Elmer T Lee Question

[OscarV]

I have seen in a lot post here on SB.com from people pointing out they bought or are drinking Elmer T Lee Gold Wax.

I know what it is but my questions are,....

Is the "Gold Wax" different from non gold waxed bottles?

Is this something that is not available anymore?

What was the time frame of the gold waxed releases?

Can I identify a lesser quality of Elmer T Lee if the wax and/or foil is of a different color?

I had a bottle of ETL and I do remember it having been dipped in gold wax and I liked it.

I recently got a bottle that was a special selection and bottled for Sam's Wines of Chicago that is gold foil and I am not very fond of it.

So fill me in, what's up with the gold wax.

[spun_cookie]

Special bottle maybe, but doubt any diffrent that any other buy in my opinion. I think the Julio's is great and no wax....

I just think it was a good botteling...

[Sijan]

I don't think the wax topped bottles were a special bottling. It was how all ETL bottles were done until around maybe 2005 or 2006? Some people say they have noticed a decline in quality after the switch from wax to foil, and used the wax vs. foil as a way to distinguish older vs newer ETL. I've not experimented with that yet myself as most of my ETL bottlings are specially selected bottlings, which I assume are different from normal bottlings anyhow.

However, I noticed that a Binny's bottling of ETL that was on the shelf in one of their stores last week had wax. I think they had those done fairly recently (since the general switch over from wax to foil) but could be wrong about that. So I'm not sure what strings they pulled to get the wax on their bottles. Or perhaps I am mistaken and the bottling was done some time ago. (And I seem to recall that my own Binny's ETL bottling is the foil top, not the wax top, but would have to check to be sure.)

[wadewood]

The gold wax can be damn hard to crack open. 2-3 years ago, some us suggested to Ken Weber from BT that they should do away with this and go to same style as Weller Centennial and they did.

Since Elmer T Lee is s SB product, there will differences in between bottles. The gold wax is no super secret stash of anything.

[drli]

The gold wax can be damn hard to crack open. 2-3 years ago, some us suggested to Ken Weber from BT that they should do away with this and go to same style as Weller Centennial and they did.

Since Elmer T Lee is s SB product, there will differences in between bottles. The gold wax is no super secret stash of anything.

I would agree that the wax bottles were hard to get into. and even the foil is sometimes hard to find that pull tab. I have only had ETL bottles from Binnys, the handpicked bottles, and I think Brett does a very good job at trying to keep them similar. He is actually the person that introduced me to ETL, and I have been grateful ever since.

[jburlowski]

I would agree that the wax bottles were hard to get into. and even the foil is sometimes hard to find that pull tab. I have only had ETL bottles from Binnys, the handpicked bottles, and I think Brett does a very good job at trying to keep them similar. He is actually the person that introduced me to ETL, and I have been grateful ever since.

Actaually, I think it is BT that does the good job of keeping them similar. The "chooser" gets to pick from a handful of pre-selected barrels. And you can be sure that BT makes sure that none are far from their desired taste profile for ETL.

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

I have had multiple bottles of ETL open at the same time, both wax and foil. In fact I still have several of my first bottles with just a couple of pours left in them. I used to label them as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, up to 7th, I think. I haven't had any specialty bottleings. There is some variabiliy, but I haven't had a single dud. There have been times when a bottle impressed me so much that I went back the next day and cleared the shelf in order to get more of that barrel. One set of bottles (Gold Wax) is some of the best whiskey I have ever had. It was a lot like Baby Saz in its big cinnamon note. I decanted 300 ml of that into a small bottle and I still have that. I should have had a pour of that back when I had a bottle of Baby Saz to compare it with.Most ETL , both wax and foil, that I have had stays pretty close to the tasting profile, but sometimes it gets further out on the bell curve towards nirvana. Ed

[wadewood]

One set of bottles (Gold Wax) is some of the best whiskey I have ever had. It was a lot like Baby Saz in its big cinnamon note.

I agree with the cinnamon note. I have an open bottle of ETL that has this big time. I also find this same note in Blantons. I once had a Blantons Gold bottle that I nicknamed Blanton's Goldschlager because it had so much cinnamon.

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

I agree with the cinnamon note. I have an open bottle of ETL that has this big time. I also find this same note in Blantons. I once had a Blantons Gold bottle that I nicknamed Blanton's Goldschlager because it had so much cinnamon.

Me, too. It was a couple of bottles later that I gave up on the idea that that was the flavor profile they were aiming for. Lovely as that profile is I was disappointed to learn that. Now, I always open a new bottle of Blanton's or ETL with a silent prayer that I will hit the jackpot.

Ed

[OscarV]

Thanks for the replys, I gotta a feel for it now.

I know a store that has 3 Gold Wax ETL's and they have a lot of dust on them.

I think I will clean one up.

Like I said in the original post I did like that Gold Wax ETL that I had a few years ago.