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BOTM, 1/08: Prichard's Double Barreled


jeff
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Back by popular demand, the 2008 edition of the BOTM! :toast:

To kick off the new year we will explore an anomaly of the bourbon world. Prichard's Double Barreled Bourbon hails from Kelso, Tennessee. The bottle states that the bourbon is 90 proof and 9 years old, at least on my bottle from several years ago. The claim is that the bourbon is aged normally, cut to bottling proof (presumably) ,then re-barreled and aged again for a period of time. It does not however state whether or not the second barreling is in a new charred oak barrel, or a used one, nor does it claim the bourbon to be from KY. Double barreling is somewhat unique, but a not-all-together new practice. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Jacobs Well was handled in similar fashion.

I'm not sure how far this is distributed, but it is readily available on KY shelves. This bottling has not been widely discussed here on SB.com, and I thought the BOTM would make a nice occasion to archive what information is known about it.

So pour yourself a glass and add to the conversation!

:893drillsergeant-thSound off:893drillsergeant-th

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I posted tasting notes on Prichard's some time ago. It was unremarkable and not, IMHO, worth the premium price. And the marketing hype, even by bourbon standards, seems a little over the top.

I found that Prichard's, like the BTEC twice-barreled, to have an unusual, dull oaken taste. Not the typical astringent / woody flavor that I usually associate with excess oak but rather a flat heaviness that seemed to mask some of the other attributes of the bourbon. I probably am not describing it well but am curious to see if others have a similar reaction.

Good to see BOTM return!

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A couple of points:

  • If you have a Prichard's that had a black-shaded "Double Barreled Bourbon" line, don't open it -- it's a collectible. It's my understanding that only a couple of barrels were included in that original bottling. (I had one, now in the possession of Cliff.) The newer one does NOT have the shading over that line.
  • If you have one of these bottlings WITHOUT the dark shaded strip, DON'T OPEN IT! Phil Prichard no longer even lists this bourbon among his 'products' at his website: www.prichardsdistillery.com Kinda makes me think it isn't going to happen again anytime soon. Even if his interest in a new, West Kentucky distillery remains, it's several years before that distillate is aged enough for bottling.
  • Again, according to his website, Prichard's has distribution of its Tennessee-distilled rums in just 24 states: http://www.prichardsdistillery.com/pages/whereToBuy.html It's not easy to find.

Jeff, please understand I'm not trying to undermine your choice. Heck, I've tasted it -- it's not bad, but WAAYYYY overpriced for otherwise pretty prosaic bourbon -- but this is maybe the toughest 'get' yet posted in BOTM. I'm sure that's inadvertent.

All that said, if anyone has it open, I'm interested in learning your take.

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I got a bottle of Prichard's shortly after joining SB.com.

It was through the efforts of Tim (Tnbourbon), because of this I felt welomed here.

Thanks again Tim!:grin:

The bourbon was OK, not woody, not hot, not overly flavorful.

With lots of ice it was OK.

This is not a ringing endorsment but I do like the fact that Prichard's tried something different.

I wonder if they have gotten around to distilling their own whiskey for this.

They do make rum.

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I can not speak to the DB Bourbon. But I have had the rum and it is good mixed with Coke. The fact this bourbon is a collectible makes me groan as I fall into the "But it's made to drank" camp and is best "shared with a few brave souls" crowd. I suppose that the reviews of those that have tasted it and state that is gimcky and OK and worth money mean I could keep the bottle intact.

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Jeff, please understand I'm not trying to undermine your choice.

No worries Tim. Any bourbon selected as the BOTM does not necessarily carry my personal endorsement, nor the endorsement of SB.com. I selected this one because I realized that there has not been extensive discussion about it on the board, and I wanted to get it cataloged more concisely. That, and I had an open bottle:lol:

I will say that I am drinking from a bottle with the shaded background that you mentioned. I have another unopened. Are you saying that what's on the shelf now is also a rarity?

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Guthrie at Toddy's told us that it is going away and it will be a collector's item.

Joe :usflag:

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I just finished a bottle that was on the shelf for over a year. It was interesting to sample every once in a while, but I never went back for a second glass. To finally finish it off I put it in a mixed drink. I won't buy a second bottle.

Craig

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... but this is maybe the toughest 'get' yet posted in BOTM. I'm sure that's inadvertent.

All that said, if anyone has it open, I'm interested in learning your take.

