Store pick ??

[chappy6107]

I saw a BT with the typical store pick sticker on the side.  However this one said "single barrel" & "staff picked" 

nowhere on the sticker was the name of the store, so is this still a store pick(likely) or one picked by the staff @ BT(unlikely)?  btw it is pointless to ask any of the associates at this store (deer in headlights)  only the manager when she is there.  Pricing is the same as the standard BT.

I have never seen a store pick without the name of the store on the sticker.  Any one have any thoughts on this?

[Paddy]

^^^^It could be either.  If you like BT, I'd grab one and see if it stands out in any way. 

 

If it does..............you know what to do! 

[flahute]

Paddy answered this question. 

[chappy6107]

17 minutes ago, Paddy said:

^^^^It could be either.  If you like BT, I'd grab one and see if it stands out in any way. 

 

If it does..............you know what to do! 

I definitely will grab one.  Just wondering what it was exactly.  Hopefully the manager is there tomorrow so I can get this ? answered.

cheers

[0895]

1 hour ago, chappy6107 said:

I saw a BT with the typical store pick sticker on the side.  However this one said "single barrel" & "staff picked" 

nowhere on the sticker was the name of the store, so is this still a store pick(likely) or one picked by the staff @ BT(unlikely)?  btw it is pointless to ask any of the associates at this store (deer in headlights)  only the manager when she is there.  Pricing is the same as the standard BT.

I have never seen a store pick without the name of the store on the sticker.  Any one have any thoughts on this?

 

How's this one for comparison, LoL.

The "owner" told me he bought an entire barrel.  I didn't ask any further questions, but I'm not convinced that he actually drinks whiskey.

Whatever.  The price was right.  Worst case scenario is mixing or hot toddy duty.

 

[chappy6107]

7 hours ago, 0895 said:

 

How's this one for comparison, LoL.

The "owner" told me he bought an entire barrel.  I didn't ask any further questions, but I'm not convinced that he actually drinks whiskey.

Whatever.  The price was right.  Worst case scenario is mixing or hot toddy duty.

 

Ha, yes much like this.  I should be able to stop in the store today and hopefully ask the manager while a pick a bottle up.

[JT3NSB]

13 hours ago, 0895 said:

 

How's this one for comparison, LoL.

The "owner" told me he bought an entire barrel.  I didn't ask any further questions, but I'm not convinced that he actually drinks whiskey.

Whatever.  The price was right.  Worst case scenario is mixing or hot toddy duty.

 

after a trip through the ann arbor area earlier this year and seeing every single store had a SB. I started to wonder if the distributor in that area was just slapping gold stickers on everything...

[gurgalunas]

Personally, I'd guess a lot of the purchased barrels are selected by "others",  meaning, someone that knows bourbon better than the average store owner or manager.  I'd rather someone at BT pick than some LS folks i know...  

 

I heard that 4R is the only place requires a tasting of the barrels.   Not sure if true, or where I read that, but it leads me to believe that more barrel selections happen "in-house" at the distilleries than LS lead us to believe.

[lcpfratn]

Personally, I'd guess a lot of the purchased barrels are selected by "others",  meaning, someone that knows bourbon better than the average store owner or manager.  I'd rather someone at BT pick than some LS folks i know...  
 
I heard that 4R is the only place requires a tasting of the barrels.   Not sure if true, or where I read that, but it leads me to believe that more barrel selections happen "in-house" at the distilleries than LS lead us to believe.

You're partially correct, but also wrong. The distillery has generally already narrowed the barrel choices down to a few barrels before the LS makes a selection from the preselected barrels. Many of the barrels are selected from samples sent to the store, and the choice is made from those samples. Of course most distilleries offer selections at the distillery as well, and some may actually require it.


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[fishnbowljoe]

What Jeff said. I've been very fortunate to have been a part of a couple of barrel picks where we tasted barrels at the distillery. I've also been involved with a couple of picks where we tasted samples sent from the distillery. I say involved here because the liquor store had pretty much already made their picks, but let a couple of us try the samples to get our feedback.

 

Cheers! Joe

[lcpfratn]

I've been "involved" as Joe put it at a liquor store tasting samples, but the barrel selections were actually based off of our (a few serious regular bourbon customers) choices, since the owner knew we would be vested in the pick and buy some when the bottles arrived at the store.


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[Dango]

19 hours ago, chappy6107 said:

I saw a BT with the typical store pick sticker on the side.  However this one said "single barrel" & "staff picked" 

nowhere on the sticker was the name of the store, so is this still a store pick(likely) or one picked by the staff @ BT(unlikely)?  btw it is pointless to ask any of the associates at this store (deer in headlights)  only the manager when she is there.  Pricing is the same as the standard BT.

I have never seen a store pick without the name of the store on the sticker.  Any one have any thoughts on this?

I just bought a bottle of BT in Austin that was a store selection. I only bought it because the manager was kind enough to sell me a bottle of W12 from her limited stash out back.  It was like $21.00 and some change.

This was the first bourbon I noticed the bubble gum taste you have mentioned in another post, it was just a bit too sweet. I'm hoping it will mellow out a little bit in the sweetness area. I'v had BT in a restaurant in Saginaw Michigan and it was very tasty with some vanilla and walnut/pecan flavor that I really enjoyed. It was the last of the bottle, which makes me think it may taste better after being open for a bit.

