Rittenhouse rye BIB

[black mamba]

My current bottle says on the back label, "Distilled by D.S.P. KY 354 and bottled by Continental Distilling Co., Bardstown, KY."

No mention of DSP KY 31. Is that the same as Cont. Dist. Co.?

[HighInTheMtns]

My current bottle says on the back label, "Distilled by D.S.P. KY 354 and bottled by Continental Distilling Co., Bardstown, KY."

No mention of DSP KY 31. Is that the same as Cont. Dist. Co.?

Continental Distilling Co. is the historic distiller of Rittenhouse but is now just a name used by Heaven Hill. HH's facility in Bardstown is DSP-KY-31.

[squire]

DSP 354 is Brown-Forman/Early Times who has been making the whisky under contract for Heaven Hill following the fire that destroyed the still house at DSP 31.

[black mamba]

Thanks, fellers.

[wine65]

I have a bottle with a white back label as opposed to the black all else seems the same any difference with what's in the bottle? Thanks Steve

[TheNovaMan]

I bought the last bottle of DSP 354 Ritt BIB from my favorite store a week or so ago, and now three more bottles have appeared on the shelf, still DSP 354.

[cowdery]

Am I correct that no one has seen a DSP-1 on the shelves?

[Restaurant man]

Am I correct that no one has seen a DSP-1 on the shelves?

None in Georgia.

[jtgraves]

Am I correct that no one has seen a DSP-1 on the shelves?

Nowhere I've looked in TX yet

[mbroo5880i]

I don't know any better since I just tried it for the first time. It was DSP-354. I love it!

[TheNovaMan]

It's tasty juice, isn't it?

[Alphanumeric]

I triumphantly return home this evening with my first DSP-1. I'm surprised I beat Chuck to it. Found not at Binny's (checked about a week ago and the front bottle was 354) but at a smallish chain called Malloy's.

A rough comparison indicates they're the same color. The bottles are the same and the front labels are identical EXCEPT the DSP-1 labels are now rounded at the edges instead of squared. The back labels share this dissimilarity. DSP-1 has a slightly smaller font but otherwise matches DSP-354 word-for-word until we get to the distiller.

DSP-1 reads:

"Distilled by Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.

D.S.P. KY 1

Bottled by Continental Distilling Co.,

D.S.P. KY 31 Bardstown, KY"

The old bottle reads:

"Distilled by D.S.P. KY 354 and

bottled by Continental Distilling Co.,

Bardstown, KY"

I'm going to kill the last couple pours from my open DSP-354 before popping this new 1 as well as an old 354 so I can compare both fresh. In the meantime, get hunting.

[TheNovaMan]

Waiting anxiously for your tasting notes!

[Alphanumeric]

If it eases your anxiety, my taster isn't so talented. Work also compels me this weekend so the earliest tasting notes might appear would be Tuesday, and I'd still have to finish this currently open bottle of 354 before opening a new one. However, if these other Chicago slackers would come out here and help me, things might happen a little faster...

[ChainWhip]

Too much typing and not enough drinking!

Subscribed!

[squire]

And the race is on.

[TheNovaMan]

How's the race going?

[ChainWhip]

Either the rabbit passed out or the turtle didn't hydrate enough after pounding the DSP-KY-1

[Alphanumeric]

How's the race going?

[MyOldKyDram]

Slow and steady wins the race.

Unless Kenyans are involved.

[Alphanumeric]

You'll have your Science...

[Alphanumeric]

After an informal "Is it whiskey?" taste test with my dad, I can definitively state: I believe so.

Prior to previous assertions *cough, the bottles are not quite the same. DSP-1 has sloped shoulders as compared to its cousin and the bottoms are inscribed with different runes. Comparing two full bottles, 354 is a light bronze whereas 1 leans toward a lighter orange-gold.

Rough notes indicate that the well-aired 354 was sharper and less pleasant that the fresh one. But the true focus of our tasting was the hand-off from BF to HH. Were they different? Undoubtedly. My father, who compared old 354 to new used the term "harsher" and recycled it in the (fresh) 354 to 1 comparison. My initial impression was that 1 is cornier/less rye and less spicy with an oilier mouthfeel. After sampling a bit of each, we cracked open a bottle of Redbreast 15 for good measure. It reassured us that we were at least competent enough to distinguish rye from Irish.

Overall, 1 seems less brisk, with a gentler finish and a more viscous mouthfeel. I can't say how many shades of different 1 steps from 354, but they are very similar whiskeys. If I had to run out and pick up a bottle of either right now, I'd grab a 354, just for the reassuring knowledge that there will be a 354 under my pillow when the lights go dim on that era. However, I don't want my impressions to send you all out on some zany goose hunt and, as I write this, I sip on a bit of 1 which reminds me that there is hope aplenty even when the days of 354 are long past.

[ChainWhip]

Thanks so much for the comparisons Alphanumeric!

[TheNovaMan]

Thanks for the notes. Sounds like the already bourbony Ritt BIB took a step closer to bourbon.

When you say "oilier mouthfeel," do you mean it seems more viscous?

[jtgraves]

However, I don't want my impressions to send you all out on some zany goose hunt...