Noah's Mill 15 Year

[WhiskyRI]

Popped into a new store today and they had one bottle of Noah's Mill 15 year bottled in 2005 for $37.49 (which I bought). Given that it is a KBD product does anyone have any information about this one, or at least KBD bottlings in 2005?

[smknjoe]

Mystery juice......

[squire]

Being as it was distilled more than 20 years ago Heaven Hill is a good bet.

[nd2005]

From what I had heard, back when it was age stated 15 yo bourbon it got pretty good reviews. They've since dropped the age statement and increased the price. I paid $50 for a bottle and wouldn't buy it again.

[JVande]

I really enjoyed Rowan's Creek when it was aged stated 12 years. Or maybe it had more to do with the fact that I cracked open that bottle on my Honeymoon in Bora Bora...

[LCWoody]

Noah's Mill 15y was one of my favorites, it has gone down hill sense age statement dropped. Very woody bourbon. I would say it came from HH.

[WhiskyRI]

Thanks everybody - this confirms what I thought to be true. I've avoided Noah's Mill NAS but couldn't let this one pass me by, you don't see many 15 yr bourbons these days under $40. Given the time frame - 2005 - my hope is that the juice was deemed surplus given the then relatively low demand for older bourbons.

[fishnbowljoe]

Noah's Mills, Rowan's Creek, and Black Maple Hill were all supposedly better before they lost their age statements. Being a NDSP, I'm sure KBD (Willett) tried for a certain flavor profile, but when you buy your distillate from other producers, it's hard to get a consistent product. I've tasted all these, but my only real experience is with the Noah's Mills. I had always pretty much shied away from buying things that were made by NDP's. Once I was at a store that had some bottles open to sample. Tasted the Noah's Mill's, and it was great. Decided to buy a bottle. Got it home, and my bottle didn't taste anything like the one I sampled. I ended up giving most of that bottle away. You just never know what you're gonna get with stuff like that. I'm sure the bottle you found will be much better than the one I bought. Hope you like it. Please let us know.

Joe

[squire]

It may be disappointing, it may be very good, there's only one way to tell. Contemporaneous to this bottle was the 15 year old Ezra Brooks Single Barrel so this may well be Ezra under another label. Point taken though, a 15 year age stated Bourbon for less than $40 is not something one often sees in this day when micros seem to believe their little half bottles of 2-3 year old stuff should sell for that price.

[nd2005]

Does anyone else think that these (rowan's, noah's, etc) may fade away?

I'd think Willett would be smart to focus their marketing on the Willett Family Estate line at this point, especially when they are experiencing such shortages/delays in getting product out. If their plan is really to transition to their own distillate once it is mature, increasing the brand recognition of Willett would seem to be the top priority, or at least I'd think it should be.

[squire]

I should think they will hold onto established brands as long as those brands find a market.

[fishnbowljoe]

I'm not sure what Willett's focus is, or will be. They've been distilling for a while now, but that stock hasn't aged enough to be bottled yet. In other posts here, it has been stated that some of the private selections that have been picked from their stock (WFE?), are many months behind in being bottled. I don't know if that's still the case, or if they're caught up now. Who knows whats gonna happen, and when or even if it will happen?

[MyOldKyDram]

Did poor Eric ever get his WFE? And has anyone here tried their distillate? Wonder when we can expect something from them. Be interested to see if its a new brand they put out or what.

[mbroo5880i]

I went to a local Willett Tasting earlier this month. I thought Hunter mentioned that they barreled their first distillate in early 2012. That probably means it will be a few more years before we see their distilled product (my words, not his). They released a lot of WFE in 2012 so my guess is that the older barrels of purchased whiskey are slowly being depleted. I really like the WFE products, both bourbon and rye.

I have also tried Rowan's Creek and Noah's Mill. Of those two, I liked Noah's Mill. It seems to have a similar flavor profile to some of the WFEs that I have tried. If I found an age stated bottle for less than $40, I would be a buyer. I probably wouldn't be a buyer of a NAS bottle unless it were in the $25 range. Not going to happen. The NAS bottles go for around $45 in Indy. I don't remember where but I recently saw a 15 year old bottle in the mid-$40s.

[squire]

Of course when Willet was in full operation back in the 1960s the whisky made there was not top shelf, rather middle of the pack like dozens of other small Kentucky distilleries. If the product being made now turns out good, fine, if not they can blend it with whisky from other Kentucky distilleries and still label it Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

[Kyjd75]

Did poor Eric ever get his WFE? And has anyone here tried their distillate? Wonder when we can expect something from them. Be interested to see if its a new brand they put out or what.

Nope. Hasn't arrived yet. I was one of those on the tasting panel for those selections. The barrels we picked were pretty darn good, so it would be a shame (for us, at least) if they never materialize. On the positive side, I don't think Eric has received any indication that the order won't be filled, so he (and I) are still hopeful. But it is getting close to a year now, and that is kinda ridiculous, I think. We originally selected a 6 and a 10 year old barrel each. Now they may be 7 and 11 years old for all we know.

[mark fleetwood]

I really enjoyed Rowan's Creek when it was aged stated 12 years. Or maybe it had more to do with the fact that I cracked open that bottle on my Honeymoon in Bora Bora...

Hold it, you found Rowan's on Bora Bora?! (I'm going to be sure to use that next time a liquor store stiff-arms my request to stock something as basic as Old Fitz BIB.)

[The Black Tot]

Hey,

I know this is an old thread, but this seems the best place to ask.

Can anything be gleaned by the color of sealing wax used on KBD products?

I found some Noah's Mill that isn't age stated, but it has cracked copper wax sealing it. I note that current production has black wax.

Was the copper wax indicative of a period of KBD bottling, or is it just a "whatever we have at the time" sort of thing?

The first bottle of NM that I tried was exceptional. I don't think it was age stated, but I wasn't looking at that stuff at the time. Recently we tried it "again" at a friend's house. Again is in quotes because it's weird to say you tried something again when it really couldn't be the same stuff. It was straight up bad.

I'd like to find one of the good ones again.

tbt

[The Black Tot]

Also, can anyone post a picture of an age-stated NM?

I can't seem to find one googling around.

tbt

[amg]

I think the little label with the batch # on it was where the age statement used to be. There was a date that it went into the barrel and the date that it was bottled. Not sure if you can tell much from the wax, but the first part of the batch number should be the last two digits of the year it was bottled.

[The Black Tot]

Found one. A bit blurry, but gets the point across.

[The Black Tot]

I think the little label with the batch # on it was where the age statement used to be. There was a date that it went into the barrel and the date that it was bottled. Not sure if you can tell much from the wax, but the first part of the batch number should be the last two digits of the year it was bottled.

[amg]

Interesting. They must have changed their batch numbering system recently.

[wildrnesxperienc]

I know with the WFE's the wax doesn't mean a thing. The customer who has the whiskey bottled can choose from a number of different wax colors.

[The Black Tot]

I know with the WFE's the wax doesn't mean a thing. The customer who has the whiskey bottled can choose from a number of different wax colors.

Thanks. I'm still not sure I can resist taking a flyer on this one, since it's aged enough for the wax to be cracked. And it's not a store pick or anything, it's just a weird Noah's Mill.

I've had recent crap Noah's Mill, but I'm enchanted by an earlier experience of awesome Noah's Mill.

tbt