Buying The Wrong Bottle

[Gillman]

Thad recounted amusingly on another thread buying a different bottle than what he intended. (I agree about the single barrel version, Thad, but look forward to trying the "Tornado Taylor").

I think we've all "been there".

I thought it would be interesting to read here similar missteps made by others.

I once (many moons ago) bought an Evan Williams Black Label thinking it was JD. I knew well the difference between the two, but it was late, the place was dark, I was in a rush, and didn't take enough time. I was pleased in this case to have the EW but sometimes I was less happy with the outcome!

Gary

[Tucker]

Thought I'd gotten lucky when I saw a bottle of Abraham Bowman Limited Edition rye on the shelf at a Liquor Barn in Lexington. I'd only read about the barrel strength version and this bottle had the same distilling date and was a ten year old. I didn't even bother to look at the proof (90). It didn't help that I had my eye on a bottle of Saz 18 behind glass and was looking for the guy with the key at the time.

I'm not kicking myself over it, though. It's very good whiskey.

[redbear]

Just this weekend I bought 3 bottles of JW Dant from DSP-KY-31 thinking it was HH juice from before the fire. Further research on the board indicates that it is not. Instead, they were likely just using up labels and it is actually from DSP 1.

:shithappens:

[StraightBoston]

Sometimes it works out: my brother-in-law is a longtime Rebel Yell drinker and once bought a squat bottle, only to realize he had accidentally picked up a (gold-filigree) Old Weller Antique. The "wrong" bottle sat in the back of his bourbon shelf for over 10 years before I was able to take it off his hands...

[sanzoluk]

I bought a bottle of Blanton's at the LCBO thinking it was the standard 92-whatever proof, and was disappointed later to find it was the 80-proof international "introductory" version. That said, it's pretty tasty and has become my go-to "I want a tiny sip of light tasting whiskey after work but I'm too lazy to choose" drink, so I can't complain too much. (Where normal Blanton's I might feel compelled to save for a slightly more special occasion)

[Bmac]

Well, I also bought Singe Barrel thinking it was the Tornado release .

Not, 100% sure if this counts, but I bought a bottle of WLW thinking it was the 2011 release because it was sitting next to the 2011 of THH. Nope, it was the 2010 release. Boo hiss.

[Enoch]

I was in a small store that had four bottles of Old Taylor. I asked to examine one and... lo and behold... no government warning, so I bought all 4. When I got home I examined my treasure only to discover that the only one with no warning was the one I examined. The other three were quite new with the new label and govt. warning. I gave them to by daughter's boyfriend which made that one bottle fairly expensive.

[Gillman]

Good stories.

Sometimes the "wrong" purchase turns out very good though. Usually this is when a current iteration ends up in your basket when you think it is the oldie you want, but counter-intuitively it tastes great. It has happened to me with OGD, for example.

Gary

[tmckenzie]

I only did it one time. I have drank enough ten high to float a battle ship and my father before me also. So you would think I knew to notice a change in the label. I strolled in and got a half a gallon, got home, got a snort and said, what the hell. It was the new blended version. Yuck.

[Parkersback]

Since I had heard so many people on this board talk about these two as good values, and since I can't get either in NY, I bought handles of JTS Brown and Old Fitz when I was in KY. After opening them up and being utterly disappointed, I went back and learned that it was the BIB versions that I should have been looking for. I had the 80 proof of both.

I ended up making infused whiskey with one and cooking with the other. They were pretty lame.

I have since had a bottle of JTS Brown BIB and I like it just fine.

[dohidied]

Last week I grabbed 2 dusty 375s of OGD BIB after I examined the back and saw DSP-14. When I got home and examined it more closely I saw that it was actually distilled at DSP-230 and bottled at DSP-14.

[StraightNoChaser]

bought an Old Fitz Prime when I was still a newb... didn't realize it was the current HH trash

I keep it around to compare to the S-W OFP I have. kinda funny how shitty the HH juice is.

[aphelan]

accidentally orderes 2 PHC 5th editions instead of the 4th. now the 4th is all gone.

[tommyboy38]

Thought I grabbed a bottle of Old Weller but it actually turned out to be a bottle of Old Yeller and it tasted of wet dog.

[Fpst]

Thought I grabbed a bottle of Old Weller but it actually turned out to be a bottle of Old Yeller and it tasted of wet dog.

