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The Vatting Thread 2014


dSculptor
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Been doing a 50/50 of Dant/T.W.Samuels (bib's).... both are very close to each other alone, but together they are quite nice.

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I did an experiment with ECBP and EC12 recently. I've always felt that 107 was a nice proof for sipping neat, toward the top end of being able to still properly taste without burning out your receptors, so I mixed up two samples, one of ECBP proofed down to 107 proof with water, and another with ECBP proofed down to 107 proof by vatting with EC12. I used the 128 proof batch of ECBP so that it would have as high of a ratio of ECBP in the vatting as possible. I let the samples mingle for a little over a week.

Tasting them, they are very similar, of course, but the ECBP with water is brighter and fruitier than the ECBP/EC12 vatting, which is a little bit sooty and oaky. I preferred the ECBP with water by a slight margin. Keep in mind that I am a big fan of EC12 as well, but I think that the quality of barrels going into the ECBP batches must be a little bit higher than those destined for regular EC12.

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I did an experiment with ECBP and EC12 recently. I've always felt that 107 was a nice proof for sipping neat, toward the top end of being able to still properly taste without burning out your receptors, so I mixed up two samples, one of ECBP proofed down to 107 proof with water, and another with ECBP proofed down to 107 proof by vatting with EC12. I used the 128 proof batch of ECBP so that it would have as high of a ratio of ECBP in the vatting as possible. I let the samples mingle for a little over a week.

Tasting them, they are very similar, of course, but the ECBP with water is brighter and fruitier than the ECBP/EC12 vatting, which is a little bit sooty and oaky. I preferred the ECBP with water by a slight margin. Keep in mind that I am a big fan of EC12 as well, but I think that the quality of barrels going into the ECBP batches must be a little bit higher than those destined for regular EC12.

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Interesting experiment. Thanks for sharing. I have added water to ECBP but I have never added EC 12 to it.

Agreed with meade and thanks for sharing the results.

I've often considered vatting ECBP with standard EC12 but have enjoyed the 12 enough on its own that I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll still try it eventually but it's good to have your results as a reference.

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Agreed with meade and thanks for sharing the results.

I've often considered vatting ECBP with standard EC12 but have enjoyed the 12 enough on its own that I haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll still try it eventually but it's good to have your results as a reference.

I've tried it both ways as well, FWIW, and vastly prefer ECBP/water over ECBP/EC12. And I do also enjoy EC12.

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I did a 50:50 vatting of ECBP batch 7 and IW Harper 15. I've found the IWH15 kind of thin and light, so I thought ECBP would be just the thing to kick it up a notch.

The big ECBP nose really comes through, you don't really get much of the Harper at all on the nose. Maybe a little extra musty wood in there. SBS with a diluted ECBP it was hard to tell them apart on the nose.

On the palate you get the huge ECBP caramel on top of the IWH15's oak & vanilla. Definitely more tannic on the finish than ECBP, and I'd say more tannic than the IWH15 by itself too, but not unpleasantly so.

It's not too dissimilar from the ECBP/EC12 vatting I did, though it does improve the Harper substantially. This is a pretty expensive vatting to make, though, and ECBP isn't easy enough to come by for me to justify mixing up a lot of this.

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I did a 50:50 vatting of ECBP batch 7 and IW Harper 15. I've found the IWH15 kind of thin and light, so I thought ECBP would be just the thing to kick it up a notch.

The big ECBP nose really comes through, you don't really get much of the Harper at all on the nose. Maybe a little extra musty wood in there. SBS with a diluted ECBP it was hard to tell them apart on the nose.

On the palate you get the huge ECBP caramel on top of the IWH15's oak & vanilla. Definitely more tannic on the finish than ECBP, and I'd say more tannic than the IWH15 by itself too, but not unpleasantly so.

It's not too dissimilar from the ECBP/EC12 vatting I did, though it does improve the Harper substantially. This is a pretty expensive vatting to make, though, and ECBP isn't easy enough to come by for me to justify mixing up a lot of this.

Interesting that you chose to mix those two. As you said that is a rare/somewhat expensive mix. Thanks for the notes.

I agree with you that IW Harper 15 is thin and light. It does have some pleasant flavors. I'm not much of a vatter. Maybe some others here could recommend something to mix with it to improve this. Then again, it may not be possible.

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I am trying to replicate Parker's Heritage Promise of Hope, and I used Henry McKenna BIB, and Weller Special Reserve to add a bit more sweetness and lower the proof slightly. So far, it's not coming close---at least I was looking to get in the ball park, of adding a bit of sweetness to the HMKBIB. I'll let this "mature" in the bottle a bit more. Any other suggestions? I just find Parker's POH to be a fine bourbon.

