Tried Forged Oak tonight....

[paris1129]

Wow. I didn't realize that spec's threshold was that high. Eff that, indeed.

[wadewood]

I have 10000+ Spec points and tried to get 1 bottle of BTAC. I got squat. I have not spent $1 in there since. Also Specs Downtown just fired their Bourbon sales guy, Jules. He was put in position of telling customers that xyz allocated bottle was not available and when one irate customer complained they fired him, he claims.

Back on topic, I tried Forged Oak and renamed it Forgery.

[LCWoody]

I have 10000+ Spec points and tried to get 1 bottle of BTAC. I got squat. I have not spent $1 in there since. Also Specs Downtown just fired their Bourbon sales guy, Jules. He was put in position of telling customers that xyz allocated bottle was not available and when one irate customer complained they fired him, he claims.

Back on topic, I tried Forged Oak and renamed it Forgery.

I liked Mr. Jules, he was always good to me. I'll miss him going on and on about his old show car's.

[petrel800]

Still wondering if my bottle of Forged Oak was just an outlier. I got little of what has been reported here and it was more than a little disappointing. But maybe it was just me. Hopefully the goat can let me know tomorrow!

Bruce, I don't think it was your bottle.

Thanks to the multiple bottles of this on the table at the GBS gathering, I was able to have a pour very early on in the evening. I found it to be flat. Little to no nose, little to no flavor at entry, little to no flavor through the mid palate, going to a smattering of tannic oak on a finish that disappears quickly. No complexity, really almost no flavor. It's not horrible or undrinkable, just nothing there.

My only thought after trying this was "they must have filtered the hell out of this."

Easy pass for me at this point, I appreciate everyone that brought one to try, it'll save me $70 since I was really interested in this one due to the praise I've read on the blogs.

[wadewood]

Easy pass for me at this point, I appreciate everyone that brought one to try, it'll save me $70 since I was really interested in this one due to the praise I've read on the blogs.

Good review. I suspect those all those bloggers that said it was so good where given free bottles/samples. It could be they just like free stuff and write positive to get more or it could be that Diageo sent out hand picked honey bottles/samples to the reviewers.

[Josh]

Good review. I suspect those all those bloggers that said it was so good where given free bottles/samples. It could be they just like free stuff and write positive to get more or it could be that Diageo sent out hand picked honey bottles/samples to the reviewers.

[CaskStrength77]

I have 10000+ Spec points and tried to get 1 bottle of BTAC. I got squat. I have not spent $1 in there since. Also Specs Downtown just fired their Bourbon sales guy, Jules. He was put in position of telling customers that xyz allocated bottle was not available and when one irate customer complained they fired him, he claims.

Back on topic, I tried Forged Oak and renamed it Forgery.

[CABourbon]

They've changed something. I think they've figured out that Barterhouse flooded most of the markets and languished, and even OBH languished in the Illinois market, for example.

It looks like their new strategy is to release smaller numbers to let us fight for 'em. Design more labels and release lower numbers.

I've enjoyed the Orphans so far but I'm going to be getting off the wagon if this is how it's going to be.

According to Orphan Barrel's twitter, there are some bottles out there but the full release will happen in May: https://twitter.com/OrphanBarrel/status/566796562030800896

[GaryT]

I second this - I also tried one of the bottles at the GBS fairly early on, and was unimpressed (and glad I didn't buy a bottle!)) Very ordinary/pedestrian bourbon for the money they're wanting (honestly - I wouldn't give them half that price; I've had much better EC12 single barrels).

Now I'm just waiting for someone to chime in and admit they decanted their Forged Oak and put forgeries on the table just to get our reaction

Bruce, I don't think it was your bottle.

Thanks to the multiple bottles of this on the table at the GBS gathering, I was able to have a pour very early on in the evening. I found it to be flat. Little to no nose, little to no flavor at entry, little to no flavor through the mid palate, going to a smattering of tannic oak on a finish that disappears quickly. No complexity, really almost no flavor. It's not horrible or undrinkable, just nothing there.

My only thought after trying this was "they must have filtered the hell out of this."

Easy pass for me at this point, I appreciate everyone that brought one to try, it'll save me $70 since I was really interested in this one due to the praise I've read on the blogs.

[flahute]

Good review. I suspect those all those bloggers that said it was so good where given free bottles/samples. It could be they just like free stuff and write positive to get more or it could be that Diageo sent out hand picked honey bottles/samples to the reviewers.

I know that he's not everyones favorite, but the most recent BourbonTruth blog post talks about this. He's heard from several bloggers who gave negative or mediocre reviews who now find themselves shut out of the special distillery invitations.

[squire]

I don't doubt what they're saying Steve.

[garbanzobean]

I don't doubt what they're saying Steve.

[squire]

Good points Eric and, as you say, most Bourbon is fairly good for which we should all be thankful.

I'm a firm believer in blind tasting but when you think about it why should producers or bloggers risk the exposure? If a blogger gets an invite (read free drinks) to a lateral tasting of Old BearCat's new line the hosts are not gonna toss in some Four Roses LEs for comparison. The bloggers know exactly what they're tasting and are given talking points along with a few insider tidbits to sprinkle into their reviews, all of which the bloggers swallow, literally. So everybody wins, the brands get exposure and bloggers get something to write about plus the allure of future invites.

