4R Small Batch Select

[mosugoji64]

11 hours ago, flahute said:

 

At one point in the recent past, approximately 50% of 4R distilling and warehouse capacity was dedicated to Bulleit. They are no longer distilling but Bulleit barrels are still sitting in the warehouses. Last year a 13yr OESK got dumped into Bulleit. That one hurt.

Let's just hope it was a substandard barrel ...

[gmiller598]

Anyone in KY seeing this regularly in stock yet? I'd like to make a trip to get some since OH isn't on the agenda yet. A couple of places in NKY have indicated that they have gotten some but I don't know if they have substantial stock or if they all disappeared by now? Since its not intended to be a limited product I won't make a special trip if I have to hunt for it.

[Paddy]

My local Kroger’s all have multiple case displays, so it seems to be plentiful.

[GeeTen]

7 hours ago, Paddy said:

My local Kroger’s all have multiple case displays, so it seems to be plentiful.

 

Kroger's in Bardstown and TW in Lexington had lots last Saturday and Sunday.   I really liked the FRSmB Select @ 104pf and brought back a few (!?!) to Beantown.  Who knows when we'll see it up here.    

[dad-proof]

Went in to buy beer for the office at lunch, and was offered a bottle "from the back." Confirmed that meant MSRP, which it did, so I got a bottle. Opened, and enjoying the first pour. As mentioned above, it almost comes across as a blend of 4R and WT profiles, and I typically prefer WT to 4R, so this is a win for me. Good flavor, body, and drinking proof.  Reserving judgement, but likely to be my favorite of the standard 4R releases, and better than some of the middling single barrel picks, but not the "wow" factor of a honey barrel pick.

[Mako254]

40 minutes ago, dad-proof said:

Went in to buy beer for the office at lunch, and was offered a bottle "from the back." Confirmed that meant MSRP, which it did, so I got a bottle. Opened, and enjoying the first pour. As mentioned above, it almost comes across as a blend of 4R and WT profiles, and I typically prefer WT to 4R, so this is a win for me. Good flavor, body, and drinking proof.  Reserving judgement, but likely to be my favorite of the standard 4R releases, and better than some of the middling single barrel picks, but not the "wow" factor of a honey barrel pick.

 

1) Y’all hiring??

 

2) A buddy picked one up for me in Georgia, looking forward to it. 

 

Does it have more oomph than standard 100 proof single barrel? Ideally, I’d like to see it 107-111 ish but also know that Brent and Co are limited by 120 BEP and 6 tier high rickouses. They needed to keep this at a manageable proof so as not to limit available stocks. 

[dad-proof]

4 hours ago, Mako254 said:

Does it have more oomph than standard 100 proof single barrel?

If by oomph you mean more body and flavor, I would say yes. If you hoping for more of a Kentucky hug, you'll likely be disappointed. If anything the blend with lower rye mashbills makes it smoother, as much as I hate to use that word.

[Limegoldconvertible68]

I just picked up my first bottle of this one and really enjoy it. The label says it’s made with 6 and 7 yr old barrels. I’ve only been able to find it in a few stores and most are well over MSRP. I got my bottle for $59.99. It’s definitely 4 Roses but very unique at the same time. If you see it close to MSRP I think it’s a must buy.  The store I bought it from told me they have one of the cheapest prices for it in all of Kentucky so Maybe I’m gullible but his comments are what sold me on it. 

[Phil T]

On 5/1/2019 at 11:09 PM, gmiller598 said:

Anyone in KY seeing this regularly in stock yet? I'd like to make a trip to get some since OH isn't on the agenda yet. A couple of places in NKY have indicated that they have gotten some but I don't know if they have substantial stock or if they all disappeared by now? Since its not intended to be a limited product I won't make a special trip if I have to hunt for it.

I was at several N. Ky/Cincy area stores last weekend.  No Select to be found. But when I stopped at a couple Liquor Barns in Louisville, they were very flush. $59.99. The Kroger in Bardstown had it for $54.99, and they had a ton.

