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Bender's Small Batch Age Rye


RVTsteve
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My local store owner pulled out this new bottle to show me, and try to sell me. He put the price tag on it while I was holding it. At $46.95 it was a bit much for me without looking into it. I don't remember seeing any pertinent info on the stylish label but I was also not really interested at the time.

Being a brand new company with 7yr old whiskey I assumed it was made elsewhere and they just blended it and bottled it and put a hefty price tag on it as we've seen too many times before. But after looking into at their website http://bendersrye.com/rye/ it seems like maybe they made it themselves before they had a company and label to sell it? At least they put a fair amount of info on their website.

Anyone have any thoughts about it, heard of it or tried it?

Edited by RVTsteve
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Don't know anything about it but if the company was launched in 2013 it seems a bit tricky to have a 7yo rye distilled and ready to go! They talk a good game about blending in small batches but not much talk on distilling. An interesting mashbill that seems to be different from the typical LDI/MGP rye but no idea where it is from.

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From what I can see it was distilled at a place called Treasure island distillery in California but couldn't find a website for them. Did find mention of a vodka they make though.

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Yeah, I saw that it was at The Treasure Island Distillery. Treasure Island is right here in the Bay, literally right between Oakland and San Francisco, in the middle of the Bay Bridge. Looks like the distillery there is now this place http://www.raffdistillerie.com/about.html and was probably a shared facility.

So looks like they don't have a distillery but had it made locally at this shared facility and maybe couldn't get their company off the ground until now to sell it? I don't know though, seems like some info might be missing. Seems unlikely they purposefully invested a bunch of money in product and production without putting anything out there or marketing ahead of it. Or maybe we're just jaded from what so many other small companies have done. Either way seems like they're still an NDP but with their own recipe.. or something.

At that price point I'm not tempted to buy it but would certainly drink it if poured for me.

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At that price I would take a gamble on it if it were a confirmed micro make. To me the proof and age makes it reasonable. If it is sourced from MGP not for me then.

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Rather disingenuous. Colorful how they describe their insistence on using only High Sierra Mountains Hetch Hetchy water then you realize that's the reservoir that supplies ordinary San Francisco tap water.

What they call a mash bill seems to be a blend of 85% rye whisky and 15% corn whisky without any comment on who is the actual maker except the ABV of the corn whisky indicates Canadian origin. The only technical information I could glean is the whiskys were run off a column still and a doubler.

No, they didn't make it either there or someplace else, the profile of Mr. Bender says he has 12 years experience without saying in what and the profile of Mr. Cohen says he is "focusing on the "art" of brand ideation and brand building" which is nice to know but not really relevant.

They do have a blog with recipes, women's events, various chit chat and a detailed photo of the shop that prints their labels, but not one picture of a still or any whisky making equipment.

New guys with ideas, I wish them well but I'm not paying large for a pretty label on a cork stoppered bottle.

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Yes, there profiles and blog are full of a lot of fluff but not too much substance. I did notice some issues with the "mash bill" but your analysis of it starts to make sense. Sounds like it is just a sourced and blended product. I would pass also.

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...and the profile of Mr. Cohen says he is "focusing on the "art" of brand ideation and brand building" which is nice to know but not relevant.

:lol: Oh my, this baby's a hoot!! Now, we have a whiskey purveyor marketing...their MARKETING!!!! :slappin:

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I just realized if it is a blend of corn and rye whiskies wouldn't it have to be referred to as a blend and not just rye whiskey?

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Not necessarily unless they plan to add the word straight to the label. A blend of whiskys is just whisky.

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Not having seen the label just the website they seem to billing it as "rye whiskey". I would think that designation would not be allowed since it is a blend of two different whiskies.

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"Rye from Southern Alberta. Water from Hetch Hetchy, fed by pure Sierra Nevada snowmelt. We believe in these ingredients. Our commitment to them will never waiver. As for the other factors that influence rye whiskey – barrels, age, time of distillation, proof, blend et al – we hold no such reverence." [emp. added]

I read this statement to mean that they don't really care about those things that are most important in the manufacture of whiskey. Their definition of important factors are rye from Canada and water from the Northern California public water supply.

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Well now this whole thread seems like a waste of time. Good catch on their priorities. Doesn't sound like something I want to even entertain if the don't even respect the barrel influence on their product. They can't even fake it.

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That's what I initially thought as well but I got confused with all the pretty pictures and smooth talk.

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Well now this whole thread seems like a waste of time. Good catch on their priorities. Doesn't sound like something I want to even entertain if the don't even respect the barrel influence on their product. They can't even fake it.

I don't think that it is a waste of time. I bet most of us would have been intrigued by the bottle if we ran into it in a store. The price would have made us question it but still some would pull the trigger. I bet some of us have even pulled the trigger on similar products without even knowing it. History seems to repeat itself. It seems like much of what we see with some newer producers is similar to what our great grandfathers saw in the early 1900s. A lot of new products with sketchy information. It makes you appreciate those smaller producers who actually have a good business plan and are doing things right.

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Oh yeah that was just a bit of a vent. It's good to see how little observations by the members here can gradually shine a light on the truth.

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I thought it was a rye. :grin:

I thought it was a lipstick slathered pig...all dressed up for the party she wasn't invited to.

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This rye could go head to head with pappy. Bender smoking a cigar on the label. Just don't forget the two cheap floozies.

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