Elmer T Lee

[mortre]

I bought a bottle to try the other day, and that stuff is expensive out here.  $55 after taxes.  Now I'm a little surprised, very sweet nose, bright vanilla.  Sweet on the tip of the tongue, and it transforms to....  dirt.   A little weird.  That said I'm a little toasty at this point.  I started the night with an airplane bottle of woodford reserve, and followed it with an EC12 old fashioned.  I'll finish it and come back to the bottle fresh some time.  But wow, fresh earth is an unexpexted, odd flavor in bourbon.

 

FYI on price, bourbon seems to retail about 10% to 20% above msrp here, and then Washington takes a 20.5% sales tax and $3.77 per liter tax.  So the price isn't as bad as it sounds.  I saw a $200 bottle of Stagg Jr and $700 bottle of William Larue Weller the other day.  So pricing can be really screwy.  I'm trying to do most of my purchases on post at the class six to avoid this crazyness.  But selection isn't great.

[Charlutz]

You may just not like it, or you may have a bad bottle.  One thing to check is the bottle ID against the batches reported to potentially have cork taint. More here:

 

 

[mortre]

Thanks for the tip.  I checked and my bottle number is in the range...  i guess I should look into how to return or refund the bottle.

[gohrmund]

Yes, you have one of the bad bottle. Do a search and follow the instructions to fix the problem. Worked well for me.

 

Gary

[starhopper]

10 hours ago, mortre said:

Thanks for the tip.  I checked and my bottle number is in the range...  i guess I should look into how to return or refund the bottle.

I sent two bad bottles back and received a refund within two weeks.

Edited April 25, 2016 by starhopper

[Canarse]

Has anyone seen a new shipment of ETL hit the stores this month?  Nothing here in NC that I can confirm.

[Enoch]

Saw several bottles the other day in a store in Columbia for $139.99.

[PaulO]

To me, that is crazy, but I guess somebody is paying.  I hate to be a shill for BT (since no OWA or any other of their brands I like and ...).  When the price of ETL went up close to Blanton's, just get Blanton's.  

[barrelslime]

ELT is top on my list to get, but it will have to wait till the price gets back to normal........

[Canarse]

Not available at any price from what I can see in NC.

[fishnbowljoe]

Still pretty much at retail around here, at least when it shows up.   $34.99. Wish I'd have bought  a few more when I was on vacation a couple years ago in MA. $29.99 and no tax. 

Cheers! Joe

[mortre]

So much for a replacement or refund.  Here is what I received from Buffalo Trace.

 

Jason,

 

Thank you for your note. We have retrieved some of the bottles of Elmer T. Lee bourbon lots posted on Reddit, and have tested against our standards.  Our tasting team, including our Master Distiller and our Director of Quality, has concluded that these particular lot meets our standards for Elmer T. Lee and there is no issue with the taste or any indication of cork taint. Thank you for your note, and we hope you will continue to enjoy our bourbons.

 

Cheers,

 

      Alan Tenniswood

Consumer Affairs Associate

  113 Great Buffalo Trace

     Frankfort, KY 40601

 

 

 

From: Jason Copas [mailto:jason.k.copas@gmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2016 6:49 PM
To: Alan Tenniswood
Subject: Cork Taint

 

•••

 

 

I bought a bottle of Elmer T Lee last week and opened it last night.  To my surprise it has a strong flavor of dirt.  I reminded me of the smell of the earth scented disks we used to put in our bags of hunting cloths.  I posted about it on a bourbon forum as this was the first time I had tried Elmer T. Lee, and was advised that there was a bad batch with cork taint, and should contact you to find out if my bottle falls into the range of bad bottles.  Thank you for your time and trouble. 

 

[Enoch]

The only thing that saves me is that a couple of years ago Virginia had it on sale for $24.99 ($35 in SC at the time) so I bought a case while visiting my daughter and family. Had I known what the future held I would have bought more....

[jeffrey r]

1 hour ago, Enoch said:

The only thing that saves me is that a couple of years ago Virginia had it on sale for $24.99 ($35 in SC at the time) so I bought a case while visiting my daughter and family. Had I known what the future held I would have bought more....

