Rittenhouse BIB observations (old vs. new)

[chasking]

I have an old bottle of Ritt BIB from the Bardstown HH distillery (DSP 31).  It's been in the back of a shelf for many years and I had forgotten it was there, frankly.  So yesterday I bought a new bottle of Ritt BIB, only to find the old one when I got home.  But that allowed for an interesting side-by-side. 

 

One interesting puzzle:  the new bottle lists both DSP 1 (Louisville) and DSP 31 (Bardstown).  My understanding is that BIB whiskey has to be from one distillery so that seems inappropriate, although it would hardly be the first time liberties have been taken with labels.  (I have seen old bottles of David Nicholson 1843 that, according to the DSP number on the label, were from Stitzel-Weller but the internet assures me they were from long after SW closed and were distilled at Bernhiem.)  Still, I wonder why HH would put that on a bottle of whiskey in 2023 when DSP 31 burned down almost 30 years ago.

 

But on to comparison:  although the family resemblance was clear, they were different.  The newer version was smoother, sweeter and a little lighter in color in the glass.  The old one presented more rye spice and punched a little harder.  I'm really bad at giving meaningful tasting notes, but I did get a sense of some kind of sweet baked good in my mouth after sipping the new version.

 

Both were very pleasant.  For a while RItt BIB was my go-to "regular" rye but I had been trying other things and kind of got away from it.  It was nice to revisit an old pal.

 

I suppose this is of purely historical and academic interest since HH switched distilleries so long ago.  But if anyone else had observations about the switch and its effect on Rittenhouse I'd love to hear them.

[smokinjoe]

Hi Charles.  Sounds like a really interesting  comparison.  Your old bottle goes back even before the interim Brown-Foreman distilled Ritt after the fire.  What does that label look like?

As to the 2 DSP numbers, the 1 is the place of distillation, while the 31 is the place of bottling, so this does not nullify BIB status by being bottled at another DSP.  The current Early Times  BIB is similar with distillation being at BF, and bottling at BT.  

[LCWoody]

I just purchased a bottle that is a single barrel store pick and it does have 2 DSP numbers on it. Very interesting. 
And it’s better than the standard bottle, just in case anyone was wanting to know. 

Edited July 16, 2023 by LCWoody

[BottledInBond]

6 hours ago, chasking said:

I have an old bottle of Ritt BIB from the Bardstown HH distillery (DSP 31).  It's been in the back of a shelf for many years and I had forgotten it was there, frankly.  So yesterday I bought a new bottle of Ritt BIB, only to find the old one when I got home.  But that allowed for an interesting side-by-side. 

 

One interesting puzzle:  the new bottle lists both DSP 1 (Louisville) and DSP 31 (Bardstown).  My understanding is that BIB whiskey has to be from one distillery so that seems inappropriate, although it would hardly be the first time liberties have been taken with labels.  (I have seen old bottles of David Nicholson 1843 that, according to the DSP number on the label, were from Stitzel-Weller but the internet assures me they were from long after SW closed and were distilled at Bernhiem.)  Still, I wonder why HH would put that on a bottle of whiskey in 2023 when DSP 31 burned down almost 30 years ago.

 

But on to comparison:  although the family resemblance was clear, they were different.  The newer version was smoother, sweeter and a little lighter in color in the glass.  The old one presented more rye spice and punched a little harder.  I'm really bad at giving meaningful tasting notes, but I did get a sense of some kind of sweet baked good in my mouth after sipping the new version.

 

Both were very pleasant.  For a while RItt BIB was my go-to "regular" rye but I had been trying other things and kind of got away from it.  It was nice to revisit an old pal.

 

I suppose this is of purely historical and academic interest since HH switched distilleries so long ago.  But if anyone else had observations about the switch and its effect on Rittenhouse I'd love to hear them.

I did always think of the original Ritt as pretty spicy. Personally I really liked the interim BF juice. Then again I also really like the current Old Forester rye for a reasonably priced rye do that makes sense. I haven’t drank much Ritt for a while so I should probably revisit it. I wasn’t too impressed with the first few bottles after they switched from the BF. Fine but nothing special. 
 

I do think Ritt used to get more love from some of us at least partially due to how there used to be a lot less competition in rye. If you go back to 96’ when HH burned down, how many ryes were there regularly on the shelf at most liquor stores? Not many. Today we’ve got a ton of options (keeping in mind many of them are from the same sources in different bottles but still). The competition has gotten pretty serious. Ritt is a classic, but for me it’s just a mixer gif the most part these days. 
 

One more thought. Back in the days of DSP 31 Ritt, they didn’t have a higher end label in their lineup above it on a regular basis. There was probably older juice in the bottles pretty often. Today it is probably exactly 4 year old whiskey in every bottle of Ritt, while almost anything older goes into Elijah Craig Rye or Pikesville. Certainly a factor I’d think. 

[kcgumbohead]

On 7/16/2023 at 5:23 PM, LCWoody said:

I just purchased a bottle that is a single barrel store pick and it does have 2 DSP numbers on it. Very interesting. 
And it’s better than the standard bottle, just in case anyone was wanting to know. 

I've seen these in a couple stores and I am a Ritt fan fan but didn't feel compelled to take a flyer on the SB version. How would you describe it vs the standard batched version, better in what way?

 

 

[mbroo5880i]

On 7/16/2023 at 8:36 PM, BottledInBond said:

I did always think of the original Ritt as pretty spicy. Personally I really liked the interim BF juice. Then again I also really like the current Old Forester rye for a reasonably priced rye do that makes sense. I haven’t drank much Ritt for a while so I should probably revisit it. I wasn’t too impressed with the first few bottles after they switched from the BF. Fine but nothing special. 
 

I do think Ritt used to get more love from some of us at least partially due to how there used to be a lot less competition in rye. If you go back to 96’ when HH burned down, how many ryes were there regularly on the shelf at most liquor stores? Not many. Today we’ve got a ton of options (keeping in mind many of them are from the same sources in different bottles but still). The competition has gotten pretty serious. Ritt is a classic, but for me it’s just a mixer gif the most part these days. 
 

One more thought. Back in the days of DSP 31 Ritt, they didn’t have a higher end label in their lineup above it on a regular basis. There was probably older juice in the bottles pretty often. Today it is probably exactly 4 year old whiskey in every bottle of Ritt, while almost anything older goes into Elijah Craig Rye or Pikesville. Certainly a factor I’d think. 

 

I agree with your point about a lot more competition as more rye options have hit the shelves. 

 

I used to buy an occasional bottle of Ritt BIB but pass on it now as I much prefer WT101 or OFR100 at a lower price. I prefer EC Rye over Ritt BIB even at a lower proof for about the same price.

 

If I want to move to a slightly higher price, about $10 more, I can pick up Pikesville which is probably my favorite rye introduced over the last 10 years.  The issue with it is availability. I find the $10 premium well worth it for a superior whiskey.

[chasking]

On 7/16/2023 at 1:11 PM, smokinjoe said:

Hi Charles.  Sounds like a really interesting  comparison.  Your old bottle goes back even before the interim Brown-Foreman distilled Ritt after the fire.  What does that label look like?

Sorry, missed this back then.  For what it’s worth, here are the labels off the old bottle: