Orphan Barrel Archive : 6-Bottle Set ($1500 Retail)

[JoeTerp]

I noticed this too and for the life of me I can't figure out who would actually want this.  I don't follow secondary at all but is this even below that?  I would love to hear someone in the know on the comparison there.

[EarthQuake]

On 11/18/2017 at 11:10 PM, JoeTerp said:

I noticed this too and for the life of me I can't figure out who would actually want this.  I don't follow secondary at all but is this even below that?  I would love to hear someone in the know on the comparison there.

$1500 is in the ballpark of the secondary value for this set. I have absolutely no interest in this, but certain bottles in the set here are impossible to find outside of paying $500-600 or so on the secondary.

 

I love oak, so I tend to really like Orphan Barrel products (have yet to have one I dislike), but I'll stick with purchasing them at or near retail though. Barterhouse at around $80-90 is a good purchase to me. I splurged on a Rhetoric 23 for $130 as a Christmas present to myself, mostly to see how it compares to Barterhouse.

 

I can confirm that Barterhouse, Forged Oak and Rhetoric (all of which were distilled at New Bernhiem) share a similar flavor profile with I.W. Harper 15. The Harper 15 being the softest and most delicate of them all. Gifted Horse is in the same flavor family IMO as well. I think it would be reasonable to assume some of this Bernhiem 86/8/8 juice was meant for the Harper brand.

 

While on the subject, I think these Oprhan Barrel releases taste a lot like Elijah Craig 18. Was/is EC18 distilled at New Bernhiem too?

 

As far as the marketing goes, sure the whole "Orphan" aspect is a bit contrived, and well, silly. It doesn't bother me though. Show me where I can buy solid 15-25 year old bourbon for the same price range and with less marketing spin and I'll certainly follow with my wallet. The marketing shtick certainly is effective, as evident by what some of these go for on the secondary. The first bottle of Barterhouse I purchased based on nothing more than the well designed label (I am not ashamed to admit it), and the fact that it was 20 freaking years old. I later realized that they have a toad-load of this stuff, but I've kept buying it because I like how it tastes.

Edited November 25, 2017 by EarthQuake