squire Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Originally it was Old Rip Van Winkle Old Time Rye age stated at 12 years old (but was probably 13 when bottled) made at Bernheim for the Cream of Kentucky brand. That was replaced in the late 1990s by Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye using a blend of COK and Medley distilled Rye. Then Medley for most of the past decade. I understand they still have some Medley stock though they may be blending in some BT distillate. In the next few years it should be all BT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jburlowski Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 WARNING: Slight thread drift approaching. :skep:Concerning the yearly special releases of Pappy and the BTAC. I believe that the distillery/distillers/whatever???, try to be as consistent as they can with these releases. I also believe that some bottlings occasionally rise above, or fall short of the expected norm. I believe this happens more often than some folks are willing to admit.... Cheers y'all! Joe Joe, I think your observations are spot on and exacerbated by the fact that the bulk of these releases are now swept up for purposes of a) ownership: "Look. I've got one"; or flipping / speculating (see BX, et al). Only a small fragment is actually for drinking. Very few tasting notes appear on line compared to years past. Welcome to the world of the bourbon bubble. The producers / sellers have got to love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 And laugh all the way while skipping to the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Joe, I think your observations are spot on and exacerbated by the fact that the bulk of these releases are now swept up for purposes of a) ownership: "Look. I've got one"; or flipping / speculating (see BX, et al). Only a small fragment is actually for drinking. Very few tasting notes appear on line compared to years past.Welcome to the world of the bourbon bubble. The producers / sellers have got to love it. Can't agree with you more John. I don't buy to collect. I drink what I buy. And I plan on drinking my ORVW 10/107's. :bigeyes: Every last freaking drop! :grin: Cheers! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smknjoe Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I grabbed my first bottles of 15, 20 and the rye this year and opened them in the store to share with the staff. None of them had tried it before. They all liked the 20 the best. I'm not so sure which I liked more. I think I'm leaning towards the rye. They are all pretty good. It's all for drinking though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutton Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 The other one from this year I think is above par, is the ORVW 10/107. ... it's a little richer and more chewy than in the last couple of years. I haven't tasted the other Pappy offerings, so I can't say anything there, but I will say that I'm perfectly content with this years ORVW 10/107. Thanks for the notes Joe! The ORVW 10/107 was the only BTAC I was offered this year - glad to hear it is a superior version - can't wait to try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Comp Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I grabbed my first bottles of 15, 20 and the rye this year and opened them in the store to share with the staff. None of them had tried it before. They all liked the 20 the best. I'm not so sure which I liked more. I think I'm leaning towards the rye. They are all pretty good. It's all for drinking though.Wow Joe...that's a deed worthy of 21 merit badges and Eagle Rank...oh wait that's BS not SB :grin:. Very cool of you to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restaurant man Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I grabbed my first bottles of 15, 20 and the rye this year and opened them in the store to share with the staff. None of them had tried it before. They all liked the 20 the best. I'm not so sure which I liked more. I think I'm leaning towards the rye. They are all pretty good. It's all for drinking though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerlam92 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) I do have to say that this years ER17 is a big surprise to me. (Just discussed this last night with another member actually.) I've had every year of the ER17, and I've liked 'em all. This years is quite different IMHO. It's almost a little hard to get a handle on because it's so different. It's sweet, chewy, and pretty much lacking the BT/ER grassy, musty flavor that is usually present. The other one from this year I think is above par, is the ORVW 10/107. The difference here is not as great as with the ER17, but it's still very noticeable. Great balance IMHO. Nice combo of smoke/oak, and the nutty, caramel flavor I like to refer to as burnt cookies or burnt pie crust. Just like the ER 17, it's a little richer and more chewy than in the last couple of years. I haven't tasted the other Pappy offerings, so I can't say anything there, but I will say that I'm perfectly content with this years ORVW Cheers y'all! Joe A trusted friend of mine who has similar taste profile as me (as I also consider your taste preference highly and also similar to mine) said the exact same thing that the ER17 is the best of the BTAC and also that ORVW10 is really good this year. So I popped open a new ORVW10/107 and had two pours. The second I tried to do a SBS (after letting it sit for 30 min) with an 2009 ORVW10/107, literally opened since then. The new one is definitely better IMO and is quite good. When I had the Stagg Jr, I had thought it is similar to the ORVW10/107 and I still think that is the case. The new ORVW 10/107 beats the Stagg JR too. Edit: the old bottle was opened that long because I never cared to drink it. My taste profile has changed over the year as we'll. Edited December 13, 2013 by tigerlam92 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunnelTiger Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I really like those glasses. Mind telling where you got them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerlam92 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I really like those glasses. Mind telling where you got them? Haha. Those are ORVW glasses that came with the ORVW 23/114 decanter set. Cheers Hugh Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Thanks to you guys that appreciated my tasting notes on the current ORVW 10/107. I try to be as honest as I can in my observations. I call 'em the way I see 'em. Hopefully it will be a help to some, and be appreciated for what it is. I think it's something we could use a little more of here on the site. It would be nice to see more members getting back to the basics and core of what this site is about. Just my opinion. :deadhorse:Cheers! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolph Lundgren Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Thanks for the Notes, Hugh.In years past, I have not been a big ORVW fan because it was just a slight jump over the Weller 12. But this years ORVW 10/107 is booming with flavor and is incredibly drinkable. The first bottle I opened was gone in a week. I had some of this years PVW 15 last night and I was not impressed - lots of vanilla and not a lot of balance (caveat: I was drinking 05 WLW and 05 Stagg before tasting the PVW 15, so the tastebuds may have been a little cooked). This years ORVW 10/107 runs laps around the PVW 15 in my eyes.Call me crazy, but I'd like to put it next to a Weller Centennial (Frankfort) and see how it does side-by-side. Not saying the ORVW 10/107 is better - I just think it'd be an interesting experiment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WsmataU Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Call me crazy, but I'd like to put it next to a Weller Centennial (Frankfort) and see how it does side-by-side. Not saying the ORVW 10/107 is better - I just think it'd be an interesting experiment.I'd like to hear your thoughts. I've given up on the entire Van Winkle line. If it even comes close to Weller Centennial, I'll go buy whatever I can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutton Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Thanks to you guys that appreciated my tasting notes on the current ORVW 10/107. I try to be as honest as I can in my observations. I call 'em the way I see 'em. Hopefully it will be a help to some, and be appreciated for what it is. I think it's something we could use a little more of here on the site. It would be nice to see more members getting back to the basics and core of what this site is about. Just my opinion. :deadhorse:Cheers! JoeAgree. I'm guilty of this as well - love to hear posts about tasting notes, comparisons with other current bottles or past releases of the same brand .. we do tend to post a lot about pricing, availability etc but I think that might be driven by the market forces every enthusiast is dealing with trying to get their favorite bottles. But the "QPR" posts, if there is such a thing, are those that focus on the liquid in the glass and that sparks some of the best back and forth on the forum. Cheers, Joe! :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerlam92 Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Came back again to it and it has open up a lot more. It's rich, chewy and well balance with something of hey I'm here and standing tall. Not sooty and burn is very well controlled. Like some, I had never care for this actually before but this is quite good, this year. My first pour went down as I am typing this. Going for a second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwacky Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Just opened some tonight and think it's worth every penny of the MSRP and then some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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