OWA Private or Single Barrel

[HP12]

And the SB offerings will continue to get younger as well

the trend continues.......

You are correct sir!

[smknjoe]

That's what Greg said recently on his blog: http://bourbondork.blogspot.com/2013/02/owa-as-mash-tun-churns.html

[peterlake]

Last time I was at TPS I kept asking one of their bourbon guys about rarer bottles like A. Bowman 19yr and various Willetts. He kept telling me that those were good, but value-wise the 20$ for the current single barrel OWA would be the best twenty bucks I ever spent. He was right. This was last May, so that barrel almost certainly isn't around anymore, but the moral of the story is, find someone at one of these shops who actually likes bourbon and try to get their opinion, if possible.

[smokinjoe]

IMO, the wheated bourbon that Buffalo Trace has been putting out for the OWA brand the last several years has been maybe the best regularly produced whiskey out there. The regular, off-the shelf bottles have been terrific. And when looking back at the ~15 private barrel selections that I have tried, those have all been wonderful as well. Whether it be the TPS, Binny's, 1789's, CnB's, B&B's, McScrooge's, etc...they've all been great!! (though, I'll admit that the McScrooge's has been my own fave) I suspect all of the other ones that I have not had the privilege to try, are stellar, too. Some expected differences between barrels, but all within that wonderful OWA profile. So, if you're contemplating at getting an off the shelf OWA, you're going to do very well. Maybe the continued excellence of this brand has been the influence of having to fill the S-W PVW shoes for the Pappy iterations?...I don't know. But, this has been some seriously good whiskey, and I think we have been fortunate to experience it. It will be interesting to see where we go from here, though. I'm not sure you can get over a 6 year old private selection any more. But, there's more to good whiskey than age. So, I hope that the barrels continue to be great, and that OWA continues to be the wonderful bourbon that we have loved for some time. Hopefully, we'll hear good things from the private barrel selections that will be showing up, as that will tell us if the product is continuing on with it's excellence, even as it transitions to younger whiskey. Time will tell.

:toast:

[hectic1]

IMO, the wheated bourbon that Buffalo Trace has been putting out for the OWA brand the last several years has been maybe the best regularly produced whiskey out there. The regular, off-the shelf bottles have been terrific. And when looking back at the ~15 private barrel selections that I have tried, those have all been wonderful as well. Whether it be the TPS, Binny's, 1789's, CnB's, B&B's, McScrooge's, etc...they've all been great!! (though, I'll admit that the McScrooge's has been my own fave) I suspect all of the other ones that I have not had the privilege to try, are stellar, too. Some expected differences between barrels, but all within that wonderful OWA profile. So, if you're contemplating at getting an off the shelf OWA, you're going to do very well. Maybe the continued excellence of this brand has been the influence of having to fill the S-W PVW shoes for the Pappy iterations?...I don't know. But, this has been some seriously good whiskey, and I think we have been fortunate to experience it. It will be interesting to see where we go from here, though. I'm not sure you can get over a 6 year old private selection any more. But, there's more to good whiskey than age. So, I hope that the barrels continue to be great, and that OWA continues to be the wonderful bourbon that we have loved for some time. Hopefully, we'll hear good things from the private barrel selections that will be showing up, as that will tell us if the product is continuing on with it's excellence, even as it transitions to younger whiskey. Time will tell.

:toast:

[Phil T]

Some excellent points Joe. While I really like the standard OWA , the TPS SB is a touch sweeter, more in my wheelhouse. Either way, at $20.99 for a 750ml, its a steal and may be the best valued bourbon available.

[HighHorse]

I'm on board with anything Weller. The shelf offerings are excellent and, so far, the private selections are tasty iterations of a very good juice.

[ggilbertva]

Are they typically better than standard bottles? I'm not familiar with CnB.

Edit: When I say better I really mean are they more flavorful or complex. For instance, Greg over at bourbondork describes some of his private barrel pics as caramel/butterscotch bombs with some wood. I would like to try something like that if possible.

[The Boozer]

OMG look whom is back from the dead! :grin:

I am with Joe on this one, most of the OWA has been very good the past couple of years. I picked up an OWA SB from the TPS last year and thought is was equal to the 1789b OWA I had about a month earlier. Both were very good but not necessarily better than the standard bottle.

On a side note, I don't believe than anybody is going to knock a SB they had a hand in picking out.

