Major differences when something is "specially selected?"

[sailor22]

My local store buys at least 8 single barrels a year and half the time they forget to specify a sticker whole they are at the distillery. Hey, they're busy and they have been drinking, er... sampling. When the bottles get here they typically have their own sticker or neck tag printed up. Their picks are typically better than the shelf version. One or two are heavy duty.

[cowdery]

One good thing about store selections is that you often get a single barrel offering of a product that's not normally single barrel, e.g., Weller Special Reserve. Often they're also at a 'deal' price.

Whenever a distillery does a 'buy a barrel' program for retailers, the only barrels the retailers can choose from are barrels that have already been selected for that product. But within that range, retail buyers seem to have a tendency to pick the barrels with the most ompf. That may be why enthusiasts also tend to like the store selections.

But in no sense are they objectively better.

[White Dog]

My avatar is a line-up of EC12 barrel-proof samples that were sent to a retailer for a private selection. HH still cuts the proof down to 94 for bottling, sadly, but the various samples had a wide variety of taste profiles. They were within the HH profile, but were all quite different.

[sailor22]

Their picks are typically OMPFIER than the shelf version.

There, now it's fixed.

[Josh]

Good discussion.

I'll put it this way. I have never had a retailer bottle of something that was worse than the stardard offering. They usually cost the same as the standard offering, so no blood, no foul as we used to say on the playground.

Correction: The last TPS AAA 10 y/o selection I tasted was worse than the standard 10 y/o. Cherry cough syrup. Bleck.

But that remains the only exception I have tasted.

[PaulO]

My experience with single barrel selections for different stores has been encouraging. The Eagle Rare (Binny's) to me tasted the same as regular Eagle Rare. Some of the Wellers, and ETL tasted better than what I was used to. If it's something I allready like, the single barrel selection sticker does make me more interested.

[bourbonandbacon]

i recently got a bottle of FR private selection, 10 year old OBSQ. it was interesting. i had not had that recipe previously. i got a little bit of astringency early on, but more flavors developed in time. I am getting pickles now, and find it a pretty good buy at $50. given that it is such a unique flavor profile though, i am not sure it is an every day kind of sipper. definitely glad i didnt drop $80 for the LESB 2011 they had as its the same recipe with a few more years of aging

[theglobalguy]

It's been interesting reading this thread, then thinking about the FRSB OBSV from the local Kroger Wine/Spirits. Was on sale @$28, and i was shocked that someone in the staff there made the trip to 4R. Didn't even think that they ship the samples out and narrow it down for you. Great information as always on SB.

[PaulO]

Yesterday, I saw something I haven't seen before. At a grocery store I saw a bottle of KC single barrel that had a tag with the retailer's name, and a barrel number. I never saw one with a barrel number before. I couldn't buy it. No Sunday sales in my state. Maybe I'll go pick it up today if I can. Of all the current Beam products, this one I like.

[cowdery]

That's from a standard KC buy-a-barrel program that preceded the current single barrel product, unless they continued the program with the current single barrel. Easy way to check. Is it 100 proof or 120?