Truly bad single barrels...

[bourbon4all]

What are everyone's experiences with em? I just bought a new bottle of four roses single barrel and it is everything I hoped it would be. I have been burning through small batch and yellow label but my first and only single barrel until now was like straight acetone. I thought my taste buds were broken. On top of everything (and maybe the explanation to the bad taste) the cork broke two pours in. I dumped it in my solera and covered it with many others and can still taste it. I'm frustrated I didn't buy another single barrel four roses sooner. Because this current one in my glass right now is happiness in a glass. 

[amg]

It's rare, but it does happen. I had a pour of Blanton's SFTB that was not pleasant at all. Big hot rubber cement note in that one.

 

There's also the notorious run of ETL bottles in 2015 that people complained about.

[Whiskey Dick]

had a store pick single barrel of EC12 a few years ago, turned me off the whole line for quite a while.

[jvd99]

^^^^ How has someone not claimed that name yet - classic!

[Limegoldconvertible68]

Thankfully the only bottles I've hated got better after letting them sit for a long time. 

[flahute]

I had a Blanton's that was truly horrible. It was part of a set of samples I tried double blind. Having to guess what it might be, I thought it was either a super young craft whiskey or an "age your own" experiment. Luckily for me, it was only a sample and not my bottle.

When I've had really bad bottles in the past, I've tried to blend them with something to see if there's a happy medium. If nothing works, I've poured them out.

[mbroo5880i]

1 hour ago, jvd99 said:

^^^^ How has someone not claimed that name yet - classic!

 

I know there are so many ways you can go with it.

[mbroo5880i]

The Four Roses scenario is kind of odd.  While you expect single barrel variability, the barrels are selected because they stand out.  I have had a barrel or two that were not very good.  Fortunately, the majority have been really good with a few stellar.  This is relative to the standard Single Barrel.  Store picks are different because I only buy from stores that I have confidence in their ability in picking good barrels.  

Edited February 5, 2017 by mbroo5880i

[Whiskeythink.com]

2 hours ago, flahute said:

I had a Blanton's that was truly horrible. It was part of a set of samples I tried double blind. Having to guess what it might be, I thought it was either a super young craft whiskey or an "age your own" experiment. Luckily for me, it was only a sample and not my bottle.

When I've had really bad bottles in the past, I've tried to blend them with something to see if there's a happy medium. If nothing works, I've poured them out.

I had a bottle, tho I cant recall which it was, that was not good but became much better when I blended some Mellow Corn BIB with it. The stuff does wonders!

[BottledInBond]

I have a bottle of WFE 11 year bourbon that I think is pretty much crap. Have had it for years and can't enjoy it. This thread has inspired me to either dump it in my solera decanter or start mixing it in cocktails. No need to continue looking at it as-is for more years

[Harry in WashDC]

3 hours ago, flahute said:

 . . . If nothing works, I've poured them out.

Finally did this in January with multiple bottles (well, three holding about 600 ml in the aggregate to free up some space).  I'd tried vatting, blending, using as BBQ sauce base or a marinade base, adding vanilla extract, adding water, mixing cocktails. The off-flavors still come through.  The BBQ sauce (boiled for ten minutes) turned out best.  I now have about a pint of BBQ sauce which, six months from now, I'll pitch.  RE: the thread subject -- I can recall only one "meh" SiB, and it was a generic 4R SiB.  It was a surprise because I usually find them better than average.  Speaking of averages, one meh out of, maybe, thirty (not counting the PS/store picks, etc.) isn't a bad average.

[Enoch]

Unless there is something really scary in the taste, I use less than stellar bourbons for infusions, such as apple, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. If they are really bad I throw in a bunch of red hots and let them dissolve to make fireball for the kids.

[OldFitzWithTheGoldLabel]

Fireball for the kids. I like that.

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[Charlutz]

Count me as someone who had some of that earthy ETL last winter. On a friend's shelf and not my bottle,  but so disappointing. 

[musekatcher]

31 minutes ago, Charlutz said:

Count me as someone who had some of that earthy ETL last winter. On a friend's shelf and not my bottle,  but so disappointing. 

I enjoyed a bottle of store select barrel ETL last year that was excellent.  Not the clear price point winner though, in a very crowded top shelf. 

[JoeTerp]

11 hours ago, BottledInBond said:

I have a bottle of WFE 11 year bourbon that I think is pretty much crap. Have had it for years and can't enjoy it. This thread has inspired me to either dump it in my solera decanter or start mixing it in cocktails. No need to continue looking at it as-is for more years

I haven't had too many, but I had an OESF that was really disappointing. It did make a fantastic Manhattan though. I would say try cocktails before dumping. 

[fishnbowljoe]

I've posted this story before, but..........

