"Hand Picked Barrel"

[Clavius]

to get an idea of where your tastes lie, may i ask what some of your favorite bourbons are? now i am interested in getting one of the kroger bottles.

[theglobalguy]

Check out my profile for some of my favorites.

BTW - I was involved in selecting a barrel for a single Lexington store.

[Clavius]

So do each of the Kroger stores pick their own, and not centralized decision making then?

[compliance]

One of the big stores out here started putting a premium of a few dollars on their store selection vs the regular, which i find to be not very cool :hot:

[suntour]

I find this whole process fascinating. Like, "we took this barrel to 10 retailers, and each and every one passed on it. Send it to the Old Taylor pile!"

I mentioned in another thread that I have a local store that does extremely nice barrel picks, and it got me wondering if I just liked it more because I knew it was a store selection. At work tonight I poured my store select BT and the regular stuff, and had everyone taste them side-by-side. Then after, I tasted them blind. The store-pick BT was so much better. Then we de-proofed the EH Taylor Small Batch down to 45% and did it all over again. Again, the majority of employees and myself thought the BT pick was highly superior. Different palates will have different results, but honestly, in my anecdotal experience I'm starting to think that the store-picked stuff can punch way above its weight, particularly if you've got somebody good picking the barrels.

The first time I had a non-store picked Blanton's I felt bad for singing its praises so highly.

[jeffrey r]

Astor in NYC is selling their OWA single barrel at $40. That's almost double the regular price for OWA around here. I won't buy any at that price on principle, but it better be a darn good barrel to even think of jacking up the price like that.

Fortunately, at home in NJ I have access to reasonably priced store barrels of Blanton's, BT, ETL, KCSB, and EC 12. All very good. There's also a ton of barrel select ER10, but those are a dime a dozen, and not anywhere near my favorite bourbon.

[TheOakMonster]

Regarding rejected barrels, I don't know what becomes of them, but some barrels are definitely clunkers. In our store, we selected both a BT and Eagle Rare barrel. We received three samples of each. In both cases, one barrel each received zero votes from our staff. That's 12 people that summarily rejected 1 of 3 barrel presented to us.

[MauiSon]

Sure, but the worst of one 3-barrel sample set could be the best of another set. I wonder how often all samples are rejected and a new set requested?

It seems smart tasters would also add in 'ringer' reference samples to set the mark for the barrel samples. I think I'm starting to figure this thing out.

Edited October 19, 2013 by MauiSon

[BFerguson]

As a participant in a couple of store picks, I can echo what many have said, first, it's a cool experience to be able to do so, and yes, the samples sent can range from the standard profile, to something completely in left field. And there has been at least one dog that I remember.

It's not easy, you may like one, but you also have to keep in mind that you are doing it for the store, and it needs to sell, your taste may not be everyone else's.

Chuck brought up a good point too, often the store can put a good break on the price.

My current store pick of ER is going for $45 plus tax for a 1.75. Not a bad price in my book for what I'm getting.

B

[WhiskyRI]

I had a chance to help a retailer pick their barrel from BT. They pick a barrel every 2 months because of their sales volume. The five bourbons were very interesting. They had all been diluted at the distillery to bottling strength (per the retailer's request) and the sample that was ultimately chosen was good but not the most interesting. They made a conscious choice to pick a bourbon with the profile that their customers liked rather than the most interesting or tastiest. Tasting blind we all ended up picking the same most interesting barrel, but what they chose was my #3 choice. Nice but not the standout. I know another retailer who does barrel picks with Jefferson (and yes I know they are a NDP) - and he's able to offer small batch for $25 a bottle which is a good price here in New England.

[Guy Debord]

So generally the price doesn't really go up with a store selection. Good to know.

New concern: It seems like a store pick might be the way to go because someone there has recently tried the product. So does every single barrel bourbon that hits a bottle get tasted by someone at the distillery? For example, is someone tasting each barrel of EWSB or FRSB? If so great! If not, then a store selection might be a good way to ensure a decent pick. I guess that's logic behind the whole thing anyway, get selections and sell those selections as being something better than the "distillery-to-store" option. It places a middle-man taster between you and the distillery.

It seems strange though. I trust the guys and gals that make a single barrel product to taste it before it gets to me and I would hold their taste over my own and the store selector. Scratching my head over all this. When it comes to single barrel bourbon, you just have to roll the dice and buy the bottle to find out I guess.

Thanks

[cowdery]

About rejected samples. Let's say you're doing a single barrel of Buffalo Trace. When the distillery selects the samples, they are all from barrels that have already been selected as suitable for Buffalo Trace. The ones that aren't chosen for the personal selection are probably high in the queue for the next bottling of Buffalo Trace and go into the dump tank with a few hundred of their fellows and are bottled as standard Buffalo Trace. I strongly doubt they go back into a personal selections queue. Remember, the remaining whiskey from that barrel is still in the barrel and if they have already deemed it ready, it won't stay there for long.

[jersey12]

Astor in NYC is selling their OWA single barrel at $40. That's almost double the regular price for OWA around here. I won't buy any at that price on principle, but it better be a darn good barrel to even think of jacking up the price like that.

[squire]

I've spent lots more on prettier things. While I refuse to overpay on principle (another word for cheap) at least you know who made it and have a general idea of what to expect.

[mosugoji64]

Request a sample. At that price they should be willing to let you try before you buy. Then decide if it's worth the premium.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Flyfish]

Astor in NYC is selling their OWA single barrel at $40. That's almost double the regular price for OWA around here. I won't buy any at that price on principle, but it better be a darn good barrel to even think of jacking up the price like that.

Is there label information about the single barrel? For that price, I would want to know it was at least 6YO. There are many fine bourbons available in the $40 range.

[squire]

Good point, they should at least have the barrel details on a purchase order, invoice or something.

[jersey12]

Is there label information about the single barrel? For that price, I would want to know it was at least 6YO. There are many fine bourbons available in the $40 range.

I'll never know as I just stopped in and they are all gone.

[squire]

The details would be nice to know if they are in a mood to share.

[jeffrey r]

I'll never know as I just stopped in and they are all gone.

Wow, I guess I underestimated the demand for $40 OWA if that is true. I never made it down there to check on details. Strange though, as it is still on their website to order.

[PcolaDawg]

I am fortunate enough to frequent a liquor store that has a very good selection of bottles from hand selected barrels by their 'Barrel Selection Team' that travels to various distilleries in Kentucky throughout the year. They have been doing this for a long time and have quite the selection.

Still, I wasn't sure my tastes would coincide with the Barrel Selection Team's so I was somewhat cautious. The first one I tried was an Eagle Rare - loved it. So I moved on to Buffalo Trace and Elmer T. Lee - which I also enjoyed greatly.

Most recently I tried a bottle of Blanton's that they hand selected - again, I thought they made an outstanding choice.

So now I pretty much trust them to find the 'honey barrels' that I agree with completely. Which is nice.

P.S. I don't believe they charge any more for the bottles from 'hand selected barrels'. Which is also nice. :cool:

[squire]

It really does come down to who does the selecting, doesn't it.

[tsangster]

The Florida panhandle store that I visited wanted $40 for their hand picked ETL.

[squire]

I'd put my trust in the Tallahassee team.

[sailor22]

Yeah, the ETL price is high but some of the others are screaming bargains, especially considering the juice inside. ER 10 is $23 and both of their barrel picks are good if not particularly far out of profile. 4Rsb is on sale for $39 and their OBSV and OBSK barrel picks are great, as good as any 4R barrel pick I have tasted.