The Vatting Thread 2014

[Paddy]

Please don't!

Too expensive, as well as hard to come by (referring to the Weller) for the given results.

While we're on the subject, I'm seriously considering a Lot 40/Ritt blend, given how well the Rittlepig worked out. Although younger than the WP, the L40 should give us a similar result at a reduced cost. Go Canada!

[fozzy71]

My $60 bottle of Two James Grass Widow has been taking too long to finish off so I decided to try a quick vat of 1oz TJGW with 1oz of OGD114 to cut down on the fruitiness of the TJGW and rather like it. I might have to mix up a bigger bottle 60/40 of TJGW/OGD114 to kill off two open bottles.

Edited May 4, 2015 by fozzy71

[flahute]

Please don't!

Too expensive, as well as hard to come by (referring to the Weller) for the given results.

While we're on the subject, I'm seriously considering a Lot 40/Ritt blend, given how well the Rittlepig worked out. Although younger than the WP, the L40 should give us a similar result at a reduced cost. Go Canada!

You have my attention. I really don't like the Lot 40 on its own so a vat is desirable so I can simply finish off the stuff.

[dcbt]

I was in the mood for a 'desert bourbon' last night after dinner, which usually is ER10 for me because of I find it to be a vanilla bomb. After my wife offered up some vanilla ice cream with strawberries, I got to thinking that cherry and vanilla go great together as well and W12 is a cherry bomb to me. So I vatted up a 2oz W12+ER10 50/50 sample. I'm letting it mingle for the next time I want a desert pour.

[fozzy71]

My (NDP) Templeton SmB Rye has been taking longer to kill off than I would like so I decided to vat 4oz of it with 4oz of WT101 in a old pint bottle and 4 more oz of it with 4oz of FC103 in another pint since I like both of those bourbons and they are cheaper and easy to find. I was going to vat it with some EC12 but the open bottle is getting low and while I have a bottle in the bunker and I can find it easily enough, the price went up $3 here recently and it is so good on it's own I wanted to be able to finish what's left in the open bottle neat.

[BigRich]

Tonight's vatting is killing it for me. After the first I made a small batch and it keeps getting better. 3pt PHC Wheat, 3 pt Stagg Jr, 1 pt Willet 7 yr. I wasn't jazzed about any of those by themselves but I'm digging the mix. 1 pt water to the above proportions takes it to perfect drinking proof for me.

[amg]

Tonight's vatting is killing it for me. After the first I made a small batch and it keeps getting better. 3pt PHC Wheat, 3 pt Stagg Jr, 1 pt Willet 7 yr. I wasn't jazzed about any of those by themselves but I'm digging the mix. 1 pt water to the above proportions takes it to perfect drinking proof for me.

Willett 7 year Rye I'm assuming? I don't have one of those on hand but could sub in an SAOS 7 yr rye.

[PhotoDan]

I have been mixing splashes of ER10 and various EHT bottles for a while now by the glass and realized that if it sat for at least 15 min the flavor improved. I just tried vatting for the first time and this was the mix.

50% - ER10

30% - EHT small batch

20% - EHTBP

First glass is really nice after just sitting for an hour.

[texaspete]

anyone ever done a mellow corn/rittenhouse blend?

[johnnyflake45]

anyone ever done a mellow corn/rittenhouse blend?

I have not, but I would love to hear about it, if you try it.

[fozzy71]

My (NDP) Templeton SmB Rye has been taking longer to kill off than I would like so I decided to vat 4oz of it with 4oz of WT101 in a old pint bottle and 4 more oz of it with 4oz of FC103 in another pint since I like both of those bourbons and they are cheaper and easy to find. I was going to vat it with some EC12 but the open bottle is getting low and while I have a bottle in the bunker and I can find it easily enough, the price went up $3 here recently and it is so good on it's own I wanted to be able to finish what's left in the open bottle neat.

I tried the FC103/Templeton the other night and it was still bit heavy on the Templeton Rye so I decided to vat the rest of the Templeton equal parts with WT101 and OGDBIB which ended up being an 18 ounce vatting so I hope I like it.

There was about 1 ounce of Templeton left that I dumped into my #lastpours decanter so I could finally get rid of the bottle from my open bottles shelf.

[fozzy71]

I tried the FC103/Templeton the other night and it was still bit heavy on the Templeton Rye so I decided to vat the rest of the Templeton equal parts with WT101 and OGDBIB which ended up being an 18 ounce vatting so I hope I like it.

.....

This turned out to be decent enough, on my 2nd neat pour. I also decided to mix the other 2 templeton vattings together in an empty 750ml bottle and added 6oz of BT to try and knock down the rye a bit more. I will be drinking templeton vattings for a while...

[johnnyflake45]

Has anyone tried a vatting of 3 Ryes, Ritt, Dickel & Bulleit?

I enjoy all three, thinking Bulleit to be the best, of the bunch!

I plan on doing an equal parts vatting of all three today, probably 12oz total. I'll let it set for a week and then give it a try.

[dSculptor]

Has anyone tried a vatting of 3 Ryes, Ritt, Dickel & Bulleit?

I enjoy all three, thinking Bulleit to be the best, of the bunch!

I plan on doing an equal parts vatting of all three today, probably 12oz total. I'll let it set for a week and then give it a try.

[johnnyflake45]

Hey Johnny, I'd recommend tasting as soon as you vat it, just to try it, then come back to it and see if it changed......why not?