 

Not long after I first go into bourbon, ER 10 was one of my favorite bourbons. My wife and I were out of town on a mission, and we stopped at a liquor store. They had their own store pick of ER  10. I was stoked, especially considering they had it on sale for $19.99.  I bought a few other things and was trying to figure out how many ER 10's I was gonna buy.  When I told my wife that I was thinking about buying a case, she said that since we bought some other things, just buy one for now, and if I like it, I could then return and buy a case. I'm glad I took her advice and only bought one bottle. It was absolutely terrible. The worst bottle of ER 10 I've ever had.  Gosh knows what would have happened if I'd bought a whole case. 

 

On the flip side, shortly after this episode, I acquired a couple of different private selection bottles of ER10 that were absolutely stellar.    Goes to show ya' just never know.

 

Cheers! Joe

[PaulO]

I told this before too.

I was so thrilled to find 4R 2013 SB LE on a shelf @ retail price.  I was supposed to like it.  I just couldn't get into it.  I guess that dry - woody - really oaky bourbon is just not my wheelhouse.

That's nice to know.  I can pass on a lot of the pricey over aged stuff, not missing anything.

[0895]

7 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

I've posted this story before, but..........

 

Not long after I first go into bourbon, ER 10 was one of my favorite bourbons. My wife and I were out of town on a mission, and we stopped at a liquor store. They had their own store pick of ER  10. I was stoked, especially considering they had it on sale for $19.99.  I bought a few other things and was trying to figure out how many ER 10's I was gonna buy.  When I told my wife that I was thinking about buying a case, she said that since we bought some other things, just buy one for now, and if I like it, I could then return and buy a case. I'm glad I took her advice and only bought one bottle. It was absolutely terrible. The worst bottle of ER 10 I've ever had.  Gosh knows what would have happened if I'd bought a whole case. 

 

On the flip side, shortly after this episode, I acquired a couple of different private selection bottles of ER10 that were absolutely stellar.    Goes to show ya' just never know.

 

Cheers! Joe

 

Last year a local store let some of their customers try the three Eagle Rare 10 samples that BT had sent for a "store pick" barrel.

The difference between them was drastic, with one tasting like cherry cough syrup and another just plain hot, dry and nasty.

The stored picked the 3rd sample that was delicious, well balanced, and had the most customer votes.

 

Just to prove that everyone tastes things differently, there were several votes for the other two samples on the tally sheet.

 

In another weird twist of fate, several months later, a different local chain store had picked one of the other samples as their store pick (I recognized the barrel number on the little silver stickers they put on the bottles as being the same as one of the samples that was rejected by the first store).  Kinda felt sorry for the customers who bought these.

[0895]

I too have suffered from really bad Blanton's.

Was a December 2015 dump date bottle.

Since that bottle, I have quite purchasing US Blanton's and only import the "Gold"  instead.

I realize that single barrel means single barrel and they are all different, but It really ruined it for me.

 

I generally don't buy ER10 without tasting a sample from that shipment / barrel either.

[Kepler]

I had one EWSB that I would classify as sub-par or poor.  It was a 2004 vintage, but I've also had some excellent barrels from 2004 too.  It happens. 

[garbanzobean]

I had an EWSB 2005 recently that was heavy on the paint thinner, light on the bourbon.  I prioritized opening it because there was a good amount of that barrel at the store I bought it from.  I gave it a week or so and drank a few glasses of it to see if it would improve.  It did not.  I dumped the rest of it into my mixing/cooking decanter after a final SBS with an OE7/101 I just bought for $10 less.  OE by a mile . . .

 

To think I would regret not bunkering all the tasty EWSB 2002-2003 that was all over the place here for like $23.  Oh well.  I hear EWSB is on an upswing lately anyway.

[mosugoji64]

I currently have a store pick RRSB that is disappointing. I keep going back to it hoping it will get better but it remains heavy on the alcohol with bourbon flavors relegated to the background. Oh well, glad I only bought one. 

[No_Reception]

I have a bottle of WFE 11 year bourbon that I think is pretty much crap. Have had it for years and can't enjoy it. This thread has inspired me to either dump it in my solera decanter or start mixing it in cocktails. No need to continue looking at it as-is for more years

Yeah, there's a bunch of bad Willet's out there. A few years ago I was on a hot streak and was able to get about 10-12 different bottlings. 4 were not good at all.


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[ken_mays]

9 hours ago, mosugoji64 said:

I currently have a store pick RRSB that is disappointing. I keep going back to it hoping it will get better but it remains heavy on the alcohol with bourbon flavors relegated to the background. Oh well, glad I only bought one. 

 

The RRSB I had tasted mostly like sour acetone.  Took me about 2 years to finish it but I did it.