Imaginary bourbon

[Anex]

10+ yr BP Wheater from HH.

Straight rye from 4R.

Both of these sound delicious!

[petrel800]

First dream: Barrel Proof, Four Roses Straight Rye Whiskey

- 12 to 15 yrs old

- not this "barely legal" stuff - at least 70% rye in the mashbill

- coming off the still at under 140, and into the barrel around 110

(sorry for all the details, but hey - it's MY fantasy!)

Would love to see 4 Roses and Rutledge get a shot at a Rye. Unfortunately every day they don't is 6-8 years before you'd see it. That would be a tough wait.

As for an imaginary bourbon, I'd like to see more blends/marriages like the 4R SmB LEs. Single barrels are nice, but I think the distilleries could really put out some outstanding stuff if they'd focus less on the SB and more on the SmB. 8-10 year base, add in some older stuff to taste. Hard to argue with the success of 4R with this formula over the last 2 years.

[HighInTheMtns]

Would love to see 4 Roses and Rutledge get a shot at a Rye. Unfortunately every day they don't is 6-8 years before you'd see it. That would be a tough wait.

As for an imaginary bourbon, I'd like to see more blends/marriages like the 4R SmB LEs. Single barrels are nice, but I think the distilleries could really put out some outstanding stuff if they'd focus less on the SB and more on the SmB. 8-10 year base, add in some older stuff to taste. Hard to argue with the success of 4R with this formula over the last 2 years.

I think that the "Small Batch" idea is a great one. Pure speculation, but I think that in the glut era, it probably happened a lot out of necessity, and it may have something to do with why whiskey from that era is so beloved.

[Brisko]

After reading the posts and giving it some thought I wish for something that is achievable, a return to what was once the standard mark of quality in Bourbon, eight years of age and 100 proof.

[chrisg]

OGD 120 10-Year

HH 10-Year BIB

WL Weller 15-Year 92 Proof

Elijah Craig 15-Year Barrel Proof

Any bourbon bottled at minimum 90 proof with an age statement.

[Harry in WashDC]

I think every bottle of Bourbon or Rye should carry on it's label the DSP number of the distillery that made the whisky.

[jwacky]

Any standard issue bourbon in barrel proof release would be interesting to me. Makers, Woodford Reserve... EWSB ramped up to 100ish proof... Eagle Rare... Stuff like that.

[weller_tex]

12 year 100 proof MM 10 year OGD 114

[sailor22]

For BT to start with the high rye mash bill and use a lower proof off the still and even a little lower into the barrel.

Consolidate the cherry barrels from mid level warehouse H at 8 years

and re-barrel into toasted not charred barrels for another 4 to 8 years or until

buyers think they are ready and pick single barrels of the finished juice.

Looking for a more complex toastier product with layers of Bourbon sweetness and complex toasted wood notes.

[squire]

Steve That's the best suggestion I've heard yet.

[petrel800]

Barton Rye in used George T Stagg barrels. Aged a minimum of 16 years.

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[Creggor]

Ok Back around 2002-3 I have purchased a couple of the Weller Centennial Bottles.. I recall really like this one.. At the time I also found some Old Fitzgerald PR and I also like that too.. Too bad they are not longer around

[HighInTheMtns]

Barton Rye in used George T Stagg barrels. Aged a minimum of 16 years.

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Makes me wonder whether High West has put up any of their rye in used barrels.

[booma]

For BT to start with the high rye mash bill and use a lower proof off the still and even a little lower into the barrel.

Consolidate the cherry barrels from mid level warehouse H at 8 years

and re-barrel into toasted not charred barrels for another 4 to 8 years or until

buyers think they are ready and pick single barrels of the finished juice.

Looking for a more complex toastier product with layers of Bourbon sweetness and complex toasted wood notes.

Hi sailor22, I'm a new member and love the idea of ageing in a mixture of barrels. New char to clean it up a bit and then toasted to add some real flavour notes sounds great. The idea of coming off the still at a bit lower abv sounds different. How would the master distiller do that? I like the idea of going into the barrel at a little lower to make it easy to stay at barrel proof for bottling. I wonder about going into the new char barrel at still strength and then dropping the abv going into the toasted only barrel. That's a lot of years to wait, but I guess striving for perfection is never easy. Cheers, thanks for making me think more about what is possible.

