a different distiller as far as what to expect in regards to quality going forward? I know we all love the B-F stuff; are there reasons to expect a quality downgrade or price hike when they start selling the HH juice?

That's the million $ question! Only time will tell.

[cowdery]

Chuck

Won't there be a transitional period for a while, while BF continues to bottle up the rye they have left and HH starts bottling their rye?

Paul

BF has never bottled anything. BF distilled it and immediately passed it off to HH, which barreled it and aged it in their warehouses. So the maturation won't change at all, just the distillate.

As for a transition, the BIB can't be mixed. It has to be all from the same DSP and the same season. And the DSP will be on the back label, so you'll know which you've gotten. Obviously they'll be mixed together on the shelf for some period as the old stuff moves through the pipeline.

For the 40% abv version, they can and probably will mix DSP-1 and DSP-354 juice together.

[cowdery]

What is the significance of the Ritt rye moving to a different distiller as far as what to expect in regards to quality going forward? I know we all love the B-F stuff; are there reasons to expect a quality downgrade or price hike when they start selling the HH juice?

The DSP-31 rye was fine. It's not like HH doesn't know how to make rye. I think it will be good. Whether it's exactly the same may be a different matter.

[White Dog]

This conversation leaves me wondering something else.

What will be the future of DSP-354's Rye production? Will they keep distilling Rye? If so, what would come of it?

As B-F is not the most dynamic Whiskey operation, IMHO, I don't expect them to come out with their own Rye label, although that would be a smart move on their part. Maybe they could sell Rye to another bottler?

Thoughts?

[Rughi]

...Maybe they could sell Rye to another bottler

Maybe they already are.

(No I don't have any inside info on that, but who knows what juice lurks in the heart of vats?))

Roger