Bloomberg Report: The Bourbon You Are Drinking Might Not Be What You Think

[JGriff]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-05-27/the-bourbon-you-are-drinking-might-not-be-what-you-think

didnt see this was posted yet. mr. cowdery is interviewed as well.

[Hop]

Saw this earlier and it's a great report Mr C represented very well

[Mr. Bourbon]

Hmm I knew I didn't like Bulleit for a reason!

[Richnimrod]

Hmmmm, I can't get the video to play. I had the same problem with Chuck's blog post of it. Am I under-programmed... or is there some trick to make this play?

The vid-arrow appears for a second or two. I click on it quickly. It disappears and some tiny, slowly turning, hollow rectangle with REALLY tiny 'something inside appears. I try clicking on that; no change.

Any advice????

[MAKEITOUTOFWOOD]

Hmmmm, I can't get the video to play. I had the same problem with Chuck's blog post of it. Am I under-programmed... or is there some trick to make this play?

The vid-arrow appears for a second or two. I click on it quickly. It disappears and some tiny, slowly turning, hollow rectangle with REALLY tiny 'something inside appears. I try clicking on that; no change.

Any advice????

i got it to work just through the the advertising. After 3 attempts I bailed.

[JGriff]

Maybe refresh the screen and try again. I tried it a few more times and it worked. Once I tapped the triangle it took a few seconds to start the short commercial before the story. Sorry.

[PaulO]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

[JPBoston]

Less informative than browsing this forum for the same amount of time.

[petrel800]

Personally, I'd like this message blasted every where. I certainly think this would calm some of the gotta have it stuff and educate the masses a little more.

I mean they knock Tom Bulliet in the video a little and it's hard not to come away with some negativity about the "story" on the bottle after watching. I'd love to see the Van Winkles come under the same level of scrutiny, they also tell a great story. You get the same results if you go to Frankfort, KY and look for the Old Rip Distillery. Heck, look at the 20 yr old Fitz thread in the premium section, the John Fitzgerald story from HH is a good "story" as well.

[miller542]

Generally, I agree the more information thats out there is a good thing. It can be a grey area since my perception of bourbon, and spirits in general, is the "story" has always been a part of the history. Some might call this "lore." I say, buyer beware and enjoy the elements of lore for what they are.

What is not a grey area for me is when lore gives way to outright deception. Deception should be called out on sight. Examples of this might include keeping the "7" in the same spot on the label when your 7 year old bourbon switches to NAS.

The current labeling standards for KSBW are enough for me. As long as those labeling standards hold, I'm ok to do a little homework on my own or suffer the consequences. Be informed or be the fool who is easily parted from his money. Right now there seem to be a lot of fools but articles like the Bloomberg report may help.

Edited May 29, 2015 by miller542

[JGriff]

Less informative than browsing this forum for the same amount of time.

I think it's refreshing a major news outlet actually put this on the air. Not a substitute for this message board. & I could listen to Cowdery any day. I showed this to a number of friends of mine who are novices that had no idea and found it informative. Sorry you can't get those 5 minutes back.

[JGriff]

Personally, I'd like this message blasted every where. I certainly think this would calm some of the gotta have it stuff and educate the masses a little more.

I mean they knock Tom Bulliet in the video a little and it's hard not to come away with some negativity about the "story" on the bottle after watching. I'd love to see the Van Winkles come under the same level of scrutiny, they also tell a great story. You get the same results if you go to Frankfort, KY and look for the Old Rip Distillery. Heck, look at the 20 yr old Fitz thread in the premium section, the John Fitzgerald story from HH is a good "story" as well.

I agree. There ain't no Van Winkle distillery. I do love the 15 yr but it is factually misleading. Maybe we should all chip in and start a distillery.

[The Black Tot]

Today I saw people talking about collecting the different keys from Blade And Bow bottles.

I just don't think the general public consciousness is ever going to get past the marketing, no matter how much info is out there.

[The Black Tot]

There ought to be a few good ones for sale in 10yrs.

