HRay Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 Rittenhouse is a Heaven Hill label, so although it is currently distilled at B-F, it will soon be switching over to Bernheim, not BT.I was talking about the Rittenhouse transition from B-F to Bernheim in another thread and got confused when talking about what BT is going to do when the Saz 18 runs out. I'm sure they have some pretty special rye aging to be ready to replace it. That said, do we really know much about the Saz 18? Do we know what the mashbill was? Was it even distilled at Buffalo Trace (then Ancient Age distillery)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRay Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 You raise a good point. I can't seem to find information about whether the 18 is indeed the same distillate as the Handy and Baby Saz. That said, it sure as hell smells and tastes like a very "mature" Handy or Baby Saz. Fair enough, but I have yet to come across someone who finds a diluted Handy—including the 2010 release—worse than Baby Saz, and some like it better. I'm not saying it's not legit to prefer the Baby over the Handy (as HRay does), but that HRay's concerns about the Handy distillate not being good enough to be used to make Saz 18 are probably unwarranted, given that he likes Baby Saz too.I think I may have overstated the case if I said that I liked the Baby Saz more than the Handy. Perhaps I meant "for the price". I any case, I think I have just come up with a good reason to revisit the bottles of Handy and Saz 18 that I have open. I think they are both from the 2010 release (although I do have unopened bottles of each from older releases). I'll also try to somewhat equalize the proof of the Handy and compare it to the Baby Saz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bad_scientist Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I think I may have overstated the case if I said that I liked the Baby Saz more than the Handy. Perhaps I meant "for the price". I any case, I think I have just come up with a good reason to revisit the bottles of Handy and Saz 18 that I have open. I think they are both from the 2010 release (although I do have unopened bottles of each from older releases). I'll also try to somewhat equalize the proof of the Handy and compare it to the Baby Saz.Coincidentally, I just had the 2010 editions next to each other. To my taste, the Handy didn't smell like much and it was really sweet. The taste crept up on me, though, and I ended up loving it. The Saz 18 was so fragrant and amazing... The taste was delicious but next to the Handy felt a bit thin. Natch. I think I like the Saz 18 better. The Handy should be about $40 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.B. Babington Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 and where does the Abraham Bowman Rye fit into the rankings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rughi Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 and where does the Abraham Bowman Rye fit into the rankings?There's no lineup of ryes I've ever tasted where the Party Source bottlings Bowman Rye would be outclassed. It is a permutation of Handy in a way, but age and selection make it a distinct and wonderful product. It can stand proudly next to Dougie's or Lenelll's Willetts, Handy, the rare barrel proof Overholt, Medley Saz, the various iterations of Rittenhouse, or your favorite Saz Jr (10yo Sam's bottling for me). Not necessarily best all of them (Willett #1 or #2 for me), but it belongs in that company.For me, Party Source Bowman Rye is in the field for any discussion of greatest current production American whiskey.Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRay Posted November 17, 2011 Share Posted November 17, 2011 I think I may have overstated the case if I said that I liked the Baby Saz more than the Handy. Perhaps I meant "for the price". I any case, I think I have just come up with a good reason to revisit the bottles of Handy and Saz 18 that I have open. I think they are both from the 2010 release (although I do have unopened bottles of each from older releases). I'll also try to somewhat equalize the proof of the Handy and compare it to the Baby Saz.Well last night I revisited the Sazerac rye offerings. I guess I did a reverse tasting because I started out with the 2010 Sazerac 18 rye. I need to revisit this rye more often! Really fine. I thought the Handy I had open was also a 2010 but referring to the BTAC info thread I realized that at 134.8 proof it is the 2007 version. I had not tasted this rye for a long time! I was immediately surprised at the family resemblance to the Saz 18 that I had not noted before (I think my palate is more educated now). I have some other year bottles of this that I need to crack open to compare. After the Handy, I went back to the Baby Saz and while much lighter, I now think I taste the family resemblance to the other two. I wonder if BT is picking barrels each year for the Handy out of the rye they are aging to replace the Saz 18 when it runs out. Maybe the future for BT rye looks good after all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutton Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Just picked up a couple baby Saz for $24.99 - a pretty good price for this area. What was notable was the amount I saw - there were at least 4 cases (I think 6 bottles/case). I've never seen more than 3 or 4 bottles on a shelf around here.If you are nearby, PM me and I'll let you know where they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanSheen Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Anybody know when the next allocation is going out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts