The Story of Black Maple Hill

[GaryT]

Cant find the "Flynn" in stores near me joe so it must be good. Gonna drive to Bama tomorrow and try to fill my trunk. Thanks for the tip!

Wait a minute . . . was this the stuff everyone was talking about at the last GBS meeting (it was late in the evening, so my memory is fuzzy . . . but I thought that this is what the goat picked in a blind taste test?)

And I have never seen this either! I'm heading to eBay to snatch it up before the prices run up to high!!

[smokinjoe]

Wait a minute . . . was this the stuff everyone was talking about at the last GBS meeting (it was late in the evening, so my memory is fuzzy . . . but I thought that this is what the goat picked in a blind taste test?)

And I have never seen this either! I'm heading to eBay to snatch it up before the prices run up to high!!

Not to worry. Jimmy is in South Carolina as we speak, picking his own private barrel of this...There will be plenty to go around.

[Bmac]

They had BMH and I had always wanted to try it...but then suddenly the reviews started to paint a poor picture. I have had my fair share of buying for label recognition only to find the juice inside to be mediocre or requiring months of air time to enjoy.

So I passed on it and now it's gone. I have no idea if it will ever return.

[AaronWF]

Great conversation here. I remember when I started getting deeper into bourbon a few years ago, there were still a few bottles of the older BMH lineup around. They were recommended to me and commented on that there would be no more of them, as their barrel supply had run out. Still, without having tasted them, I wasn't about to spend the $120+ premiums for them. I remember being a little confused when I was told that they were from California while labeled as KSBW and KSRW, but of course that's the gap between most semi-knowledgeable retail clerks and budding enthusiasts green enough to listen to them.

This is very much a transitional time for NDPs, because all the old stock they had access to in the late 90's/early 00's that were distilled in the 80's are gone. With the bourbon boom in full effect, they have to scramble to find juice to fill their labels, and they can't hope to find whiskey with identical and in many cases even similar profiles to what they were able to cheaply acquire before. BMH, Michter's, Vintage (well, most of KBD's labels I guess), VW; these are brands built on whiskey made in a different era who have every incentive to play down that fact as they move forward. It's difficult to see a label change quality so drastically from one year to the next, but it's just a fact.

NDPs aren't the only ones whose products can change in quality from one season to the next, but I would expect far more variability from a brand when you don't know where the juice inside was distilled.

Edited July 18, 2012 by AaronWF
KBwhat?

[MyOldKyDram]

Just saw a half dozen or so bottles in a store in my neck of the woods.

[Bmac]

Great conversation here. I remember when I started getting deeper into bourbon a few years ago, there were still a few bottles of the older BMH lineup around. They were recommended to me and commented on that there would be no more of them, as their barrel supply had run out. Still, without having tasted them, I wasn't about to spend the $120+ premiums for them. I remember being a little confused when I was told that they were from California while labeled as KSBW and KSRW, but of course that's the gap between most semi-knowledgeable retail clerks and budding enthusiasts green enough to listen to them.

This is very much a transitional time for NDPs, because all the old stock they had access to in the late 90's/early 00's that were distilled in the 80's are gone. With the bourbon boom in full effect, they have to scramble to find juice to fill their labels, and they can't hope to find whiskey with identical and in many cases even similar profiles to what they were able to cheaply acquire before. BMH, Michter's, Vintage (well, most of KBF's labels I guess), VW; these are brands built on whiskey made in a different era who have every incentive to play down that fact as they move forward. It's difficult to see a label change quality so drastically from one year to the next, but it's just a fact.

NDPs aren't the only ones whose products can change in quality from one season to the next, but I would expect far more variability from a brand when you don't know where the juice inside was distilled.

What fantastic points you have there! It's easy to forget that most of these bottles were over 10 years in age when bottled. They built a reputation for great tasting bourbon and now there is no guarantee and they are banking on name alone at present.

This is probably what fueled the entire Pappy thread where it was felt the quality would suffer from old SW juice to new BT make.

[sailor22]

Wouldn't it be nice if these rectifiers would change the label in some way when the contents changed. Doesn't seem to be a problem for the folks at Compass Box or High West. Even most of the craft guys give you a batch number.

I have enjoyed a few BMH expressions over the years and some of the KBD labels but I'm dissappointed neither make it easy to know when the contents have changed. Thinking of Vintage 17 as an example.

To David's original point - yes it does look like BMH is becoming the next big thing. There is a lot of buz locally and I'm in the provinces compared to SF.

Edited July 18, 2012 by sailor22

[soonami]

...these are brands built on whiskey made in a different era who have every incentive to play down that fact as they move forward. It's difficult to see a label change quality so drastically from one year to the next, but it's just a fact.

NDPs aren't the only ones whose products can change in quality from one season to the next, but I would expect far more variability from a brand when you don't know where the juice inside was distilled.

I think the general worry with enthusiasts like us with NDP's without major Distillery support (like the Van Winkle's have) is a general decline in quality. The age and quality of many of their products likely will continue decrease with time as supplies dwindle. Prices will probably increase as there is definitely a sustainable demand. Although the flavor profile might subtly change so that few will notice the differences from consecutive batch to batch, I think some will find the juice from a 2009 bottle to be superior to a 2015 bottle. At the same time the prices will continue to go up.

Even distiller brands like Weller Antique and SR, Basil Hayden, etc are even losing age statements. Although these bourbons seem to be maintaining the same quality now, what will it be like in 5 years? The reaction time required for a distiller to respond to a sudden increase in demand is so slow that it's hard to imagine there ever being enough good, old stock, to be stainable for long. Maybe that's why Elijah Craig moved to a 20 expression for 2.5x the price, because they couldn't continue to sell EC18 at the same rate so they jacked up the price and will probably sell almost as many bottles.