Update: This blend is not very good. Unfortunately, the taste combination doesn't work at ALL. Just wanted to give a heads up. I am finding this blend almost unpalatable.

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I've been trying to combine the heavy vanilla and caramel flavours of Russell's Reserve Small Batch and that bubble gum note that Woodford has. Initially I just combined the two and it didn't work that well. This week I tried Eagle Rare which I've always thought was nice but a little bland as a base. This worked out a treat. 50% Eagle Rare, 25% RR SmB, 25% Woodford. It's low proof, no water needed and its pretty much spot on what I was after. Next time I might try RRSB to lift the proof a little, but it doesn't have that same sweetness of the Small Batch I find.

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If only we could get Larceny in Minnesota, sounds like a great blend.

I had to drive out of state for the 4 handles I got. Already killed one and it is easily my fave wheater.

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anyone trademark OGD114:BT yet? This stuff is heaven in a bottle. This bottle is 1:1 and I love it but think I might try a couple ratio tests of 3:2 and 2:3 with another 1:1 to see which I prefer.

Mixed my first bottle of the OGD114:BT at 1:1 last night. Excited to taste what comes out of it!

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A couple nights ago I tried FRYL:Bulliet Rye (1:1), and the Bulliet Rye was way overpowering at that ratio. Tonight I tried FRYL:OGD114 (60:40). Much better mix this time around. Fozzy might be onto something with OGD114 + anything is good.

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doggone it, I might just be a jerk but I am getting sick and tired of us reporting individually about vattings that maybe one or two other people try and comment on. starting to feel like what we need (in addition to threads like this) is an agreement for a bunch of us to try the same vatting-like a vatting of the month club-and report our thoughts so we might end up with a really significant verdict. I mean, come on, the SB blend does not have to stand as the only tried and true vatting ever to emerge from this group, right? :rolleyes: If we really try, I suspect we can identify a pretty useful, wide ranging repertoire of vattings proven best by test.

official vatting-of-the-month thread. who's with me?

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doggone it, I might just be a jerk but I am getting sick and tired of us reporting individually about vattings that maybe one or two other people try and comment on. starting to feel like what we need (in addition to threads like this) is an agreement for a bunch of us to try the same vatting-like a vatting of the month club-and report our thoughts so we might end up with a really significant verdict. I mean, come on, the SB blend does not have to stand as the only tried and true vatting ever to emerge from this group, right? :rolleyes: If we really try, I suspect we can identify a pretty useful, wide ranging repertoire of vattings proven best by test.

official vatting-of-the-month thread. who's with me?

I'm down, but seriously... I feel like I see more vatting reports now than ever on this site (as I sip on my rye vat pour of Rittlepig 50/50).

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I'm down, but seriously... I feel like I see more vatting reports now than ever on this site (as I sip on my rye vat pour of Rittlepig 50/50).

Me too, more interest in vatting but not enough people sharing their thoughts on the same vattings, imo. [sorry if this is a form of hijacking, but it just strikes me as a worthwhile spinoff.] Maybe I'll go ahead and start a tentative thread to gauge interest.

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Definitely sounds fun but I am on a bourbon break until I drop 8 or 10 pounds. I have surprisingly been able to maintain my weight all summer while drinking way too much (thanks to riding 1k+ miles on my bike) but want to drop 10 more pounds before the snow flies and the only way to do that is to not drink and snack/scarf after a few drinks. Hopefully I can bring the open bottles back upstairs by Halloween or Thanksgiving.

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Fozzy, were you able to try your OGD114:Bulliet Rye mix?

I believe I did in an effort to kill my last pint of Bulleit rye a few weeks back. I also mixed it with BT I think. It was decent enough but just helped cement the fact that I am more of a wheater guy and not a fan of straight ryes. Not sure how I am going to kill off the unopened fifth of GD Rye I have in the bunker....

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...Not sure how I am going to kill off the unopened fifth of GD Rye I have in the bunker....

Fozzy, my advice would be to try that GD Rye before getting too worried about how to kill it off... way different animal than the Bulleit stuff. Not sure how it'll hit you, but it's a rye I pick up on a semi regular basis.

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I certainly will try it neat before I go mingling it. There isn't much I can't drink neat anymore (even the young small barrel stuff) it's just a matter of what I enjoy most/more.

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just made a 50:50 vatting of OGD114:Bulliet Rye. I used up the last of what I had of the Bulliet.

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I just did a 1:1 of Barton 86 and OGD BIB at Squire's suggestion. The aroma is promising so I will be trying it shortly. Also I did go ahead and start a vatting of the month (VOTM) thread. (Just mentioning it here since I do not know how to keep it on the radar, or sticky things, if that is even something we are permitted to do.)

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