393foureyedfox Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 AAA 10yr. I've always liked this and was disappointed when it was discontinued, but I've socked away a bunch of them from this store and at some point ya gotta stop buying. It's tough though when they're only $18.99 for a liter.at some point it time, you will regret not loading up, especially at a price like that. At $50, some things you can only justify loading up on so much, but at sub $20, that bunker amount goes much higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MauiSon Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 (edited) Just for the sake of future friends and even mourners, if nothing else, buy more!Oh, and uh, I saw Rhetoric in Maui, price wasn't listed, but I passed anyway. Asked to see the WTRB in the cabinet, but unboxed it was the 03 batch. Haven't seen the new batch, yet. Edited August 23, 2014 by MauiSon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 AAA 10yr. I've always liked this and was disappointed when it was discontinued, but I've socked away a bunch of them from this store and at some point ya gotta stop buying. It's tough though when they're only $18.99 for a liter.Go get it Vosgar. Fox is correct... the price is right and they won't make any more of it (well under that name at least). I've been paying mid $40's (per handle) in KY since learning of its demise and sadly, KY is pretty much picked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Barterhouse. You know this stuff isn't moving when my local bottle shop (known for $20-$30 markup above MSRP on limited release bourbons, but actually willing to hold said bourbons for me) marked it down to MSRP and moved it onto the mid shelf. Heck, the top shelf even has Sinatra Select on it. I have to hand it to Diageo: The Orphan Barrel releases (perfectly serviceable and relatively fairly priced at MSRP, just not spectacular to my taste) were what snapped me out of my brief limited edition mania. They actually did me a huge favor. It's nice to be able to pull out a bottle of something special to share with friends, but I already have a few of those put away. No need for much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigtoys Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 passed a THH (rye, I know) in Manhattan. I stared at it for about a minute.I think it was at the wine store in Chelsea Market. Don't know the price; it was in a locked room/case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBM Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Passed on Old Medley 12 yr. I have never had it and it just came in so I figured I had some time to think about it. Anyone have good experience with it before?I did not enjoy my bottle, it was used to make cocktails until it was happily gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunnelTiger Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I did not enjoy my bottle, it was used to make cocktails until it was happily gone.Same here. Just way overpriced for the taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul W Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Stagg Jr. 134.4; I was curious but left them on the shelf as they were priced 129.99.I was even less willing to purchase the James Pepper 1776 15 year at $149.99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleCBreese Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Stagg Jr. 134.4; I was curious but left them on the shelf as they were priced 129.99.I passed on some Stagg Jr. as well, but it was $49. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDSmith619 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 ND Old Taylor 1.75 (UPC 88259) in Dallas over the weekend, only brought a carry-on bag... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I did not enjoy my bottle, it was used to make cocktails until it was happily gone.Another vote for nothing special. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it, either.Mr C said it was good whiskey, but hey we've all got different tastes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmzungu Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I did not enjoy my bottle, it was used to make cocktails until it was happily gone.thanks! I feel good about the pass now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bin31z Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Good lord...went to a store in bay area and found their shelves literally packed with barterhouse and rhetoric at 79 and 99 respectively. PASS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HD 335 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Good lord...went to a store in bay area and found their shelves literally packed with barterhouse and rhetoric at 79 and 99 respectively. PASS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Costco eh, guess we'll have to start calling it Clearing House. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravensfire Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Picked up another WFE 11 year over lunch. Getting a bit pricey, but it's so hard to find this around here anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Another Rhetoric landed at my retailer.I bought it - hey, it's nearly fall... