Bt sb

[dSculptor]

Hey guys,

Just bought me a bottle of Bt SB (store select), along with a WFR 5 yr. SB (store select). I was happy to have found the BT and was very anxious to get it home and do a SbS of the regular vs. this one. Well ... there was almost no difference between the 2 , perhaps a bit on the front end ,but that's about it. I was really hoping on a significant difference,but was let down.

My question is how is this possible, is everyone of the barrels that they use to mingle the large batch Bt that much the same individually as when they are mingled?You would think there would be some variations between each of them. Anyone else out there ever had the same experience with these store selects of the BT in specific?

My last store select was EC12 and it was way different then the normal SmB ..better! It still had some of the characteristics but a whole lot more.

[ModernThirst]

Hey guys,

Just bought me a bottle of Bt SB (store select), along with a WFR 5 yr. SB (store select). I was happy to have found the BT and was very anxious to get it home and do a SbS of the regular vs. this one. Well ... there was almost no difference between the 2 , perhaps a bit on the front end ,but that's about it. I was really hoping on a significant difference,but was let down.

My question is how is this possible, is everyone of the barrels that they use to mingle the large batch Bt that much the same individually as when they are mingled?You would think there would be some variations between each of them. Anyone else out there ever had the same experience with these store selects of the BT in specific?

My last store select was EC12 and it was way different then the normal SmB ..better! It still had some of the characteristics but a whole lot more.

Much of it depends on the palate of the person/persons selecting the barrel. if they chose a very middle of the road barrel, shame on them. I've had some really nice BT private selections, and a couple that were little different than the shelf bourbons.

I've always said choosing the barrel selection team is critical for any private barrel purchase, and I have found a couple of local retailers who seem to hit it out of the park every time, so I trust their selections by now.

[jeffrey r]

Unless they tell you, that barrel may have been selected by BT for the retailer, or by the retailer itself. Maybe they did pick what they thought was an excellent barrel, and maybe it just happens to fit the traditional BT profile (not so far-fetched after all). Or maybe the tasters didn't know what they were doing. But yes, ideally these selects will be superior to the off-the-shelf bottle.

Right now at home, I have only store selected single barrels of BT, EC12, ER10, and ETL. They are all excellent. Find a good source, and stick with them.

[TomH]

In my limited experience with BT barrel tastings, BT tightly controls the profile of the barrels being tasted. While recognizing that barrel to barrel variations are important in selecting single barrels, they do not want these releases to have extreme variation from the product's basic profile.

[garbanzobean]

Did BT give your store a choice? My local bottle shop is getting a single barrel offering of Buffalo Trace soon (They already ordered it), and Buffalo Trace did not give them any samples or any choice in which barrel they got. It's just that this was the only way to obtain Buffalo Trace for the time being (Same thing with Beam's Knob Creek, actually). That all indicates to me that BT will probably give them a barrel that is selected to mostly taste like standard Buffalo Trace.

[sutton]

In my limited experience with BT barrel tastings, BT tightly controls the profile of the barrels being tasted. While recognizing that barrel to barrel variations are important in selecting single barrels, they do not want these releases to have extreme variation from the product's basic profile.

This makes sense to me - the BT store select I had was recognizably BT, but with certain elements turned up - more cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice on the front end and a bit more heat on the back, but still could be recognized as a BT variant I think.

To me this is what makes the store selections a great value - just something a bit different, but usually at or near the standard price.

[squire]

Appealing to the adventurous spirit in each of us.

[Renegator]

Some store owners or selectors like to choose the sample that tastes the most similar to the standard and other store owners or selectors like to choose the sample that tastes the most different. I personally prefer the latter.

[dSculptor]

I was hoping for a much different profile than the usual,and I do think that the store did not choose their own barrel,I talked with another retailer who had the Ec12 ..which was fantastic, and he told me the same thing that Bt SB's are so much like the SmB he doesn't go with them, I just got off the phone with him,and he was just down to 4r's to pick the next barrel, should be in by mid-june.I guess it's the higher rye mashbill 8.5 yrs.old.Looking forward to that one.