VOB BiB dropped age statement

[Gillman]

Makes sense and certainly I incline now to thinking they've done just that, but it's interesting to speculate and look at past history too. In trawling through images of the bottles on the Internet, you can see that at one time VOB was 8 years old (from the 60's on at least). Michael Jackson writing in 1987 stated the 80 was 6 years old and the 86, 90 and 100 were available in both 6 and 8 years old! I saw one pic on a foreign site that looked from the 70's (the bottles) where you have an 86 and 100 next to each other. The 86 says 6 years old, the other has no age statement (front picture only). Maybe that Liquor World 80 from 20-25 years ago did say 6. Anyway it did vary in the past clearly. If in fact the juice is younger now, I agree with those who express disappointment at seeing the bare numeral 6 on the neck label, I think that's unfortunate. In fact the current 80 doesn't have a 6 on the neck label, so why this one? Kind of odd IMO.

Gary

[catofadiferntskn]

The change is very disappointing, but the method and apparent deception is the most frustrating.

While I doubt it'll have much effect here are available emails from the Sazerac website.

If you have a question or comment, please contact one of our Consumer Affair Associates

Call 866-729-3722 or

Email: info@sazerac.com

Mark Brown, President & CEO

Ph: 502-696-5978

Email: mbrown@sazerac.com

Kathy Thelen, Vice President of Human Resources

Ph: 502-696-5932

Email: kthelen@sazerac.com

Steve Wyant, Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Email: swyant@sazerac.com

Meredith Moody, Marketing Services Director

Ph: 502-696-5919

Email: mmoody@sazerac.com

Amy Preske, PR Manager

Ph: 502-696-5957

Email: apreske@sazerac.com

[wadewood]

The change is very disappointing, but the method and apparent deception is the most frustrating.

While I doubt it'll have much effect here are available emails from the Sazerac website.

If you have a question or comment, please contact one of our Consumer Affair Associates

Call 866-729-3722 or

Email: info@sazerac.com

Mark Brown, President & CEO

Ph: 502-696-5978

Email: mbrown@sazerac.com

Kathy Thelen, Vice President of Human Resources

Ph: 502-696-5932

Email: kthelen@sazerac.com

Steve Wyant, Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Email: swyant@sazerac.com

Meredith Moody, Marketing Services Director

Ph: 502-696-5919

Email: mmoody@sazerac.com

Amy Preske, PR Manager

Ph: 502-696-5957

Email: apreske@sazerac.com

[squire]

That's right Gary, when Jackson was researching his book in the mid 80s even Kentucky Gentleman (Barton product) was age stated 8 years old on the label.

[393foureyedfox]

I work in advertising/marketing and although I can't claim to be an expert on the subject, I can almost guarantee that they know full well that what's inside the bottle is changing. There's no way to justify the expense of a simple label change (And I say simple because very little else has changed from the overall packaging) without a significant cost decrease for making the product itself, especially considering the industry. Cost decrease in this case means younger bourbon.

McKenna BiB changed it's label but it's still age stated...

[PaulO]

I looked at the Whiskey Tree thread, and I'm not sure if VOB and Kentucky Tavern are the same mash bill. If they are, it's bad news. The 4 year old KY Tavern BIB I tried a few years ago was probably the only bonded bourbon I wouldn't buy again. It tasted very harsh, mostly alcohol burn, nothing else. If Barton had to raise the price a bit, in order to avoid tampering with VOB BIB, I could have accepted that. I understand things like supply and demand, inflation, etc.

[squire]

It's reported Barton uses a different Bourbon mashbill for 1792 but the same one for the others, Barton, Kentucky Tavern, Kentucky Gentleman (mostly a blend now), Tom Moore and Ten High (also relegated to blend territory). Of course they also use large, tall traditional warehouses with differing aging zones. I doubt Barton goes to the expense of rotating barrels to even out the aging.

Considering how many years they've been making Fleishmann's Rye there may be some aged rye stock on hand as well.

[Yeti]

Well, they got me.

I went to Cincinnati for the Vikings game (really, it's amazing I had such a great weekend) and stopped in 10 or 12 stores in eastern, central, and northern KY over 2 days. For the first 6-8 stores there weren't any Barton products at all. The entire city of Ashland KY apparently had been wiped clean somehow. After striking out on even a visual of any Barton, age stated or otherwise, I finally stumbled into Party Town in Florence and saw one 750 and one 1.75 of VOB BIB and instinctively grabbed them and put them in the basket before heading back to the beer. Can you believe that when I unpacked last night they were the new "6" labels? Son of a...

Oh well, at least they were cheap.

[squire]

The reverse side of the stuff of which dreams are made.

[sutton]

Well you might find out they are OK anyway - the real gamble will be how long one can buy the "6" label before the taste begins to degrade ...

[Yeti]

Well you might find out they are OK anyway - the real gamble will be how long one can buy the "6" label before the taste begins to degrade ...

I'm sure they're just fine, and most likely indistinguishable from batches earlier this year. It just goes to show how insidious the process really is though, I was tired and had my guard down and took one to the kisser.

[Gillman]

I never thought VOB was all that great really, even at the low price point, pace Squire. The ones I've had from 20-30 years ago were much better IMO but then that is true of most brands in my experience. It is good for coffee or cocktails but neat or rocks not so much. The real value out there IMO is Four Roses Yellow Label, I just bought one which is almost like a brandy that's how good it is. A steal. (True enough though it is 80 proof, but that is strong enough I figure for almost any purpose).

Gary

Edited December 23, 2013 by Gillman

[Gillman]

Just another thought: to compensate for the apparently age-adjusted VOB 100, why doesn't someone come up with the perfect vatting of the newbie and 1792? It can be the SB (VOB) Blend. Come on guys.

Gary

[squire]

Make you a deal Mr. Vat King, you try it, report on it, then I'll consider it.

[Gillman]

All I need is the new VOB!

Gary

[TheNovaMan]

Sometimes ignorance isn't bliss.

Very true.

I'd like to see Ten high ten again!

I'd settle for Ten High being straight again.

[squire]

Yes, then straight into my liquor cabinet.

[wadewood]

I contacted BT and asked for confirmation if they were removing the age statement on Barton. Here is the response I just received:

"Yes, they are removing the age statements on a number of products.

Once the bourbon reaches the desired taste profile for the particular product, they will then release it, instead of delaying to a specific year."

[sutton]

Oh ... wow. So there it is. bye-bye age statements -

[jwacky]

Oh ... wow. So there it is. bye-bye age statements -

Can't wait for Pappy Van Winkle 15 Star! Maybe I'll actually be able to find it.

[MyOldKyDram]

PVW 23, a blend.

[sutton]

I guess we should be thankful they haven't decided to drop the word "straight". After all, I think that would just about achieve the max. flexibility in "achieving the desired taste profile".

[jwacky]

You'd think that the raging popularity of bourbon would mean that we'd all "win". Instead, we're all losing.

[higgins]

"Yes, they are removing the age statements on a number of products."

Are there any current Barton products left besides 1792 that are age-stated? Seeing as how that one didn't even display the age on the front, I wouldn't be too surprised if that disappeared as well.

[squire]

Let's see, they've been making the same whisky all these years and they dropped the age statement from 8 to 6 because it was really, really, mature earlier and now they're going from 6 to 4 because it's already mature by then. I'd like to meet the exec who can with a straight face tell me that same stuff is every bit as good now at 4 as it used to be at 8. If he can that's a guy I wouldn't want to play poker with.