That is very surprising. I swear I've seen both the double barreled bourbon and their rum on the shelves of local Hy-Vee wine and spirits as well as a few Osco's. I figured it can't be that good since its readily available in my area. :rolleyes:

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This is my first time on the BOTM forum. This was one of the things that excited me about SB whien I joined the first of December. I think that trying a new borbon each month will be fun. But December turned out to be a discussion about whether to keep the BOTM forum. I am glad that members and the host descided to keep it! But forgive me if my drinking notes and findings are not the best in the world. This is my cherry review.

Upon the posting of Prichard's Double Barrel as the BOTM and the first few postings, it appeared that those who had already tried it did not give it good marks. Were these reviewers accurate , or were they "Kentucky" bourbon snobs with a prejudice against any borbon not made in the Bluegrass state? I vowed to keep an open mind and in fact start with a bias of liking this Tennessee product (since I too was made in Tennessee). This is what I found.

Beginning impressions: Nice bottle. I really like the candle wax and ribbon that seals the bottle. Color of the bourbon is appealing. However, upon removing the candle wax (or whatever it is), I find the stopper is not not cork but some kind of plastic. Call me old fashion, but if I pay $39.99 for a bottle of bourbon, the stopper should be cork. I am sure that there may be reasons other than price for using plastic; still I LIKE CORK! Strike one.

NEAT: Pouring a drink into my bourbon glass, Prichard's does have decent legs as it sits in the glass. Then comes the nose. The closest thing that comes to my mind as I smell PDB is an ash tray full of smoked cigarettes. Honestly, some of you may say that the nose is charcoal; but to me it smells, well, like an ashtray. As I take my first drink, I am expecting to be overcome with the ashtray taste, but to my surprise, there is only a slight taste of charcoal and the toffee/carmel appears as the alcohol moves to the warmth of my stomach. Then-NOTHING. It is as if you had not had bourbon to drink. While I can say that it is smooth, that is the best compliment I can give it. It gives you nothing of the interesting taste that other premium bourbons offer.

WITH WATER: I have read on SB that sometimes water can open up the taste of Bourbon. When added to Prichard's, it does "calm" down the ashtray smell. It now is more charcoal. As to the taste, all it does is to "water" down an already weak taste. It is like a flat coke-do I spit it out or swallow? I swallowed but there was no taste. My suggestion-never add a splash of water to this already tasteless Bourbon.

WITH ICE: While I expected this to be much like tasting with water, the nose was now more toffee/carmel with less charcoal smell. The taste, too, seemd to be more toffee. But alas, again very little taste that was of very short duration.

MIXED: My mixed drink of choice is bourbon and coke. Sometimes the bourbon has an awkward taste with coke, and leaves a funky after taste. Some bourbons blended perfectly with the taste of coke which is the reason this is my favorite mixed drink. Prichards Double Barrel is in the middle. There is very little taste, good or bad, with Prichards and Coke. (Maybe a good date rape bourbon- she won't know she is drinking bourbon.) It is not bad; neither can I heartily recommend it. But of the four methods that I tasted PDB, this is the best.

Conclusion: I am afraid that I have turned into a "Kentucky" bourbon snob. I will not be purchasing another bottle of Prichards. I will not be pouring the bottle down the sink(this is heresy). But I will be using it only mixed with Coke and with those friends who say they don't like the taste of bourbon, and I convince them to try it one more time.

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...or were they "Kentucky" bourbon snobs with a prejudice against any bourbon not made in the Bluegrass state?..

Prichard's IS made in the Bluegrass State, not Tennessee. There's another thread -- http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?p=58205&highlight=Prichard%27s#post58205 -- which goes into more detail, but Phil Prichard only distills rum. He bought (and openly admits it) Kentucky bourbon in bulk and then re-barreled it in small (5-gallon, I think), new charred-oak barrels for a period. But, this was bottled only in Tennessee, not made here.

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Tim,

Has Prichard said he's involved with the Hickman distillery? That's Ray Jamieson's project. Jamieson was Prichard's partner in the rum operation originally, but I understood they had parted ways and not amiably.

The BTEC double-barreled actually went from one barrel that was new when the whiskey was entered, into another new charred barrel. In these other cases, Jacob's Well and Pirchard, I think it's more just a matter of barrel consolidation. Of course, you could accomplish that by emptying one or a couple of barrels, using that to top the rest off. I don't think that's what they do, though. I think they dump together all of the barrels they are going to use, let them mingle in the tank, then rebarrel them to let them "marry."

Obviously, because of evaporation in the original barrels, they will fill fewer barrels than they dumped, thus saving warehouse space.

