The Gifted Horse

[cowdery]

Apparently this is the next Diageo Orphan Barrel release, called "The Gifted Horse." These pictures just appeared in the last couple of days. The product isn't on the Orphan Barrel website and I haven't heard anything from official channels. I can't find the COLA.

What freaks me out is the back label. Forget the 'accident' tale. Look at what the product actually contains. It is a mixture of 39% 17-year-old KSBW and "61% 4-year-old corn whiskey and Indiana bourbon." First, how disingenuous to tell us exactly how much 17-year-old bourbon it contains, but fudging on the exact mix of corn whiskey and Indiana bourbon. One assumes it's a lot of corn. 

One report said the MSRP is $55.

Since everything is at least 2-years-old, and therefore considered straight whiskey, it doesn't have to be labeled as a blend. They're calling it 'American whiskey,' which is a pretty low bar so far as the regs are concerned. Still, this is a product that could be half corn whiskey, which they are trying to position as a super-premium bourbon. 

Outrageous!

Edited January 23, 2016 by cowdery

[PaulO]

My guess is Diageo found some over aged barrels were too far gone.  They had to mix it with something young to get the overpowering taste of wood under control.  

 

I think Heaven Hill used to have a brand called Dan Patch with a similar looking label.

[Paddy]

The Gifted Horse 'shit' is what they should've named it, 'cause that back story is full of bull...

[Harry in WashDC]

Give 'em a break.  They meant they tasted it with "baited" breath - fishy finish and all.

Edit: Hey!  That's not too bad.  You think the Big D would let me write ad copy for them?

 

Edited January 24, 2016 by Harry in WashDC
Flash of genius . . .

[signde]

sku posted the cola back in august:

 https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=15198001000368

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2015/08/new-whiskey-labels-new-orphan-barrels.html

[Harry in WashDC]

Thanks, signde.  Either I missed that one or I blocked it out intentionally.

[GaryT]

So who will pick it up the first time they see it?  For me, the Orphan Barrel series has been a crapshoot, so I'm 110% in the "try before I buy" camp.  Although since I'm not a fan of the over-oaked stuff - I'm thinking this might be a dark horse (HA!) bottle!  

[maybeling]

17 hours ago, darylld911 said:

So who will pick it up the first time they see it?  For me, the Orphan Barrel series has been a crapshoot, so I'm 110% in the "try before I buy" camp.  Although since I'm not a fan of the over-oaked stuff - I'm thinking this might be a dark horse (HA!) bottle!  

Nope. I didn't try (or buy) Lost Prophet, but all the others I did try were disappointing. I will say that Diageo's marketing is somewhat ingenious... "Collectors" who have already bought into the Orphan Barrel series will probably fork over the $ to ensure that their series is complete, regardless of the contents of the subsequent bottles...

[tanstaafl2]

42 minutes ago, maybeling said:

"Collectors" who have already bought into the Orphan Barrel series will probably fork over the $ to ensure that their series is complete, regardless of the contents of the subsequent bottles...

Not all of them (not that I am a collector of any bottles. They are all bought to be drunk at some point). Not adverse to trying it first and reconsidering if warranted but I know plenty of horse farms where I can get plenty of more honest crap straight from the source than this thing appears to have.

[tanstaafl2]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2016‎ ‎4‎:‎59‎:‎34‎, PaulO said:

My guess is Diageo found some over aged barrels were too far gone.  They had to mix it with something young to get the overpowering taste of wood under control.  

I suspect this is much closer to the truth than the BS we are being fed by Diageo on this one. WT already tried this nonsense and it didn't work for them either!

[kjbeggs]

Man, these big distilleries sure seem to make a lot of these types of "goofs".

Quality control seems to be a real issue...

[Thig]

One mistake would be bad enough but to say you accidentally put corn whiskey and Indiana bourbon in the 17yr old bourbon is ridiculous, but then they probably are not aiming this back story on bourbon geeks like us. 

[jvd99]

If something could be worse than a shelf turd, this could be it.  Don't rush out to buy right away, it'll probably be there in the same place five years from now.

[Hop]

Well for someone who has purchased it and tasted it...

I don't buy into the "stories" told by any distillery or NDP I judge based on the taste to me and that's all any of us can do.  

I bought a bottle on Wednesday, opened that evening and have had a pour or three from it since then, for me...

There is sweetness on the front end, bitterness (oak/wood) on the back and quite a bit of warmth on the finish due to the proof which for me makes it much better than a lot of the other releases.  The finish is quite good and lasting.

Again these are my personal tastes - doesn't mean they're the same as others or reviews you may have read - quite honestly none of that matters to me as I said I like it and that's all that matters...

[jvd99]

I'm sure there will be plenty of people who like it and I certainly have no problem with that.  Personally, I'll never buy it  because I take issue with the price not justifying the age, contents and the complete BS backside label story which is just an extension of Diageo's pattern of using shady marketing practices with the Orphan Barrels, most of which (except Old Blowhard) can all still be found collecting dust on shelves in multiple stores in my area.  My cynical view of this whole line of bourbons/whiskies is what happens when a "limited edition" has like 50,000 bottles in the release, there's little transparency about the provenance of the contents, ridiculous stories are promoted to hook unsuspecting consumers and, which I'm sure will happen with the Horse, the "mistake" will continue in perpituity, rather than being a one-off happenstance as claimed.

[smokinjoe]

I've purchased and sampled over the last couple of days.  Not a bad whiskey, at all.  As Hop noted, it is sweet up front (presumably from the corn, and possibly high percentage of it, to boot) and turns oaky on the end.  I don't find anything "off" about it, and actually, find it quite pleasing.  The transition from sweet to oak is pretty interesting.  

No complaints, here.

[b1gcountry]

Hey, if it is a gimmick then at least it is a gimmick that tastes good

[jvd99]

Cases upon cases of this were at my Costco today

[The Black Tot]

I'm glad some of us are enjoying it.

I just don't want to send the message, in this case, that this is OK.

I skipped Forged Oak, too.

But every time I go back to my Old Blowhard, I still enjoy its cherry note, which I really dig, and I also liked the first Rhetoric and Lost Prophet, too.

I remember everyone freaking out at OB26's $135 price tag back then - ha ha. Now just a few years later it's 17yr stuff for $250+. It's been a wild ride.

[jaxn slim]

2 minutes ago, The Black Tot said:

I'm glad some of us are enjoying it.

I just don't want to send the message, in this case, that this is OK.

I skipped Forged Oak, too.

But every time I go back to my Old Blowhard, I still enjoy its cherry note, which I really dig, and I also liked the first Rhetoric and Lost Prophet, too.

I remember everyone freaking out at OB26's $135 price tag back then - ha ha. Now just a few years later it's 17yr stuff for $250+. It's been a wild ride.

Which 17yr stuff is selling for $250+?

[The Black Tot]

Just now, jaxn slim said:

Which 17yr stuff is selling for $250+?

Russell's Reserve 1998

[jaxn slim]

Just now, The Black Tot said:

Russell's Reserve 1998

Dang!  I didn't realize it was going for that much.  I never saw it in the store.

[The Black Tot]

I was totally keen on that one, since I started my career in 1998 and like to have spirits commemorating that year.

But my romantic side was rapidly bitch slapped by my economic side when I read the MSRP.

[Tony]

I got to try a bit of this last week.  Was not bad by any means but I would not go out and seek a bottle over a Four Roses Single Barrel.

[jvd99]

Saw the GF at $43 today.  Still not a buyer even at that price.  BTW - It was sitting alongside multiples of Barterhouse, Forged Oak and Rhetoric 20