[nivto]

I think what separates a private selection from the regular offering is that you are talking about single barrels versus small batch. I think that fortunately the regular release is pretty consistent and very good. What is going to separate a private selections from the standard release and from other private selections is subtle variations in flavor profile, a nuance here or there, a push in one particular direction in the flavor profile. I agree with a lot of you, though, that while I prefer a single barrel selection the off-the-shelf OWA holds its own just fine. It is a solid label, for now.

[BourbonJoe]

In our own private tastings, the off the shelf OWA stood up to all the private selection bottles I have, and that would be many. This off the shelf bottle, it should be noted, was purchased immediately after the age statement went away.

Joe :usflag:

[nivto]

In our own private tastings, the off the shelf OWA stood up to all the private selection bottles I have, and that would be many. This off the shelf bottle, it should be noted, was purchased immediately after the age statement went away.

Joe :usflag:

Joe, I had a similar experience with an off-the-shelf bottling. It, too, was an early release after the age statement went away and it stood up in a blind tasting against two very good private selections.

[smknjoe]

Joe - I'll try and bring some samples down during the sampler. I'm sure we'll see each other at the Dog's.

That's a very generous offer. I really wasn't planning on going to the sampler. If I do, I'll make sure to remind you to bring samples!

[smknjoe]

Joe, I had a similar experience with an off-the-shelf bottling. It, too, was an early release after the age statement went away and it stood up in a blind tasting against two very good private selections.

I've read similar sentiment in several threads and even some that said the new label was better than the old label during the transition around 2009 or so.

I've gone through 1.5 bottles of the current off-the-shelf stuff and it's good, but I can see how it could be better with more age and/or better barrel selection.

[hectic1]

That's a very generous offer. I really wasn't planning on going to the sampler. If I do, I'll make sure to remind you to bring samples!

I'm pretty sure that Greg was thinking you were smokinjoe (joe) who's been around here for years and years.

[smknjoe]

I'm pretty sure that Greg was thinking you were smokinjoe (joe) who's been around here for years and years.

How do you know we're not best buds?

[hectic1]

Oh, I think I've heard of that group around here a few times. Kind of like demonoid where you have to be invited to join?

At any rate I'll probably wait to meet up with Wade when possible and go from there. Thanks for all of the suggestions guys.

Cause with posts like this one I can pretty much bet that Greg isn't best buds with you...

[smknjoe]

Cause with posts like this one I can pretty much bet that Greg isn't best buds with you...

He's seems like a genuinely nice guy and is "friendly" with some locals here. I'm not sure what your point is...

Too bad that the Super, Happy, Fun Time, Mega-Spec's Downtown doesn't do more specialty bottlings. The only one I've had is Buffalo Trace with a "Selected by Harlen" which translates to Spec's didn't have anything to do with this, or did they?

[callmeox]

He's seems like a genuinely nice guy and is "friendly" with some locals here. I'm not sure what your point is...

Too bad that the Super, Happy, Fun Time, Mega-Spec's Downtown doesn't do more specialty bottlings. The only one I've had is Buffalo Trace with a "Selected by Harlen" which translates to Spec's didn't have anything to do with this, or did they?

His point is that folks on 1789 don't like it when outsiders utter the name of the site and they like it even less if the comments aren't glowing in nature.

Just think of the first two rules of Fight Club and you have the idea.

[hectic1]

He's seems like a genuinely nice guy and is "friendly" with some locals here. I'm not sure what your point is...

Too bad that the Super, Happy, Fun Time, Mega-Spec's Downtown doesn't do more specialty bottlings. The only one I've had is Buffalo Trace with a "Selected by Harlen" which translates to Spec's didn't have anything to do with this, or did they?

[hectic1]

His point is that folks on 1789 don't like it when outsiders utter the name of the site and they like it even less if the comments aren't glowing in nature.

Just think of the first two rules of Fight Club and you have the idea.

[MyOldKyDram]

Sounds kinda...uptight?

[smknjoe]

You never know who is part of that "demonoid" group that you refereed to in your post...

[ChainWhip]

Too bad that the Super, Happy, Fun Time, Mega-Spec's Downtown doesn't do more specialty bottlings. The only one I've had is Buffalo Trace with a "Selected by Harlen" which translates to Spec's didn't have anything to do with this, or did they?

[smknjoe]

Ya know, I've always passed up the Bowman stuff while still meaning to try it some time. I've seen two versions - the Small Batch and Single Barrel for $27-$47 if I remember correctly. What would you compare it to?