Van Winkle - Bad Bottle???

[HoosierBoozer]

I have been a fan of the Van Winkle 12 yr. Lot B for some time now and went through several bottles in the past year. I went to a bachelor party a few weeks ago and took a new bottle because I had been raving about it to friends and was eager to share. However, when I opened this bottle I was disappointed, this bottle had a notably different taste, very earthy and musty smelling like a damp basement. I've noticed similar smells in some other Weller and BT products. I did a side by side taste with an older bottle I already had at home the other day and same results. Did I get a bad bottle or is this latest bottle a different batch? I don't want to drop $45 on another bottle I might not like.

[kickert]

I have been a fan of the Van Winkle 12 yr. Lot B for some time now and went through several bottles in the past year. I went to a bachelor party a few weeks ago and took a new bottle because I had been raving about it to friends and was eager to share. However, when I opened this bottle I was disappointed, this bottle had a notably different taste, very earthy and musty smelling like a damp basement. I've noticed similar smells in some other Weller and BT products. I did a side by side taste with an older bottle I already had at home the other day and same results. Did I get a bad bottle or is this latest bottle a different batch? I don't want to drop $45 on another bottle I might not like.

If you know your Lot B pretty well, it sounds like it may be a bad bottle. If you do a search for "Musty" you will find a significant portion of threads are related to Buffalo Trace products. They seem to have a problem with letting a few bad bottles through. I had some recent lot b a month ago and it was excellent.

[funknik]

Buffalo Trace/Sazerac products seem to have a hard time with consistency. With regards to the "musty" or "basement smell" flavor -- as Ben said, this seems to be the tell -- if something's wrong with it, this is usually the complaint. It might be the cork or the barrel, I don't know which, but it definitely seems to be a rotten wood sort of a thing. Check out this thread:

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11274

and there'll be some evidence....I hope that the bottle of Lot B that I have bunkered is free and clear...It would be a shame to get a bad bottle of such great whiskey. Sorry for your loss. :cry:

[etohchem]

Please call the number that is on the bottle or 1-866-729-3722. You should get our customer representative Linda Hubbard oe leave a message and she will contact you. She will take your information and should send you a package to return that botrtle to us for evaluation and get you a refund check. We can not replace the bottle as it is illegal for a producer to send booze directly. I would very much like to examine the bottle to determine the cause of your dissatisfaction. A good portion of the "musty" complaints we see can be attributed to cork taint but I would need to examine before I can make any definitve call on your bottle.

Truman Cox

Lead Chemist

Buffalo Trace Distillery