Does taking bourbon out of its original barrel and putting it back into what is now a used barrel for additional aging mean you can't count the additional aging for the age statement?

Beam (i.e., Jacob's Well) was originally attracted to the idea because it freed up wasted warehouse space, i.e., the space in the partially-full barrels. They originally did it with one of their Canadians, but there wouldn't be any question about new v. used barrels there.

That said, I'm not sure exactly what this process does for the whiskey, but I'll grant the proposition that it might do something and isn't just a feature without a benefit.

I've only had a few tastes of the stuff myself and don't have a bottle now. I remember it as, at best, okay, and okay at maybe half the price.

I'm pretty sure I saw a bottle on the shelf at State Liquors in St. Matthews in October.

My vague memory is that he bought seven year old Heaven Hill bourbon, rebarreled it and aged it an additional two years, but that's just a vague memory. I haven't heard much about it either way, but my impression is that he just had that one batch, which he bottled over time, but when it was done that was it, unless he decides to do it again.

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Tim,

Has Prichard said he's involved with the Hickman distillery? That's Ray Jamieson's project. Jamieson was Prichard's partner in the rum operation originally, but I understood they had parted ways and not amiably...

That, too, was my understanding, and the parting almost put him out of business. The reference to Prichard's involvement in the W. Ky. distillery came from a general-media source -- Memphis, I think. May well have been nothing more than rumor and/or conjecture.

...My vague memory is that he bought seven year old Heaven Hill bourbon, rebarreled it and aged it an additional two years, but that's just a vague memory. I haven't heard much about it either way, but my impression is that he just had that one batch, which he bottled over time, but when it was done that was it, unless he decides to do it again.

I thought it was 6 and 3 but, yeah, nine years total sticks in my mind, too, as does the HH connection.

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I can report that Binny's Clark Street has a case of Prichard's bourbon on the shelf, and three or four bottles of his Sweet Lucy bourbon liqueur. And they still have a handful of Hirsch gold foils at $79.99.

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A couple of points:
  • If you have a Prichard's that had a black-shaded "Double Barreled Bourbon" line, don't open it -- it's a collectible. It's my understanding that only a couple of barrels were included in that original bottling. (I had one, now in the possession of Cliff.) The newer one does NOT have the shading over that line.
  • If you have one of these bottlings WITHOUT the dark shaded strip, DON'T OPEN IT! Phil Prichard no longer even lists this bourbon among his 'products' at his website: www.prichardsdistillery.com Kinda makes me think it isn't going to happen again anytime soon. Even if his interest in a new, West Kentucky distillery remains, it's several years before that distillate is aged enough for bottling.

  • Is "undesirable" bourbon still a valuable collectible just because it's no longer being made? I really think that to be of value.....somebody (lots of somebody's) have to like it :skep::skep:

Dawn

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Prichard's Double Barreled is available in the Boston area -- at ~$50 too pricey for me to take a flyer on it (I've stayed away from Michter's, Jefferson's etc. for the same reason, but jumped on Sam Houston on sale at $19!)

I actually enjoy Jacob's Well (still available at the bar of the Duck Walk in Wakefield) as a mellower expression of the Beam family flavor. I believe that I read somewhere that the re-barreled time cannot legally count towards the age statement.

--Kevin

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I can report that Binny's Clark Street has a case of Prichard's bourbon on the shelf, and three or four bottles of his Sweet Lucy bourbon liqueur. And they still have a handful of Hirsch gold foils at $79.99.

The same guy did Sweet Lucy? I accidentally tried that in the middle of a wonderful tasting flight at Jack's Firehouse in Philadephia -- won't make that mistake again!

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This too is my first BOTM forum post. Where I have had the pleasure of attending quite a few of tasting events, pulling out subtle flavorings and smells that compose a given selection still proves to be challenging for me. So until I can get there I'll offer what I can.

By chance I have a bottle of Prichard's on my back bar. I was at a Irish Whiskey tasting recently, and a gentleman across the table was just going on and on about this new bourbon he found, and it was the best he ever had. I just happen to pass my liquor store of choice on the way home, so I stopped to see if they had it. 10+ bottles on the top shelf, $34. Not cheap, but not painful either. If it was the best bourbon I would ever have..what a bargain!

Again, classy bottle, deep rich hue, but not to unlike the look of a bottle of KC. I was very excited to crack this one open given all the hype, having never heard or seen it before...the whole double-barrel thing was new to me..it was kinda like "going where no man has ever gone before". I checked out the website...saw the hand-bottling video. How old school I thought...

