Michter's is on a mission

[Postal Grunt]

Here's an article that fills in the blanks on Michter's whiskey making for some of us.

 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/left-for-dead-the-comeback-story-of-michters-whiskey?ref=scroll

[Old Hippie]

Thanks for sharing @Postal Grunt . I know there are quite a few that don't care for Michter's due to history, whether misunderstood or not, but to my pallet they continue to put out quality whiskey at a fair, market value, price.

[kevinbrink]

I have no issue with the use of the Michter's branding it was out there and they claimed it, I think most take issue with this https://www.fredminnick.com/2015/03/07/trademark-fight-michters-responds-bombergers-calls-it-legal-wrangling/

[BottledInBond]

1 hour ago, Old Hippie said:

Thanks for sharing @Postal Grunt . I know there are quite a few that don't care for Michter's due to history, whether misunderstood or not, but to my pallet they continue to put out quality whiskey at a fair, market value, price.

I am clearly not a Michter’s lover. But, I don’t know how anyone can really refer to them as putting out quality whiskey at a fair market value price.....

 

Their age stated products are one of the worst values in American whiskey currently. The 2015-2017 batches of the 10 year bourbon and rye have been crap, as have the last couple releases of the 20 bourbon. (I haven’t tried the 2018 batches and to be totally fair I’ve hear the 18 10 bourbon was better than 15-17). Yet, while the products have not been very good, the prices keep climbing. M10 is always over $100 now and it just is not great whiskey. The last couple M20 pours I have had were very underwhelming and that is now $400 or more. People may think they look good on a bar but tasted blind I bet most people would pick many much cheaper products over M10. How can it be a good value when you can buy quality age stated stuff with known DSP such as ER10, Henry McKenna 10, Russell’s Reserve 10 etc. for a fraction of the cost of this NDP Michter’s 10? Hell, you can generally buy those same age stated quality 10 year products cheaper than the NAS entry level products in the Michter’s line....... 

 

Michter’s is just riding the boom, tricking people with some remains of reputation built back when they bottled some S-W juice in the 10/20. They are long out of that stuff and they aren’t bottling anything they distilled themselves yet. But they charge lots of money because people seem to be willing to give them lots of money regardless of the quality in the glass. 

 

And, end rant....

 

***the only current Michter’s product I would pay dollars for is the barrel strength rye. If you had to buy something from them, it’s the most reasonable quality for the money. But, there are better ryes for the price out there so I haven’t bought another bottle of that for a long time now either. And, of course Michter’s didn’t distill it either 

 

 

 

[DeepCover]

I don’t guess it’s a popular opinion, but I get why Michter’s has fans. I would gladly pay MSRP for any of the Michter’s ryes. I like them all (some more than others, of course).

[flahute]

For anyone wondering, the non disclosed Kentucky distillery that distills for them is Old Forester. 

I also have to agree with BIB on the value proposition. Michter’s was charging very high prices 4-5 years ago for everything. They were early to the premium pricing game. Others have caught up to them now so the contrast isn’t as large but that does not make them a value. 

[dcbt]

I have never purchased, or even tried, any Michters product, and I don't have any FOMO-related condition. 

[BottledInBond]

49 minutes ago, flahute said:

For anyone wondering, the non disclosed Kentucky distillery that distills for them is Old Forester. 

I also have to agree with BIB on the value proposition. Michter’s was charging very high prices 4-5 years ago for everything. They were early to the premium pricing game. Others have caught up to them now so the contrast isn’t as large but that does not make them a value. 

And I’ll buy the new OF rye for about $15 cheaper than the Michter’s standard rye, coming off the same stills, and the OF about 15 proof points higher. 

 

Or some OF 1920 for half the price of M10. The OF isn’t age stated like the M10 but I sure bet it would hold its own in a blind SBS with it

[DeepCover]

4 hours ago, BottledInBond said:

And I’ll buy the new OF rye for about $15 cheaper than the Michter’s standard rye, coming off the same stills, and the OF about 15 proof points higher. 

 

Or some OF 1920 for half the price of M10. The OF isn’t age stated like the M10 but I sure bet it would hold its own in a blind SBS with it

From my understanding the Michter’s ryes are a different mash bill, lower barrel entry proof, and a different yeast strain. I’m not sure how related the OF rye really is when comparing the 2. I like them both, but I still like the sweetness of the Michter’s offerings.

 

i’m with you on the OF1920, but that’s a high bar for me. I bought another OF1920 just this week. It’s head and shoulders above the Michter’s standard offering and the current M10 IMO.

[ThirstyinOhio]

On ‎3‎/‎1‎/‎2019 at 11:20 AM, BottledInBond said:

I am clearly not a Michter’s lover. But, I don’t know how anyone can really refer to them as putting out quality whiskey at a fair market value price.....

