Guardian Enzo Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Good evening, all. Ran across something odd, and wanted to see if anyone had any idea what might be going on here. I'm in Japan, and someone is selling a bottle of the 2019 Small Batch LE that's 56.6% ABV. Now, every bottle I've ever seen is 56.3, and I'm not aware that there's proof variation with these (and even if there is, I can't find a single reference to a similar bottle). Just what do we think might be happening here? It seems unlikely to be a fake - though who knows. Is it possible 4R actually wrote the wrong proof on the label? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richnimrod Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 14 minutes ago, Guardian Enzo said: Good evening, all. Ran across something odd, and wanted to see if anyone had any idea what might be going on here. I'm in Japan, and someone is selling a bottle of the 2019 Small Batch LE that's 56.6% ABV. Now, every bottle I've ever seen is 56.3, and I'm not aware that there's proof variation with these (and even if there is, I can't find a single reference to a similar bottle). Just what do we think might be happening here? It seems unlikely to be a fake - though who knows. Is it possible 4R actually wrote the wrong proof on the label? Well, "typos" are a very real thing. It is possible one slipped by the proofreader, and some group of bottles went overseas with a slight error on the label. Not certain what the US government rules are about exported spirits; but, maybe they are less attentive (if that's even possible) about accuracy on exported bottles? Interesting little tidbit, for sure, though ultimately even if the label is accurate (if this isn't a counterfeit) a very minor difference, I'd say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardian Enzo Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 1 minute ago, Richnimrod said: Well, "typos" are a very real thing. It is possible one slipped by the proofreader, and some group of bottles went overseas with a slight error on the label. Not certain what the US government rules are about exported spirits; but, maybe they are less attentive (if that's even possible) about accuracy on exported bottles? Interesting little tidbit, for sure, though ultimately even if the label is accurate (if this isn't a counterfeit) a very minor difference, I'd say. Agreed - and thanks for the response. I'm not concerned about a difference in proof at that level at all - more just wanting to be certain that A., the bottle is legit and B., it's for all intents and purposes the same bourbon as the "correctly" labeled 56.3%. Would you feel pretty confident on those terms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richnimrod Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 2 minutes ago, Guardian Enzo said: Agreed - and thanks for the response. I'm not concerned about a difference in proof at that level at all - more just wanting to be certain that A., the bottle is legit and B., it's for all intents and purposes the same bourbon as the "correctly" labeled 56.3%. Would you feel pretty confident on those terms? Personally? I'd have to see it compared with at least a few other bottles from that area's retailers and make sure all the labels are identical. That might be the best you can reasonably do as far as authentication, if you can't get folx at 4-R or someone on this board to confirm that such a glitch has been known to have occurred. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 Is it a 700ml bottle? May be the slight proof difference occurred on the export batch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 If I recall correctly, this was brought up once before and confirmed to be a authentic variation (maybe a prior release?). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted March 21, 2020 Share Posted March 21, 2020 I seem to recall that sometimes alcohol content is measured by weight, other times by volume. The percentages won't be exactly the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardian Enzo Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 7 hours ago, flahute said: Is it a 700ml bottle? May be the slight proof difference occurred on the export batch. It is, but as I said all the other 700ml bottles I've seen (including in Japan) still say 56.3. That's why it struck me as odd. Would love to check with 4R but in the current situation that understandably might be difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vosgar Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Is the abv still hand written on the bottles like this 2015? If so, I'd venture it was just a simple mistake made on the bottling line and nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardian Enzo Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 18 minutes ago, Vosgar said: Is the abv still hand written on the bottles like this 2015? If so, I'd venture it was just a simple mistake made on the bottling line and nothing more. Yup, hand-written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeTerp Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Since these are handwritten my guess is that it was just a mistake. I bought an Abraham Bowman that was labeled as 73.5% and 146.1 proof. They just messed up and didn't label it as 73.05%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 8 hours ago, JoeTerp said: Since these are handwritten my guess is that it was just a mistake. I bought an Abraham Bowman that was labeled as 73.5% and 146.1 proof. They just messed up and didn't label it as 73.05%. Or, 147 proof... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeTerp Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 On 3/25/2020 at 8:45 AM, smokinjoe said: Or, 147 proof... No, it was 146.1 they mentioned that a number of times at the event and they fixed the bottles that went out afterwards but mine still says 73.5%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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