[gmiller598]

I was at several N. Ky/Cincy area stores last weekend.  No Select to be found. But when I stopped at a couple Liquor Barns in Louisville, they were very flush. $59.99. The Kroger in Bardstown had it for $54.99, and they had a ton.

I wonder how far I need to go to find it. The NKY stores are probably getting raided by Ohio people like me.

[ondarocks]

16 hours ago, gmiller598 said:

I wonder how far I need to go to find it. The NKY stores are probably getting raided by Ohio people like me.

I had a pour last night. Nice, smooth. Worth $60? Not IMO. Maybe I'll buy a bottle for $60 but won't be rushing out for a 2nd at that price. I'll let the taters chase after this shiny object and wait for their attention to turn elsewhere. 

[ondarocks]

21 hours ago, ondarocks said:

I had a pour last night. Nice, smooth. Worth $60? Not IMO. Maybe I'll buy a bottle for $60 but won't be rushing out for a 2nd at that price. I'll let the taters chase after this shiny object and wait for their attention to turn elsewhere and the price drops to $50. 

 

[CUfan99]

23 hours ago, ondarocks said:

I had a pour last night. Nice, smooth. Worth $60? Not IMO. Maybe I'll buy a bottle for $60 but won't be rushing out for a 2nd at that price. I'll let the taters chase after this shiny object and wait for their attention to turn elsewhere. 

I think MSRP is $55-60 so tater demand doesn’t appear to be a factor. Most likely it’s a $60 proposition or nothing in your market. I’ll for sure try it once for that price. 1 pour just isn’t enough for me to form an opinion unless it’s terrible. 

[Clueby]

Yeah, the initial demand of the first rush drove tater-ville crazy for a bit to be the first on the block with it.  I assume it will be readily available most everywhere in its distribution territory shortly.  I was tempted to order one in mail-order but I resisted.  It's sold out at any of the usual online-shipping suspects but again, I'm not in a hurry.

[markandrex]

On 5/1/2019 at 10:09 PM, gmiller598 said:

Anyone in KY seeing this regularly in stock yet? I'd like to make a trip to get some since OH isn't on the agenda yet. A couple of places in NKY have indicated that they have gotten some but I don't know if they have substantial stock or if they all disappeared by now? Since its not intended to be a limited product I won't make a special trip if I have to hunt for it.

All over the place in Bowling Green.  More than enough for everyone.

[alcoholica]

On 2/6/2019 at 11:48 PM, flahute said:

WT101 is also an outlier in terms of general age, proof, and price. If that's the value bar by which you judge all others, then a very large number of whiskies get eliminated. 

It's not always about value. It's sometimes about quality, enjoyment and uniqueness.

Agree, WT101 maybe the best value in bourbon

On 2/7/2019 at 4:35 PM, Mako254 said:

 

I seem to recall bernie lubbers saying EW BiB is 5 year juice though it was a couple years ago. 

 

Episode 68 (3-12-19) of This is my Bourbon Podcast has Bernie Lubbers as a guest. Roughly a 2hr episode, but worth it. Really like hearing his takes on things. Anyway, around the 1hr 34min mark he comments about how they start off at 5 yrs with EW Black and go up. 

 

On a side note, it’s a decent podcast overall. Not overly consistent , so some episodes absolutely kill it and some fall flat. They did an episode with Dixon Dedman that was really good. 

 

[The Black Tot]

The cynic in me says this is a dumping ground for the imbalance of recipes in the rackhouse, possibly brought about by the success of the 4 recipe small batch.

 

All the other 6 recipes that nobody is choosing as a barrel pick.

 

The optimist in me is saying maybe they'll fill the new warehouse void this creates with a big wave of OESO.

[JoeTerp]

13 minutes ago, The Black Tot said:

The cynic in me says this is a dumping ground for the imbalance of recipes in the rackhouse, possibly brought about by the success of the 4 recipe small batch.

 

All the other 6 recipes that nobody is choosing as a barrel pick.

 

The optimist in me is saying maybe they'll fill the new warehouse void this creates with a big wave of OESO.

But this has the K's in there.  OBSK seems to be as absent as either of the O's on barrel picks and the K's frequently are contributors to the LESmB's.

