Which Ones Should I Get?

[MTNBourbon]

Do any of these stand out? Which ones are really worth having?

 

Smooth Ambler 10yr Single Barrel Bourbon

 

Smooth Ambler Contradiction Bourbon

 

Smooth Ambler Old Scout American Whiskey

 

Smooth Ambler "Yearling" Bourbon

 

Smooth Ambler Old Scout Bourbon

 

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10 Year Old Bourbon

 

Thanks.

[kevinbrink]

The single barrel for sure

[jvd99]

+1 on the SIngle Barrel

[MTNBourbon]

Thanks. Are there more than one Old Scout, age wise?

 

Are these the same?

Smooth Ambler Old Scout American Whiskey

Smooth Ambler Old Scout Bourbon

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10 Year Old Bourbon

 

 

[Richnimrod]

11 minutes ago, MTNBourbon said:

Thanks. Are there more than one Old Scout, age wise?

 

Are these the same?

Smooth Ambler Old Scout American Whiskey

Smooth Ambler Old Scout Bourbon

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 10 Year Old Bourbon

 

 

NOT all the same.    Read the labels carefully.   All is revealed there.   Most of the SB's I've had have very good to great.     Many of the 10-yr's I've had have been quite nice.    It all depends upon the right bottle, for the right palate preferences.

As to ages, I believe: yes.   You're liable to find almost anything from 7-years up.    But there aren't nearly as many floating around lately as there were a few years ago.

Edited February 9, 2017 by Richnimrod

[MTNBourbon]

Just now, Richnimrod said:

NOT all the same.    Read the labels carefully.   All is revealed there.   Most of the SB's I've had have very good to great.     Many of the 10-yr's I've had have been quite nice.    It all depends upon the right bottle, for the right plate preferences.

As to ages, I believe: yes.   You're liable to find almost anything from 7-years up.    But there aren't nearly as many floating around lately as there were a few years ago.

Thanks. The websites are not listing them properly (no pics, labels) just those names you see above.

[KrispinD]

The 7 year is actually my favorite, but the single barrel is a close second and you can't go wrong with any of them.


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[netboog]

10 year for sure....I have seen single barrels ranging from 8-11 years old here in CO. All ranging between the upper 40's-60 dollars, never a disappointing single barrel bottle from them for my tastes. 

[MTNBourbon]

Thanks everyone.

[jvd99]

If you're trying to decipher online descriptions from retailers, this would be my best guess:

"SAOS 10 Year Old  Bourbon" is not a single barrel and is 99 proof.  The label will have the word "TEN" prominently displayed vertically on the right side

"SAOS 10 Year Old 'Single Barrel' Bourbon" is cask strength and the proof can vary dramatically.  The label will say "SINGLE BARREL" on a diagonal outlined in red

"SAOS Bourbon" is generically used to describe non-single barrel bottles in a range of years, typically the younger versions of 6 or 7 years old (Binny's online uses this description), also 99 proof like the 10

The American Whisky is something else entirely.

[fishnbowljoe]

I've only had two or three Smooth Ambler products. Their regular 10 year and 7 year old bourbons being two of them. While the 10 year old is quite good, and I liked it a lot, I prefer the 7 year old myself. I've bought a few bottles of it along the way.   FWIW, the main reason the 7 year old gets my nod is because of its QPR. 

 

Cheers! Joe

[Harry in WashDC]

FWIW, I concur with Joe/BOTY2016, and we in WashDC have ready access to all SA offerings.  I happen to be less than a fan of "oak" in Chardonnay as well as in bourbon.  The SAOS 10YR is probably at my upper oak range.  The 7 (and the 9 which I haven't seen in a long time) are in my sweet spot.

[mbroo5880i]

55 minutes ago, fishnbowljoe said:

I've only had two or three Smooth Ambler products. Their regular 10 year and 7 year old bourbons being two of them. While the 10 year old is quite good, and I liked it a lot, I prefer the 7 year old myself. I've bought a few bottles of it along the way.   FWIW, the main reason the 7 year old gets my nod is because of its QPR. 

 

Cheers! Joe

 

I also prefer the 7 year old over the 10 year old.

 

 

[MTNBourbon]

13 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

I've only had two or three Smooth Ambler products. Their regular 10 year and 7 year old bourbons being two of them. While the 10 year old is quite good, and I liked it a lot, I prefer the 7 year old myself. I've bought a few bottles of it along the way.   FWIW, the main reason the 7 year old gets my nod is because of its QPR. 

