Bourbon in sherry casks

[tdelling]

>...the distillery where I saw this product is none other than WT.

That's quite a surprise. I'm certainly glad they're experimenting...

I definitely think that there is a huge amount of room for experimentation

and innovation in the world of bourbon (an american whiskies in general).

Sherried WT, though? WT has such a HUGE, ROBUST taste... part of me doubts

that a sherry cask could even start to make a dent in it! If I were to

pick a bourbon to attempt to sherry-finish, I'd probably pick a

wheater...

Tim Dellinger

[bourbonmed]

Dave, Tim, all:

I asked WT Master Distiller Eddie Russell about the sherry casks today.

He admits they're trying out 'a few' barrels, letting different age WT bourbons sit 6 - 8 wks. No plans to bottle any of it at this time -- just playing with it, seeing if it has 'potential'.

Don't know about you, but I'd love to taste this stuff. Wonder what they'll do with this whiskey after the experiment!

My guess (based on Beam's DM history) is the older barrels (12y up) would make the best candidates for future releases. Think about it, suppose you have some 12y or older barrels w whiskey that became too woody, etc. They have nothing to lose, maybe a profitable boutique expression to gain.

We can ask Jimmy Russell soon, he'll be attending the fest.

Sherry aside, WT is working on this year's batch of Russell's Reserve. Still very limited, just 1500 cases.

Cheers,

Omar

[Gillman]

Wow, sounds good, being a frequent visitor to New York.

What does the 1953 Hine taste like?

BTW, your vernacular sounds more deep south than Manhattan.

Gary

[tdelling]

>Think about it, suppose you have some 12y or older barrels w whiskey that

>became too woody, etc. They have nothing to lose, maybe a profitable boutique

>expression to gain.

I hadn't thought of that, but you're exactly right. Whenever I look at my

bottle of Elijah Craig 18YO, I think to myself "well, it's got some nice

things about it, but it just dies on the tongue. Maybe I could perk it

up by home-vatting it with something else...". I like the idea of trying

sherry casks to add an extra something to those casks.

Tim Dellinger

[bourbonmed]

Dave, Cliff, all:

If you wondered what became of those sherry casks in Lawrenceburg last September, look in your duty free shops in about one month.

Wild Turkey's Sherry Signature will be available as a travel retail exclusive. It's 10 yrs old like Russell's Reserve, but finished in Spanish Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 86 proof.

Best of all, it's $35.

Cheers,

Omar

[Gillman]

Oh boy, that sounds like a good one. If they don't overdo the sherry the result should be very, very good. Wonder why they didn't present this iteration of RR at the recent Sampler? At said event I was reminded how good Russell's Reserve is. Adding a hint of Spanish wood-matured sherry is likely only to raise the ante..

Gary

[gr8erdane]

Gary, don't you think that WT might not want to whet our appetites for this and then hold it out of our reach by making it export only? Same reason we didn't get to taste Freedom I'm sure.

[Gillman]

Dane, thanks, you're right, I had missed the reference to "travel" in Omar's post. What a pity, and by the way, how can it be worth their while to sell this only in export markets? Sad.

Gary

[gr8erdane]

Perhaps they figure that most people who can afford to travel are the target group to buy the product. While we at SB.com are the more enthusiastic about trying the product, our numbers may not be enough to support a new product launch. Time for us to unite and lobby the distilleries for a special "SB.com" release of new products. Can you think of a better bunch of guinea pigs to test a new product on?

[Gillman]

No, I can't, and there's an old saw, you go home with the one that brought you. I am not complaining because WT offers many fine products to its home, U.S. domestic that is, market.

But if you are going to launch a newbie as interesting as this one why forsake the one you first asked out..?

Gary

[Paradox]

Another Duty Free thing from WT, Thanks alot Pernod Ricard.