[chappy6107]

picked up a bottle.  I will post back after I open it.  I spoke to the manager today and she said that corporate had said nothing about having a store pick so she thinks it is a BT employee pick.

[chappy6107]

1 hour ago, Dango said:

I just bought a bottle of BT in Austin that was a store selection. I only bought it because the manager was kind enough to sell me a bottle of W12 from her limited stash out back.  It was like $21.00 and some change.

This was the first bourbon I noticed the bubble gum taste you have mentioned in another post, it was just a bit too sweet. I'm hoping it will mellow out a little bit in the sweetness area. I'v had BT in a restaurant in Saginaw Michigan and it was very tasty with some vanilla and walnut/pecan flavor that I really enjoyed. It was the last of the bottle, which makes me think it may taste better after being open for a bit.

heres to hoping i get that bubble gum smell again.

[Patrick_OKC]

53 minutes ago, chappy6107 said:

picked up a bottle.  I will post back after I open it.  I spoke to the manager today and she said that corporate had said nothing about having a store pick so she thinks it is a BT employee pick.

Looks like Spec's. Just guessing, based on one I bought in Plano a couple of weeks ago, but have not yet opened. 

[0895]

Where I live,

many of the BT store picks are done by sending the store three different sample bottles

and then the store picks which one they want.

I've done a few of these tastings and there always seems to be at least one terrible sample,

one middle of the road (ho-hum)

and one spectacular one.

I know palates and personal taste varies, but when you let 100+ people sample and vote,

the results still show the above to be true.

 

Sometimes the stores will just let a few good customers taste, sometimes many customers vote,

but the manager almost always has the final say. 

 

Edited October 26, 2017 by 0895

[chappy6107]

23 hours ago, Patrick_OKC said:

Looks like Spec's. Just guessing, based on one I bought in Plano a couple of weeks ago, but have not yet opened. 

You are correct good sir.  The manager at my store seems to think this was picked by BT and not by Spec's though.  Maybe your store has different information about the bottle?

[Harry in WashDC]

Seems to be several ways this gets done.  One store I sort of trust followed 0895's process for a recent (Saz/notBT) pick.  They got three samples.  Store personnel tasted them and chose one which sold at $2 above the MSRP for the basic offering.  I've been happy with their "staff" picks from other distilleries so took a chance.  It was fine.  Well, THEY ARE fine - I bought a bottle, tasted it, then went back for another.

 

Another time, same store also sent several staff members to a distillery.  They tasted six barrels (IIRC, could have been five).  Were going to choose one, ended up choosing two.  I helped them reduce their inventory a lot.  Name of the distillery withheld by royal censor, but if you are  a member of the cult . . .

 

Another store which I really trust usually sends staff to a distillery.  They also have tastings with persons from the maker there.  Sometimes, they do the sample route.  In each case, they are MORE than up front on what they are doing. 

[Patrick_OKC]

42 minutes ago, chappy6107 said:

You are correct good sir.  The manager at my store seems to think this was picked by BT and not by Spec's though.  Maybe your store has different information about the bottle?

After double-checking the receipt, turns out that I bought it at The Colony store, not Plano. I visit both of them. Ha. 

 

If you're in Princeton, is The Colony your closest Specs?

[chappy6107]

.

Edited October 27, 2017 by chappy6107

[chappy6107]

7 minutes ago, Patrick_OKC said:

After double-checking the receipt, turns out that I bought it at The Colony store, not Plano. I visit both of them. Ha. 

 

If you're in Princeton, is The Colony your closest Specs?

No there is a store on the edge of Mckinney/Princeton on hwy 380.  It is called the lowry crossing store.  Next closest one is in The Colony, then Plano.

[Patrick_OKC]

3 minutes ago, chappy6107 said:

No there is a store on the edge of Mckinney/Princeton on hwy 380.  It is called the lowry crossing store.  Next closest one is in The Colony, then Plano.

Okay. Roger that.

[chappy6107]

12 minutes ago, Patrick_OKC said:

Okay. Roger that.

 

BTW have you ever had their crown royal maple pecan pies?  they are supposed to be available/for sale in the next week or 2

[Patrick_OKC]

5 minutes ago, chappy6107 said:

 

BTW have you ever had their crown royal maple pecan pies?  they are supposed to be available/for sale in the next week or 2

Holy crap! I haven't, but it does sound pretty good. That presents a dilemma for me, as I have managed to lose over 30 pounds over the last few months, and I do like CR and pecan pie. I may need to save my calories for EW Egg Nog. 

 

FWIW, when Spec's opened their first Dallas store, it had a good-sized deli and other food products for sale. They have reduced the deli footprint over the last few years however. I was in the Fort Worth store a couple of years ago, and the manager told me it was the chain's largest store. They had a deli, but I didn't take a look.

 

Now, thanks to you, I will be on the lookout for a CR Maple pecan pie over the next couple of weeks. How will i explain this to the wife?

[bourbon4all]

Supposedly a local store is getting a buffalo trace barrel and they had no part in selection. I was told it was chosen by glazers (distributor) which makes sense because I have seen some single scotch barrels labeled Kansas