Home blending

[Merrymash Monk]

Been comparing some 100 proofers lately- BIB and otherwise. Tried the Old Forester Signature and to me it is like pecan pie in a bottle with a couple heaps of brown sugar and a dash of cinnamon: a decadent dessert bourbon when you're in the mood for that but a little bit much even for my sweet tooth. On the other hand I've got the WT101 with just a touch of sweetness and its famous spice and heat. Anyhow, it turns out they compliment each other pretty well blended with a splash of water. I've tried this sort of thing before without much success with other whiskeys. It seems you never know what's going to work until you go ahead and mix them. Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and sometimes less. It got me wondering what other folks on this site may have tried blending of late, and what worked well and not so well...Has anyone had some interesting "home blending" results?

[Clavius]

The blend popular here on SB is known as the "SB Blend". Equal parts Weller 12 and Old Weller Antique.

I did it once and it was great stuff. Would like to do it again now that I think about it. Strangely enough I can get the Weller 12, it's the OWA that has become hard to find around here...

[393foureyedfox]

i dont mix much, but out of curiousity the other day i did a half and half mix of OGD 114 and Dickel 12, as I figured the sweet and the spicy might mix well. I thought it worked pretty well.

[squire]

Hmm, that could work.

[GaryT]

I prefer my SB Blend at a 60/40 ratio, heavy on the OWA over Weller 12. I've tried subbing Larceny in for the W12, and while drinkable not nearly as nice. I'm experimenting with some mingles of OGD 114 and Ritt BIB (different ratios to find what I like). Other than the SB Blend, I typically don't vat a large quantity of others - but I have fun trying different things (and as long as you're having fun, you're doing it right!)

[sutton]

I recently did 50:50 WT101 w/ WTRRSmBSB (its starting to get tiring typing that out, but it is one of my all-time favorite SB acronyms) and a few drops of water - good/different. The RR rounded off some of the edges in the 101, and the WT101 seemed to add more depth and complexity, which quite frankly confused me. I suspect I'll drink at least half of the RR in this manner.

[Richnimrod]

One of my two favorite 'vattings' is my own creation of 'standard shelf 4-roses SB' and '12 edition of the OFBB, blended in a 50-50 ratio. I also like my SB blend at 60-40 as Gary noted a couple posts back. Those are my two favs.

Your creation sounds like a well-thought-out and interesting one. I'll have to try it. I bet it IS pretty darn good.

... And, as Gary said; "If your having fun, you're doing it right!"

[Eric in Chicago]

This is a blend that I have been playing with for the past couple months, OWA 107 50% Weller 12 40% and Stagg jr 10%, optional bittercube brand Cherry Bark Vanilla bitters (4 drops per 750ml) This blend is very good, spicy on the sip, smooth on the back end. Be careful, too much Stagg jr pushes it over to bitter, just need a little bit. Working on another blend without stagg jr and subbing in ETL 5% and BMH NAS 5% will be ready in a week and will report back

[squire]

Yes Eric, please do, and welcome aboard.

[Tony Santana]

I'm fairly new to blending, have tried the SB blend and like it, and have also put together a 50/50 Bulleit Frontier/Weller SR that gets a thumbs up from me, better than the sum of its parts. How long do you folks think a blend needs to sit before it's reached an optimal state for drinking? I just tried a 2/1 Stagg Jr./ER10, just for chuckles. It's been sitting for about a week now, figured I'd have to give it at least 2 weeks to properly meld, but that's just a guess.

[mbroo5880i]

While SB Blend is probably my favorite, I have a few others that I enjoy periodically.

OGD114/Ritt BIB...usually 2:1 bourbon to rye

WT101/WTR101...2:1 bourbon to rye

ECBP/EC12...ratio varies

[JPBoston]

Was looking forward to 60/40 SB Blend this winter... but OWA seems to have gone extinct out here.

I do plan on doing some trials with EW bonded, 1783, and EWB sometime soon.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

[Richnimrod]

How long do you folks think a blend needs to sit before it's reached an optimal state for drinking?

My son Gary and I did a side-by-side-by-side-by-side test tasting of an identical blend at an hour (I think), a day, a week and 2-weex.

As far as we could determine, the only noticed difference was between the one-hour and any of the others. So, from that experience we concluded that long waits aren't necessary for home vatting. Now others may have different opinions, and/or more discriminating palates and, therefor give different advice.

[keith18]

I've blended barrel proof versions of Four Roses Yellow Label and Four Roses Small Batch with pretty good results. I ordered all the bottles from Party Source.

