Jonny Drum Private Stock?

[Guest]

Okay, but two of the ones you just mentioned are running at least a year or two younger than that at the moment. The point is that all you know for sure is that it is at least 4. That, and what your palate tells you.

[smknjoe]

Yes this.

I have recently been doing side by sides and blinds of WTRB from today with RB from about a decade ago, as it is well known RB is a mixture of 6, 8 and 12 year old whiskey but my palate is telling me that the current stuff contains significantly more of the younger juice.

I am off to clear the shelves of those dusties!

[squire]

Guy the tour guides are there to entertain, not educate. What's being sold is image, the company writes the script and the guides stick to it. I believe you will find Makers averages about 5 1/2 years.

The major house brands are NAS for the most part but they have the stock to blend in any age barrels necessary to maintain a consistent profile. Frankly, I'm not interested in age, only maturity and as long as they sell me that I'm content.

I will say when it comes to NDPs NAS means 4 years old because they have to bottle what they buy and if it's older stuff they're quick to put an age statement on the label.

[GaryT]

I think the lack of an age statement doesn't mean it has tanked. The reality is that they may need younger juice to hit the same flavor profile if the older juice (thanks to many hot summers) hasn't aged the same way it did in the past. The only way to see what it taste like is to try it. I think assuming all NAS stuff is 4 yrs would lead to missing out on a lot of great whiskey (obviously, YMMV).

I know our barrel pick of ETL was 9 yrs, X days (4 I think?) old when we tasted, and all of the barrels they rolled out were done on the same day (so the 9 yr old isn't just tour guide feedback - we saw the barrel with distilling dates, etc). As a single barrel, I know that vatting isn't any younger than 9 yrs. I think a lot of the info folks have on rough ages is more right than wrong as their sources are beyond the tour guides. Although I personally don't let the tour guides feedback or even the age of the bourbon have a big impact on my decision. I'd drink our NAS ETL pick over Weller 12 yr all day long. My recommendation is your nose/taste should be the main criteria

[Guy Debord]

The thread has gone off the rails a bit. I was never suggesting that bourbon without age statements are bad tasting or not worth buying. I like plenty that do not have age statements.

That said, I just wanted to know if Jonny Drum Private Stock was a 15 years old bourbon, because 1) there is nothing indicating that on the bottle and 2) wikipedia entries on Jonny Drum claimed that the private stock is 15 years old.

It sounds like Jonny Drum Private Stock was at one time in its life an aged 15 years product, but no more. I'm passing on this bourbon for now, too many other choices out there at the moment.

If you do buy it, please tell us what it tastes like.

Thanks

[squire]

In the last two decades Johnny Drum has been bottled at different ages. A lot of what wikipedia has to say about Bourbon is nonsense.

To answer your question it tastes like Heaven Hill.

[Jackinbox]

Guy the tour guides are there to entertain, not educate. What's being sold is image, the company writes the script and the guides stick to it. I believe you will find Makers averages about 5 1/2 years.

When I visited Maker's back in May, during the tasting they give you the white dog, the standard Maker's, and a third pour that they call "over-aged". We were told that the "over-aged" was 7 summers vs. the standard 6 summers used in current bottlings. I could be off a year or so based on my memory, but the over-aged was supposedly about a year older. Anyway. they proceeded to talk about how the flavor profile suffers by being in the barrel that extra year. In the pours I was given, the standard definitely tasted better than the "over-aged" but I think there was more going on with that pour than just an extra year.

[squire]

Richard Nixon said he could win any game if he could make the rules.

Edited November 14, 2013 by squire

[ethangsmith]

I hope I can help answer the original question by doing some basic comparisons. Our subjects here are of course the Johnny Drum Private Stock (101 proof, NAS) and Old Bardstown Estate (Also 101 proof, NAS). Both products are made by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers and are assumed as (And taste a heck of a lot like...) Heaven Hill bourbon. One thing that stands out right away is that the Johnny Drum is much more brash and grainy than the Old Bardstown even though they are the same proof. So I went about comparing them to other Heaven Hill bulk and in-house bourbons. What I found was interesting. The Johnny Drum Private Stock has an almost identical profile as the Old Heaven Hill BIB bourbon- which is 4 years old, though it's not stated on the bottle. The Old Bardstown Estate is basically identical in profile to Old Ezra 101, which is an age-stated bourbon at 7 years. It is also very similar to the age-stated Heaven Hill BIB at 6 years. At the conclusion of my tastings, I have assumed the following opinion: Johnny Drum Private Stock is no more than 4-5 years old, but the Old Bardstown Estate is probably 6-7 years old. Either that or the barrel selection is so drastically different that the JD gets the "middle of the warehouse" barrels, and the OB gets the "high up and on the edges" barrels- which being a bulk whiskey is highly unlikely in both cases. Looking at pricing should give some idea of age too- the JD is $25 per bottle, and the OB is $35 per bottle- potentially hinting at longer aging....

[squire]

That makes sense.

[mbroo5880i]

Thanks for the summary, Ethan! I guess what I take from this is that HH 6 Year BIB at $10 (which I have) is a great deal in comparison to OBE and Johnny Drum. OBE isn't really on my radar but JD is pretty common in Indiana. I will continue to pass and opt for HH.

[squire]

Does the magic still work when you decant a $10 whisky into the $35 bottle?

[393foureyedfox]

Does the magic still work when you decant a $10 whisky into the $35 bottle?

squire, that statement has so much relevance in the bourbon world....

also, dont pass up the other HH BIB - the gold label. its just a tad bit 'harsher' or 'younger' than the white BIB, but has its own merits. If you like Fighting Cock, I think the gold BIB is pretty similar....which is odd, since FC is stated at 6 years, as the white BIB is also. Yet, the FC seems more simiilar to the gold BIB, which is 4 years. Either way, both BIBs are definately related, I sometimes just think the white is a bit too smooth.

Edited November 17, 2013 by 393foureyedfox