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Buddy of mine told me last week that an LS about an hour away from where I live was getting in a new Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Proof store pick this week. Yesterday I found myself nearby for work so wandered in on lunch break to see if it had arrived yet. No dice on the ECTBBP, but this beauty was sitting on the shelf all by itself for $88.

Mission success! Years long good relationships still pay off

From their website: CASK STRENGTH SOUTHERN BOURBON WHISKEY This Limited Release is our flagship Southern Bourbon Whiskey at cask strength, uncut for maximum flavor. With defined tasting notes, it has a nose that’s hazelnut, sweet Georgia corn, cherry syrup, smoked oak, sweet leather, and fresh-cut herbs. Aged to taste, not time. Each barrel was aged between 4-6 years Aged in Americus Ga, very good temp swings throughout the year.

This is my impression of "Distilled in Indiana" (MGP) whiskey. What comes off their stills is high quality, and they make something like ten different mash bills. A lot of their product is sold to other companies, who then do the aging and so on. The quality of warehouse, knowledge of staff, and what they're trying to do varies considerably. Well executed MGP can be fantastic. If people try to age it in a garage or bottle it too young - it's blah.

When I saw the 8 year was coming back, I had just assumed it would replace the NAS - the same way KC 9year lost the age statement for some time, but it eventually returned (back to what it was before). If I wait for sales, I can get WTRB <$40 and RR 10 year <~$30. I like the Turkey profile in general, so would be tempted to try a bottle of 70th Anniversary or new 8 year at MSRP. But repeat purchase is hard to say if the up charge is out of line, even with other WT products. In some ways I don't care how many limited or one off batches a legacy distiller puts out. Just do not mess with the quality of the flagship brand (WT101).

I wrote about the Rye in the Rye section. Excellent bottle. Both bottles are owned by my friend who loves both sweet and finished bourbon. This store pick Starlight Honey Barrel Bourbon is from Beverage King in Norwalk CT. It goes for about $67. It is nice if you like honey, and what a great honey flavor. Dense, rich, and floral. Really unique. My trouble with this bottle is it a more honey than bourbon. It is not balanced. If you like honey it is excellent. It is also aged in a honey barrel, not infused, so it is a legitimate (IMO) finished bourbon. It is just a lot of honey and more of a desert bourbon than anything. For that, I love it, but I'd have to be in the mood for it. Really nice bottle, but if you are looking for a balanced bourbon, it probably isn't your thing. I give it an 8/10 because of its uniqueness and price combo.

Had a starlight tasting. I'll discuss the bourbon in the appropriate thread, but the rye is excellent. I found the rye for a friend who had the honey barrel bourbon already and is generally not a huge rye fan. He loves this bottle. The Rye is finished in the honey barrels that held the bourbon, as I understand it. It is a store pick for First Fill Spirits in Saratoga Springs NY. Shout out to Holly and Charles - great bottle. Balanced. Sweet honey on the nose. On the palette, there is honey, and a deep floral honey, but it is not overpowering. There is also nice rye spice, but again, balanced, and you get nice rye/white pepper spice, but just enough. The finish is a good combo of both with a little more of the rye influence and a little less honey. Overall, great bottle. 8.5/10

yes, I agree with you. The presentation is cool when it's done right. It does of course alter the taste, nose of the drink. I would not smoke a bourbon, but do enjoy a smoked old fashioned.

Good pass. I bought a couple at ~ $45.00 and did a blind SBS against the standard WT101. The 8yr is a little better, but not $20.00 better. Unless they come to their senses and drop the price, I won't be replacing them...

While I don’t smoke cocktails or Bourbons at home, I’ve ordered a few smoked cocktails at restaurants/bars. Gives an interesting spin at times, while at other times, doesn’t do much for me. I think the successful smoked cocktails are crafted by those bartenders who know what they’re doing. The presentation can be cool, the results can be mixed, but I am generally positive on the idea.

I agree with this, aquavite. ...Especially if you are still exploring your own preferences. It's sorta like the question of whether or not some sauce our condiment will actually enhance whatever one starts with... or will it merely cover up some shortcoming . ...Or: worse; will it detract from the original dish (or dram)? Hmmmmm....

Good call. I do this sometimes with bottles I can't replace. When the bottle gets close to empty, I will "archive" off a sample to save for future comparisons to new bottles. Edit: I know I learned this process from others here on SB. Great ideas here just pass from one whiskey lover's generation to the next.

