What bourbon did you purchase today? - Winter 2012/2013

[petrel800]

Picked up a Johnny Drum Private Stock read some good things and wanted to give it a try.

[jeffrey r]

Picked up a Johnny Drum Private Stock read some good things and wanted to give it a try.

[z327]

Did you get the $130 one or the $200 one?

Let me know where to get them for $130 and I will. Retail on the 25 was $190. With the release being 3,000 bottles I expect they would be $200+ today. A steal compared to Pappy 23 pricing and most any 25 year old Scotch. I have not tried the 25 or 21 yet. Really enjoying the 23 I have open.

[Yeti]

Let me know where to get them for $130 and I will. Retail on the 25 was $190. With the release being 3,000 bottles I expect they would be $200+ today. A steal compared to Pappy 23 pricing and most any 25 year old Scotch. I have not tried the 25 or 21 yet. Really enjoying the 23 I have open.

The Ritt25 I went back for was $180. Not exactly "affordable" but as a scotch buyer I found it to be a pretty easy pill to swallow. I went back and forth on the HW21 all day, but thought the Ritt25 was a better and more interesting option, with the higher proof and extra age.

[CaptainQ]

I went with the higher proof and extra age.

Not always ​the best bet. Taste is what matters.

[squire]

Yeti I believe you chose the better and more interesting bottle.

[Wryguy]

Yeti I believe you chose the better and more interesting bottle.

I agree with both of you, and the idea of an old rye right now. Rittenhouse 25 it is.

Squire, I'm a bit surprised that you chose the Rittenhouse as that HW21 is Barton-produced rye.

[Yeti]

Not always ​the best bet. Taste is what matters.

Certainly, I also considered the extremely favorable Whiskey Advocate review of Ritt25 (aware that it will have single barrel differences), my affection for the current Ritt BIB product, and the "straight" designation, or rather, the lack thereof with the High West. I felt like, while both were rare expressions, the full quarter century in new oak appealed to me more than the used cooperage the Barton distillate was aged in.

With that said, HW21 will probably be the #1 thing on my shopping list when I head back to TPS later this year.

[squire]

Wryguy the way I see it an outfit like High West is limited in the amount of 21 year old whisky they can source/afford and that's the end of the run. They also have to bottle it all and they don't get to choose the honey barrels from their supplier.

Heaven Hill has many, many, many barrels aging (over 50 million gallons) and they have the luxury of picking and choosing only the best barrels for their high end bottlings. This easily makes Rittenhouse 25 the better choice.

[Wryguy]

Wryguy the way I see it an outfit like High West is limited in the amount of 21 year old whisky they can source/afford and that's the end of the run. They also have to bottle it all and they don't get to choose the honey barrels from their supplier.

Heaven Hill has many, many, many barrels aging (over 50 million gallons) and they have the luxury of picking and choosing only the best barrels for their high end bottlings. This easily makes Rittenhouse 25 the better choice.

Sounds good to me, I prefer the Rittenhouse 25 anyway, though the HW21 is plenty interesting and they're both pretty scarce at this point. I thought I read somewhere that the older Rittenhouse ryes were produced under contract by Heaven Hill for a private party who later didn't pick up the barrels. I don't know if barrels from that order were just dumped into the vatting of the standard BiB because they weren't fit for bottling under the high end offerings. It was a one-off though, right? My understanding is that a new batch of Rittenhouse this old is at least a decade away from fruition. Please tell me I'm wrong and I'll stop obsessively bunkering the stuff.

I purchased a VOB 90 proof today, no BiB around here. An attempt to keep this thread on topic.

[Smokewagon]

Went to my local today, and picked up 4 different Julio's Loch & K(e)y society private selections: ETL, 1792, ERSB, and HM BiB. Pretty excited to crack these and see how they stack up to the standard distillery releases.

Late catching up this thread..

The L&K crew really knows how to pick them. I went to Go Whisk(e)y Weekend at Julio's and managed to pick up quite a few bottles before it was all over. I did some serious tasting and took notes, ranked everything and after the smoke cleared the majority of what I purchased were L&K barrel selections. I think I brought home 2 bottles of "regular" stuff.

