Hypothetical question about 10 bourbons

[Vange]

Is the VW Special Reserve 12 year always a Lot B? Or do I need to find a specific marking on the bottles?

[RedVette]

Is the VW Special Reserve 12 year always a Lot B? Or do I need to find a specific marking on the bottles?

[RedVette]

For Christmas last year, my daughter gave me a bottle of the first Distillers Masterpiece, 18 years old, Cognac Finish. I have had two small samples, I just can't bring myself to drink a two hundred dollar bottle of Whiskey. The two samples revealed a very intense Bourbon (Jim Beam in the barrel for 18 years is going to be intense) with a very complex taste structure. Whether or not it has toffee or floral or hazlenut notes in the taste I don't have a clue. All I know is that it is a big hairy Bourbon with a bunch of flavor, and someday I will have a good enough excuse to drink a bunch of it.

[AVB]

There were two Distiller's Masterpiece released. The 20 year old had a port wood finish and came across really odd to me. Sorta like a bad scotch that didn't know which way to go. The 18 year old finished in brandy casks was much better. IMO.

Also, any thoughts on Jim Beam's Distiller's Masterpiece? Has anyone tried this one?

[Gillman]

But any way you look at it, these are fairly luxurious drinks!

Gary

[Vange]

They threw in a monkey wrench!! Since there are so many types of bourbons out there, they decided to go with an article on top shelf single barrel bourbons only.

These leaves room open for another bourbon article at a later date.

I guess my question is, is it easy to distinguish a single barrel bourbon from others? Meaning it's always on the label, etc.

I also might need some refined lists now.

Thanks everyone!

[AVB]

I gotta ask. How are you going to write an article on something you don't seem to know much about? It takes more then a few tastings and some reading to appreciate the the differences and nuances of bourbon IMO.

[kbuzbee]

AFAIK - yes, it's always on the label. Single barrel is only one component, though. What you will figure out quickly is the three main "high end" catagories may include any or all of the other two (well, kinda).

Single barrel may or may not be cask strength. - Kentucky Spirit is single barrel but not cask strength. Single barrel is NOT small batch.

Cask Strength may or may not be single barrel or small batch. - Rare Breed is cask strength but not single barrel. It is a mingling of 6, 8, and 12 year old bourbon.

Small batch, may or may not be cask strength but is not single barrel. Small batch varies tremendously between distilleries. So much so, it's almost meaningless - out of context.

(Almost?) all distilleries have single barrel offering and folks here each have their favorite. Mine is Kentucky Spirit. I find it smooth, but not TOO smooth. Plenty of characture. A very, VERY good Bourbon!

The one thing to remember about single barrel, every single barrel will be unique. Reviewing one barrel may or may not give your readers insight to the particular barrel they are able to find on the shelf. The master distillers do have a profile they are trying to match but they only have selection, not modification (mingling) to work with. They can age it more or move it to another area of the rickhouse, but that's about it. At the very least you should cite which barrel you are reviewing (it's on the label - Warehouse C Rick 9 barrel 6 or something similar). Any article on single barrel is, at best, a snapshot in time.



Ken

[Vange]

Thank you for the insight.

To respond to the otehr question, I won't be writing the article alone, but I am doing a lot of the legwork to get a nice list of 10 bourobs to use in the sampling. Others with the bourbon knowledge will be writing the majority of the article.

[kbuzbee]

I gotta ask. How are you going to write an article on something you don't seem to know much about? It takes more then a few tastings and some reading to appreciate the the differences and nuances of bourbon IMO.

Goes under the same theory that most teacher's colleges work under (Tim, do you agree??). You don't need to know the subject matter, all you need is teaching skills. My ex is a teacher. I always wondered how she could teach math when she couldn't do math (or science). and she wasn't even really interested in either one. (Geez, this is gonna be pulled over to the off topic area pretty quick, isn't it?)

I find I can teach anything but I have to be interested enough in it to actually learn about it first. I'd never have made it through teacher's college! And I think that is a huge problem today.

Ken