 

Yeah, I think I am down to 6 bottles of ETL all purchased at well under $30 in NJ (the going rate at the time).  With the amount of other bottles I have open at any given time (a lot), these ETL will last me a good while.  That said, as is often the case, however many bottles we were buying of the classics in past years (theoretically too many), it could and should have been more to protect against the current market.  The only ETL I have seen in recent months has been way overpriced and very limited.

[starhopper]

"So much for a replacement or refund.  Here is what I received from Buffalo Trace..."

 

Wow Jason, that's an unexpected response considering I received a refund for two bottles just a few months ago (from Mr Tenniswood).  I DID have to send the bottles back to them for testing.  Funny thing is, he mentions the "tasting team" - isn't that the SAME team that approved the intitial dump in the first place?  Sounds like they're tasting team's tastebuds need recalibration.

Edited April 27, 2016 by starhopper

[Paddy]

56 minutes ago, starhopper said:

"So much for a replacement or refund.  Here is what I received from Buffalo Trace..."

 

Wow Jason, that's an unexpected response considering I received a refund for two bottles just a few months ago (from Mr Tenniswood).  I DID have to send the bottles back to them for testing.  Funny thing is, he mentions the "tasting team" - isn't that the SAME team that approved the intitial dump in the first place?  Sounds like they're tasting team's tastebuds need recalibration.

Well if they were cork tainted, wouldn't that have come after the team tasting?  Or did the chicken come first? 

[starhopper]

36 minutes ago, Paddy said:

Well if they were cork tainted, wouldn't that have come after the team tasting?  Or did the chicken come first? 

I didn't think about that!

[mortre]

I assume that all means ETL is supposed to taste "earthy".  Anyone want to suggest a cocktail for an earthy bourbon?

[Richnimrod]

I guess that long-winded response is Saz-Speak for; 'Blow Us'.

[Charlutz]

Try the Saran Wrap trick and a new cork? Does that work?

[Harry in WashDC]

3 hours ago, mortre said:

I assume that all means ETL is supposed to taste "earthy".  Anyone want to suggest a cocktail for an earthy bourbon?

Mud Pie

In a rocks/OF glass, muddle

- 1/2 oz. orange curacao

- demerara sugar cube

- some Peychaud's bitters

 

put ice, orange slice, maraschino cherry, in the glass

 

add 1.5 to 2 oz. of bourbon

 

Stir if you want.  I don't, letting the bourbon sort of float on top.

 

I've used a few clunker bourbons in this.  Sometimes you really need to add lots of bitters.

[Flyfish]

On ‎4‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 0:07 PM, barrelslime said:

ELT is top on my list to get, but it will have to wait till the price gets back to normal........

"Normal" varies considerably based on where you are but my guess is that your definition of "normal" will adjust higher a lot sooner than the price will adjust lower. The economy we live in is "the new normal."

Edited April 28, 2016 by Flyfish

[mortre]

14 hours ago, Charlutz said:

Try the Saran Wrap trick and a new cork? Does that work?

I'll probably try it with a single pour/glass and see what happens eventually.  But for now I've got a few bottles I actually like without having to do anything but pour them into a clean glass...

[VAGentleman]

18 hours ago, mortre said:

I assume that all means ETL is supposed to taste "earthy".  Anyone want to suggest a cocktail for an earthy bourbon?

John J Bowman had a couple barrels about a year ago they put out that was very earthy/dirt tasting.  They said the same thing that it was single barrel variation and within specs.  Must be something with the yeast or something that BT uses that occasionally causes that taste

[starhopper]

The ETL's I had UP UNTIL DECEMBER 2015's batch NEVER had that awful "earthy" taste.  But when I got one of those bottles from late 2015, boy oh boy could I taste it - especially in the finish - just couldn't get that "dirt" taste out of my mouth. Sent two of 'em back and got a full refund.  Fortunately, I had some of the older ones from 2014 in my stash to hold me over.

 

I'm hoping the new batch being issued this month doesn't have that awful taste - if it does, I won't be buying ETL anytime in the near future.

Edited April 28, 2016 by starhopper