Single Oak Project

[RyanL]

I got some extra money from a contest at my work.

I ordered a case of the project, all 12 different bottles. The store that I buy from always gives me a deal and does jack up the price.

Am I dumb to buy all of these?

I guess that just depends what you want out of getting all 12 of them. I just hope you aren't expecting a bunch of bottles of great bourbon. Some will be, most probably wont. Possibly a lot of decent but not great in the middle type bottles.

This is a quote that was posted on another website by a guy that tried all 12 already through a friend of his in the industry.

"This project seems like mainly a marketing gimmick (192 different barrels to taste/rate over 4 years to come up w/ the "perfect barrel"), but I was actually very surprised at how different these 12 tasted. Definitely a wide range of flavors and balance. Three really stood out as awesome, three sucked (harsh alcohol bite and weak flavor), and the rest were all OK/normal."

[cowdery]

Note to Macinjosh, I am not a mod and have no say in matters of SB.com etiquette.

On the bigger topic, I think one concern BT has is that while people will be trying very hard to get this first set, people have short memories and when case #2 arrives in August and case #3 arrives in November, people will be "oh, that again," and over it. It's a marathon not a sprint, and it's not some kind of 'golden ticket' game where you're trying to find the winning bottle. It's an opportunity to learn and every bottle will teach you something. If you're not into the learning experience, or consider the cost of 'tuition' too high, then this project isn't for you and you should sit it out.

[Virus_Of_Life]

Chuck, I saw another thread directed towards the moderators on where to post tasting notes, opinions, etc. on this release. What's the proper etiquette on this matter?

Proper would be, as we've kindly asked, for everyone post it in the spoiler thread as to keep to best of our ability the blind tasting intact for everyone.

[MacinJosh]

Gotcha.

And just FYI everyone, John Hansell's newest blog post today is a spoiler. I'm glad I stopped reading after the first few sentences.

I'll go back and read his review after I've had a chance to taste.

Josh

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[JohnHansell]

Just before I get into the nitty gritty on my post, I warn readers to not read any farther if they don't want to be biased. And I understand completely why people would want to stop right there.

[callmeox]

Just before I get into the nitty gritty on my post, I warn readers to not read any farther if they don't want to be biased. And I understand completely why people would want to stop right there.

I have avoided your recent blog posts on the SOP for fear of spoilers. Glad to hear that you have warnings in place.

Thanks to MacinJosh as well for the heads up.

[fussychicken]

If you're not into the learning experience, or consider the cost of 'tuition' too high, then this project isn't for you and you should sit it out.

Why the underhanded antagonism at the critics of this project? Why do we need you to tell us if we should or should not sit this one out?

I AM into the learning experience. And I WOULD like to participate. But the cost of the "tuition" is indeed too high.

By implying that spending $10,000+ is something that we can "consider" one way or another shows a lack of understanding of the current bourbon enthusiast world. Statements like this come off as very bourgeoisie.

If this is indeed considered a tuition cost that is fine. Maybe I'll spend the money towards an Ivy League MBA so that I can get a wall street job to be able to buy this bankers bourbon. Actually, that has a nice ring to it, "Single Oak Bankers Bourbon" Maybe we can get Mark Brown to change the name of it!

[cowdery]

What is more bourgeoisie than expecting to have everything in life on your own terms?

[fussychicken]

What is more bourgeoisie than expecting to have everything in life on your own terms?

Seeing a whiskey critic give unvarnished love towards the most expensive retailed bourbon set yet seen when said critic (self described as "Crotchety") usually has at least a few nits to pick with better executed, more populist, less expensive bottlings.

[cowdery]

I can barely contain my disappointment at my failure to please you, Steve.

Single Oak is not essential. Skip it and it won't leave a big hole in your portfolio of whiskey experiences. I haven't criticized BT because they're not doing anything wrong here. They did this thing, figured out how much they needed to charge to make it worth their while, and there it is. I'd like to go to the Super Bowl but I can't afford it, damn the NFL.

Since you like fancy words, look up "hubris."

[fussychicken]

I can barely contain my disappointment at my failure to please you, Steve.

Its not disappointment. Just a friendly jostling that has come across as somewhat aggressive. Why be aggressive? Because if it wasn't somewhat aggressive it would have been dismissed.

And no it isn't hubris. I fully realize I'm just a mere gnat facelessly attacking from the safety of my living room behind my computer monitor.

But as a person that does occasionally fancy a 50 cent word here or there, I wish there was a description for someone who has power and influence beyond what they outwardly acknowledge whether they are conscious of it or not. I understand the value of humility, but feel that your level of humility doesn't match with your actual influence.

Chuck, you helped build and foster this bourbon enthusiast community more than anyone else. OK so maybe they are a handful of people that know more. But you are unique. You know why? Because those few other more knowledgeable people don't communicate. You participate down in the forum trenches with us barbarian uncultured "consumers." Your knowledge combined with your willingness to continuously and actively participate in this community has put you in THE top spot.

You ARE the Robert Parker of the bourbon world. When you go to amazon.com and type in bourbon, your book pops up first. When you ask people the first time they heard about SW whiskey, they usually mention your book. Why do people bid up bottles of SW juice to the price they do? Turn to the page in "Bourbon, Straight" that says "Very Very Old Fitz is the best bourbon I've ever had." When you go to the wikipedia page for bourbon the first source for "further reading" is none other than "Bourbon, Straight."

