WT Kentucky Spirit bottle differences

[jwacky]

Saw two different bottles of WT Kentucky Spirit at a local shop last night, one priced in the normal $50 range, the other a decent amount higher ($65). Couldn't find anything on the bottle that indicated any different juice was inside, but I was curious about the reason for the price difference. Thoughts? The older bottle was cheaper. Pics of the two different bottles below...

[ATXWhiskey]

There's a thread on here somewhere that lays out all the differences, but the dark top is older juice (it should have the date of the dump on the neck) and is widely considered better than the current stuff with the light colored top. Basically there are pewter tops from the 90's, then dark brown tops with an embossed turkey on them from the early 2000s, smooth dark brown tops from the later 2000's and the newer light colored tops. I've had a couple of bottles from mid-2003 that were superb. I would happily pay $65 for an embossed dark brown top from that era. I'm not sure about the smooth dark tops. I would choose something other than the current WTKS for $50.

[jwacky]

Thanks! The smooth dark brown top was definitely from 'later' 2000s. If memory serves, 2009. Found it odd that there was such a price difference between the two bottles.

[callmeox]

The progression is pewter, dark smooth, dark embossed and then the current lighter cherry wood embossed.

IMO, the label went downhill after the switch from smooth to embossed but there were still some good barrels in the dark embossed runs.

[sutton]

Looks like some evaporation in the older bottle; fill level appearis to be down a bit. Maybe they are pricing it to move compared to the newer bottle ...

[ATXWhiskey]

The progression is pewter, dark smooth, dark embossed and then the current lighter cherry wood embossed.

IMO, the label went downhill after the switch from smooth to embossed but there were still some good barrels in the dark embossed runs.

Oops, you're correct. The '03 bottles I had were smooth tops.

[jwacky]

Looks like some evaporation in the older bottle; fill level appearis to be down a bit. Maybe they are pricing it to move compared to the newer bottle ...

Sorry, those were just pictures I pulled from the 'net for comparison. Looks like it's simply a case of old inventory, though I do find the drastic price difference to be bit odd. Maybe I'll grab the older bottle, been wanting to try WTKS.

[smknjoe]

Looks like some evaporation in the older bottle; fill level appearis to be down a bit. Maybe they are pricing it to move compared to the newer bottle ...

It's normal for it to look like that. Almost every WTKS I've seen looks like it's missing a little.

Here is the most recent list in the WTKS thread: http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?9850-WTKS-Versions&p=279244&viewfull=1#post279244