Evan Williams Single Barrel

[Thomm]

A few days ago, as I was ruminating on my weekly bottle purchase at my favorite local liquor store, I overheard a conversation and just couldn't keep my uneducated opinion to myself. It seems that customer Bill was bemoaning the apparent void on the shelf where a recently discovered (to him) bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel had once resided. He sought the help of an employee, who informed him of the recent decision by Heaven Hill to sell this particular whiskey in Kentucky only. At this point, I entered the conversation to reiterate that I also had heard of this seemingly strange decision, and the clerk reinforced the validity of this news by telling an anecdote which entailed several cases of EWSB quite suddenly disappearing as if they had been adorned with little horsey-top stoppers. 

Customer Bill was then left with the dilemma of finding a replacement for a bourbon that he had just recently come to enjoy quite a bit, and at a moderate price, to boot. He picked up a handle of Evan Williams black, then put it down. The clerk suggested the BIB, but customer Bill did not favor 100 proof bourbon.  

Nearly out of ammo, I squeezed the trigger one last time with the only alternative I knew, EW 1783.  In the end, partially because it only cost $16 a bottle, Customer Bill walked out with a 750 of 1783. Now here's my admission and a question for all of you. I have never had EWSB, but I have had 1783. Was I wrong in steering Customer Bill in this direction?  Do the two compare, or are they vastly different animals?

I doubt that old Bill will rue the day that he blew 16 hard-earned bucks on the advice of a liquor store novice, but I would love to know if anyone out there has compared the two.

[PaulO]

You did exactly what I would have done in that situation.

Several years ago (quite a few actually) I gave up on EWSB because the age dropped, and the whiskey got to tasting very boring and ordinary, not worth premium price.

EW 1783 brand recently got rebooted - 90 proof and 6 and 8 year old barrels.  A lot of bang for the buck. 

[CardsandBourbon]

You did a good thing.  Now reward yourself by going out and buying a bottle of 1783.  I still give a slight edge to the EWSiB but once they repackaged (and upped the proof) of the 1783 I tried a bottle.  I think it's a great value and has a good taste profile.  I also like the EW BIB too.  Being one of the chosen few that reside in the Commonwealth of Kentucky I can still get the EW SiB.

[mbroo5880i]

I would take a bottle of rebranded EW 1783 over any bottle of EWSiB from the past 5 years.

 

You may done Bill a bigger favor than you or he realized at the time.

 

Well done!

[Anwalt]

27 minutes ago, mbroo5880i said:

I would take a bottle of rebranded EW 1783 over any bottle of EWSiB from the past 5 years.

 

I tried the EW SiB recently.  One bottle, multiple tries.  It did very little for me.  Simply did not hit a spot at all.  Maybe a bad bottle, dunno.  Will acquire one of the 1783 and compare.

[mbroo5880i]

23 hours ago, Anwalt said:

 

I tried the EW SiB recently.  One bottle, multiple tries.  It did very little for me.  Simply did not hit a spot at all.  Maybe a bad bottle, dunno.  Will acquire one of the 1783 and compare.

In it heyday, EW SiB was a very good bourbon and very popular.  I recall people anxiously awaiting each year's new vintage.  Some stores made their own barrel picks some of which were quite stellar for the price.  Then demand for all things bourbon increased, the age dropped from 10 years to 7 or 8 years and it began its downward trajectory.  Now it just lingers on the shelf.  Not even announcing that it is becoming KY-only has convinced the local taters to snatch it up.  My guess is someday these bottles will be considered dusties.  Not due to vintage but due to dust and newcomers will encounter FOMO and it will disappear.

 

Too bad, because it seems like HH just gave up on it.  Maybe they wanted to focus on developing their EC and Larceny lines. Now, if they would just give up on Larceny and bring back Old Fitz in quantities and prices for the masses, then all would be forgiven.  

 

 

 

 

[B3Nut]

This explains a lot why Costco here stopped carrying EWSB. They have the standard EC now as their Heaven Hill offering, and frankly I think the EC is a better whiskey than the EWSB had been, even though I liked it and brought home a bottle any time I went to Costco. (I really want to know what happened to the Kirkland Signature bourbon they were selling from Barton...it disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared...only got 2 bottles of it...it was really nice....pooh.)