bobbyc Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 I saw the newly labeled " Ridgemont Reserve" is on the shelves today. I held a bottle of Woodford Reserve beside the new bottle and asked the clerk How deep would one have to have their head in their ass to confuse the 2, pretty deep, she said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedVette Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeNell Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 Too bad we've never even seen either version in NY. Plenty of Woodford, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeNell Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Just got off the phone with a Barton guy. There's hope for us in Yankeedom! I'm told 1792 will be coming to NY in Jan/Feb 2005. (Also working on getting some VOB 100!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelshare Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Just got off the phone with a Barton guy. There's hope for us in Yankeedom! I'm told 1792 will be coming to NY in Jan/Feb 2005. (Also working on getting some VOB 100!) When we first joined the forum, one of the topics that piqued our interest was the relative acclaim for (then) Ridgewood Reserve. We just didn't get it. As long time Barton fans, the idea of a premium Barton sounds so great, but turned out to be such a letdown. As I recall, LeNell, you can get other Barton expressions in NY (although not 100)? Ironically, In VA, we can get Ridgemont Reserve, but not "plain old" VOB. Let's put it this way: I'll trade ya! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 I tend to agree, Dave, after tasting various bottles of Ridgemont Reserve and its predecessor. I find this premium version is like an older VOB but perhaps the oak goes too far and makes the result a bit dull. VOB strikes the perfect balance. Maybe a different mashbill would have been good or a blending of the house's rye and said Ridgemont, but (the lovely bottle aside) one wonders if this extra-aged VOB is a superfluity.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelshare Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Gary, I continue to be awed at your ability to articulate your impressions of a given whiskey in such a specific manner, dissecting the various tastes out of the whole and reviewing accordingly. My reactions tend to be very visceral, and I have a hard time circumscribing them with words.Having said that, I can't help but recall my dad's impression of RR 1792. My dad and I diverge in our tastes to a great extent; he has mixed soda with "premium" bourbon in ways that have made me cringe. BUT, he likes bourbon, and he loves VOB. He typically drinks it on the rocks. It is a tacit understanding that when we travel to KY or TN, we will bring him a bottle of VOB (his favorite is actually 86). When I gave him a splash of RR on the rocks, he grimaced and said, "This tastes like cheap liquor." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Maybe a different mashbill would have been good...I don't really know what to make of what I'm about to relate, but this seems like a good time and place. At the Gazebo Friday night, Barton master distiller emeritus Bill Brill (did I get that right?) and I spoke for a few minutes, and in the course of conversation I mentioned liking the Ridgewood/Ridgemont (which I do) and he mentioned that he was the one responsible for the RR 'mashbill'. Then he went on to relate that it is a blend of three different mash bills. I was enough taken aback that I repeated it back to him for confirmation. That's what he said.Again, I know not what to make of that, but unless he was pulling my leg for no good reason, that's the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted September 28, 2004 Share Posted September 28, 2004 Thanks for this information, and to Dave for his comments. Sorry I missed meeting the distiller (Bill Friel). Barton's is a fine name in distilling to be sure. I used to enjoy Kentucky Tavern in past years - haven't tried it lately - and wonder if its mash is one of the ones combined to form Ridgemont Reserve. Whatever the case, although I liked initial bottles of Ridgewood Reserve, since then I've come to feel the brand doesn't really offer much over VOB and perhaps is less good. I think, too, one cannot necessarily expect great results in the early years of a new brand. E.g. people have noted that Four Roses Single Barrel as recently released is better than the one released to Europe in earlier years. It often takes time to get things right. Barton has not tried to produce a long-aged whiskey (over 6 years) until recently. Others have been at it for longer and know how to get the right balance, e.g., Van Winkle. But then too, many people will like the current Ridgemont, taste is personal. I agree with Chuck in his new book that anyone can taste and, mainly, experience is required. Some knowledge of production methods and recipes is useful too. Chuck summarises in the book the main taste categories (e.g., flowers, fruity tastes, etc.) and it is a very helpful framework with which to approach bourbon and rye whiskey.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbyc Posted September 28, 2004 Author Share Posted September 28, 2004 Ed Phalen and I talked a bit with Bill at the Friday nite Gazebo function, 2003. He related that he worked for Glenmore for a time and we showed him the Mellow Mash to see if we could learn something of it. I offered him a taste of it and he said he'd just drink the one he made, which was Ridgewood at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeNell Posted October 3, 2004 Share Posted October 3, 2004 We can get Barclay, Kentucky Tavern, Kentucky Gentleman, Ten High, and VOB 86. I think my interest in the 1792 helped land some other products in NY, specifically the VOB 100 but also some Fleischman's rye. Let's just hope it all works out so we actually see these in NY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 LeNell, if you get your hands on Fleischman's rye whiskey please let us know. This is one of the few whiskeys of interest listed as currently available on a distiller's website (Barton's in this case) that has not been reviewed on these boards. (Any rye whiskey is of interest by definition ). In fact, I never have spied a bottle on the shelf. Perhaps (to borrow a metaphor from whisky writer Michael Jackson) it is like a retired film star who only makes infrequent appearances for her fans. Judging by Fleischman's Preferred American Whiskey, in which there is an evident, pleasing element of genuine rye whiskey, the original article, uncut, should be a good experience. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 I need possibly to take back my comment that Ridgemont Reserve does not trump Very Old Barton 86 proof. The reason is, the current Malt Advocate has a taste note on Ridgemont Reserve which states that the bourbon is rounder than the one offered previously as Ridgewood Reserve. The note (John Hansell's, I presume) states that the Ridgemont bottling lacks the aggressive, woody edge of Ridgewood Reserve. It is exactly that woodiness that put me off, too. It sounds like more than the name of the brand has changed, and for the better.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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