Heaven Hill Round Table

[cowdery]

I can't believe only one person mentioned Parker and Craig Beam, since that's the answer right there. How does Old Fitz become Larceny? Through masterful barrel selection and mixing. We know they cherry-pick the best barrels for the single barrel products and they do the same thing for PHC and Larceny. Parker and Craig are just the masters at that. Nobody is better. There is somebody doing that job at every distillery. Some have slightly different skill sets. I don't want to say anything negative about anyone, but I will say that no one surpasses Parker and Craig in that regard. Part of it is in the nature of the company. Chains of command there are clear and short. Everybody has been in their jobs for a long time. They trust each other. And when it comes to their whiskey and what goes into the bottle, there is no question who is in charge and who makes those decisions. And senior company management doesn't undermine that, they reinforce it. Parker and Craig are simply awesomely good at their jobs and Max Shapira, et al, stay out of the way and let them do their jobs. It's simple but not easily duplicated.

All this with a distillery they don't really like. Imagine what HH would be producing if they still had DSP-31 going.

Edited September 26, 2012 by cowdery

[sailor22]

HH seems to have their ear to the ground as far as what the market wants and they have enough product to match quality to demand. A few of their older labels have slipped in my personal desirability list as they went to younger juice and perhaps some of the better barrels are being used for the newer premium labels. But the premium labels are generally very good. I really miss the older 10yr 1783, the current non age stated is similar but just isn't as good OMHO. YMMV.

I look forward to the annual Parkers Heritage release more than any other annual release now.

[HighHorse]

Per White Dog: (PS: FWIW, my avatar is a series of barrel-strength EC12s that a friendly retailer allowed me to try when he was selecting a barrel. The bottle on the far left was 153.2 proof, and better than any Stagg I've ever had. The retailer agreed with me. It was jaw-dropping, drop to your knees Bourbon. When the retailer went to order the barrel, it was sadly already gone.)

[camduncan]

For those of us in the states, this is a fascinating list. Thanks, Cam.

What can you tell us about Virgin 101?

Unfortunately not much. I purchased a bottle several years ago, and from memory mostly used it as a mixer. I plan to pick some up before the festive season kicks in, so will report back more then.

From one of our national retailers:

https://www.1stchoice.com.au/Spirits/virgin-bourbon-101-proof-700ml_421287

"A smooth Bourbon at an affordable price. Amber red color with a well developed oak base. This 101-proof Bourbon has nice smoky notes throughout. This drinks more like a 10-12 year old spirit."

If this isn't available in the US, I'm not sure what else in the HH lineup would compare?

[camduncan]

Earlier this year we selected a couple of barrels of EC12 at barrel strength. Yet they were bottled at 90 proof. At barrel proof they were bell ringers (jaw droppers as you say) and we were mighty excited about it. At 90 they had been taken to the edge and, while still quite tasty and delicious, had lost a good bit of the character we enjoyed in the rick house. Lesson learned.

I had similar experiences with EC18 when visiting Heaven Hill in 2008. Got to try it straight from the barrel as they were dumping it (even got some charcoal chunks in the glass )... and it was by far the best bourbon I've ever tasted. Once watered and bottled, I can take or leave EC18 depending on my mood, but if they ever released it at barrel strength, I'd happily get on a plane back to the US just to buy some!

[p_elliott]

I can't believe only one person mentioned Parker and Craig Beam, since that's the answer right there. How does Old Fitz become Larceny? Through masterful barrel selection and mixing. We know they cherry-pick the best barrels for the single barrel products and they do the same thing for PHC and Larceny. Parker and Craig are just the masters at that. Nobody is better. There is somebody doing that job at every distillery. Some have slightly different skill sets. I don't want to say anything negative about anyone, but I will say that no one surpasses Parker and Craig in that regard. Part of it is in the nature of the company. Chains of command there are clear and short. Everybody has been in their jobs for a long time. They trust each other. And when it comes to their whiskey and what goes into the bottle, there is no question who is in charge and who makes those decisions. And senior company management doesn't undermine that, they reinforce it. Parker and Craig are simply awesomely good at their jobs and Max Shapira, et al, stay out of the way and let them do their jobs. It's simple but not easily duplicated.

All this with a distillery they don't really like. Imagine what HH would be producing if they still had DSP-31 going.

Well said Parker and Craig know their craft

[AaronWF]

I look forward to the annual Parkers Heritage release more than any other annual release now.

I pretty much agree with this. I'm still a FR devotee, but they have two annual LE releases plus private label 1B throughout the year. HH has a very interesting distillery character. One of the things that makes the PHC series so tantalizingly delicious is that it's so clearly related to their family of products, but taken to such luxurious heights as to deliver supreme satisfaction. In other words, the satisfaction I get from the PHC bottlings is undeniably enhanced by my familiarity with HH's other products.

There is something that strikes me as particularly honest about HH, unlike BT. Maybe it's the pricing and overall lack of gimmickry (that is, until you visit their heritage center...). It seems to be a humble company, a product perhaps of the organization Chuck was talking about. Though I'm not all that impressed with Larceny, I respect HH for the unpretentious price point.