[Paddy]

I've not done a three way rye vat (on purpose at least:rolleyes:), but in my experience MGP does not usually play well with others. I look forward to your thoughts, and good luck Johnny!

[johnnyflake45]

I put my 3 Rye Vatting together today and then let it sit for about an hour. Took a light pour and started tasting. WOW! there is some forward heat, more than I expected and the hit of Rye Spice was way up there, strong. then the flavor mellowed out, very smooth. For me, the mouth feel is a tad heavy and syrupy. After finishing the pour, I find that I really like what I experienced, especially the heavy, up front Rye Spice. It's too soon to make any claims but right now, I like it better that either of the 3 Ryes used, individually. Of the 3 I used, Bulleit would be my first choice.

[tanstaafl2]

I put my 3 Rye Vatting together today and then let it sit for about an hour. Took a light pour and started tasting. WOW! there is some forward heat, more than I expected and the hit of Rye Spice was way up there, strong. then the flavor mellowed out, very smooth. For me, the mouth feel is a tad heavy and syrupy. After finishing the pour, I find that I really like what I experienced, especially the heavy, up front Rye Spice. It's too soon to make any claims but right now, I like it better that either of the 3 Ryes used, individually. Of the 3 I used, Bulleit would be my first choice.

Bulleit and Dickel are the same source albeit the Dickel has the charcoal mellowing. I wonder what difference a slightly different mashbill for a third rye would make. Maybe early Jefferson's from Alberta (or whistle piggy) with 100% rye or CEHT rye with the presumed 90ish% rye mashbill?

Can't recall if anybody has a readily available 65ish% rye mashbill that is at least 4 or so years old.

[fozzy71]

This turned out to be decent enough, on my 2nd neat pour. I also decided to mix the other 2 templeton vattings together in an empty 750ml bottle and added 6oz of BT to try and knock down the rye a bit more. I will be drinking templeton vattings for a while...

I pushed this into the fridge the other day but haven't tried it yet.

I did finally get a W12 the other day and mixed up 10oz total 60:40 of OWA/W12 and after trying a SBS of W12 and WSR and not noticing much/any difference I decided to mix the same size vat of OWA/WSR today so I can compare them SBS later. OWA/WSR is plentiful so if it is similar to the OWA/W12 vatting and I like it I might have to grab a handle of OWA/WSR.

[fozzy71]

I pushed this into the fridge the other day but haven't tried it yet.

I did finally get a W12 the other day and mixed up 10oz total 60:40 of OWA/W12 and after trying a SBS of W12 and WSR and not noticing much/any difference I decided to mix the same size vat of OWA/WSR today so I can compare them SBS later. OWA/WSR is plentiful so if it is similar to the OWA/W12 vatting and I like it I might have to grab a handle of OWA/WSR.

[fozzy71]

Tasting a 1oz pour of each. Pretty similar but the W12 mix seems a bit smoother on the finish. They are close enough that when this W12 bottle is empty and I can't find any on the shelves I won't mind making vattings of OWA/WSR until I find a ratio I like most.

I am going to let them mingle another week or two I think. I was also thinking about mixing up another small OWA/W12 vatting at 50:50 to compare to this 60:40 mix. I should also try some 50:50 and 40:60 mixes of OWA/WSR to compare but I don't have any more small bottles. I do have half a dozen cleaned 750ml bottles but 200ml would make a lot more sense and save space.

My decanter of last pours is getting pretty full as well so thinking I might give that a taste test later tonight. It was pretty tasty when I tested it around half full IIRC.

[RWBadley]

I like to build a solid base of affordable quality bourbon, say 33% each of OGD114 and WT101. ( The last of these I picked up were 20$ and 15$ respectively)

The remaining third is all top notes to build body and complexity.

The last bottle assembled had top notes of four different barrel strength bourbon. It helps to have an idea of your flavor profiles in use.

Sometimes I'll add a little water to bring it down to the range of 100-105 proof.

I've calculated most of these vatted 750's to run me about 25-30$

I've tasted my blends against many higher dollar bottles and they compete well; and sometimes better many offerings these days.

It helps to have a spirit hydrometer. One time I didn't realize one of my (older) base bourbons had collapsed down to 75 proof. It took a bit of work to get this one back up to 102 proof. This one ended up showing a fantastic maple character.

Cheers

[GaryT]

Made some micro-vats of Lot 40 and Rhetoric at three different ratios: 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 (heavier on the Lot 40 in the latter 2). Tried these twice about a month apart, and both times, found I liked the 2:1 ratio best (the other two flipped, although even the "2nd" choice each time was a distant 2nd). Going to have to make a larger vat at this ratio. It maintains some of the funkiness of the Lot 40, but brings out the sweetness in the Rhetoric that isn't there by itself.

[kyrocklover]

I rarely post here but thought I would offer this. I made a small 50/50 of Maker's Mark Cask Strength and Dickel 9 Barrel Proof last night. I was very happy with the result although I don't think 50/50 may be the best ratio. The MMCS smoothed out the minor off note that I get from Dickel and the age of Dickel gave more wood to the MMCS. It also gave a better finish overall.

[Gillman]

I rarely post here but thought I would offer this. I made a small 50/50 of Maker's Mark Cask Strength and Dickel 9 Barrel Proof last night. I was very happy with the result although I don't think 50/50 may be the best ratio. The MMCS smoothed out the minor off note that I get from Dickel and the age of Dickel gave more wood to the MMCS. It also gave a better finish overall.