[Vosgar]

Every once in awhile I'll think about blending something...... anything...... with my batch 1 Cody Road to make it drinkable. Then I come to my senses and realize nothing will ever help that bottle (and yet I can't get myself to throw it out :banghead:)

[WAINWRIGHT]

Every once in awhile I'll think about blending something...... anything...... with my batch 1 Cody Road to make it drinkable. Then I come to my senses and realize nothing will ever help that bottle (and yet I can't get myself to throw it out :banghead:)

You ever do any grilling in the winter?I would highly recommend it as a lighter fluid substitute.:slappin:

[Merrymash Monk]

How long do you folks think a blend needs to sit before it's reached an optimal state for drinking?

My son Gary and I did a side-by-side-by-side-by-side test tasting of an identical blend at an hour (I think), a day, a week and 2-weex.

As far as we could determine, the only noticed difference was between the one-hour and any of the others. So, from that experience we concluded that long waits aren't necessary for home vatting. Now others may have different opinions, and/or more discriminating palates and, therefor give different advice.

I only waited about 10-15 minutes after pouring my OFSignature/WT101 in a glass and adding a splash of water. Maybe waiting a full hour would help like you did, just to have the air open things up a bit. I can't imagine how putting them away for awhile in a bottle would change much, except if they are decanted to get more air, which might make things better or worse.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Merrymash Monk

[Gillman]

Haven't had the Coady but I've read taste descriptions that give me a good idea what it is like.

You could blend it 50/50 with an assertive oaky, high-strength bourbon, Rare Breed say, or maybe 1:2 Coady to RB would be better. (Or use virtually any other bourbon or rye that is strong and reasonably aged).

This would make a great base for a Manhattan or any other whiskey cocktail, or whiskey-and-Coke.

Or, blend it with a group of three or four bourbons or ryes to probably about 20% of the total. 10-15% might be better. You can do this in the glass. It is surprising how good a taste you can get in this way and no one would ever know that a young whiskey is in there but it contributes its qualities all the same.

Gary

[GaryT]

I only waited about 10-15 minutes after pouring my OFSignature/WT101 in a glass and adding a splash of water. Maybe waiting a full hour would help like you did, just to have the air open things up a bit. I can't imagine how putting them away for awhile in a bottle would change much, except if they are decanted to get more air, which might make things better or worse.

I've done mingles in the glass without waiting more than a couple of minutes. It took some planning (several weeks obviously!) to arrange, and as Richnimrod stated - the youngest is the only one that stood out as materially different. In fact, we were trying to guess them in terms of age (assuming the ones we liked best would be the oldest), and I think we picked the 1 day old over the 2 week, and then the 1 week. The aging apparently does allow the different chemicals more time to do their thing, but the way I look at it - if I mingle and pour and like - I'm apt to like the rest even more after some time!

By the way - my dad did the same mingle based on your recommendation (and I think it was under a day, but a couple hours), and I really liked it! Looking forward to trying it again on a fresh palate, but it was quite enjoyable!!

[Merrymash Monk]

I've done mingles in the glass without waiting more than a couple of minutes. It took some planning (several weeks obviously!) to arrange, and as Richnimrod stated - the youngest is the only one that stood out as materially different. In fact, we were trying to guess them in terms of age (assuming the ones we liked best would be the oldest), and I think we picked the 1 day old over the 2 week, and then the 1 week. The aging apparently does allow the different chemicals more time to do their thing, but the way I look at it - if I mingle and pour and like - I'm apt to like the rest even more after some time!

By the way - my dad did the same mingle based on your recommendation (and I think it was under a day, but a couple hours), and I really liked it! Looking forward to trying it again on a fresh palate, but it was quite enjoyable!!

I did a 2:1 small Vat of the OFS/WT101 in a bottle just to see if it makes a difference over time. We'll see as I'll probably sip some this evening.

[Merrymash Monk]

The blend popular here on SB is known as the "SB Blend". Equal parts Weller 12 and Old Weller Antique.

I did it once and it was great stuff. Would like to do it again now that I think about it. Strangely enough I can get the Weller 12, it's the OWA that has become hard to find around here...

This SB blend is a good example of checking out how putting together different ages of the same or similar recipes turns out: A little different spin on trying to balance two very different whiskeys, but one that can prove interesting to see how combining different ages turns out.

What is even stranger is that although I got a bottle of WL Weller from the BTAC, I can't find any Weller 12 around here.

[Merrymash Monk]

Well after vatting for about 5 hours, I must say that the blend does taste even better: more integrated, opened up a bit, and the finish is softer. Not sure about the chemistry involved: whether its a matter of the bourbons having more time to mingle together, or if its the additional air exposure or what, but must say that it does pay to mix them in a bottle and leave them for awhile.

[squire]

I fully subscribe to that theory, gumbo is always better the next day.

[ethangsmith]

[h=5]I made a blend this evening that I will call "Junior & Senior." It is 60% Old Grand Dad 80 proof and 40% Stagg Jr. It turned out really nicely with lots of dryness and some good herbal and coffee notes. You can go to 50/50 for a bit more thickness and spice.[/h]

[393foureyedfox]

I fully subscribe to that theory, gumbo is always better the next day.