How the distillers present themselves

[cowdery]

Each year at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, members of the press receive a "goodie bag." Actually, it's mostly sales brochures and other paper. The only real "goodies" are the mini-bottles of bourbon, one (sometimes two) from each company.

Assuming the distilleries want to put their best food forward, it is interesting what they choose to include. One thing to remember is that, because of the regulatory expense of label approval, the products included will be only those for which the company is already making a mini. That, for example, may explain why Barton includes Ten High and not 1792. That may simply be the most representative bourbon it makes in the 50 ml size.

What follows is a list of the companies, followed by their offerings. The first list is the 2005 bag, the second list is for 2006.

2005 List

Buffalo Trace / Buffalo Trace

Brown-Forman / Woodford Reserve

Maker's Mark / Maker's Mark

Four Roses / Four Roses Yellow Label

Diageo / Bulleit

Wild Turkey / Wild Turkey 101

Heaven Hill / Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage

Jim Beam / Knob Creek

Barton / Ten High

2006 List (changes from 2005 in bold

Buffalo Trace / Buffalo Trace

Brown-Forman / Woodford Reserve

Maker's Mark / Maker's Mark

Four Roses / Four Roses Yellow Label

Diageo / Bulleit

Wild Turkey / Rare Breed

Heaven Hill / Evan Williams Black Label*

Jim Beam / Bookers

Jim Beam / Jim Beam Black Label

Barton / Ten High

* Curiously, although Heaven Hill has dropped the 7-year age statement from the Evan Williams label, it remains on the mini. Could be old stock, but it seems odd to include a discontinued label in a press kit.

[TNbourbon]

...* Curiously, although Heaven Hill has dropped the 7-year age statement from the Evan Williams label, it remains on the mini. Could be old stock, but it seems odd to include a discontinued label in a press kit.

Just checked the pair of EW Black minis Bobbi left for us in rooms at the GN -- they lack the age statement. So newer labels exist. You must have gotten old stock.

[Gillman]

If you were just to "grab" a bottle from Chuck's 2006 freebie list, which would it be? I'll give you first and second choices.

My choice: Rare Breed.

Second choice: Four Roses.

Gary

[FlashPuppy]

Hands down: Four Roses

Reason: I have never tasted it, and it isn't for sale here.

Second: Rare Breed

[barturtle]

Rare Breed

Bookers

[SBOmarc]

Buffalo Trace and Four Roses, neither are available out here.

[HighTower]

Heaven Hill has dropped the 7-year age statement from the Evan Williams label

I was wondering why they dropped the age statement, well...obviously it isn't 7 years old any more, but why do they remove it altogether...how old is it now?

I still have a sealed bottle (700mL) from when it was 8yo:cool: the colour is amazing!

Scott

And I'd take the Four Roses and Buffalo Trace, would love to try them both!

[cowdery]

They are now saying "extra aged" in their advertising. Like WT, they want the flexibility to use "mature" whiskey that has not reached seven summers. EW has become a big brand and I guess they hope that as long as it tastes more mature than JB or JD, they can get away without posting the age. Changing the age statement would call attention to the fact that they're using younger whiskey. No age statement is easy to miss.

[BobA]

I'd take the Four Roses over the BT. Neither is available here, I'd have a better shot at getting BT on some trip or other, and I've got lots of BT products in my stash.

Bob

[JeffRenner]

They are now saying "extra aged" in their advertising. Like WT, they want the flexibility to use "mature" whiskey that has not reached seven summers. EW has become a big brand and I guess they hope that as long as it tastes more mature than JB or JD, they can get away without posting the age. Changing the age statement would call attention to the fact that they're using younger whiskey. No age statement is easy to miss.

I remember Bettye Jo posting a number of months back that Max had come by and said to use nothing younger than 7 years in bottling EW. Wonder if that still applies.

Jeff

[cowdery]

Even if he did, that's kind of a scam, "getting the word out" that it's still 7 years old, but taking the age statement off the label. They took the age statement off the label for a reason. We can leave it at that.

[arsbadmojo]

No one is reaching for the Ten High???

I actually shouldn't say that; I've never tried it.