[sailor22]

Hi sailor22, I'm a new member and love the idea of ageing in a mixture of barrels. New char to clean it up a bit and then toasted to add some real flavour notes sounds great. The idea of coming off the still at a bit lower abv sounds different. How would the master distiller do that? I like the idea of going into the barrel at a little lower to make it easy to stay at barrel proof for bottling. I wonder about going into the new char barrel at still strength and then dropping the abv going into the toasted only barrel. That's a lot of years to wait, but I guess striving for perfection is never easy. Cheers, thanks for making me think more about what is possible.

No expert and still learning but I'm told many of the dusties we love came off the still at lower proof. Lower proof new make should contain more grain flavors. Be a little more complex. So a more complex basket of flavors to start and then mingle with the flavors extracted from the barrel.

[Quantum]

My top two were listed pretty early.

Weller Centennial reboot

Four Roses YL or SmB at 10 yr 100 proof

[petrel800]

Makes me wonder whether High West has put up any of their rye in used barrels.

I hope so, I hope so. The 21 year Rye was a fantastic offering. Unique, I'd like to try some more "American Whiskey's" that would essentially be rye and bourbon distillate placed in used cooperage from all of the majors. Might as well put some of it up, probably would yield a few more bucks in the long term than selling the barrels to Scotland. Maybe even experiment with aging them in different places.

That's another experiment I'd like to see. Age some barrels in the South in the Fall and Winter, and then move them to the North for the Spring and Summer. Or any combination of that, would love to see how some of the extreme temps would affect aging times and what would come out of it. Similar to the whole exposed barrels of the EHT Tornado deal and Jefferson's Ocean, the new warehouse at BT that will have the retractable roof and climate control system interests me on what will come out of there.

[squire]

booma lower proof off the still and into the barrel were the norm not that many years ago. For instance Stitzel-Weller would bring the new make off the still at close to 100 proof and after a trip through the doubler into the barrel at 103-105 proof. Whisky aging in the warm climate of Kentucky usually gains in proof so the final barrel proof at dumping would average 107. This is why the original Weller Antique was bottled at 107, that was barrel proof.

The usual barrel entry proof today is 125 which is why some modern barrel proof labels are 130 proof or higher.

[bookman]

Whisky aging in the warm climate of Kentucky usually gains in proof

squire, I accept that this is true, but I don't understand it. I thought that alcohol was more volatile than water and that at any temperature, whether in Scotland or Kentucky, there would be more alcohol lost than water, lowering proof. What am I missing?

[luther.r]

squire, I accept that this is true, but I don't understand it. I thought that alcohol was more volatile than water and that at any temperature, whether in Scotland or Kentucky, there would be more alcohol lost than water, lowering proof. What am I missing?

Alcohol molecules are larger than water molecules, so evaporated water can pass through the barrel more easily. Add heat and you get more angel's share of water, and higher proof.

[bookman]

Alcohol molecules are larger than water molecules, so evaporated water can pass through the barrel more easily. Add heat and you get more angel's share of water, and higher proof.

Got it, thank you, sir.

[sutton]

Relative humidity is a factor as well - the higher the relative humidity (I think it is over 75%) you will lose more ethanol than water during aging and barrel proofs drop. One reason I suspect the old dunnage warehouses in Scotland can have long-aged barrels drop below the 40% minimum. Perhaps the higher water content of the air acts as a sort of thermodynamic barrier to drawing more water out vs. the alcohol.

[sailor22]

Playing around with some rebarrel projects here in the humid steemy south with our loooong summers we routinely loose proof. Going by feel and without really good measurement we get a more rapid evap rate then the 3.5 to 4% quoted by the tour guides in Kentucky also.

[callmeox]

Now you just need to find a way to mimic the atmosphere inside of a rickhouse to complete the test as I believe there are a few variables involved.

Heat

Humidity

Atmosphere in warehouse

[bookman]

I had a sneaking suspicion this could get complicated.