 

Cheers! Joe

What is QPR?

[MTNBourbon]

Thanks again, everyone. I'll be trying to get those 3 different bottles if they are available.

[fishnbowljoe]

38 minutes ago, MTNBourbon said:

What is QPR?

 

Quality Price Ratio, or value.

 

The SAOS 7's I've bought have been $35-$40. The SAOS 10's I've seen have been $59-$69. I'm not sure the difference in age and taste is worth the extra $20-$30. To me the 7 year old is a better value, and besides, I really like it.

 

Joe

[no proof]

23 minutes ago, fishnbowljoe said:

 

The SAOS 7's I've bought have been $35-$40. The SAOS 10's I've seen have been $59-$69. I'm not sure the difference in age and taste is worth the extra $20-$30. To me the 7 year old is a better value, and besides, I really like it.

 

I'd be curious to hear your opinion on QPR for these for the prices we have in Tokyo. Currently I can get the 7yr for ~$54 otd (a fair increase from your price, but down from where it started), while best I've found the 10yr was ~$61 otd (same as you).

 

FWIW, I like the 7yr well enough to have bought a second bottle at that price, but I'm still undecided on the 10yr. I'm assuming that these old scouts will be disappearing eventually (particularly over here since I've only seen bottles from one particular barrel in Tokyo -- presumably a one-time import event), so it comes to the inevitable question of whether to bunker what I can now or let it go.

[MTNBourbon]

36 minutes ago, fishnbowljoe said:

 

Quality Price Ratio, or value.

 

The SAOS 7's I've bought have been $35-$40. The SAOS 10's I've seen have been $59-$69. I'm not sure the difference in age and taste is worth the extra $20-$30. To me the 7 year old is a better value, and besides, I really like it.

 

Joe

Thanks. Just order these: 10 yr. old single barrel $69.99, 7 yr. old $37.99, and 10 yr. old $59.99.

[flahute]

1 hour ago, fishnbowljoe said:

 

Quality Price Ratio, or value.

 

The SAOS 7's I've bought have been $35-$40. The SAOS 10's I've seen have been $59-$69. I'm not sure the difference in age and taste is worth the extra $20-$30. To me the 7 year old is a better value, and besides, I really like it.

 

Joe

I agree with Joe. I've always preferred the 7 over the 10 so the extra cost for the latter is not justified to me at this point. 

[fishnbowljoe]

I forget when/where I bought my first bottle of SAOS 7. I liked it a lot, but never could find any more. Then, my wife and I were on vacation a couple of years ago. We drove to Florida and stayed with some friends. Naturally we stopped at a few liquor stores on the way down and back. On the way down I bought a bottle for $34.99. Our host and I finished that one.  Luckily I found a couple more on the way back home. Last year I found one at a place a couple hours away. Bought that one. Those were all $39.99. Then last October, very surprisingly there were three or four on the shelf of my favorite local store. I grabbed two and left the others. I probably should have bought them all because they were priced at $26.99.  Yeah, the price surprised me too. I even asked the person at the counter if that was the correct price. When she said yes, I almost went back for the others. I believe another SB'er got the other(s). 

 

Cheers! Joe

[tanstaafl2]

I don't know if it was ever confirmed (it was likely discussed but I have long since forgotten) but the 7yo regular bottles were supposedly the high rye MGP 60/36/4 mashbill and the 10yo was the lower rye 75/21/4 mashbill (similar to Four Roses with which MGP shares Seagram "DNA"). In addition to the difference in age the difference in mashbill would also likely impact the taste of the whiskey.

 

It was never quite clear to me if the single barrels were always just one of the two mashbill recipes or if they could be either one.

[MTNBourbon]

Would be nice if the 7 yr. tasted the best to me, especially for that price.

[JoeTerp]

8 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said:

I don't know if it was ever confirmed (it was likely discussed but I have long since forgotten) but the 7yo regular bottles were supposedly the high rye MGP 60/36/4 mashbill and the 10yo was the lower rye 75/21/4 mashbill (similar to Four Roses with which MGP shares Seagram "DNA"). In addition to the difference in age the difference in mashbill would also likely impact the taste of the whiskey.

 

It was never quite clear to me if the single barrels were always just one of the two mashbill recipes or if they could be either one.

I believe they could be either, but are usually the high rye.