Castle Brands bourbons

[mozilla]

I read today that Castle Brands, the maker of Jefferson Reserve and Sam Houston, might be looking to break up the company or outright sale.

This might mean that both labels aren't long for the market. Will anyone be stocking up?

[spun_cookie]

Not I. I did not care for them.

Anyone know if their quality diminished over the last 5 yrs?

[ThomasH]

When I was last in Florida, there were some Jeffersons 15's lurking around on sale. I am going back for 2 weeks around July 4th. If any are left, I will be getting them!

Thomas

[barturtle]

Anyone know if their quality diminished over the last 5 yrs?

Yes. They are both younger than they used to be...or at least lost their age statements...they were better.

I've got all I need already...old stock.

[mozilla]

Yes. They are both younger than they used to be...or at least lost their age statements...they were better.

I've got all I need already...old stock.

Timothy,

is the younger Jefferson a good pour? I have had the Sam Houston....do you find it similar?

[TNbourbon]

...is the younger Jefferson a good pour?..

There are two Jefferson's bottlings: the original Jefferson's Reserve, which diminished from 15yo to "Very Old", and the Jefferson's 8yo, about which I don't know if it still carries an age statement. Both still appear on Castle Brands' website (www.castlebrandsinc.com).

[mozilla]

So.......what do you think Tim, is it a good pour?

[ThomasH]

In addition to Jeffersons being dropped from 15yr to 12-17yr, Sam Houston used to be a 10yr. but is now NAS. I have a 15, a 12-17 and a SH 10 and all are good but the SH NAS has gone way up in price!

Thomas

[mozilla]

I have been enjoying my SH nas for a month now. It has a nice dryness to it. Very sophisticated and appealing. I don't drink it everyday, which makes it a nice change of pace to my more aggresive daily pours. Its' flavors are balanced between vanilla and spice with a finish that is not overly woody.

[BourbonJoe]

The 15 y/o Jefferson Reserve was excellent juice. No so the 12-17 y/o. The regular Jefferson's was so so. It looks like the brothers Zoeller might be having a tough time getting aged whiskey.

Joe :usflag:

[TNbourbon]

So.......what do you think Tim, is it a good pour?

I don't care for any of the current offerings. I still have some bottles from early batches of the age-stated ones, and they're worthwhile, but disappearing fast.

Today's versions seem just like what they probably are: the best of the leftover whiskey in someone's (Heaven Hill or KBD's?) warehouse that they don't wish to put in their own brands. Why pay a premium price for that?

[mgilbertva]

I agree with the consensus here: the JR 15 was quite good. It was milder than most bourbons at that price point, which made me think they used lightly charred barrels. Fruitier style, pleasant and very easy to drink, undemanding. They used to sell it in VA for around $35, and it was worth it. Then the price went up to $55, and it wasn't. The current version isn't worth even $35, IMO. I used to keep a bottle open, now I don't buy it anymore.

Sam Houston is a very middle-of-the-road bourbon; I think of it as the Goldilocks of bourbons. It's not too strong or too weak, not too much char or too little, not too sweet or too dry, etc. I like bourbons with character, so again, I won't be buying another bottle, but if that's all they had at a bar or party I'd be happy to drink it. For the price, there's better options out there.

[cowdery]

I haven't seen any reports about Castle breaking up, which would be odd since it's only just come together. The Zoellers created the Jefferson's and their other bourbons independently and only joined-up with Castle after they were pretty well established. If the Castle thing isn't holding together, they'll probably just go back to doing it themselves. Because they have an ongoing relationship with Heaven Hill, which supplies the whiskey, they're probably not in danger of having the tap turned off.

[mozilla]

They(CB) have been slowly sinking for a while now. Seems like their stock started near $10 and is now less than $.30. They had some big write offs recently which has helped them plung ever deeper. New packaging for a couple of products that cost a pretty penny.

I hope they stick it out. It would be sad to lose another set of labels, especially ones that package an aged product.

[cowdery]

You can read more about Castle's problems here.

I'm not so sure Castle's demise would be such a tragedy. It is a recently assembled portfolio and all of its major parts had lives before coming under the Castle umbrella. Certainly McLain & Kyne (original parent of Jefferson's) did. It may have been ill-conceived to begin with. Its basis, the "Castle" in the name, is Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey, a thin reed in its own right since it has no distillery and, like Jefferson's, depends on bulk whiskey availability.

Castle in recent years has poured a lot of money into building, what else? A super-premium vodka brand called Boru.