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Rhetoric bottle #180. This spawned an interesting discussion with the store manager/bourbon guy. Basically:I was impressed with the low bottle number. Mostly it provides the first clear evidence that the rumors about the enormously high bottling numbers for Barterhouse aren't inclusive of the entire Orphan Barrel series. I think it's safe to assume that Rhetoric was bottled after Barterhouse, given that Diageo's reps have specifically stated that BH and OBH weren't labeled as Straight Bourbon because they didn't have time to change the label between "catching" the mistake and bottling. That, and the fact that they took a bunch of crap from respected individuals (Mr. Cowdery among them) for the insulting labels. Rhetoric shows up a few months after the initial barrage with a slightly toned down (but still fairly cynically named) label proclaiming straight bourbon whisky, proclaiming the stuff a "blend" of old and new bernheim (could be interpreted as a way to spin the fact they wanted to dump all the old stuff since it was getting long in the tooth-or even a reinterpretation of strategy after lukewarm initial sales) with the idea of this being an annual release for vertical tasting purposes. Again, could be interpreted as a readjustment of strategy based on the mediocre sales of Barterhouse. The manager of this store admitted that a ton of MD liquor stores had returned their unsold allocations of Barterhouse, and he bought as much of the returns up as he could since it was limited edition bourbon. At which point I showed him bottle #89,xxx (forgot the last 3) on his shelf, and he got pissed at his Diageo rep. That's the first direct indication I've seen that sales haven't been as hot as predicted in a very bourbon-friendly market.Anyway, that extremely cynical interpretation of events aside, it does give an indication of the scale of Diageo's stockpile of this stuff. Assuming they released 90-100k bottles initially and that 20+ yr old bourbon typically loses 75-80% to the angels, that's somewhere in the ballpark of 700-1000 barrels (given the question of where these were aged, my math could be seriously off if the barrels spent a lot of time in non-standard warehouses), just for the initial release. I'm assuming they planned on sustaining this project for awhile, and have new releases beyond Rhetoric planned. That's a lot of old booze. Ah well. I still think OBH and BH were decent, and the age/price ratio is favorable if that's your thing. But damn. That's a lot of old bourbon. I wonder if they plan on tanking a portion to blend in with the bourbon that will be coming from their new distillery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Thanks Eric, that's good information. I think a better tactic (Diageo hasn't asked me) would be blending the old stuff with much newer stuff to produce an NAS premium. The Orphan series lackluster performance shows age alone doesn't cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 It seems to me that every store I have visited has several bottles of the Orphan stuff. They don't appear to be moving. I think the label artwork on the Barterhouse, and Blowhard is awful. The center of the Barterhouse label is a dog's crotch. The Rhetoric label is ok, but I hate the name. I think Diageo would have been better off to just call it all Old Charter with an age statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I understand the hypothesizing on the possible lack of success of the OB series bottlings based on observations in liquor stores and quasi-logical deductions...but, has anyone heard hard sales numbers? Or, potentially a comment from someone even remotely up the food chain at Diageo regarding how it is selling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amg Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I think Diageo would have been better off to just call it all Old Charter with an age statement....except that they'd have to buy the brand first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 I understand the hypothesizing on the possible lack of success of the OB series bottlings based on observations in liquor stores and quasi-logical deductions...but, has anyone heard hard sales numbers? Or, potentially a comment from someone even remotely up the food chain at Diageo regarding how it is selling?I have absolutely no proof beyond my LBS manager stating that large amounts of Barterhouse were returned to the state distributor, which he claimed does not happen often. As I stated upfront, my particular interpretation of events is pretty cynical, given Diageo's overall marketing posture. Regardless, I assume Diageo is perfectly happy to have bottles on shelves, given that there are now approximately 1000 barrels of bourbon they are no longer paying taxes on. I'm only referencing my speculation on OB sales as a way of interpreting their short and long term strategies. Diageo is an enormous company and would likely happily eat mediocre sales to establish a better foothold in the American whiskey industry, so it's not like they're going anywhere. I'm just wondering if they wouldn't be better off using all that product to blend into their new distillate. At at any rate, I hope no one takes offense to my late night speculation and musings. More of a fun thought exercise for me than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Musing is one of the things we do best Eric. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
393foureyedfox Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 here's the new label for the HH6BIB guys... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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