Black Saddle 12 Year

[jwacky]

Anyone know anything about this? Saw it at the shop, never heard of it. 12 year, so there's that... 90 proof, which makes me balk at the $50 price point. Can't find much about it online, either...

[Conquistador]

If what you saw is the current bottling, then it is a product from our home state of California. No distillery in the state has been laying up distillate for 12 years, so I'm pretty sure it is sourced whiskey. Most likely LDI/MGPI. Never tried it before.

There was a Kentucky Straight Bourbon bottled under the same name back in the 1950's/1960's (maybe even a little after that). But I have a feeling a bottle that old wouldn't be out in the wild.

[jwacky]

If what you saw is the current bottling, then it is a product from our home state of California. No distillery in the state has been laying up distillate for 12 years, so I'm pretty sure it is sourced whiskey. Most likely LDI/MGPI. Never tried it before.

There was a Kentucky Straight Bourbon bottled under the same name back in the 1950's/1960's (maybe even a little after that). But I have a feeling a bottle that old wouldn't be out in the wild.

Oh, no, it's gotta be the current bottling, it's at BevMo. I'm also thinking it's sourced, mostly because of the complete lack of information about it. Little too expensive considering I can get a 12 year, 90+ proofer in EC12 for half the cost.

[theglobalguy]

COLA search shows they got labeling approval on NAS, 8, 10 and 12 ( https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=13121001000270 ). I've never seen it outside of what Google just found for me.

Website has me confused ( http://www.frank-lin.com/spirit.html ) as it lists Old Medley, Wathen's, Clyde May and Buck among others as their brands. Maybe they're a contract bottler for them.

ETA - Answered my own question.... Frank-Lin today has evolved into one of the major bottlers of distilled spirits. With a new state of the art facility in Fairfield, CA we now have the annual capacity of producing over 15 million cases. Frank-Lin sustains a growth rarely seen in the liquor industry.

[squire]

Anyone know anything about this? Saw it at the shop, never heard of it. 12 year, so there's that... 90 proof, which makes me balk at the $50 price point. Can't find much about it online, either...

Look at it this way, you're getting an $8.00 whisky and a really cool $40.00 bottle.

[tanstaafl2]

Look at it this way, you're getting an $8.00 whisky and a really cool $40.00 bottle.

Pretty sure the bottle isn't $40 interesting either. Now the image on this rather odd blog I found while searching for the bottle has some potential...

http://bourbonandpearls.blogspot.com/2011/02/das-boots.html

[jwacky]

Definitely not a $40 bottle:

[Flyfish]

Oh, no, it's gotta be the current bottling, it's at BevMo. .

What I love about Total Wine and BevMo is they have so many bourbons I have never heard of. What a wealth of opportunity!

[LCWoody]

Squire, let's give it a chance.......let's say a $1 for every year.......$12 for the bourbon in the bottle.

[squire]

Well, I could say that but I wouldn't wish to offend the folks who designed that pretty bottle.

[mbroo5880i]

I use old bourbon bottles as a piggy bank for loose change. Currently using an old EC12 bottle but it is almost full. This bottle would make a great piggy bank!

[squire]

My son once used a 1.75 EC12 bottle for a piggy bank (or at least claimed a 50% ownership) and in case anyone is interested it holds a little over $40 in change.

[portwood]

I guess this didn't sell that well in the USA so our local government monopoly (LCBO) is going to help clear the overstock at Cdn$47

With all the great stuff available south of the border this is what our nanny state decides to offer

[sku]

What I love about Total Wine and BevMo is they have so many bourbons I have never heard of. What a wealth of opportunity!

They have so many brands you've never heard of. You've likely heard of all the bourbons.

[Smithford]

I guess this didn't sell that well in the USA so our local government monopoly (LCBO) is going to help clear the overstock at Cdn$47

With all the great stuff available south of the border this is what our nanny state decides to offer

I dunno Portie .. a 12 year age stated Kentucky straight is something of a rarity these days. And $47 isn't too bad by LCBO standards, with EC12 at $43 and W12 at $45 (when they have it). Taste will be the ultimate test, of course.

