Jim Rutledge "Era"

[jvd99]

Another thread mentioned the Jim Rutledge "Era," which seems like a very general and undefined expression.  Curious whether there is a consensus on when the "era" ended or will end.  Did it end when JR retired, or are we still in his "era" because JR oversaw the distillation and barrelling of bourbons that will be bottled for up to a decade under the YL, SmB, SiB and store select program.  IMO this query does not include the new LE's because while the contents may have been originally produced by JR, the new master distiller is picking and/or blending those himself, and he should take the credit for those products - and his name is on them.

[0895]

1 hour ago, jvd99 said:

  IMO this query does not include the new LE's because while the contents may have been originally produced by JR, the new master distiller is picking and/or blending those himself, and he should take the credit for those products - and his name is on them.

 

I agree with this statement.  Brent does fine work, but gosh I miss Jim...

[Paddy]

1 hour ago, 0895 said:

 

I agree with this statement.  Brent does fine work, but gosh I miss Jim...

Personally, I think his era ended the moment he stopped doing the selections. 

 

Although one could argue that any future single barrel releases, of distillate that was put in the wood under JR's reign, are still fair game (as far as calling it his product), it is now Brent's turn to decide what and when. 

[Old Dusty]

I may be the guy who posted that. I was thinking mostly of the LE Small Batch and Single Barrel. Especially the bottlings with the 16/17/18 yr old OBSV. But also of the older PS bottlings especially now that the "floor" has been lowered to 8 yrs.  I think there has been a decline in the PS that is coincidental to his departure. So for my post, the "era" ended with his retirement. Clearly his influence will be felt for a decade or more if you consider releases of  production he would have overseen. 

[VAGentleman]

I asked Jim a couple years ago if he actually did any distilling anymore and his answer was basically No.  He was a brand ambassador, did the PS and LE picks but no actual working the mash or stills in a while.  I think Brent actually did a lot of the distilling over the past bunch of years

[Limegoldconvertible68]

Technically, isn't the Rutledge era just beginning since he has opened his own distillery this past year?  

[tanstaafl2]

Certainly the Limited Editions era is clearly defined. When he stopped picking them the torch was passed to the new Master Distiller. I don't know how much involvement he still had in developing the batch for the regular single barrel or the small batch (I have to think he had some involvement but I don't know for sure) but if he was involved then that era has ended as well. Even the Yellow Label batch has to be mixed and balanced from the various recipes.

 

As noted he did not really distill much any more (although as noted elsewhere he apparently did have a lot to say about how it was to be mashed, fermented and distilled) but he did to the best of my knowledge have a big part in selecting the individual barrels for the Single Barrel Limited Editions and Private Selections (and just as importantly decided what didn't make the cut) and his skill at blending the Small Batch LE's was pretty damned remarkable!

 

it was as much or more about how you made use of the end product than it was about just the distilling. I think I would have to say that his era has ended with his retirement for me.

[tanstaafl2]

7 minutes ago, Limegoldconvertible68 said:

Technically, isn't the Rutledge era just beginning since he has opened his own distillery this past year?  

 

For many years I think it is fair to say that Jim Rutledge WAS Four Roses.

 

There is no significant progress that I know of on opening his own distillery. If they broke ground today it would likely be a year or more before they distilled anything and years after that before any whiskey of note could be bottled. I am starting to think it is possible that it may never happen.

[portwood]

On 2/1/2017 at 5:10 PM, Paddy said:

Personally, I think his era ended the moment he stopped doing the selections. 

 

Although one could argue that any future single barrel releases, of distillate that was put in the wood under JR's reign, are still fair game (as far as calling it his product), it is now Brent's turn to decide what and when. 

Just about anyone would agree that two barrels filled with the same distillate and aged side-by-side can turn out different. Therefore, it would seem to me, the most important thing that determines quality is the "what and when".

By that measure the JR era ended with his retirement.