KBF pictures

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Well.......One of the babies has arrived. But it was small .... only 9 cases from barrel "01". Attached are some pics of the bottle and "souvenier" they included with the shipment. Of course, I had to taste it right away and its good stuff.....everything you'd expect from a Stitzel Weller whiskey.....probably not as complex as the Van Blankle.....but it needs a complete evaluation before tasting notes. The best news was the final price......$15.31 per bottle TI. I'll PM those who had a share in this barrel......12 bottles each......regarding delivery options, etc. Looking forward to the other barrels being bottled.

Randy

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Another pic.

[barturtle]

Wow, either they spent a lot of time cleaning up that barrel or that's a new one(seems either way like they spent a good bit on that)

I can't make out what the extra label says, does it say anything about being a single barrel?

Looks good, too bad I didn't know anything about it at the time...maybe next time if the checkbook says it's okay.

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They sanded it, varnished it and painted the barrel rings black. Looks nice. The "gold sticker" says "Single Barrel Of Stitzel-Weller Bourbon Distilled Summer '92 Bottled Fall "05".

Randy

[barturtle]

Super cool, all that and that seems like about the regular shelf price, hellava deal.

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This post is in response to several pm's asking about this barrel and Weller 12yo.

BT has a program that allows customers to taste from several barrels of a particular whiskey, select a favorite barrel, and bottle it with a personalized "sticker" or neck tag attached. I imagine HH, WT and Beam would do this too. This is mostly for the spirits trade.....liquor stores, bars, etc. Several members of this board have participated in selecting a single barrel of bourbon .... either for their related business or for personal consumption. Julian Van Winkle worked with me on purchasing a SB of his VWSR 12yo in August 2004 (which Ed subsequently coined it the "Van Blankle"). A group of SB'er's did a SB of BT during the Fest in '04. Now about this barrel.

Cliff (Barrel_Proof) organized a group tasting and purchase of a SB of Weller 12yo during the '05 Bourbon Fest. Kris Comstock and Ken Weber (both with BT) orchestrated the event and the pics posted above chronicle some of the activities related to the selection process. What we tasted were six barrels of whiskey distilled at the Old Fitzgerald Distillery (SW) in the summer of '92 that BT was going to use to blend with other wheated bourbon for its Weller 12yo. IOW, these barrels were to be included in a Weller 12yo blend if not purchased by us. Cliff devised a selection process where all tasters selected their two favorite barrels. The two getting the most votes were then put into a run-off and the group's winner was barrel "3". I personally liked barrel "01" (it didn't make the run-off)and I took a look at the votes. Five others also had picked "01" as one of their two favorites. I asked Kris if we could buy more than one barrel....."of course" he said. A quick poll indicated many of the group plus a few SB'ers who had been along for the tour would take a share of barrel "01". Sold! Cliff liked barrel "02" ..... so a third barrel was also bought. Please note......none of the barrels were off or bad......any would make a fine SB bourbon. As it turns out, my barrel got bottled first but the other two should be done shortly. We will have fun tasting these side by side for years to come! Thank you Kris and Ken for working with us on this project. Ken posted he is now the "Man" to contact if you want your own SB. If you buy a barrel.....you get the neat "souvenier"....whether the wife wants it or not.

I tasted this Weller 12yo last night during the Thur chat. Its easily identifiable as SW wheated bourbon. The wood notes are fairly light considering this was aged 160 months in the barrel. Cotton candy sweetness with vanilla and a buttery taste/mouthfeel make it almost too easy to drink (its 90 proof). Tasting it side by side with the Van Blankle, the Weller is a touch lighter and the Van Blankle somewhat richer......both excellent. And when price comes into play....there's not a better $15 bourbon in my opinion. The bad news....this barrel only made nine cases.

I'm certain some of this will show up at future SB.com social activities including the Sampler and Bourbon Fest.

Randy