What we're not told of course is this is the same good but not great sourced stuff (available under other labels for 1/3 the price) Old BearCat has sold for years repackaged in a fancy bottle that won a gold medal in San Francisco for best design.

[Josh]

I have never received samples, special favors or invites from whiskey producers but in case any PR people are reading this, I am more than willing to sell out. pm me.

[Richnimrod]

I have never received samples, special favors or invites from whiskey producers but in case any PR people are reading this, I am more than willing to sell out. pm me.

Ahhhhhhh, Josh. I know you're 'joshing'; but if you run across any PR folx that want such a second opinion (from Bourbon hound), and don't mind shelling out a few samples I can be bought veeeery inexpensively.

[Sean Bond]

I was all ready to grab a bottle of Lost Prophet (I've never had a 20+ year old bourbon, and have heard this is decent for the price), but with the word of mouth I've been hearing for Forged Oak, I might give it a try instead. About half the price for a bourbon of similar (if younger-tasting) quality? Nice. Hope this one stays on shelves as long as Lost Prophet has...

[tanstaafl2]

I was all ready to grab a bottle of Lost Prophet (I've never had a 20+ year old bourbon, and have heard this is decent for the price), but with the word of mouth I've been hearing for Forged Oak, I might give it a try instead. About half the price for a bourbon of similar (if younger-tasting) quality? Nice. Hope this one stays on shelves as long as Lost Prophet has...

While Barterhouse, Old Blowhard, Rhetoric and now Forged Oak are all sort of from the same distillery, albeit at different points in time at Bernheim when it was undergoing a lot of changes, the Lost Prophet is the one offering so far that comes from a different location (present day Buffalo Trace) so it might be one to consider for that reason alone.

[texaspete]

I picked up a bottle today. I'm still relatively new to all of this, but will let you know what I think when it gets opened.

[texaspete]

So I opened it and had a little bit just now. Has a musty, sweet, earthy smell. Reminds me a little bit of English Leather aftershave cologne. It definitely has the tannic oak taste, but no unpleasant bitterness. It's easy to drink with a just a little bit more burn than I'd expect from 90 proof.

I poured it next to some blantons and some benchmark 8 (just to give me a couple familiar points of reference at the higher and lower ends of the "smooth drinking" spectrum) The forged oak definitely has more tannic wood than the blantons, but in a pleasant way. Benchmark is my easy drinking one note bottom shelfer. I'd read somewhere that the thought Forged Oak was boring and inoffensive. So I put it head to head against my boring inoffensive bourbon and it easily beat it.

Long Story short. I don't feel cheated for what I paid ($69.99). It's more expensive than Bookers or Blantons, but it certainly fits in that echelon of bourbons to me.

[The Black Tot]

I picked one up for 59, which was a pretty good deal, based on what I'm seeing.

Won't have the chance to taste it until April.

I wasn't going to bother chasing this one, but then, the one I got was just kind of easy. Probably some of my sellers might hold a few in May if that's to be the wider release. I'll have a chance to try it before then to say if I like it or not.

I'm not liking all these $70 price points I'm seeing. Spec's in Houston had it for 79, which is kind of a yikes price for this one. Strongbox comes out later this year, and I suppose this is setting the stage. Last year we got a 20yr Barterhouse for 70, this year we get a 15yr for the same price. I'm supposing they'll try the same price point with Strongbox.

I think on the 15yr bottlings my cap is going to be 60, unless one gets a startling review or they finally break the 90.4 proof barrier.

[Sean Bond]

don't care much as to exact location, but has anyone seen this in IL? TX that seems ridiculous though i am new to this. is that a common practice?

I haven't seen it in IL yet, but I saw it in southern Wisconsin, for what it's worth.

I agree with some of the other people here that this is solid stuff, and that it drinks above its proof. I certainly wouldn't have thought it was 90.5 proof if I didn't read it on the bottle. There's a little alcohol burn (not too much), but overall it's smooth and pretty oaky. The place I grabbed it from said they had only gotten 2 bottles in, and I'd purchased the last one. Guy behind the counter (the owner) seemed to think it was pretty solid stuff, too.

[texaspete]

I had a second, bigger pour Friday night. I still like it! everything is well integrated, nothing overpowering. It tastes good!

[The Black Tot]

The place I grabbed it from said they had only gotten 2 bottles in, and I'd purchased the last one. Guy behind the counter (the owner) seemed to think it was pretty solid stuff, too.

So doing the math, if you bought one of the two and the seller had an opinion on it, he bought the other one? I doubt it. I think your store owner has never tasted it. In a liquor store, trust no one.

[RWBadley]

So doing the math, if you bought one of the two and the seller had an opinion on it, he bought the other one? I doubt it. I think your store owner has never tasted it. In a liquor store, trust no one.

It is possible the owner/guy behind counter had a taste of this prior to ordering. It's common for liquor reps to have open samples for retailers to try.

[The Black Tot]

I'm not sure the Orphan Barrel series has to be sold/pushed by reps at this stage, RW. These most recent ones sell pretty fast and on strict allocations.