[ILLfarmboy]

I once bought a bottle of Old Taylor thinking it was much older ND juice.

No buterscotch I was disapointed. and that day I drove all over Peoria to score one frekin' bottle.

[gblick]

A couple of years ago I walked into a store that I regularly go into, and I was excited to see that a bottle of ORVW 10/107 had appeared on the shelf. I knew right away by the gold neck wrapping that it was the 10/107 (the 10/90 has a red neck wrap, and I usually pass on those), so I picked it up without even looking at the price and took it up to the counter to buy it. When he rang it up and it came up with a price of $45.99 I said "wait, why is it so expensive?". Then I looked down and saw that it was actually an old 15/107. That was a great surprise!

[bad_scientist]

A couple of years ago I walked into a store that I regularly go into, and I was excited to see that a bottle of ORVW 10/107 had appeared on the shelf. I knew right away by the gold neck wrapping that it was the 10/107 (the 10/90 has a red neck wrap, and I usually pass on those), so I picked it up without even looking at the price and took it up to the counter to buy it. When he rang it up and it came up with a price of $45.99 I said "wait, why is it so expensive?". Then I looked down and saw that it was actually an old 15/107. That was a great surprise!

Congrats! If you look back in the very, very old threads, there was at least a portion of the community who thought the ORVW 15 was better than the PVW.

Plus, that's retail in DC for the 10/107. Geez, actually, maybe that's even a bit cheap these days...

[gblick]

Congrats! If you look back in the very, very old threads, there was at least a portion of the community who thought the ORVW 15 was better than the PVW.

Oh, it wasn't my first ORVW 15/107, and I too think it's better than the Pappy 15.

[dohidied]

I once bought a bottle of Old Taylor thinking it was much older ND juice.

No buterscotch I was disapointed. and that day I drove all over Peoria to score one frekin' bottle.

My first OT was a dusty 200ml with Frankfort/Clermont on the label. Tasted so bad I almost didn't want to buy any more ND OT, but I'm sure glad I found some of that butterscotch.

[SirBlend12]

I bought a bottle of Rebel Reserve a few months ago. I didn't grab the wrong thing off of the shelf or anything like that but, after getting it home to taste it (well, I drank some, though it didn't really taste like much of anything), I realized I had certainly made the wrong purchase that day.

[PaulO]

I was in for a surprize when I brought two bottles of Old Fitz 1849 back from KY. The verdict, not too good, like a much worse version of the BIB (that I think is just ok). It turns out all the praise was for the DSP-16 stuff, not the modern version. I still never opened the other bottle.

[WsmataU]

I was in for a surprize when I brought two bottles of Old Fitz 1849 back from KY. The verdict, not too good, like a much worse version of the BIB (that I think is just ok). It turns out all the praise was for the DSP-16 stuff, not the modern version. I still never opened the other bottle.

[jcg9779]

This happened to me when the PHC 10yr came out. It was sold out at my usual store and I stopped by another store that I frequent regularly on the way to visit some family. Lo and behold, there were three bottles sitting on the shelf. I grabbed two of them and headed to the register, happy with my find. Two days later I realized that they were the PHC Cask Strength, and I kicked myself for not buying all three of them. These still remain the only bottles of the first PHC offering that I have seen.

[c2walker]

This happened to me when the PHC 10yr came out. It was sold out at my usual store and I stopped by another store that I frequent regularly on the way to visit some family. Lo and behold, there were three bottles sitting on the shelf. I grabbed two of them and headed to the register, happy with my find. Two days later I realized that they were the PHC Cask Strength, and I kicked myself for not buying all three of them. These still remain the only bottles of the first PHC offering that I have seen.

This almost happened to me in reverse yesterday when I was placing an order over the phone. The store only had one bottle of what I was looking for so I decided to ask if they had any other limited edition or high age bourbons or ryes to fill out the order and decrease per bottle shipping. The clerk said that they had PHC Cask Strength and I, as calmly as possible, asked how many they had. I then proceeded to say I'd take all of them until I realized that the PHC wheated bottle also says 'cask strength'...so I asked. Sure enough it was the wheater and not 1st edition. I was happy to pick up another PHC wheated, but it would have been special to find a 1st edition (which I've never tried).