[portwood]

I dunno Portie .. a 12 year age stated Kentucky straight is something of a rarity these days. And $47 isn't too bad by LCBO standards, with EC12 at $43 and W12 at $45 (when they have it). Taste will be the ultimate test, of course.

I don't see the word "straight" on the label...

[amg]

Pretty sure it's not distilled in Kentucky either...

[Smithford]

Pretty sure it's not distilled in Kentucky either...

Why? I haven't seen any definitive statement either way, but I have seen it described as Kentucky whisky on a few different pages. The only time I ever saw reference to it possibly being from IN was in this thread. And that was just an assumption, with no evidence to base it on.

At 12 years old, the list of possible sources is a short one, with most of the candidates in KY.

I don't see the word "straight" on the label...

Well, it is more than 2 years old. The only possibility that would disqualify it from being straight is if it was a blend of KY and IN whiskey. Which, I suppose is plausible. It's more likely that they just didn't bother adding the word straight.

I was just going on the available evidence. But if anyone has real information, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Smithford

[tanstaafl2]

Why? I haven't seen any definitive statement either way, but I have seen it described as Kentucky whisky on a few different pages. The only time I ever saw reference to it possibly being from IN was in this thread. And that was just an assumption, with no evidence to base it on.

At 12 years old, the list of possible sources is a short one, with most of the candidates in KY.

Well, it is more than 2 years old. The only possibility that would disqualify it from being straight is if it was a blend of KY and IN whiskey. Which, I suppose is plausible. It's more likely that they just didn't bother adding the word straight.

I was just going on the available evidence. But if anyone has real information, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

The people that have the real information are the ones who put the bottle out there. If you can't find any reliable information elsewhere (which they should have provided in the first place) then you should ask them directly. And if they won't tell you then I think you have your answer!

There is a good chance it's :shithappens: !

:cool:

[amg]

It looks like the sales sheet on the Frank-Lin Distillers web site actually calls it a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey:

http://www.frank-lin.com/pdf/Black_Saddle_sell_sheet_gold.pdf

Since they're also the bottler for Medley and Wathen's I suspect a similar source for this one.

Edited February 10, 2015 by amg

[BigBoldBully]

The name immediately reminded me of the 8-year-old Buck KSBW that came out a few years back, as the label on that one depicts a cowboy in the saddle. I bought one of those, so I just ran down to the cellar and it turns out that is also from Frank-Lin, and is also 90 proof. Lists San Jose, CA as the bottler's location. I would say the bottle of the Buck bourbon may be more attractive, though, almost identical to the Masterson's rye bottle. FWIW, the bourbon they sourced for that one isn't bad at all IMO--just a little tame for a buckin' bronco.

[Smithford]

There is a good chance it's :shithappens: !

It's not. It's actually pretty good. It sits in the glass with an attractive mahogany color. I taste that cherry cough drop thing that always makes me think of old HH, but I don't think there's any chance that this is from Bardstown. It's a bit rough around the edges, in the same way as some of the KBD labels (BMH NAS/Rowan's Creek, etc...).

No doubt, it's not worth its $50 price tag Stateside. But at $47 in Ontario, it's a bit more attractive (competition at that price level being EC12, KC, MM, Ritt BIB, Woodford). I'd reach for this again before about half of those.

[astroke]

Completely agree with this. I purchased 1 bottle at the LCBO and went out and got another one. I really like it, kind of reminds me of Eagle Rare.

[JonRob]

I was lucky enough to be in the store at the same time as the rep from the company that bottles this stuff. He gave us a full run down of what he had with him. Three Taquillas (blanco, rep, and anejo) Black Saddle, Meddley Brothers and Buck (something? I forget). All of the bourbon is sourced from the same place. He said he "contractually" couldn't tell us from where but after trying the 12 year old Black Saddle it was very obvious it was Heaven Hill whiskey. It was all really good and we were all very impressed with their products, especially the Taquilla. Some of the sweetest smoothest Taquilla I've ever tried.

[amg]

So it's Elijah Craig for 2x the price? Pass.