 

Their age stated products are one of the worst values in American whiskey currently. The 2015-2017 batches of the 10 year bourbon and rye have been crap, as have the last couple releases of the 20 bourbon. (I haven’t tried the 2018 batches and to be totally fair I’ve hear the 18 10 bourbon was better than 15-17). Yet, while the products have not been very good, the prices keep climbing. M10 is always over $100 now and it just is not great whiskey. The last couple M20 pours I have had were very underwhelming and that is now $400 or more. People may think they look good on a bar but tasted blind I bet most people would pick many much cheaper products over M10. How can it be a good value when you can buy quality age stated stuff with known DSP such as ER10, Henry McKenna 10, Russell’s Reserve 10 etc. for a fraction of the cost of this NDP Michter’s 10? Hell, you can generally buy those same age stated quality 10 year products cheaper than the NAS entry level products in the Michter’s line....... 

 

Michter’s is just riding the boom, tricking people with some remains of reputation built back when they bottled some S-W juice in the 10/20. They are long out of that stuff and they aren’t bottling anything they distilled themselves yet. But they charge lots of money because people seem to be willing to give them lots of money regardless of the quality in the glass. 

 

And, end rant....

 

***the only current Michter’s product I would pay dollars for is the barrel strength rye. If you had to buy something from them, it’s the most reasonable quality for the money. But, there are better ryes for the price out there so I haven’t bought another bottle of that for a long time now either. And, of course Michter’s didn’t distill it either 

 

 

 

I couldn't disagree more on the recent releases of M20 and M25 bourbons.  Yes, they are expensive, but I think they are fantastic.  As good as the earlier releases, maybe not, but they are still great whiskies in my opinion.

[BottledInBond]

I haven’t tried the 25 and wouldn’t for the insane pricing. I have had the recent 20 and while it certainly isn’t bad whiskey, I certainly don’t think it’s worth anywhere near the current $700 MSRP, let alone the gouging retailers that charge even higher or the crazy secondary prices. Again, I don’t think recent M20s are bad whiskey, I just think they are a terrible value currently.  

[ThirstyinOhio]

22 hours ago, BottledInBond said:

I haven’t tried the 25 and wouldn’t for the insane pricing. I have had the recent 20 and while it certainly isn’t bad whiskey, I certainly don’t think it’s worth anywhere near the current $700 MSRP, let alone the gouging retailers that charge even higher or the crazy secondary prices. Again, I don’t think recent M20s are bad whiskey, I just think they are a terrible value currently.  

That I can agree with....it was your statement of "The 2015-2017 batches of the 10 year bourbon and rye have been crap, as have the last couple releases of the 20 bourbon" that I didn't agree with.

[BottledInBond]

2 hours ago, ThirstyinOhio said:

That I can agree with....it was your statement of "The 2015-2017 batches of the 10 year bourbon and rye have been crap, as have the last couple releases of the 20 bourbon" that I didn't agree with.

Yes the way that was worded was more harsh than deserved in regards to the 20. Perfectly decent pour, just no where near $700 whiskey.

 

I truly haven’t liked the 10’s recently though..... even if it was a lot cheaper it just isn’t great whiskey for those years

[Obeezy1Kaneezy]

While I’m not super crazy over their stuff... The toasted barrel offerings have been really good.  Also the barrel strength Rye is always solid for me. 

[EarthQuake]

I got an M10 last year, it was $110 I think, I was apprehensive as people here seem to have bad opinions of Michter's in general. I got a CEHT Four Grain on the same day for $80. The M10 was the winner for sure, and I was a fan of the Four Grain. I haven't had any of the previous releases so I can't say if the 2018 M10 was any better or worse than usual, but I won't hesitate to grab another if given the chance.

 

I like OF 1920 but we're not talking the same flavor profile here. 1920 is more intense but clearly younger (and hot, even considering the high-ish proof). 1910 may be a little more apples to apples, but I prefer M10 by a wide margin (and I think the 1910 is pretty good). I also think the Eagle Rare, Henry McKenna, etc comparisons are off. Sure, those are 10 year age stated, but nowhere near the quality in my opinion. Good bourbon in their own right especially for the price, but I'm not going to confuse M10 and ER10 any time soon. M10, at least the bottle I had, tasted significantly older than 10 years and compares more to ER17 than ER10 in my mind.

 

Whether M10 is a bad value, I think there is a reasonable argument to be made there, but there isn't much with a similar flavor profile south of $80 these days. M20/M25 are overpriced for sure, I don't think there are many Bourbons worth more than $100 and none worth more than $200, so the pricing there is a bit nuts for sure. Honestly I don't really fault distilleries that charge high prices for the unicorn stuff. If some jerk is gonna flip it for $1000, I would prefer the money goes to the company making the whiskey (or bottling it, as the case may be) instead.

 

Also I just opened a bottle of the OF Rye, I can confirm that this doesn't taste much like the standard Michter's rye, and I would probably say I enjoy the OF Rye a bit more (I need more time with it). Hell of a value this OF Rye seems to be.

Edited March 11, 2019 by EarthQuake