[0895]

1 hour ago, The Black Tot said:

The cynic in me says this is a dumping ground for the imbalance of recipes in the rackhouse, possibly brought about by the success of the 4 recipe small batch.

 

All the other 6 recipes that nobody is choosing as a barrel pick.

 

The optimist in me is saying maybe they'll fill the new warehouse void this creates with a big wave of OESO.

 

1 hour ago, JoeTerp said:

But this has the K's in there.  OBSK seems to be as absent as either of the O's on barrel picks and the K's frequently are contributors to the LESmB's.

 

Lets not forget that yellow label has all 10 recipes in it, so if you were going to dump something...

 

if anything, I personally think it’s a project designed to relieve stress on the “O” barrels.

I also partly agree that it might be designed to unload some “F” barrels. 

 

As as far as barrel picks go, if you search around on the web, you’ll see F yeast barrel picks are currently plentiful, followed by the massive amount of OBSQ that came out in the last two years. 

Then there’s V picks at cask strength, which were somewhat harder to find in 2015-2016, when I was trying to collect them all, but seem to have shown again. 

It certainly seems cyclical in my mind.

I think the other factor is that people have woken up.  4R cask strength bottles are not sitting around on shelves anymore.

 

I still get a mouthful of mint from SmBS.  It doesn’t do much for me.  Hopefully that changes. 

[TimeWillTell]

I'm fighting allergies right now (one side clogged, like having a hand tied behind my back) but I'm not loving the 4RSmBS. I'm not ready to throw in the towel as this is only my second pour but for now I'm not looking to buy another. 

[alcoholica]

2 hours ago, The Black Tot said:

The cynic in me says this is a dumping ground for the imbalance of recipes in the rackhouse, possibly brought about by the success of the 4 recipe small batch.

 

All the other 6 recipes that nobody is choosing as a barrel pick.

 

The optimist in me is saying maybe they'll fill the new warehouse void this creates with a big wave of OESO.

Well the OESV and OBSV are pretty popular picks from my experience. I think they realized a new label means they could charge more

[lcpfratn]

I really enjoy this bourbon. I enjoyed the first few small pours I had while we were in Bardstown, and I’m enjoying a nice pour this evening. Is it better than some of my favorite cask strength 4R private selections? Probably not, but it’s superior to the regular small batch and I think it’s better than the standard OBSV single barrel. Is it worth $60?...maybe not, but I suspect we’ll see it around $50 or just under $50 in a few years. I’ve seen it recently for $52.99 at Total Wine.

[Mako254]

Making anothe run at this...

 

Saw an interview w/ BE that (I think) one of the pursuit boys posted:

-F makes up less thab 5% of yellow/mellow label

-F production was bumped with the idea of a new offering in mind

-reading between the lines, 104 wasn’t random. They needed flexibility with available stocks and something 110+ would have painted them in a corner so to speak. 

 

Mako254 thinks:

-OBSK, OESK, OBSV, OESV are immediate buys if a decent price. 

-This is devastatingly sippable. It has enough proof and mouthfeel to satisfy. I still find the finish lacking 

-at $49.99 I’m absolutely a buyer and pouring frequently 

-at $59.99 it falls into the 1920 slot. A solid and consistent bottle but at $65 otd, I’m buying a store pick Russell’s or private select Roses. 

 

Mako

[flahute]

3 hours ago, The Black Tot said:

The cynic in me says this is a dumping ground for the imbalance of recipes in the rackhouse, possibly brought about by the success of the 4 recipe small batch.

 

All the other 6 recipes that nobody is choosing as a barrel pick.

 

The optimist in me is saying maybe they'll fill the new warehouse void this creates with a big wave of OESO.

I dunno man. Some of the best and favorite recipes are in this one.

[The Black Tot]

38 minutes ago, flahute said:

I dunno man. Some of the best and favorite recipes are in this one.

The honey barrels of these recipes, yes.  But consider your bias - your gang doesn't ever see the "blender barrels" that everyone keeps turning down.  Yet, something must be done with them - and you can't dump so much into yellow label that you shift the profile dramatically.

 

It does appear to send a message about how strained the O stocks are.