bourbon4all Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 3 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said: It always puzzles me as to why my favorite bourbon never seems to be chosen as bourbon/whiskey of the year. Joe so i don't think they count home blends. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FacePlant Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 4 hours ago, tanstaafl2 said: I have! Palates differ. At least as far as my own preference is concerned A was my least favorite of the three. But none of them are even close to some of the early batches. I will line em up and do a blind SBS and report back. Hopefully I can bring in another taster or two. In the SF competition this April they registered the A batch. Minnick has his take on his site. Apparently it came down to the EC A and the underdog Barrel Bourbon 11 and the rest is history. What might have been with the others to choose from? Especially since better palettes than mine favor others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bbstout Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 Being OCD...I did another SBS. A117 again. Tastes like salted caramel ice cream going down smooth for its proof. I don't care that I am in the minority and am going to pick up the last bottle I saw tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FacePlant Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Anyway EC BP might be the consensus winner for 2017? Now in 6 years the best barrels will be bottled as EC 18. 2023 could be worth the wait!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FasterHorses Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 9 minutes ago, FacePlant said: Anyway EC BP might be the consensus winner for 2017? Now in 6 years the best barrels will be bottled as EC 18. 2023 could be worth the wait!!! Ive always heard wheat peaks at 12 and the 18 and 23 are not nearly as tasty. More of a question than a declaration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radioyada Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 At the Whiskies of the World tasting earlier this month the EC18 was my favorite of the night, followed by he ECBP C917. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 1 hour ago, FasterHorses said: Ive always heard wheat peaks at 12 and the 18 and 23 are not nearly as tasty. More of a question than a declaration. EC isn't wheated so I'm not sure what you are referring to. Also, Papy Van Winkle 15yr might have a thing or two to say about wheat peaking at 12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FasterHorses Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 5 hours ago, flahute said: EC isn't wheated so I'm not sure what you are referring to. Also, Papy Van Winkle 15yr might have a thing or two to say about wheat peaking at 12. Sorry.. you are correct..really long day at work . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 8 hours ago, bourbon4all said: so i don't think they count home blends. I knew I was missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanstaafl2 Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 11 hours ago, Bbstout said: Being OCD...I did another SBS. A117 again. Tastes like salted caramel ice cream going down smooth for its proof. I don't care that I am in the minority and am going to pick up the last bottle I saw tomorrow. Nothing wrong with being in the minority! I have certainly been there before (WT Masters Keep 17 comes to mind). It just comes down to individual palate preference. I don't think A117 is ever likely to be one of my favorites after several blind SBS tries and none of the three new ones can stand up to some of the earlier batches for me. But that doesn't mean someone can't feel just the opposite! No matter how wrong they are... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 4 hours ago, FasterHorses said: Sorry.. you are correct..really long day at work . Happens to all of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theiano Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 I think this is a deserving title, especially when excluding all the different limited editions. FWIW I've had 3 different batches of ECBP, 139.4, A117 and B517. I thought that A117 was marginally better than 139.4, but overall I don't think there was much between them. I was too drunk to remember just how good B517 was after I opened it last Friday, but I know I liked it, and too hungover to give it a try for the rest of the weekend. In general, I wouldn't expect the quality to change too much from batch to batch, especially considering from one batch to the next they were under the same aging conditions for ~11.75 years. On the one hand increased demand can strain supply causing the quality of the barrels to be broadened, however on the other hand eliminating the AS on the EC12 frees up more barrels to choose from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbroo5880i Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 (edited) I thought the earlier batches, #1 and #3, were the most stellar. However, I still believe the new A117 and B517 stack up well to similarly priced and even higher priced bottles. I agree with the concern that this will now impact availability (already difficult) and possibly price. Some stores were already allocating and marking up significantly, now they have the "whiskey of the year" on their hands and future bottles will be from the same distiller and brand as the "whiskey of the year." I would much prefer Beam White or EW Black to be named "whiskey of the year." Edited November 23, 2017 by mbroo5880i 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dango Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Got one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamp55 Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 2 hours ago, Dango said: Got one. Congratulations! Nice get. I'll be interested in hearing how you like it, when you get around to cracking it open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dango Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 13 hours ago, Swamp55 said: Congratulations! Nice get. I'll be interested in hearing how you like it, when you get around to cracking it open. Sure will. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussianBourbonLover Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 Tasted the B517 out of a freshly opened bottle, and was very unimpressed. Hoping it tastes better after some time. For me, my favorite is still the 139.4 proofed, old series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RWBadley Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 37 minutes ago, RussianBourbonLover said: Tasted the B517 out of a freshly opened bottle, and was very unimpressed. Hoping it tastes better after some time. For me, my favorite is still the 139.4 proofed, old series. I agree about the 139.4 batch. My other favorite is from a while ago- the Hazmat batch at 140 something was stellar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueby Posted December 12, 2017 Share Posted December 12, 2017 I think I like batch 12 at 136 proof just a tad better than 11 at 139.4. They are pretty close though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 I really can't argue with this selection. I have found all batches to be extremely good, and consistently one of the best regular release BP offerings around. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcpfratn Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 I really can't argue with this selection. I have found all batches to be extremely good, and consistently one of the best regular release BP offerings around. Joe, I know I probably haven't tried as many batches as you have, but I still have to agree with your statement...ECBP is one of my favorite bourbons. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 5 minutes ago, lcpfratn said: Joe, I know I probably haven't tried as many batches as you have, but I still have to agree with your statement...ECBP is one of my favorite bourbons. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HH's body of work is A+ with this label! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bourbon Fanatic Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 All these good words about B517 makes me want to crack mine open. I want to wait though... Since this was the year that I REALLY got into bourbon (I've been drinking it for years, but just started really getting into it and bunkering this year) I thought it would be cool to get all (4) batches from this year to open at the same time to SBS. I also want to save all (4) bottles and maybe do something cool with them to commemorate this special year. I have an A117 and B517, just need the last (2) batches. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbroo5880i Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 I received an email today that one of the local chains was allowing customers to reserve bottles. I don't know if they have it in stock, have more coming in or are ordering more. I find it interesting that they still have or are getting more of this batch since there has been a release since it came out. I ended up with 3 bottles from a less frequent smaller chain. I find the sweet spot around 105 proof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcpfratn Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 All these good words about B517 makes me want to crack mine open. I want to wait though... Since this was the year that I REALLY got into bourbon (I've been drinking it for years, but just started really getting into it and bunkering this year) I thought it would be cool to get all (4) batches from this year to open at the same time to SBS. I also want to save all (4) bottles and maybe do something cool with them to commemorate this special year. I have an A117 and B517, just need the last (2) batches. Cheers!I’m pretty sure they are only having three releases in 2017, and that may be the standard release schedule going forward. I expect the next batch to be A118. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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