Similar bourbons to Blanton's

[flahute]

10 hours ago, Arkady said:

Total Wine wouldn't be pushing Calumet (unless it was a store pick).

Oh yes they would. (And do.)

[GeeTen]

3 hours ago, flahute said:

Oh yes they would. (And do.)

And if it was a TW, take it back and ask for a refund.  They have the most liberal "return policy" in the business (probably because they get so much product coming back to their stores?).      

 

[Dannabis]

On 4/9/2018 at 11:43 AM, Cranecreek said:

Davey,

 

Yours is rather a sad story.  I am afraid you got snookered here on this Calumet.  You may notice that the label says "Bourbon Whiskey"  not  Straight  Bourbon Whiskey.  This means that your bottle is only 2 year old bourbon and not the 4 required for straight bourbon, without an age statement.  If there is any way you can return it and exchange for any of the recommendations posted previously I encourage you to do so.  I may suggest one that will make an awesome gift for around $40 that would be the... " Col. E. H. Taylor Small Batch "  It comes in an impressive looking tube and would make an unquestionably good choice for you.

Straight bourbon is 2 years old so its probably younger

[Cranecreek]

6 minutes ago, Dannabis said:

Straight bourbon is 2 years old so its probably younger

They probably use as much young whiskey as they can blended with older.  Whenever I see the word straight omitted from the label I know something is going on with the contents that prevents the producer from using the term.  Another example is Michters US #1 "Bourbon Whiskey"  Not at all a bad Bourbon, but you know there is some filler in there.

[Dannabis]

I am glad to read about Calumet cause it looks great, the marketing has had me almost buying this and now i will not.

[EarthQuake]

It's an anonymous comment on the internet, so take it with a grain of salt, but on Sku's review this was posted:

 

Quote

Anonymous said... I actually work for Bird Dog who makes this. This is our 10+ year. High corn, 18% rye, 8% barley. It goes Lexington 4-8 year blend, Bird Dog small batch 150 barrels 8-10 year blend, Bird Dog Very Small Batch 10 year, 150 barrels 90 proof, then Calumet 10+ year blend because they don't know the exact age of the barrels over 10 years.

Interesting if true, and pretty stupid of them not to slap a 10 year age statement on it if it is. Most of the reviews don't say this is terrible/tastes young, just that it's more like $20 than $50 bourbon. Amusingly, now I want to try it and see for myself lol, but I won't. One of the reviews speculated that it tasted like Heaven Hill, but I don't think HH makes a mash bill like that, and I'm not sure who does. Any guesses?

 

They also do a 10 year age stated "Single Rack" product, whatever the hell that means.

Edited April 11, 2018 by EarthQuake

[CUfan99]

12 minutes ago, EarthQuake said:

It's an anonymous comment on the internet, so take it with a grain of salt, but on Sku's review this was posted:

 

Interesting if true, and pretty stupid of them not to slap a 10 year age statement on it if it is. Most of the reviews don't say this is terrible/tastes young, just that it's more like $20 than $50 bourbon. Amusingly, now I want to try it and see for myself lol, but I won't. One of the reviews speculated that it tasted like Heaven Hill, but I don't think HH makes a mash bill like that, and I'm not sure who does. Any guesses?

 

They also do a 10 year age stated "Single Rack" product, whatever the hell that means.

How could they slap a 10 year age statement on something with 4 to 8 year barrels in it?

[flahute]

3 hours ago, CUfan99 said:

How could they slap a 10 year age statement on something with 4 to 8 year barrels in it?

Re-read the quote.

[CUfan99]

12 minutes ago, flahute said:

Re-read the quote.

Ah. I was thinking that whole lot went into the Calumet. 

[Harry in WashDC]

4 hours ago, EarthQuake said:

. . .One of the reviews speculated that it tasted like Heaven Hill, but I don't think HH makes a mash bill like that, and I'm not sure who does. Any guesses?

 

They also do a 10 year age stated "Single Rack" product, whatever the hell that means.

FWIW, modernthirst's blog (https://modernthirst.com/home/bourbon-whiskey-mash-bills/) lists some mash bills really close to the 74 corn, 18 rye, 8 barley.  Diageo's IWH (not the 15 year) is listed as 73, 18, 9.  B-F's Cooper's Craft is listed as  72, 18, 10.  Saz/BT's Blantons and AA are rumored to be 12 to 15% rye.  MGPI sells 75, 21, 4 and 60, 36, 4 and 51,0, 49 to NDPs; I haven't tried virtually blending some of those to come up with a 74, 18, 8.  (Am watching the 9th inning of Atl at Nats with score tied.  I needed a distraction, and this was it.)