But you are even better than Robert Parker! You get total props for shunning the points system. And even more for having aggressively focused on finding the true distillery source for whiskey. "Who cares what the bottle says, where does it ACTUALLY come from?" This is all great stuff!

I owe your more than I could ever repay for the knowledge that you have shared, and I thank you for that.

With that said...

If you are the most influential bourbon personality in the world, can I disagree with you? Sure I can! Should I disagree quietly and keep it to myself? That is one way to do it. Should I disagree on the forums? I guess so? Maybe? Maybe not? What if I do it too timidly? Timid voices seem to get unnoticed around here these days. And if no one listens, why even bother?

So yes. Maybe I am displaying a little bit too much hubris by taking up too much of your time, and if so, I apologize. But as I did then, and still feel now, I don't fully agree with your opinion on this matter and wished to publicly state so.

Nevertheless, I still owe you more drinks than I could ever buy for you at the bar. And if I ever do make it out to one of the big festivals or the Gazebo one year I still hope to be able to buy you one. I just hope you don't ask for shot of single oak!

[T Comp]

You ARE the Robert Parker of the bourbon world.

First he has to have his nose insured and then start issuing reviews of what he hasn't even tasted. By the way, Steve, in spite of your bourgeoisie status, your barrel and distillate "goodies" formula post is still one of my favorites :grin: .

[cowdery]

Thanks for the kind words, Steve. Where we went awry is when you questioned my integrity by all but calling me a shill. Let's write it off to hyperbole.

I don't think I indulge in false humility nor do I engage in (much) self-promotion. It makes me uncomfortable when it starts to become about me and I probably overreact when someone frames a disagreement that way. By all means, disagree with me, but don't criticize me for not agreeing with you.

[mrviognier]

First he has to have his nose insured and then start issuing reviews of what he hasn't even tasted.

Hey, now...not to drift this thread, but Parker tastes every wine he reviews. As far as insuring his nose, I don't think he has...but I could certainly understand it if he did.

[fussychicken]

Thanks for the kind words, Steve. Where we went awry is when you questioned my integrity by all but calling me a shill. Let's write it off to hyperbole.

That sounds more than fair enough to me.

By the way, Steve, in spite of your bourgeoisie status, your barrel and distillate "goodies" formula post is still one of my favorites :grin: .

Haha, thanks T Comp. I still think about this from time to time and still would love to see this info on the back of the bottle. Come on producers! Just three things!

• Distillation Proof
  
• Barrel Entry Proof
  
• Barrel Exit Proof
  
• Ok, and maybe just one more? Chill Filtered yes or no?

[craigthom]

• Distillation Proof
  
• Barrel Entry Proof
  
• Barrel Exit Proof
  
• Ok, and maybe just one more? Chill Filtered yes or no?

I don't think you'll ever get exit proof on regular releases. OK, I don't think you'll get any of them, but at least the first two are generally fixed for a given expression. The last one is variable, which would mean hand-writing it on the bottles or buying a machine to print it at the time of bottling, and it would have to be the average of all the barrels they dumped for that run.

[cowdery]

Barrel exit proof is the only problem since except for single barrels, the only way you could do it would be to report the abv of all the whiskey in the tank before water is added. Effectively, the average. Even that might vary significantly from batch to batch. Maybe not, or maybe it would be sufficient to do like Beam does on Bookers, and say a range.

The idea of this is that all of these, with the possible exception of barrel exit proof, are easy for the producers to do. They don't do it because it's a burden, they don't do it because they don't want us to have that information.

I urge all producers to make a pledge to put that information on every bottle of whiskey they sell.

Now we'll see how Parker-esque I really am, Steve.

[Leopold]

Barrel exit would be next to impossible for the larger producers. Unless you mean a median or mean abv of a dump.

For those of us who bottle single-singles, as we do exclusively, it's quite easy.

[cowdery]

Single Oak Release 2 will be in stores in a couple weeks. More information to come when I have it.

[callmeox]

Single Oak Release 2 will be in stores in a couple weeks. More information to come when I have it.

Release 1 never materialized in my neck of the woods so there's no reason to get excited about 2. That's a total bummer, too.

[Bourbon Boiler]

A friend told he was in a Nashville, TN store where they were encouraged to make deals to get them to move. Retail price was $65.

[Josh]

Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a couple of the release #2s. I haven't talked to anyone who has even SEEN any on the shelves!

[BFerguson]

Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a couple of the release #2s. I haven't talked to anyone who has even SEEN any on the shelves!

Keep up the hope, I didn't think I would see any, and then there they were! :grin:

B

[Bourbon Boiler]

I've seen them in Indiana & Texas. When at The Party Source they were expeciting some, but I don't know that it materialized.

[cowdery]

Here's the rest of what you need to know about Release 2:

This release will explore three important variables that affect the taste of bourbon, recipe, grain size, and char level. Some of the bottles contain bourbon made with rye and others with wheat. The barrels themselves were made from different trees, each with varying degrees of thickness to their wood grain, from fine to very coarse. These barrels were charred at either a number three or number four char level to determine how the burn will alter the taste. All other variables in the experimental project, such as the entry proof, stave seasoning, tree cut, and warehouse location remain constant.

The second release is made up of barrel numbers 29, 31, 61, 63, 93, 95, 125, 127, 157, 159, 189, 191.

I heard that Binny's will only sell them by the case, not individual bottles. True?