The Story of Black Maple Hill

[ebo]

Not sure if the story is true, but I can see the parallels with PVW, as far as the "cult following", "gotta have it" thing. I like PVW, and I think it's a great whiskey, but there is no reason for the circus it has become. I understand what the writer is saying about how the "circus" gets started.

[Restaurant man]

So the story is, it's not special. Snoozer or a story for a snoozer of a whiskey

[White Dog]

BMH 23yr Rye was special. The rest of it is spotty. I think he hurts his credibility by showing such love for the NAS Bourbon.

[MyOldKyDram]

It told me a story tonight. Not a classic, but not Twilight either. It's a good enough yarn.

[BradleyC]

I have a few friends on the retail side of things and they echo the same sentiment as Dave. BMH sells very well and sales keep going up. Marketing is a powerful factor when it comes to sales. BMH has done a good job at that just like the Van Winkles have. Some of the BMH releases have been quite good. They used to be priced much lower than the most recent 16 year, so that helped them sell. The 2 14 years that I have had were good and I really liked the 21. The ryes were excellent. I don't think it is fair to knock BMH for their lack of transparency. I believe it is the producers who don't want them to mention their sources for each given bottling. I can't imagine BMH is tremendously profitable. They just can't do enough volume for that to be the case. That being said, I think Mr. Joseph is just a like minded bourbon nut who runs the BMH line alongside the rest of his portfolio due to his own personal interest in the product. To his credit, he also started doing this before "bourbon was cool." I think he deserves a slight bit of credit for that since he isn't simply trying to cash in on the recent bourbon boom. BMH has put out some worthy bottlings in the past and I fully expect they will continue to do so. Other than the recent price jump the 16 year saw, I am a fan of BMH.

[petrel800]

How is the 16 year BMH? I've seen a few bottles lately, but have been mighty reluctant to plunk down $150 especially since $150 could buy you multiple bottles of great bourbons. I may be a sucker ever now and then for some of the tougher stuff to find, but $150 better be heaven in a bottle.

[BradleyC]

How is the 16 year BMH? I've seen a few bottles lately, but have been mighty reluctant to plunk down $150 especially since $150 could buy you multiple bottles of great bourbons. I may be a sucker ever now and then for some of the tougher stuff to find, but $150 better be heaven in a bottle.

To tell you the truth I have not tried the new 16 year small batch. I had the older 16 year single barrel and thought it was great. I don't remember the price I paid for that one, but it was much less than the current small batch 16. As I mentioned earlier I think the new pricing scheme is too high. BMH used to be priced much better than it is now. Someone please correct me but I think the 11 year was roughly $39 and the 21 year was $79-$89. I remember buying an 18 year rye for $79 and the 23 was $125ish. I would for sure buy any dusty age stated BMH's should I find more (especially the ryes).

[smokinjoe]

A good job at marketing? Really? Where? Honestly speaking, I wouldn't give most bourbon distilleries better than a "D-" in their marketing efforts, and BMH wouldn't even get a grade.

[BradleyC]

Their good job is their do nothing approach, limited distribution, and small production numbers. As human nature states, we want what we can't have. If something is limited or discontinued and it has a fancy label, people flock to it. Look at what sells vodka. I think this is the same consumer group that buys up the BMH Small batch. I'm all for it. Lead the sheep to these products so that the producers have more money to throw specialty barrels at us. It's a win win.

[smokinjoe]

The "do nothing approach...???" Hmmm.