As a side note, if you are a regular there, I hope you got a Dram Card. It'll help you get the limited release stuff, those with full dram cards get theirs before any "lottery" people.

~SW

[LostBottle]

Wryguy the way I see it an outfit like High West is limited in the amount of 21 year old whisky they can source/afford and that's the end of the run. They also have to bottle it all and they don't get to choose the honey barrels from their supplier.

Heaven Hill has many, many, many barrels aging (over 50 million gallons) and they have the luxury of picking and choosing only the best barrels for their high end bottlings. This easily makes Rittenhouse 25 the better choice.

Unfortunately, that is not the case with Rittenhouse 25.

Heaven Hill had a very limited number of the same ultra-aged barrels from which to bottle the one-off 21/23/25 expressions. While HH could pick some honey barrels for the 21 and 23 and leave the rest to age, they had to bottle what was left for the 25. I have spoken with a couple guys that have tried multiple bottles, from different barrels, of the Rittenhouse 25 and they said there were pretty large variances in quality. In their opinions, the barrels ranged from "phenomenal" to merely "decent" - I think this is the result of bottling what they had. For $200 a pop, I would want to be assured of a phenomenal bottle every time.

Edited March 15, 2013 by LostBottle

[Smokewagon]

Business trip last week resulted in me coming back with some Fighting Cock, Rebel Reserve, and my jackpot find was some PHC Wheated.

~SW

[squire]

Not a one off, HH makes rye every year and has increased their volume to ten times more than in years past.

On topic I'm pursuing a rumor one of our locals has some Evan Williams White BIB in stock.

[jwacky]

Been reading a lot here lately about OGD 114... so I went and picked up a bottle. Looking forward to trying it tonight.

[BAO]

I picked up a Squire Cowdery special. VOB BIB and OGD 114.

[Trey Manthey]

While HH could pick some honey barrels for the 21 and 23 and leave the rest to age, they had to bottle what was left for the 25.

[Phil T]

On topic I'm pursuing a rumor one of our locals has some Evan Williams White BIB in stock.

[squire]

Phil the white label Heaven Hill BIB may or may not retain the 6 year age statement. The Evan Williams White label has been NAS for as long as I have been seeing it on the shelves.

[squire]

Lost Bottle my point is Heaven Hill does not have to buy any rye whisky, they make it themselves. HH spokesman Larry Kass refers to the sheer number of barrels of 20+ year old whsiky on hand (some of it 30+) currently aging as an "embarrassment of riches". They keep the pipeline flowing and if HH is a little short of 25 year old Rye they will have more soon and won't have to leave their own warehouse to find it.

[MauiSon]

Pay Day! The market has made me feel 'wealthy' again and I found some sales: Jim Beam White "Operation Homefront" liter ($13), WTKS ($40), Blanton's ($34), 2 Elmer T. Lee ($31). That Elmer may look steep, but it's $3 cheaper than any other local price I've seen (and Elmer ain't always around, neither).

[Fitz1776]

My first bottle of Larceny. 750ml for $26.95 minus the ten dollar rebate. (Gordon's, Waltham, MA)

[Old Dusty]

Business trip last week resulted in me coming back with some Fighting Cock, Rebel Reserve, and my jackpot find was some PHC Wheated.

~SW

let me know what you think about the Reb Res.

O.D.

[jersey12]

Pay Day! The market has made me feel 'wealthy' again and I found some sales: Jim Beam White "Operation Homefront" liter ($13), WTKS ($40), Blanton's ($34), 2 Elmer T. Lee ($31). That Elmer may look steep, but it's $3 cheaper than any other local price I've seen (and Elmer ain't always around, neither).

The ETL is a little more than I usually see it for around here but it is one of my favorite everyday pours. I've never seen blanton's that cheap though. I rarely see it for even $45.

[ChainWhip]

Been having a really hard time finding VOB (of any proof), but found a stash of the BiB today - SCORE!!!