THE VATTING THREAD 2017

[fishnbowljoe]

Rather than bump up the old thread, I figured I might as well just start a new one. 

 

I don't have anything new yet. Operative word; yet.  I'm given' y'all fair warning though. I've had the good fortune to purchase a number of Weller's recently. Since then, my bunker has been crying out to me to do another one of my Weller Blend's. Sooooooooooo, there'll be a new one coming soon.  Maybe even tomorrow. 

 

Cheers! Joe

[flahute]

1 hour ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Rather than bump up the old thread, I figured I might as well just start a new one. 

 

I don't have anything new yet. Operative word; yet.  I'm given' y'all fair warning though. I've had the good fortune to purchase a number of Weller's recently. Since then, my bunker has been crying out to me to do another one of my Weller Blend's. Sooooooooooo, there'll be a new one coming soon.  Maybe even tomorrow. 

 

Cheers! Joe

Yesssssss........

This man knows how to blend the Wellers. If I lived closer I'd be popping in for a visit!

[Vosgar]

14 minutes ago, flahute said:

Yesssssss........

This man knows how to blend the Wellers. If I lived closer I'd be popping in for a visit!

Steve - I stopped by Joe's house yesterday and the man had 6 various Wellers open. I brought over a couple of older Wellers for a trade we had worked out, so Lord knows what he'll whip up . I just know it'll be damn good!

[Paddy]

Plantation OFTG and WSR is pretty damn good (I actually think the OFTG would be good with anything)! 

 

Kinda makes me wonder how it'd evolve with the addition of OGD BIB?

[EarthQuake]

I've been making micro-vats (single serving) to test out recipes for a larger batch, some I made in the past few days:

 

6 parts Barterhouse, 3 parts Stagg Jr, 1 part 40 year old armagnac - good but not quite there, I've been trying to perfect a stagg/barterhouse blend for a while now. I had previously made a larger batch of 1 part Barterhouse and 1 part Stagg Jr that was very good, but I'm trying to improve it further.

 

1 part Stagg Jr, 1 part Forged Oak, 1 part 25 year old armagnac - this was fantastic and almost too easy to drink, but lost some of the complexity of the individual pours.

Edited October 3, 2017 by EarthQuake

[kevinbrink]

14 hours ago, Paddy said:

Plantation OFTG and WSR is pretty damn good (I actually think the OFTG would be good with anything)! 

 

Kinda makes me wonder how it'd evolve with the addition of OGD BIB?

OTFD you mean?

[JCwhammie]

I have a 13yr 6mo bottle of store pick KCSiB that I’m not a big fan of. I tend to like 8-10yr bourbons more than 12yr+. I did a mix of (roughly) 1 part KC, 2.5 parts Booker’s Noe Hard Times. I’m a pretty big fan of Bookers, so I was interested how the same mash bill would be with a  little more oak presence. Maybe this is prisoner of the moment, but I feel this mix is definitely greater than the sum of its parts. This was mixed in a glencairn. I’ll have to buy a small bottle and mix some to rest for a few weeks. 

[Clueby]

This was in the old thread but it still deserves a mention..Stagg jr:Charter 101 in a 2:1 ratio.

I always keep  decanters of GW4G and SB blend as well.

[Paddy]

2 hours ago, kevinbrink said:

OTFD you mean?

OFTD (seems I can't get Paul's "oh f_*k that's good" description of it out of my mind) ; 138 proof.  Damn good stuff! 

Edited October 3, 2017 by Paddy

[kevinbrink]

3 minutes ago, Paddy said:

OFTG; 138 proof.  Damn good stuff! 

The Rum right, its OFTD not OFTG or OTFD like I typed above

https://www.plantationrum.com/rums-plantation#the-Bar-classics

[GeeTen]

OK, I give up - what's OFTD? Old Fitzgerald or Old Forrester what?  I guess I deserve my "Novice" rating . . . . .  

 

3 hours ago, Clueby said:

I always keep  decanters of GW4G and SB blend as well.

Me too!  Just mixed up another GW4G today to meld for a while in my vatting decanter (an old Hibiki 17 bottle for good luck!) - 3WSR:2OGD114. Mucho yummy!  

