BOTM 9/13: 1792 Ridgemont Reserve

[fishnbowljoe]

Sorry I'm late folks. Anyway, here you go.

The Bourbon Of The Month is 1792 Ridgemont Reserve.

I haven't had a bottle of this open in quite a while, so I'll refrain from saying a whole lot. One thing I will say, I liked it. Not as much as I like my wheater's, but I thought it was pretty decent IIRC. Maybe I'll pick up a bottle next week when I'm down in Kentucky. Might be a good time to revisit it.

Cheers and happy posting!

Joe

[Brisko]

I just finished a bottle of this about a week ago. It was decent enough, lots of vanilla and some nice leatheriness. I got it on sale for about $20. Normal price is closer to $30 around here, and at that price point there are other bottles I'd grab first. As I think back, I believe I only took this neat (whereas I often add an ice cube or water to my bourbon). It just didn't hold up with water or ice.

The only downside is it makes me wish I could get VOB locally.

[Josh]

I like this one fine. I agree with Brisko that it doesn't always do well with water or ice, but I think it's a pleasant summertime sipper and a nice change of pace from the more aggressive high-rye or yeasty bourbons I usually find myself sipping.

[Vosgar]

I don't think I've had any of the standard 1792, but have had some private selections that were very good. Always drank them neat so I can't comment on how it holds up with either

[Chuckles]

... but I thought it was pretty decent IIRC.

Joe

Hi Joe-

What's IIRC mean? Couldn't find it in the "Frequently Used Abbreviations & Acronyms" page, and a search for it led me astray.

Thanks.

-Charlie

[h=2][/h]

[sutton]

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly

I have a TPS Selection of 1792 - will have to open it tonight and give it a go. Bought a couple after VOB BiB opened my eyes to Barton distilling.

[bjhowell]

Have always liked 1792, although it does seem to vary from batch to batch. It is one of the ones in my regular rotation. Decent pour for the money. Toured the distillery last October. Really very nice people and the tour of the bottling line was great. Interesting to see all the different things they were bottling for others.

[Conquistador]

My nearly full bottle of 1792 was buried in the back of my liquor cabinet. After re-visiting this bottle today, I remember why it was nearly full. I think I must have a bad bottle, because it tastes younger than its 8 year age statement, and is not very complex. I picked this up at a BevMo for around $22 on sale over a year ago. At least it was inexpensive enough that I'm OK with using it with mixers. At this price point, and with the generally positive reviews coming from SBers and from other review websites, I'll probably try another bottle, eventually. I'm chalking up my experience to bad luck with batch variation.

[mosugoji64]

This is one I'll have to revisit. The last time I had it was at Barton. Unfortunately for the 1792, they served it after VOB in the tasting and it came off as rather bland. I have heard good things about it from others, particularly the SB picks so I'll give it another go at some point. In the meantime, however, I have plenty of VOB BIB. :grin:

[tylermke]

My nearly full bottle of 1792 was buried in the back of my liquor cabinet. After re-visiting this bottle today, I remember why it was nearly full. I think I must have a bad bottle, because it tastes younger than its 8 year age statement, and is not very complex. I picked this up at a BevMo for around $22 on sale over a year ago. At least it was inexpensive enough that I'm OK with using it with mixers. At this price point, and with the generally positive reviews coming from SBers and from other review websites, I'll probably try another bottle, eventually. I'm chalking up my experience to bad luck with batch variation.

I had the same experience. Bought a bottle about 9 months ago and ended up using it as a mixer. The juice tasted very young with bitter finish. I regretted buying the bottle, but could have done much worse for $26.

[DrBob]

opened a bottle last night, i have a standard bottle from Total Wine and a barrel select from Jubilation in Albuquerque. Had two pours from the standard bottling and they both went down very nicely with just a single ice cube cool it a bit. A trifle sweeter than i usually like, but in all a pretty nice bourbon.

[zillah]

When I had it, I enjoyed it. Good balance of sweet, spice and vanilla.

