What bourbon did you pass up today? Winter '13/'14

[PaulO]

To me, 90 proof NAS seems like just run of the mill bourbon. It could be ok, but worth maybe low $20s at most. Higher end pricing needs to have a nice age statement, and or barrel proof to go with it.

[393foureyedfox]

yeah, what is the allure of a 4 year old, though unstated, single barrel?

[Quantum]

yeah, what is the allure of a 4 year old, though unstated, single barrel?

[squire]

yeah, what is the allure of a 4 year old, though unstated, single barrel?

[emr454]

Passed up an EC21 at $199 and regular KC at $40. Also passed on Cyrus Noble Bourbon Whiskey solely because I don't know much about it.

[theglobalguy]

Forester heats their brick warehouses in the cold months to increase the aging cycles throughout the year. When I toured the place 40 years ago they told me by doubling the cycles their 4 year old whisky had the equivalent of 8 years aging. I believe that was E. H. Taylor's idea originally (or at least he put the idea into play by building the first heated warehouses) and I understand it was considered cutting edge technology at the time but the practice seems to have largely fallen by the wayside.

Come to think of it I don't recall age statements on bottles of Old Forester.

Store i picked one up from relayed very similar comments to yours regarding aging. I can say it didn't taste like 4yr product, was a perfectly fine pour it just didn't do it for me in the $34 price range.

fox, you have to understand that some of the stores carrying this product (Whole Foods as an example) don't sell much if any OF. So if their customers walk in and see a special presentation and a story to go along with it from the employees who chose it, maybe they pick one up. If you're trying to grow market share it's a way to get in the door where you otherwise might not have.

That being said, The most positive thing I've heard from those who picked barrels was how nice the new BF tasting area/bar is.

[MyOldKyDram]

Had no idea this was a 4 year (heated or not, ha) old. I thought the price was out of whack BEFORE knowing the piece of info. Geez Louise.

[squire]

Eh, it's just money. Buy a bottle and impress your unknowledgeable friends with the aging story saying Forester's been doing it that way for more than 100 years.

[MyOldKyDram]

Think I'll take a pass. I'm sure I've bought dumber stuff, but...

[squire]

Yeah, me too, which is why I'm careful about what I buy now.

[Parkersback]

Forester heats their brick warehouses in the cold months to increase the aging cycles throughout the year. When I toured the place 40 years ago they told me by doubling the cycles their 4 year old whisky had the equivalent of 8 years aging. I believe that was E. H. Taylor's idea originally (or at least he put the idea into play by building the first heated warehouses) and I understand it was considered cutting edge technology at the time but the practice seems to have largely fallen by the wayside.

Come to think of it I don't recall age statements on bottles of Old Forester.

I've always been struck by the relative amount of richness/color in the dusty OF's I've had (both 86 and BIB). They'd often say 4 or 5 years old on the back, but taste much "olde". Maybe the heating of the warehouse is what accounts for that.

[squire]

One would think so, I understand they still do that, at least for the Forester brand.

[smokinjoe]

I've always been struck by the relative amount of richness/color in the dusty OF's I've had (both 86 and BIB). They'd often say 4 or 5 years old on the back, but taste much "olde". Maybe the heating of the warehouse is what accounts for that.

I agree about the older iterations of OF. My guess is that they, like many other dusties that we find to be superior, had older whiskey than stated. Ah, the glut years...

[Old Dusty]

I agree about the older iterations of OF. My guess is that they, like many other dusties that we find to be superior, had older whiskey than stated. Ah, the glut years...

Well, I would say in 3-6 years (assuming the trend chasers have moved on by then) we may see another case of over supply. Bad for the producers, but potentially great for the aficionado.

[petrel800]

Left some Bowman Ginger Bread on the shelf. Not a bad price, just not looking to break the bank.

[tanstaafl2]

Left some Bowman Ginger Bread on the shelf. Not a bad price, just not looking to break the bank.

I also saw the Gingerbread Bowman on the shelf today so it is out there at least in limited quantities.

[petrel800]

I also saw the Gingerbread Bowman on the shelf today so it is out there at least in limited quantities.

We probably looked at the same Gingerbread Bowman.

[DBM]

Passed on Lock, Stock & Barrel for a mind numbing price of $195 OTD at a grocery store. Their spirits buyer is going to get an earful from management when those bottles consume/waste shelf space in the coming months (years).

[ChainWhip]

Passed on Lock, Stock & Barrel for a mind numbing price of $195 OTD at a grocery store. Their spirits buyer is going to get an earful from management when those bottles consume/waste shelf space in the coming months (years).

10% Excise Tax hit on distributors

17% Excise Tax hit on the stores

20.5% Consumer Sales Tax

$3.7708/Liter Tax

Inability of WA State legislature to properly fund schools...

PRICELESS!

[DBM]

10% Excise Tax hit on distributors

17% Excise Tax hit on the stores

20.5% Consumer Sales Tax

$3.7708/Liter Tax

Inability of WA State legislature to properly fund schools...

PRICELESS!

No doubt, but this was a $159.99 shelf tag when it's "only" $119.99 about 800 feet away at TW.

When I was shopping around east of San Francisco, the price spread between BevMo and any corner liquor store was minimal on most products, and in fact some small stores were cheaper than the big box chains. Yet in WA, if you aren't shopping at Total Wine, Costco or BevMo, the prices are 20% to 40% higher. I don't know what role distributors are playing in this (pretty sure it's still illegal to maintain more than one price book for off-premise accounts) but something is fundamentally wrong.

[Kpiz]

Also passed on Cyrus Noble Bourbon Whiskey solely because I don't know much about it.

I think that's a good pass. It's sourced by an NDP and the name has some history, but that's about the only cool thing about it. K&L Wines actually has a good summary of its history in the product details on their website. I did a tasting a while back with 10 or so friends and 10 or so mid-shelf bourbons and we all ranked CN last.

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[squire]

I think we pegged Cyrus Noble as being a lower level HH product.

[Kpiz]

Thanks Squire. If I ran HH, I wouldn't have put my name on that bourbon either.

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[P&MLiquorsEric]

Passed on Lock, Stock & Barrel for a mind numbing price of $195 OTD at a grocery store. Their spirits buyer is going to get an earful from management when those bottles consume/waste shelf space in the coming months (years).

I could mark it down to cost and be stuck with it for another year.

[squire]

It does seem some producers think they can copy the Pappy model without realizing there is no model. Even with all the features that make Pappy unique it took Julian 20 years to build that brand.