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Blade & Bow 24 year single barrel


IanShafer
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I'm gonna start out by saying I'm not the biggest diageo fan and I won't be pursuing this release. Twenty four years in a barrel is too long for my palate. I'm posting about it though because I'm curious as to what sort of ridiculous price tag will be placed on it. If the 2015 Michter's 20 year carried a MSRP of $600 for sourced bourbon from who knows where, I'm willing to bet that this bottle will be the most expensive bottle of bourbon released to date. $1,000? Anyone else want to take a guess? When the hysteria starts over it's release I'll be sitting back with a smooth ambler store pick. 

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B&B22 wasn't insanely terribly expensive (it's all relative at this point) last year so I don't think it'll hit that range. Where did you hear about this release at all for that matter? Never heard of the 24 year...

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TTB approved the label. It's gonna be a 24 year old single barrel of stitzel-weller distillate. You can bet they'll be charging something outrageous. 

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I predict it's gonna be a whole-lotta-dollars-a'-not-gonna-buy-it.

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If it's truly S-W distillate, I won't be surprised by $1,000 and people will fall over themselves to get one.

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3 hours ago, IanShafer said:

TTB approved the label. It's gonna be a 24 year old single barrel of stitzel-weller distillate. You can bet they'll be charging something outrageous. 

Ah.  Yea, then disregard my previous prediction.

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Not much insight to be gained from the TTB label application. You would think they would make more noise about the S-W connection if true. As I recall the 22yo was not S-W, it was Bernheim and merely bottled at S-W.

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FWIW, I was fortunate enough to taste the 22 yr old. It was pretty decent actually. It wasn't as woody as one might think for a 22 yr old bourbon. I'm guessing that it may have been aged on a lower floor. Of course, as in most all LE's like this, the price is a whole 'nother consideration. :mellow:

Joe

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My feeling is also that it's just the 22 aged another 2yrs. SW aging, not distillate.

If this is the case, and the last one was $180, given the continued bubble fervor, I'll guess $230.

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Hold a case of me!    *between your legs.... for about a year....     I'll call.     I promise......

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On ‎3‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 5:17 AM, mosugoji64 said:

Well, the label does say Distilled at SW so adjust the pricing accordingly  :unsure:

Ah, so it does upon rereading. A single barrel so also has to be pretty limited number of bottles. Although Diageo may have a way of squeezing a few thousand bottles out of that lone 24 year old barrel...

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4 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

Although Diageo may have a way of squeezing a few thousand bottles out of that lone 24 year old barrel...

This!!!

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  • 5 months later...

B&B 24 is a one off run from a single barrel, one of the last remaining that was created at Stitzel. In fact, the product is so uniquely special and Diageo is so rich that they're giving the thing away to Christie's to auction off for charity. Not a single bottle will be sold on the private market first hand from Diageo.

 

Full disclosure, Diageo is a client of mine, but I'm also a bourbon fan. It's interesting because you see them making flavored vodkas and whiskeys but you also see a more serious side of American whiskey at the same time. I've had the pleasure of talking to the people in the lab coats with the crazy taste pallets and e-noses and they're all passionate about the industry themselves.

 

My point? Keep them honest but be fair at the same time. Diageo could have came in and made purple grape flavored whiskey out of the remaining Stitzel stocks but they didn't. Demand more transparency, ding them for their simplified marketing tactics but at least recognize the legitimate products they're bringing to market. It's very hard to get an old behemoth of a corporation to be true and genuine and Diageo buying up American whiskey assets and developing new brands could have gone in an entirely different direction and I think we all know that.

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I was really wanting some of that purple grape stuff, but the Stitzel-Weller will work. I'm not a fan of Diageo, but kudos to them for donating the barrel to charity!

Edited by Louisiana
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Isn't it amazing how those SW barrels that were destined for CR just keep showing up? :unsure:

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4 hours ago, Bee said:

It's very hard to get an old behemoth of a corporation to be true and genuine and Diageo buying up American whiskey assets and developing new brands could have gone in an entirely different direction and I think we all know that.

 

I've read this a few times and have to agree.  It could have gone in many directions, but with the boom and all it wasn't really in their best interests to do anything less that take advantage of the market was it?  So, they did... acquired some older stock and we've now spent the last few years watching them squeeze the last few drops out of the last of the dried up lemons of a season.

 

So, a gift to charity is always a worthy endeavor.  Let's see... 24 year old bourbon, less angel's share, should come out to about 40-45 bottles (give or take), after the dead termites are filtered out.  God bless 'em...    

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Happy to see them bring these too market. I just wish they had been more discerning with which ones they brought in at a high age, and that they would have been more serious with the names an marketing. To be clear, I think the packaging and graphic design is great. The names and crazy stories are ridiculous though.

I participated in a blending exercise at Bulleit Stillhouse B as part of the Bourbon Affair. A couple of the older bourbons from Diageo's stocks were among those we had access to for the blending. On their own, they were too oaky. Blended with a combination of younger bourbons yielded an excellent result. I was pretty dang happy with my blend so I poured it into a paper cup to take with me when the exercise was over. If Diageo had taken some of the less inspiring older barrels and blended them properly, they could have been onto something great. All they would have had to do is be transparent about the ages and ratios in the mix and geeks would have loved it. 

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7 hours ago, flahute said:

Happy to see them bring these too market. I just wish they had been more discerning with which ones they brought in at a high age, and that they would have been more serious with the names an marketing. To be clear, I think the packaging and graphic design is great. The names and crazy stories are ridiculous though.

I participated in a blending exercise at Bulleit Stillhouse B as part of the Bourbon Affair. A couple of the older bourbons from Diageo's stocks were among those we had access to for the blending. On their own, they were too oaky. Blended with a combination of younger bourbons yielded an excellent result. I was pretty dang happy with my blend so I poured it into a paper cup to take with me when the exercise was over. If Diageo had taken some of the less inspiring older barrels and blended them properly, they could have been onto something great. All they would have had to do is be transparent about the ages and ratios in the mix and geeks would have loved it. 

Flahute captures my feelings perfectly.  I gave the Orphan Barrel project a lot of crap, but it had more to do with Diageo's insulting marketing strategy than the whiskey.  The stories most brands already in existence use are bad enough,  so let's not make things worse.  Reconciling tall tales of "lost barrels" with bottle numbers approaching 100,000 is just really a slap in the face to the consumer.  Unfortunately, Diageo is likely to interpret my complaint as a good reason not to include bottle numbers anymore, not as a reason to be more transparent.  That said, Diageo DID make a strong effort to at least include distillery origin in the releases, which I really like.  It set a good example.  Get rid of the fluffy stories and keep the gorgeous labels and honesty regarding origin, and you've got a nice product for fans of older bourbons.  Admittedly, you are probably sacrificing several warehouses full of blending stock you were likely using to add depth to Bulleit, but that is your business, not mine.

 

Anyway, annoying marketing aside, I do appreciate Diageo's gesture with offering B&B24 up for charity auction only.  Now I have to wonder who came up with this idea first: BT with O.F.C. or Diageo with B&B?

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"Don't tell me about the pain, just show me the baby". I do love the "true" history of any bourbon, if the bottler chooses to make up a " look what we found or we accidentally dumped this into that" story, so be it. If it's good it's good and the OB line is good older bourbon at a good price. 

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17 hours ago, flahute said:

If Diageo had taken some of the less inspiring older barrels and blended them properly, they could have been onto something great. All they would have had to do is be transparent about the ages and ratios in the mix and geeks would have loved it. 

Fully agree, they could've come up with something unique in the World of Whisky.  Oh well, as your example proves Steve we can blend it ourselves.

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