alcoholica Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Two topics verged on me the other night. After some thought, I wanted to get some opinions on here. I was drinking some Weller 12, which is pleasantly oxidized right now. No offending barrel rush on the backside, but some nice spice that still lingers. As approachable and quality as this pour is, I don't see the hype. Maybe I just enjoys rye bourbons even more now. At $30, I really have trouble saying it's a best buy or high value. That's probably where it needs to be, IMHO. And we've all seen the $50 - $300 price tags on it and OWA. This has got to be hype from those that haven't sampled it....right? Maybe, I'm just way off. And I know that bourbon is a very subjective and personal thing. I get that, but this one had me scratching my head. So I decided to grab a pour of Old Fitz Prime 86pf. It's a wheater too and only a few proof pounds down. Not sure on age, but fair to say it lacks in comparison. Boy was I shocked. It drank above it's proof class for sure. Felt like it was putting out more raw flavor than the Weller 12 for sure. Not as complex for sure, but plenty of the traditional bourbon sweetness (some say maple too, but to me maybe more Karo), apple I think and this dusty peanut note. The Weller 12 was the better bourbon in my opinion, but it wasn't a blowout. But wasn't Prime like a $12 bourbon? To me it's a great pour to just kick back and enjoy. I think I have about 6 more 375ml, so i'll have to stretch them. Then I started to think about all the low proofers I've been enjoying, Beam Black 86, OGD 86, EW1783, EWSiB, HH Green 90, and Elijah Craig. I like the high octane stuff just as much as the next guy, but some of these offerings are just really good for random sipping. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCwhammie Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 10 minutes ago, alcoholica said: Then I started to think about all the low proofers I've been enjoying, Beam Black 86, OGD 86, EW1783, EWSiB, HH Green 90, and Elijah Craig. I like the high octane stuff just as much as the next guy, but some of these offerings are just really good for random sipping. Yup, it seems some out there reach for the big names. I like 4RYL, HH 6yr 90 proof, EC, etc. I've been thinking about grabbing EW black and WT81 just because. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 ^^^Given your affinity for the 'big boys' readily available value pours, maybe you should start a thread about which ones you don't think have been behaving badly during this boom. P. S. If you think the current Old Fitz Prime is a good value pour, I hope you were lucky enough to have been drinking it 25 years ago. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 I too have wondered, maybe the people that pay the crazy inflated prices haven't tried it before. Here's another question. Are they repeat customers for mid shelf bourbon at 10 times retail price? At some point, will everyone that wanted to have tasted it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcpfratn Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 FOMO, certainly drives a lot of purchases for hard to find whiskey. Hell, I still succumb to it on occasion! However, I do really like W12, and think it’s worth more than the recent retail pricing given the pricing on so many other things. I’d still be willing to pay $50...maybe $60 for it in the current market IF I didn’t already have quite a few bunkered. What comparable 12 year age stated wheated bourbon is currently priced as low as W12...are there any 12 year age stated bourbons priced that low currently? OWA, on the other hand, is overpriced to me at the new price point even though I think it’s also pretty good bourbon...doubling the price was just too much for that product! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richnimrod Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 9 hours ago, alcoholica said: So I decided to grab a pour of Old Fitz Prime 86pf. To me it's a great pour to just kick back and enjoy. I think I have about 6 more 375ml, so i'll have to stretch them. (NOTE: I edited your post here, alcoholica ....to save electrons... HA!) QUESTION: Are these 375's of OF Prime from years ago, or are they current vintage? Back in the day, OF Prime was a substantially different animal than the current stuff, and pretty good value pour, if one appreciated the sweeter profile. I'm not impressed by the current OFP; but, if offered a pour of stuff from back in the day, I'll gladly hold out my empty glass for a refill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoholica Posted May 25, 2019 Author Share Posted May 25, 2019 51 minutes ago, Richnimrod said: (NOTE: I edited your post here, alcoholica ....to save electrons... HA!) QUESTION: Are these 375's of OF Prime from years ago, or are they current vintage? Back in the day, OF Prime was a substantially different animal than the current stuff, and pretty good value pour, if one appreciated the sweeter profile. I'm not impressed by the current OFP; but, if offered a pour of stuff from back in the day, I'll gladly hold out my empty glass for a refill. I'm not sure how old it is. It is the 86 pf so probably pre-boomish. I was in KY, and stopped in at a rural liquor store and they said they had just gotten them in, so I bought all they had. No laser code on the bottle. Here in FL there's been some Beam Black 8y/o hitting the shelves again too. The running theory is that cases get misplaced in these large warehouses and poof someone moves something and finds them. I mean they haven't made Beam 8 y/o in a while, so no reason it should be hitting the shelves again. 10 hours ago, Paddy said: ^^^Given your affinity for the 'big boys' readily available value pours, maybe you should start a thread about which ones you don't think have been behaving badly during this boom. P. S. If you think the current Old Fitz Prime is a good value pour, I hope you were lucky enough to have been drinking it 25 years ago. You did note that they were either discontinued bottles or basically HH juice right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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