[GeeTen]

14 hours ago, Harry in WashDC said:

FWIW, modernthirst's blog (https://modernthirst.com/home/bourbon-whiskey-mash-bills/) lists some mash bills really close to the 74 corn, 18 rye, 8 barley.  Diageo's IWH (not the 15 year) is listed as 73, 18, 9.  B-F's Cooper's Craft is listed as  72, 18, 10.  Saz/BT's Blantons and AA are rumored to be 12 to 15% rye.  MGPI sells 75, 21, 4 and 60, 36, 4 and 51,0, 49 to NDPs; I haven't tried virtually blending some of those to come up with a 74, 18, 8.  (Am watching the 9th inning of Atl at Nats with score tied.  I needed a distraction, and this was it.)

 

Wow, Harry - I've got goosebumps up & down my arms reading this.  And I thought I was a bourbon geek.  I'm NOT worthy ....... 

 

[fishnbowljoe]

No disrespect to the OP meant here. I just can't take it any more. My weird sense of humor finally got the best of me and I just have to. 

 

Bourbons similar to Blanton's? Blanton's Gold and Blanton's Straight From The Barrel. What can I say? 

 

 

 

Biba! Joe

[Cranecreek]

On 4/11/2018 at 8:17 AM, Cranecreek said:

Whenever I see the word straight omitted from the label I know something is going on with the contents that prevents the producer from using the term.  Another example is Michters US #1 "Bourbon Whiskey"  Not at all a bad Bourbon, but you know there is some filler in there.

This example of Michters US #1 was true a few years back , but I see whats on the shelf now is labeled as "Straight Bourbon"

Edited April 12, 2018 by Cranecreek

[Davey_Ziegler]

As an added note, I had also sent an email to Blanton's. It was a few weeks before I received a reply, but this was their response:

 

Thanks for taking the time to write to us.  Sorry you are having trouble finding Blanton's in your area.  We are experiencing a tremendous demand for our wonderful Blanton's bourbon and simply can't keep up with supply. 

Rockhill Farms, Hancock Reserve, and Elmer T. Lee are all single barrel bourbons with the same mashbill as Blanton's.  They will have a very similar taste profile.

[kevinbrink]

2 hours ago, Davey_Ziegler said:

As an added note, I had also sent an email to Blanton's. It was a few weeks before I received a reply, but this was their response:

 

Thanks for taking the time to write to us.  Sorry you are having trouble finding Blanton's in your area.  We are experiencing a tremendous demand for our wonderful Blanton's bourbon and simply can't keep up with supply. 

Rockhill Farms, Hancock Reserve, and Elmer T. Lee are all single barrel bourbons with the same mashbill as Blanton's.  They will have a very similar taste profile.

"Sorry to hear you can't find our bourbon here are some that are harder to find!"  They should have added that if you visit Kentucky you can see it in the warehouses where they store it so they can maintain the current demand levels for their products. Or you can go to one of the states where it is always on the shelves and where they create artificial demand for one of their other mashbills or product lines.  

[CUfan99]

3 hours ago, kevinbrink said:

"Sorry to hear you can't find our bourbon here are some that are harder to find!"  They should have added that if you visit Kentucky you can see it in the warehouses where they store it so they can maintain the current demand levels for their products. Or you can go to one of the states where it is always on the shelves and where they create artificial demand for one of their other mashbills or product lines.  

As the kids say...savage!

[JCwhammie]

19 hours ago, Davey_Ziegler said:

As an added note, I had also sent an email to Blanton's. It was a few weeks before I received a reply, but this was their response:

 

Thanks for taking the time to write to us.  Sorry you are having trouble finding Blanton's in your area.  We are experiencing a tremendous demand for our wonderful Blanton's bourbon and simply can't keep up with supply. 

Rockhill Farms, Hancock Reserve, and Elmer T. Lee are all single barrel bourbons with the same mashbill as Blanton's.  They will have a very similar taste profile.

ETL and RHF are even more difficult to find than Blanton's where I live. I go back to my first response to your original question: grab a John J Bowman single barrel. 

[Dannabis]

I always passed on Blanton's when it was constant

ly on shelves everywhere for 50 - 60$ (per 750mL)  

 

There's just so many delicious bourbons available more cheaply. 

 [i.e. OGB BIB 1 liters @ $30]

 

Now that it is never on any shelves near me, I don't really miss it, other than it has a novel bottle and cork topper.

 

This may be blasphemy but if I had to grab a bourbon and wanted to get some of the traits of Blanton's, I might reach for EW 1783  (don't hurt me for saying this)

Edited April 30, 2018 by Dannabis

[alcoholica]

i had a distributor rep try to push Calumet on me. I just chuckled and said I'd pass. If it was any good, I'd heard of it by now. Same for most on here.

 

i like Blanton's, but definitely think it's a bit overrated. I'd take RR SB any day over it.