BOTM, 10/07: VOB Bottled in Bond

[jeff]

This month we're looking a bit lower on the shelf, but not down in quality. The folks at Barton know good bourbon. The Very Old Barton line has for years been a consistently good whiskey, minus the flashy packaging, which probably accounts for its high QPR. Visitors to the distillery will tell you too that not a lot of money is spent on flashy/touristy displays that add to the price per bottle. In fact, the distillery is not open to the general public at all, except by appointment.

Rumor has it that VOB BIB is on the endangered species list, so we are taking this opportunity to explore this bourbon while it is still available. And though this particular bottling is not found far and wide, any bourbon lover paying attention during the festival should have picked up a bottle or two to take back home.

Let's raise our glasses in toast to Greg Davis, Ken Pierce and all of the other fine folks at Barton for giving us October's BOTM: VOB BIB

:893drillsergeant-thSound off:893drillsergeant-th

FWIW, Barton is set to open a new Visitor's Center in 2009.

[mozilla]

When I visited Barton, Ken Pierce was nice enough to guide my tour. He is a very knowledgeable guy who is very down to earth. Most of the Barton family of workers have been at the distillery for multiple decades, includeing Sam Cecils son(bottling line). They don't put out many over aged products, 8 years is the oldest, which should keep their regular labels consistently flavored. No need to dumb down the age statement there. The barrel I was able to taste was 10 years old and ready to go into 1792.

[MurphyDawg]

I love the stuff. It is a darn shame that it isnt available where I live. I tend to prefer it over ice or in a manhattan. For the price, it is very hard to beat.

[cowdery]

VOB BIB has been one of my go-to bourbons for close to 30 years. It's good and it's cheap, a combination that is hard to beat. As for the rumored demise of the BIB, it's possible they are considering removing the BIB designation but continuing a 100 proof expression, which is mostly what I care about. I won't worry about it until it happens.

For me, VOB BIB is what I grab when I just want to drink some bourbon, but I don't want to think about it. It's also what I grab for mixing. Funny, since I can't buy it here, but I'm in Kentucky often enough and always buy it in the 1.75 L, so I always have plenty on hand.

[ratcheer]

Another one I will not be able to obtain, but there's nothing unusual about that.

Tim

[BourbonJoe]

VOB Bib. Great stuff, especially for the price. I took two pints along on my last Costa Rican fishing trip. Nothing like VOB, huge Tarpon and the sound of Howler Monkeys at twilight.

Joe :usflag:

[craigthom]

I was looking at the small bottle shelf today at Liquor Barn and saw 375s of Very Old Barton in 80, 90, and 100 proof. The 100 proof did not say "bottled in bond" anywhere on it, so there you go.

[Martian]

I've not seen it Dallas either.

[jburlowski]

I've (for no particular reason) generally passed over the Barton products. Based on this month's selection, I tracked down a bottle of VOB BIB. (Rather hard to find much of the BIB version around.)

I've having my first taste as lunch today as I type this (hey, it is Friday). Chuck is right, this is very good bourbon. Not outstanding, but quite a nice pour. Nicely balanced and rather mature-tasting for its six year age. It's great on its own as I having it now. I imagine it would also make a damn fine Manhattan.

And this is a phenomenal bargain at $11.99!! I'm going back to grab a few more bottles while I still can.

Thanks for the BOTM designation ---- it led me to discover an unknown (at least to me) treasure.

[mozilla]

I've not seen it Dallas either.

Martian,

Give a dusty bottle of Tom Moore a try. Chances are that it will taste very similar.

[barturtle]

When this thread was first started, I went to my cabinet and was upset to see that I hadn't a bottle of VOB BIB in the house, as there is damn near always one here...last night I found it...my stock had overflowed into another cabinet without me remembering putting them there...

[craigthom]

Have they changed the bourbon any or have they just dropped the "bottled in bond" from the label?

It's still 100 proof, and it's still six years old. The only change they could make would be blending, I mean mingling more than one distillery or season. Barton isn't likely to use bourbon from another distillery, and mingling more than one bourbon would mean using older bourbon, which doesn't make sense.

[Gillman]

The ones I've seen all state bottled in bond, of course at DSP-KY-12. Mine however now technically is not bonded since I mingled it with some VOB bonded from the early 1990's.

The bourbon is excellent, aromatic, quite full-flavoured from the rye small grains. There is good residual wood sweetness with a touch of barrel char.

Very drinkable neat and a fine value at just $12.48 (purchased in Bardstown).

Gary

[CrispyCritter]

Unless I manage to get to Kentucky, it won't find its way onto my shelf... but Chuck graciously made it available at his tasting session back in April. What a shame it isn't more widely available, in any case!

[ggilbertva]

I had one bottle of VOB BIB in my bunker. I also picked up another bottle on Friday from Liquor Barn in Lexington. That bottle is also designated as BIB. Guess that will be my pour this evening since it's the BOTM.

[cowdery]

Taking BIB off the label would give them a little more flexibility, to use whiskey produced in the same year but not the same season, for example. The use of some even older whiskey does, in fact, make sense as it might be desirable in terms of maintaining the flavor profile. That's why Old Forester Signature isn't a bond even though it's 100 proof. They want to be able to use older whiskey to get the target taste profile. As any Gillmanizer knows, a little bit of good whiskey will make a mediocre whiskey a lot better.

[ggilbertva]

Opened the VOB BIB and like it very very much. This is my first try of a Barton product and am now sad that I didn't pick up more bottles. My 16 year old daughter asked what I was drinking and I told her a new bourbon. She smelled it and announced "I'm picking up some chocolate and nutmeg". I think she's right.

[mgilbertva]

I had some at Greg's and we both agreed it was excellent.

It has a unique flavor but I couldn't say what it is right now. We sampled some in the middle of a series of other bourbons, including a 9yo Weller Antique 107pf and ORVW 10yr. I need to taste it a little more analytically.

I had some hesitation about the VOB BIB. In fact, Greg could have picked up a bottle for me and I turned him down, to my sorrow it turns out. The reason I was hesitant is I had a negative reaction to the VOB 86pf that I bought from LeNell's. That one was very dry, almost astringent, and woody despite it's young age.

[mgilbertva]

I need to offer a correction to the VOB 86pf. I misremembered what I tasted. Here's my brief notes from last July:

Taste:

Wood, light leather, menthol — unexpected for a 6 y/o bourbon

Mouthfeel:

medium, numbs the lips

Finish:

Mint and menthol, dry

Overall: Not my favorite, but an interesting change of pace. Unique flavor profile.

Very different experience than the BIB. I'd try it again to refresh my memory, but I dropped the bottle and broke it. :shithappens:

[Phischy]

I don't recall seeing this on the San Diego Shelves. I'm headed out to a different part of town for a beer fest today, so I plan on doing some hunting around in those stores. I'll add this to my list of things to keep an eye out for.

[OscarV]

As of today, November 13, I have not seen a "Bourbon Of The Month" selected for November.

Or did I overlook it?