[Clueby]

2 hours ago, GeeTen said:

OK, I give up - what's OFTD? Old Fitzgerald or Old Forrester what?  I guess I deserve my "Novice" rating . . . . .  

 

Me too!  Just mixed up another GW4G today to meld for a while in my vatting decanter (an old Hibiki 17 bottle for good luck!) - 3WSR:2OGD114. Mucho yummy!  

I do it 1:1.

[kevinbrink]

3 hours ago, GeeTen said:

OK, I give up - what's OFTD? Old Fitzgerald or Old Forrester what?  I guess I deserve my "Novice" rating . . . . .  

 

Me too!  Just mixed up another GW4G today to meld for a while in my vatting decanter (an old Hibiki 17 bottle for good luck!) - 3WSR:2OGD114. Mucho yummy!  

An overproof rum from Plantation a French bottler who does additional aging of Rums in Cognac casks OFTD = Old Fashioned Traditional Dark

Edited October 4, 2017 by kevinbrink

[fishnbowljoe]

On October 2, 2017 at 9:45 PM, flahute said:

Yesssssss........

This man knows how to blend the Wellers. If I lived closer I'd be popping in for a visit!

 

On October 2, 2017 at 10:08 PM, Vosgar said:

Steve - I stopped by Joe's house yesterday and the man had 6 various Wellers open. I brought over a couple of older Wellers for a trade we had worked out, so Lord knows what he'll whip up . I just know it'll be damn good!

 

Even though I worked a couple of hours of OT today, I fulfilled my bourbonly duty when I got home from work today.   I made a semi-small batch of "Joe's SB Weller Blend". I say semi-small, because I had enough for a 750, and some leftovers. For those that don't remember, or didn't know, I brought a 750 and a 1.75 of my blend to our April get together. FWIW, the 750 was a wedding gift for ENYAW and Li'lsweetpea, aka Wayne and Diana. 

 

This blend is almost a carbon copy of the one I did in April. It has the exact same ratios, and same proof. The only differences being, I used a different ps OWA and a regular Weller SR instead of a ps Weller SR. In case y'all want to try my recipe, the ratios are 6 parts OWA, 2 parts Weller SR, and two parts Weller 12. This equates to 100.2 proof. It's as close as I could come to the 100 proof of the beloved Weller Centennial. (At least without driving myself even more crazy. )  This one is made with all old label/bottles. I might try one with the new label/bottles at some point in the future. It's pretty simple, and pretty darned tasty if I do say so myself.  I'm probably gonna keep this one around to sip on and share. I now the guys in our local bourbon/cigar group will like it, and I also want to make sure that Mike, my nephew gets to enjoy some. 

 

A nice side note here concerning the leftovers. I had some Weller 12 and Weller SR left over when all was said and done. Pretty much equal amounts of both. I poured what I could into a 200 ml, and then dumped the rest in my glass. Hmmmmm. To quote Laugh In's Artie Joshnson, "Very Interesting." I'm probably gonna bring this to our local bourbon/cigar get together tomorrow night. Smile Vosgar. 

 

Cheers! Joe

 

[GeeTen]

6 hours ago, Clueby said:

I do it 1:1.

Hmm, might have to try that.  But I do love my Wellers, I surely do!   

 

5 hours ago, kevinbrink said:

An overproof rum from Plantation a French bottler who does additional aging of Rums in Cognac casks OFTD = Old Fashioned Traditional Dark

Whew - no fair you guys keeping me up trying to figure out an unfamiliar bourbon acronym.  I thought I was getting more senile (but maybe I just am!).   Never mind . . . . . .  

 

[Galvin0791]

7 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

 

I now the guys in our local bourbon/cigar group will like it, and I also want to make sure that Mike, my nephew gets to enjoy some. 

 

Right on! You just made my night, Joe!

[Bob_Loblaw]

On 10/3/2017 at 3:18 PM, Clueby said:

This was in the old thread but it still deserves a mention..Stagg jr:Charter 101 in a 2:1 ratio.

I always keep  decanters of GW4G and SB blend as well.

