Old vs. New

[Bluffhunter]

On the subject of prior production bourbons being higher quality than the latest ones. I found several bottles of some WT101 with the prior red label at local store but was $7 more than the current production WT101. Is the old juice that much better than the stuff made now to justify me spending the extra money over the current WT101?

[squire]

I wouldn't say the older expressions are better and in fact may be worse because distilling techniques have come a long way in just the last few decades. Among other changes modern computer controls have replaced the old experienced guess work. It's these changes that create differences between the old and the new, the most apparent being flavor.

You might prefer the taste of the dustys but then again you might not. I will seek out dustys when I travel but that's more for the hunt than the kill.

Edited February 9, 2014 by squire

[luther.r]

I agree with Squire, and will add that the label change only took place a couple years ago, so there might not be much if any difference depending on how old they are. You might be able to find a date laser code somewhere on the bottle to give you a clue as to how "dusty" they are.

[corpse_welder]

I also came across this the other day. I found a 200 ml Wild Turkey dusty for $7.49 but I passed since I have a brand new 1.75L that I got for $30. Sometimes I think it's more of a collectible thing than actually for quality