What bottling do you think has suffered the greatest compromised quality since the boom started?

[Insanityabounds]

12 hours ago, musekatcher said:

I was going to nominate the Weller products.  I'll add OFS.   

 

In addition to less time in the wood , the other compromise might be using more barrels in the blend to increase total product - barrels that otherwise would have been rejected, or bottled as cheaper brands.  Its like picking out apples for a few jars of apple butter - you cull the very best.  If you are making dozens of quarts of apple butter, you drop your standards and accept whatever you have on hand. 

Weller had suffered pretty badly from the boom, imo. In the last year or two they seem to be trying to claw their way back to the quality it was. Will prob be a few more years.  

[Insanityabounds]

3 hours ago, Jace said:

Noah's Mill. It was my favorite until around the time they changed the wax-top to foil. Haven't been able to find a drinkable bottle since...

I have a bottle of Noahs Mill from two years ago that me and my friends really really enjoyed. On the other hand KBD is said to have wild variations inbetween batches, which wouldn't surprise me. 

[flahute]

On 9/3/2017 at 0:14 PM, smokinjoe said:

But, if there is one that I might have to say that some of the recent bottles seem to not be at the "quality" of earlier years---it would be Four Roses Single Barrel.  I've gotten some rawness, thinness, and some "off" notes inthese latter ones.  There are several other old "predictable" NDP bottles that due to the boom have suffered, namely some of the KBD labels.  

 

Sighhhhhhh..........yes..........4RSiB. This had been declared to be my favorite of all the regularly available bourbons. Not long after said declaration, quality began to drop. It pains me.

 

Fully agree on the KBD's. I've completely stopped buying them for more than a year now. Too many disappointments that could barely be consumed.

[smokinjoe]

21 hours ago, Insanityabounds said:

I mean the actual quality of the liquid or bottling has declined. If we included age statements we could do this endlessly, as you said! I would agree with your Four Roses SB assessment, the last one I bought was watery and lacking in almost every way, imo..I have been more disappointed in a few if the barrel proof offerings I have had lately though. 

Of course.  I was mostly thinking out loud, there, as far as the age thing.  I should have set that up better.

[Insanityabounds]

2 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

Of course.  I was mostly thinking out loud, there, as far as the age thing.  I should have set that up better.

I knew what you meant. My OP was the vague post. Not yours!

[Jackinbox]

On 9/5/2017 at 1:47 AM, flahute said:

Fully agree on the KBD's. I've completely stopped buying them for more than a year now. Too many disappointments that could barely be consumed.

I'm confused on the KBD stuff.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't KBD a Bardstown distiller who was a big player in selling bulk whiskey a few years ago?  Then they sold it back to Willet who has since been distilling their own juice as of 3 or 4 years ago?  I never quite grasped the whole relationship between those two companies and what exactly transpired a few years ago.   Looking at the Willet website, they do have brands that I considered KBD (Johnny Drum, Noah's Mill, Rowan's Creek) listed, so I'm assuming they own those brands now?  

[BottledInBond]

1 hour ago, Jackinbox said:

I'm confused on the KBD stuff.  Please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't KBD a Bardstown distiller who was a big player in selling bulk whiskey a few years ago?  Then they sold it back to Willet who has since been distilling their own juice as of 3 or 4 years ago?  I never quite grasped the whole relationship between those two companies and what exactly transpired a few years ago.   Looking at the Willet website, they do have brands that I considered KBD (Johnny Drum, Noah's Mill, Rowan's Creek) listed, so I'm assuming they own those brands now?  

KBD and Willett are the same thing. They were not a big player in distilling/selling bulk whiskey a few years ago. Their stillhouse burned down quite a while ago. For many years they bought a lot of bulk whiskey for their own brands. They also acted as a bottler for other brands, more so in the past. But they weren't distilling that juice either. They were an NDP for their own brands, and just bottlers for other companies. Noah's Mill/Rowans Creek/Johnny Drum/KY Vintage/Old Bardstown are the labels that people often refer to as the KBD brands. But it's all one business. The WFE bottles and Willett Pot Still Reserve are just more labels within the KBD portfolio. The Willett Distillery has always been the name of the place it's all been bottled at. A few years ago they did start distilling again on the Willett property, but only for a small portion of what they are currently bottling today. It's all run by the Kulsveen family.

[Jackinbox]

21 minutes ago, BottledInBond said:

KBD and Willett are the same thing. They were not a big player in distilling/selling bulk whiskey a few years ago. Their stillhouse burned down quite a while ago. For many years they bought a lot of bulk whiskey for their own brands. They also acted as a bottler for other brands, more so in the past. But they weren't distilling that juice either. They were an NDP for their own brands, and just bottlers for other companies. Noah's Mill/Rowans Creek/Johnny Drum/KY Vintage/Old Bardstown are the labels that people often refer to as the KBD brands. But it's all one business. The WFE bottles and Willett Pot Still Reserve are just more labels within the KBD portfolio. The Willett Distillery has always been the name of the place it's all been bottled at. A few years ago they did start distilling again on the Willett property, but only for a small portion of what they are currently bottling today. It's all run by the Kulsveen family.

OK, thanks for clearing all of that up.  Now it all makes sense to me.

[flahute]

Yes, what BIB said.

Willett has been distilling for 5+ years now. They've released some of it under the WFE label for both bourbon and rye and have transitioned the Old Bardstown brand to their self distilled whiskey (in a new bottle design so you can tell them apart from the old sourced whiskey.)

[beasled]

Michters 10 Year single barrel. Pre 2015 were terrific, 2015 onwards have been very poor and the price keeps going up regardless.