Tale of JD Barrel No. 12-6714 Bottled 12/1/12

[Gillman]

I bought in Toronto a bottle of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Select recently, the neck label bears the barrel number and bottling date mentioned above.

It was the only one on the shelf with that data, a few other bottles of JDSB were next to it, with different barrel numbers and bottling dates.

I chose 12-6714 because it was the lightest in color, which of itself means little other than that I usually buy the darkest ones. So just to change it around a bit, I bought the lightest one amongst that group.

The taste is very good, a little sweet, no banana notes (perhaps some kind of fruit other than yellow-skinned fruit in a small way, orange perhaps) and very good-tasting, rounded and even-flowing.

I served it blind to two experienced tasters to see if they could tell the origin or close enough. Both these gents easily picked a bottle of JD Black Label from a group of bourbons a few years ago. One thought it might be a Canadian flavouring whiskey, he thought Masterson's perhaps except there was no pronounced rye note. The other thought it might be one of my own bourbon blends. The name JD never came up and when I showed them the bottle they expressed great surprise.

This particular barrel matured in quite a unique way, even for JDSB (which generally does show the "house" character of JD albeit in specific ways).

Gary

[portwood]

I was hoping the one I bought recently matched yours, sigh, it was bottled the same day but its the previous barrel number (12-6713).

Interesting how there would be such a difference between barrels. I thought they picked these things to be fairly consistent?

[Gillman]

Interesting that it is so different, but such is often the case with barrels a few feet apart! I looked in a few mid-town LCBO's to try to find the same barrel no. but had no luck. I bought it at the King and Spadina location so conceivably another one is there now, you never know...

Gary

[portwood]

I understand barrels filled with the same new-make and stored side-by-side can produce different final product. My point was that normally barrels are picked for a certain profile, therefore, one would think the "unusual" ones would either be left to mature longer of blended with other barrels for a different expression.

[Gillman]

That can't really be though with single barrels. Plus, there wouldn't be enough of them (honey barrels selected from a small part of the warehouse) to ensure a consistent taste.

Gary

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

I bought bottle 12-6500 bottled 11-21-12...really liked it and a few days ago picked up 12-6715 bottled 12-1-12 (1 away frm yours) still unopened. You have me interested to see the difference head to head.

[Gillman]

Interesting, three barrels in (a literal) row, or they were. Would be interested to hear your experience.

Gary

[VAGentleman]

As its been explained to me Single Barrel selection is like kicking a field goal. Right down the middle is the taste they are looking for but there is still quite a bit of room to the left and right to keep it in the general profile they are looking for.

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

I was at my lcbo to pick up a knob creek, and i look at the JDSB. There it was in the front of about 8 bottles....#12-6714....i said to myself "that's the Gary Gillman bottle!" so i picked it up. Now i have an open #12-6500 and a closed #12-6715 and #12-6714. Should i now wait to open it after i kill the 1st bottle? Or should i open the #12-6714 and try it head to head with the open one tonight?

[VAGentleman]

Of course the answer is head to head:)

[portwood]

I was at my lcbo to pick up a knob creek, and i look at the JDSB. There it was in the front of about 8 bottles....#12-6714...

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

Which store?

padpadpad

This was in Oshawa at Stevenson and Gibb. I didn't check all the bottles to see if there were more 12-6714. The other one in the front was 12-6715....I held them side by each and the colour looked the same.

[Gillman]

Very cool, thanks for that! Not sure when I can get out there. I'll be honest, the only time I've ever been there is when trying to outrun delays on the 401, i.e., taking the roads parallel to get back on further down. Time for a revisit.

Gary

[Gillman]

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44770516,d.b2I&biw=1920&bih=1018&q=Oshawa+%2B+410+maps&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x89d51ce109f66fb5:0xfee0eeff0f5708db,Oshawa+City+Hall,+50+Centre+St+S,+Oshawa,+ON+L1H+3Z7&gl=ca&sa=X&ei=UmdjUef9E6rg2wWemoHIAw&ved=0CC0Q8gEwAA

Gary

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

I had the 12-6714 head to head with my opened 12-6500. These two are very different. I put both glasses on my white stove, and noticed that the 12-6714 is indeed quite a bit lighter. The nose was lighter too, also not as sweet. The overall mouthfeel of the 12-6500 was much thicker, fuller and rich. More notes of vanilla and dark sugar in the 12-6500. Neither has any real banana notes. The 12-6714 has a delicate profile I'm not used to, having the 12-6500 open for 3 weeks. 12-6714 had scaled down sweetness, some slight floral and cantalope notes. The finish of the 12-6714 is much shorter too. The 12-6714 on a scale is closer to the standard Old#7 than the 12-6500. I enjoyed the 12-6500 more than the 12-6714. Mind you, having a 1/2 full bottle and allowing the air to get at it may have improved the profile, and my newly opened 12-6714 may improve too after a couple weeks.

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

Very cool, thanks for that! Not sure when I can get out there. I'll be honest, the only time I've ever been there is when trying to outrun delays on the 401, i.e., taking the roads parallel to get back on further down. Time for a revisit.

Gary

I'm not sure if any of the other bottles were the 12-6714. The one beside it was the 12-6715. They were on the top shelf in a double row, and I didn't go through all the bottles.

[TheNovaMan]

+1 on head-to-head, if still possible.

Edited April 9, 2013 by TheNovaMan

[Gillman]

Interesting notes. I liked the lighter and elegant body, and the heavier ones always have a more typical JD taste in my experience although the one you compared it to seemed not to share that characteristic. I sampled the 12-6714 next to a Black Label the other day and found them completely different! As always taste will vary..

Gary

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

Weeks ago I did a head to head of the 12-6500 to the Black Label. I will agree that the Black Label, 12-6714 and 12-6500 all have very different profiles. On a scale I would say the 12-6714 is closer to the Black Label than I found the 12-6500 to be (not stating that they are identical). I wonder if this has to do with the barrel wood, char level or the placement in the rickhouse (one is L-5, the other L-15). Like I said though...once the bottle is open for a bit, there might be notes that improve that I didn't pick up after the first tasting. Time will tell.

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

Update: I went to stevenson/gibb lcbo in Oshawa and asked an employee on look through all the bottles. 8 on shelf and 12 in the back. There was no more 12-6714. Each case had 6 bottles all with same cask #.

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

Had the 12-6714 head to head with 12-6715. Colour, nose, and taste were all very similar. The 6715 I thought was slightly sweeter, and the 6714 a bit spicier. Both are good and I find them very hard to tell apart, and if it was blind I probably would think they were exactly the same. I had 150ml of my 12-6500 bottle (bold and rich) that was left, and used it to vat with 600ml of 12-6714. I like this vatting more than each of these barrels on their own. My store has 7 bottles of 12-6500 left, I will make sure I grab one and make another vatting with the 12-6715.

[WhiskyToWhiskey]

Update; I seen 4 bottles of 12-6714 at the LCBO in Whitby at Thickson/Dundas.