[sutton]

I've been exploring the TPS 1792 barrel selection - I like it well enough, but at 2X the cost of VOB BiB and trading oak influence for the nice fruity balance in the VOB, I don't get it at this point. TPS says this is closer to 10 yrs, vs. the 8 yrs in the barrel select, but if 1792 is coming from the higher floors of the rickhouse, I'd love to see what a 8-10 yr Barton at 100 pf might be like off the lower floors.

[WAINWRIGHT]

I myself have never been a fan of the Barton house style,I have a had a few private selections that seem to seem to mask the yeasty/artificially sweetened banana a bit more and seem to balance out overall entirely better.I think it is a fairly well crafted product and not a bad value overall but just one that does not suit my tastes.In closing I will agree with most that it does not take to the addition of water very well at all and seems to go really wash out the profile rather quickly.

[Bourbon Boiler]

Hi Joe-

What's IIRC mean? Couldn't find it in the "Frequently Used Abbreviations & Acronyms" page, and a search for it led me astray.

Thanks.

-Charlie

IIRC = If I recall correctly

[Bourbon Boiler]

1792 is one of my regular pours. I am vry much a fan of the Barton flavor, as I think VOB and 1792 are th ekings of their respective price ranges. I will say I've had many of the regular offering and a few TPS private selection bottles, and while I've enjoyed all I do find a lot of variance that I wouldn't expect from most labels.

[squire]

I myself have never been a fan of the Barton house style

Ryan I hold it as a sacred principle that those who disagree with me are fully entitled to their own wrong headed opinion.

[theglobalguy]

I've had a real hit and miss experience with 1792. First time i bought it, reminded me of liquid honey. Went through that first bottle fairly quick, neat, rocks, w/Coke. Next bottle (about a 6 month delay) and i had to almost pour it out. Made a fine marinade, but just had too acidic a bite to it and it didn't seem to matter what i did to it.

[WAINWRIGHT]

Ryan I hold it as a sacred principle that those who disagree with me are fully entitled to their own wrong headed opinion.

[PaulO]

1792 is something I've tried several times. To me it had a taste of leather, and was rather dry and woody. It seemed like a quality whiskey, just not my thing. By the way, I'm a big fan of VOB.

[Josh]

A couple things to add to what I said above: According to the information I have been able to gather (reflected in the whiskey tree), VOB and 1792 are different mashbills. It's likely that 1792 is from a high-malt mashbill, something unique among macrodistillers. It's been speculated that Kentucky Tavern is also the same mashbill. That said, there is still something very Barton about it, probably yeast or warehouse related.

Second, I have also noticed quite a bit of batch to batch variation myself. First bottle I got was bloody awful. Poured it out. Next time I tasted it, I really enjoyed it. VOB has become much more consistent since Sazerac took over, maybe that will happen with 1792 also.

Second and a half, I think 1792 is a "starter" bourbon. I've enjoyed it the most when it was my first whiskey of the day. If I have it after something high-proof or spicy (Four Roses Single Barrel for example) it comes up really, really bland.

[Flyfish]

1792 is something I've tried several times. To me it had a taste of leather, and was rather dry and woody. It seemed like a quality whiskey, just not my thing. By the way, I'm a big fan of VOB.

I, too, am a fan of VOB BIB. It seems to me that they have it backwards. Except that I would say the "value pour" is better than their attempt at a premium bourbon.

[Chuckles]

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly

Thanks, Sutton (and Bourbon Boiler)--I should have gone off site and Googled this. Somehow in the context I thought maybe RC meant Rye Content and had various guesses at the II, mosly involving Roman numeral 2.

[Chuckles]

You can also count me in as a VOB BIB fan. I'll be on the lookout for a 1792 to compare it with.

[michaelturtle1]

I am a huge Barton fan, I am pretty sure Colonel Lee BIB is my favorite pour.. I tried 1792 for the first time in a while the other night and just did not find it appealing. It had a huge hit of bitter wood which just predominated from entry to finish, will have to give it another go as the bottle that I finished had been open for quite a while.