I hear you and you make some good points. But I think you are over thinking it. I also think you are underestimating how good a WT101 can be when the youngest whiskey in the batch is 8 years. Keep in mind, with market forces come into play in the future (that you rightly expressed in your post) there is a good chance that older whiskey will eventually find its way into WT8, just like it did in the old glut period. As long as Eddie Russell is in charge, I feel an 8 year minimum WT101 has the potential to become not just a good bottle, but the best $35-40 KSBW available on the market, ... not coincidentally, the same way NAS has been that product at $20 for quite some time now.

Good luck! I may have already missed it myself. Luckily I have the 12 from last year and the 10 from the year before that. I will have to pour some this weekend.

Thank you. The responses I've gotten on this leads me to spend my money elsewhere. I'll try a pour at a bar or if offered by someone, but I'm not spending the money they ask on an unknown... at least by me.

I'll be honest, I don't know about this. To me, this is like putting "A1 Steak Sauce" on a well grilled/charred steak. I'd much prefer to taste the original flavor of the bourbon. I'm just getting used to various bourbon tastes at present. I think I"m going to have to pass on this....

I finally was able to enjoy the Knob Creek 18 this week. It's much better than the Elijah Craig 18 which I should have passed on

Passed on the 8ry WT. Plenty on the shelf of my local priced at $49.99. Reminds me of the price of gasoline (.999999999). I would probably be a buyer at $40 or less, at least just to do a SBS. The family jug price of 101 was $47 so I'd need a damn good reason to switch over to the Age Stated for more than twice the coin. Great discussion on the other thread from those that have tried it and made their own comparison.

I'll have to ask some friends if it's still there, Bloomington used to have a bar near campus and they had a long menu of mixed drinks. Most of the stuff on the menu had vulgar names. As far as cocktails go, pretty sure it was garbage - combinations including cheap well liquor, schnapps, artificially colored triple sec...

I stated elsewhere that I passed on 70th at 89.99, I frankly thought there would have been more of it given all the talk at lts release. Then came the announcement of 101 8yr. The more time I've had to consider it the more I think WT really shot themselves in the foot. To this point NAS 101 is considered to be 6-8yr ( with a dose of 10 from the Longbranch release era). 101 hasn't increased in price much during the boom years and I don't claim to know the target bottle price at which a legacy distillery needs to sell its flagship in order to keep the lights on, but I'm guessing the sub 25 ish range was sufficient for WT. Now with waning demand, inflation, tariffs yadda, yadda, yadda if the price needed to increase, well everything else has gone up so I'd understand it....to a point. Enter 101 8yr at 40.00 SRP. We (bourbonians) know what we are looking at but the waters are clearly muddy in general consumer land. WT 81, WT 101, WT 101 8YR. What justifies the 20.00 premium for 8yr?? This seems to add un necessary confusion on an already over crowded shelf. IMO WT, if they needed a price increase should have simply restored the 8yr age statement and raised the price by? but less that 20.00. Age all that extra distillate you've been cranking out these past few years to the full 8 like it used to be and anything substandard, younger...blend that away in the 81, no one cares what that tastes like anyway!! Restore the 8 yr 101 and eliminate the NAS version 101 entirely, thereby streamlining (or maintaining) the product line instead of cluttering it up. FWIW I will not be adding any 101 8YR for 40.00, not in an era of declining demand and so much inventory aging in warehouses. FWIW I fully expect a return of the age statements that we saw vanish years ago across most distilleries in the coming months & years and they better tread carefully regarding pricing. As always the market will bear what it will but I don't see this one having a lot of legs at 40.00 once the newness wares off and inventories continue to swell. Time will tell but it sure feels like we are in a new era.

I'll be making a play for the 14 or 12 in the next couple days at my local LS. I know they've arrived, now I just need to do some discreet stalking so 'inadvertenly' bump into the manager and put in the ask face to face. We'll see

Yep, a bottle from 2016, I kept some samples for just this occasion I cracked the 10 and the 15, both good, but the 15 really shines with the sherry. I'll have revisit for the machine oil, or lack thereof Also love me some Kilkerran Im just a Springbank fanboy I guess

And now Old Elk has been purchased by Middle West Spirits of Ohio (I guess you will see even more of it!). A rumor I saw in discussions of this was that Old Elk has not run their still in four years and are just bottling old stock and sourced liquid. There was also conjecture on whether Middle West even wanted the Old Elk facility.

Since we’re on the subject…This billboard for a distillery is just outside Greenville, SC…

I think it's great that 12-year old boys are naming cocktails. Wait, I forgot we are all 12-year old boys inside.