[jwes1776]

Maybe it's because I am a bourbon newbie and teach rhetoric, but I always sort of assumed most bourbon company lore had a high degree of what Tennessee William's Big Daddy labled as mendacity. I take most marketing with a grain of salt. Anyone with a grounding in basic economics realizes that scarcity, perceived or real, equals value. That said, my bottle of Bulleit is damn good for it's price, and only claims to be bottled in the family tradition, and only claims to be bottled, not distilled, by Bulleit. I'm not sure this is any more misleading than half a dozen bourbon origin stories. I mean, do you really believe the Old Crow you buy is exactly what U.S. Grant drank? Drink what you like and ignore the hype. Protest by not buying poduct that bases price on a misleading claim to authenticity.

Edited May 30, 2015 by jwes1776

[PaulO]

I did notice on the video, they show a Pappy bottle on the screen. Then later when they talked about non-existing distilleries, VW didn't get mentioned with the others. I tried Bulleit Bourbon in TN when the brand was fairly new. It was rumored to be 4R whiskey (before 4R was as widely distributed as now). At the time I thought it was good. The problem is, since who knows what they are bottling now, how can they be consistent? The next time I tried Bulleit, it was ok, but not as good as the first time. The same thing with ORVW 10/90; the first bottle was really good, the next one just ok. Another NDP bourbon I tried was Jefferson. A store bought a barrel and was giving free samples. The sample tasted a lot like OGD. The store wanted $39.99 for their selection of Jefferson. It was an easy pass. I don't have a problem with the concept of NDP brands. I just don't like Potemkins that pretend to make what they source. I think every label should have the DSP #.

[petrel800]

Maybe it's because I am a bourbon newbie and teach rhetoric, but I always sort of assumed most bourbon company lore had a high degree of what Tennessee William's Big Daddy labled as mendacity. I take most marketing with a grain of salt. Anyone with a grounding in basic economics realizes that scarcity, perceived or real, equals value. That said, my bottle of Bulleit is damn good for it's price, and only claims to be bottled in the family tradition, and only claims to be bottled, not distilled, by Bulleit. I'm not sure this is any more misleading than half a dozen bourbon origin stories. I mean, do you really believe the Old Crow you buy is exactly what U.S. Grant drank? Drink what you like and ignore the hype. Protest by not buying poduct that bases price on a misleading claim to authenticity.

Bulleit is a good whiskey for the price, especially considering that Rutledge most likely made what's in your bottle. That being said, only very recently have they pulled the distilled lie off their product. If you go on the website you can still see the old bottle claiming they distilled and aged it, they pulled that after Templeton lawsuit. I get marketing, but most of what is done in the booze business is just outright fabrication and worse.

[Enoch]

Did the first bottling of Bulleit in the old style bottles from the 90s have a different mashbill/taste?

[Flyfish]

The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The proof (so to speak) of bourbon is in the drinking. SAOS is excellent because it tastes good no matter who made it. I don't care much who makes Bulleit if it tastes good. There is all kinds of BS on bourbon labels. "Hand crafted by elves who live in hollow trees" or in Cascade Hollow, in prodigious quantities but tiny batches in copper pots brought from the Old Country nine generations ago. Which is why "9" is featured prominently on the label.

Just don't cross the line from lying in the back story to lying about any of the things that define a straight bourbon whiskey. With that said, I wonder if Pappy would smell as sweet by any other name. So many of us do get caught up in marketing/promotional hype even though we are otherwise sophisticated, well-informed consumers.

[shoshani]

Did the first bottling of Bulleit in the old style bottles from the 90s have a different mashbill/taste?

Likely, yes. My understanding is that the first bottlings were done by/from Buffalo Trace (back when it was the Ancient Age distillery) using one of their two mashbills. This would be different from whichever Four Roses juice(s) went into what's currently on the shelves, but by how much, I couldn't say. You can do amazing things with barrel selections, and you can come pretty close to matching profiles.

[Josh]

Anybody out there have any of those old Bulleit bottles in their bunker or at least tasted one recently?