Ok I see the GW4G is either a 1:1 of OGD114 and WSR or 3:2 in favor of WSR.  What is the SB blend ?  I know I read is previously but was not then ready to even think about blending!  Thanks

[dcbt]

21 minutes ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

Ok I see the GW4G is either a 1:1 of OGD114 and WSR or 3:2 in favor of WSR.  What is the SB blend ?  I know I read is previously but was not then ready to even think about blending!  Thanks

Sb blend is an attempt to replicate weller centennial, usually equal parts W12 and OWA. It was stolen by a blogger and renamed "Poor Man's Pappy," and unfortunately that name has stuck in the facebook world and as a result, many people new to the hobby are committed to finding W12 and OWA just to make what they believe to be Pappy (even tho that is wrong).

[Clueby]

16 hours ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

Ok I see the GW4G is either a 1:1 of OGD114 and WSR or 3:2 in favor of WSR.  What is the SB blend ?  I know I read is previously but was not then ready to even think about blending!  Thanks

Yeah..what dcbt said!  Mine is equal parts W12 and OWA. I like the older, oakier components a bit more than the the spicy ones.  I know a lot of people do 60:40 OWA:W12.  Wonder if anyone has done it the opposite 60:40 W12:OWA? Joe?

 

I haven't tried GW4G in 3:2.  That will be next on the vatting agenda.

[Bob_Loblaw]

22 hours ago, dcbt said:

Sb blend is an attempt to replicate weller centennial, usually equal parts W12 and OWA. It was stolen by a blogger and renamed "Poor Man's Pappy," and unfortunately that name has stuck in the facebook world and as a result, many people new to the hobby are committed to finding W12 and OWA just to make what they believe to be Pappy (even tho that is wrong).

 

5 hours ago, Clueby said:

Yeah..what dcbt said!  Mine is equal parts W12 and OWA. I like the older, oakier components a bit more than the the spicy ones.  I know a lot of people do 60:40 OWA:W12.  Wonder if anyone has done it the opposite 60:40 W12:OWA? Joe?

 

I haven't tried GW4G in 3:2.  That will be next on the vatting agenda.

Thanks for the information!  I have a bottle of 114 and plenty of WSR so will try my hand at the GW4G shortly.  

 

A general blending question.  Is there a difference between mixing 1 oz of 114 and WSR into a rocks glass right before drinking vs having a blended bottle that I prepared say one week earlier?  My guess is no and the reason for the larger bottle is simply for convenience and not having to measure it out every time.  But you never know . . . 

[Clueby]

Just now, Bob_Loblaw said:

 

Thanks for the information!  I have a bottle of 114 and plenty of WSR so will try my hand at the GW4G shortly.  

 

A general blending question.  Is there a difference between mixing 1 oz of 114 and WSR into a rocks glass right before drinking vs having a blended bottle that I prepared say one week earlier?  My guess is no and the reason for the larger bottle is simply for convenience and not having to measure it out every time.  But you never know . . . 

I feel it gives everything a chance to meld a little better. I've tried a fresh glass-mixed GW4G vs. a vatted one SBS before and to my taste buds the vatted one was better.  When I mix Stagg Jr. and Charter 101 I do it right in the glass though.

[Bob_Loblaw]

11 minutes ago, Clueby said:

I feel it gives everything a chance to meld a little better. I've tried a fresh glass-mixed GW4G vs. a vatted one SBS before and to my taste buds the vatted one was better.  When I mix Stagg Jr. and Charter 101 I do it right in the glass though.

I will buy that there is a benefit of letting the flavors marry.  Was this a blind SBS or non blind?  

[Clueby]

1 hour ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

I will buy that there is a benefit of letting the flavors marry.  Was this a blind SBS or non blind?  

Non blind. Ymmv

[birdie]

Just tried a 50/50 of Old Forester 1920 (115 proof) and a Old Forester Single Barrel (90 proof)store pick and it tasted great, the 1920 I have found to be a tasty pour and this vatting elevated the Single Barrel.

[kevinbrink]

I was thinking of vatting up some GW4G however I don't have any Weller SR but plenty of OWA, I've tried a blend of OWA and OGDBIB but found I like the parts better than the sum. Not much left in this bottle of OGD114 so I'm thinking maybe just top off a bottle of BH, opinions?