I'll admit, the plastic cork kinda killed that though....

My first impression was still positive, nice legs, strong nose, spicey but smooth, but as I finished the glass my positive impression faded. I couldn't agree more with shyster512, it starts out like your going to have this mouth full of flavor, but the finish just kinda stops before it even hits your throat. I added a cube for the second round, and it seem to buckle even more.

So in conclusion, I thought I was buying a 'special occasion' pour, but turns out not to be so special. I will enjoy the rest of the bottle, but won't be sad when I reach the end.

Out of curiosity, when does a bourbon earn its own acronym? Is this not worthy of PDB?

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I too love BOTM and am glad to see it back! Since I have an opened bottle of Prichards on my shelf with maybe two pours left in it, I guess I don't need to worry about Tim's advice about opening it.

As for tasting notes, I am not nearly the expert that many of you are here (I rarely can identify the components, but I do know what I like!), but will simply say that I tend to agree with a number of posts on here already: a bourbon that is drinkable, but unremarkable, and not worth a premium price. Nice nose, OK taste, and NO finish. Hence, the fact that I have an opened bottle that is probably two years old. It may very well be the oldest bottle I have with any bourbon left in it (obviously, I'm a drinker of bourbon, not a collector).

I thought the idea was novel, and being from Tennessee, I also thought it seemed unique in that it was bottled in Tennessee, not Kentucky (though many erroneously think the whiskey is distilled in Tennessee). Other than that - pretty pedestrian.

Now, as for the Prichards rum, that's another story! I do really like their rum, though again it is expensive. It's worthwhile though.

Thanks for making the "PDB" BOTM though - at least that will help clear one nearly dead soldier and make room for something else! :lol:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Had Prichard's last night. I'll spare the detailed tasting notes and cut to the bottom line: Great stuff, particularly at the price. Got mine at Shoppers Vineyard (Clifton, NJ) for around $40. Rich, balanced, smooth. Definitely a winner.

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I ordinarily wouldn't have a bottle of this, but I got one from an ex-manager of a Orlando liquor store who owed me a favor. (Funny story behind it that I'll tell over a drink sometime.)

Not knowing its value as a collectible ;), I opened it some time last year, and the top of the cork came off, leaving the cork in place. It had dried out. So when I was done. I jammed an old EC12 stopper in the neck.

I wasn't all that impressed. I've just tasted it again earlier this week, and found that it hadn't gotten better. As others have written, nothing wrong with it, but not distinguished, and not worth the price (except for what I got it for).

On the nose, it was mostly alcohol and some underlying camphor and/or HH menthol. With water, it opened up more, some caramel and spice, but the (distracting) camphor was still there.

On the palate (watered), some sweet caramel, not as much wood as I recalled from before. Camphor/menthol /caramel on the finish.

I'm sure I'll finish it. Maybe with some other SE Michigan SBers.

Not like the other bottle that arrived at the same time - a 23 year-old single malt Scotch that was the darkest whisky I've ever seen. I suspect that it was supposed to be something special, but I found it to be undrinkably woody. I gave it to a friend who likes single malts.:grin:

Jeff

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I was offered some PDB in November, so I bought some untasted. It was interesting enough to the person who got it for me, who has a brilliant whiskey palate.

My lawyer got a bottle of it from me, and I tried it over at his house.

Not my favorite, but he really seems to enjoy it, and he appreciates all the really great Bourbons, he certainly knows a great one from a mediocre one.

Just goes to show how subjective tastes can be.

I don't hate the PDB, but I'm disappointed in it, and I regret having more bottles to sell, but I suppose if they are collector's items now, then I'll get rid of them eventually.

I'm grateful to see that I'm not alone in my disappointment, I really thought that it was just me. I began to wonder if there wasn't something about the Pritchard's that I was missing.

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Is this a recommended bourbon? I saw it on the shelf here in Knoxville and thought it was weird being double barrelled and from TN.... There was also some VA bourbon on the shelf there at that Farragut liquor store. I think the next one I want to try from that shop is the Old GrandDad 114.

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  • 2 weeks later...

BOTM isn't necessarily a recommendation. It's an invitation to discuss and post opinions. Jeff can speak for himself, but the criteria for selection is strictly what might be interesting to taste and talk about. No recommendation, except when explicitly given, is made or implied by selection as a BOTM.

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Was recommended to me as something different, worth trying... but I'm disappointed I chose this at it's price point when I could've gotten a few other far tastier bottles for the same or even less. I felt like I was in the old Wendy's commercial- "Where's the bourbon?"

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