New Parker's Is 27-year-old Bourbon.

[cowdery]

According to John Hansell, the Parker's Heritage Collection release for 2008 will be a 27-year-old bourbon. Starting in 2009 there will be two releases per year, a bourbon and something else (rye, wheat, corn).

[TNbourbon]

According to John Hansell, the Parker's Heritage Collection release for 2008 will be a 27-year-old bourbon. Starting in 2009 there will be two releases per year, a bourbon and something else (rye, wheat, corn).

Bet it won't be $65. Bet it will still sell out. Bet I won't be buying any. It'll be an 'investor-only' bottling.:puke:

[bluesbassdad]

Bet it won't be $65. Bet it will still sell out. Bet I won't be buying any. It'll be an 'investor-only' bottling.:puke:

A question for those of you with some knowledge of marketing in the liquor industry:

Wouldn't such a bottling create valuable buzz and good will if it were offered at a ridiculously low price, say $100, and allocated to specific individuals via a lottery system? HH would pick the winners nation-wide and then send each bottle through the appropriate distribution system, earmarked for sale to the winner.

I can only imagine what a logistical nightmare it would be, but I'm betting it would send awareness of HH bourbon through the roof.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[barturtle]

Bet it won't be $65. Bet it will still sell out. Bet I won't be buying any. It'll be an 'investor-only' bottling.:puke:

Yuck...investing in what is likely to be extremely over-aged whiskey. Though, if I can find enough people to throw in $10 then we all meet up and pass the bottle around for the evening, that would be a sound investment in my mind.

A question for those of you with some knowledge of marketing in the liquor industry:

Wouldn't such a bottling create valuable buzz and good will if it were offered at a ridiculously low price, say $100, and allocated to specific individuals via a lottery system? HH would pick the winners nation-wide and then send each bottle through the appropriate distribution system, earmarked for sale to the winner.

I can only imagine what a logistical nightmare it would be, but I'm betting it would send awareness of HH bourbon through the roof.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

While I don't know the business from inside the marketing office, I do have a bit of experience with dealing directly with the distributors as a bartender and the efforts and techniques they would use on us...plus I've taken a couple marketing classes.

Frankly, I would think that getting a lottery like this going would require a massive and expensive marketing campaign in advance of the products release. To date distilleries still spend very little compared to most other industries on ads. From what I understand the best dollar for dollar advertising they have is just getting the bottle on the shelf so people can see it (plus the store already paid for it)

Also, getting the bottle listed for sale in many states would be prohibitive, as well as the fact that they legally can't set a price and force the retailer to charge that amount.

I look forward to reading actual industry folks take on this though.

[ACDetroit]

It would Dave but the rumor on the street I'm gettin is more like $200 dollars per so it's up there!

Tony

[smokinjoe]

Don't know if I'll see it anywhere. Don't know if I'll buy it, if I do. But, I do know that it's Parker Beam's selection. It has his name on it. So, I trust that it will be very good. I may not want to part with 2 bills for it, but I'm sure it's not going to be :puke:

JOE

[cigarnv]

The international market may be driving the pricing given the value of the dollar..... if you are using pounds and Euros bourbon is one hell of a bargain..... even $200

[StraightBoston]

Agree with Joe that Parker's no dummy and wouldn't select a barrel of bourbon-scented charcoal. But I've had the Evan Williams 23yo and it was the only bourbon I've tasted that went over the over-oaked, over-charred line for me -- and I'm a big EC18 fan!

On the other hand: with lightly charred barrels, lower floors -- one never knows!

[wadewood]

The thing that caught my eye in article is HH has 100 barrels of 27 YO bourbon. Was this intended for EW 23 YO and then Parker aged a few more years? Since the PHC concept is only 1-2 years old, why does HH have this much old whiskey? mistake or lost barrels? maybe they use it to blend?

[BourbonJoe]

A 27 y/o bourbon. Sounds like "wood city" to me.

Joe :usflag:

[Vange]

Hirsch is also releasing a 25 and 28 year.

[OscarV]

Hirsch is also releasing a 25 and 28 year.

[QUOTE][/QUOTE]

I saw that in the Hansell article.

Who is Preiss Imports?

Do they own what is left of the Hirsch bourbon?

Who distilled, barrelled and aged their 25 and 28 year old bourbon?

[Vange]

No idea and also a NAS Hirsch as well.

[StraightBoston]

Preiss owns the Hirsch brand (which they apply to whiskeys of various origin, including the Pennco/Michter's 16yo and 20yo so highly regarded here.)

I've read elsewhere that the "A.H. Hirsch" name is reserved for the fabled whiskey stocks that are rapidly dwindling -- I think the recent ryes are called "Hirsch Selection".

[barturtle]

I saw that in the Hansell article.

Who is Preiss Imports?

Do they own what is left of the Hirsch bourbon?

Who distilled, barrelled and aged their 25 and 28 year old bourbon?

I think KBD has done much of the bottling for Preiss, so I would expect they have done these as well.

[Mamba]

Maybe I'll be the first to say it, but I enjoyed the last Parkers release so much that I probably would spend $200 to try this new one. Whiskey is a nice luxury for me, and trying new whiskies is a big part of the fun. Sure, EC 12 and Saz Jr. are FANTASTIC and don't cost much, but without variety I'd lose something I enjoy in the whiskey hobby. So I need a little everything - high proof, low proof, young, old, wheat bourbon, rye bourbon, rye whiskey, and every permutation thereof.

27 years IS old, but after the last batch, I'm willing to give Parker another shot at my bank account.

[jburlowski]

The buzz is "over-aged" but I'd put my money on Parker's judgment and reputation.

[cowdery]

With anything Parker picks, he has always picked things he genuinely likes, and he favors strong, very intense flavors, but they're usually in proper balance. He takes these personal selection things seriously, he certainly knows what he's doing, and especially if you like Evan Williams Single Barrel or the first Parker's, you'll probably like this one.

I remember when I first tried the original Parker's, with Parker at the table. My first reaction was, "yep, this is Parker. This is exactly the sort of thing he likes."

"Worth it?" is, of course, completely subjective and is more about how easily you can part with $200 for any transient pleasure.

[Sijan]

John Hansell gives it a 96 pt score in the upcoming Malt Advocate and says "This is what an ultra-mature bourbon should taste like: all the depth and complexity that comes with this much aging without all the excessive oak. "

He compares it very favorably to the overly woody Evan Williams 23 year old.

[BourbonJoe]

John Hansell gives it a 96 pt score in the upcoming Malt Advocate and says "This is what an ultra-mature bourbon should taste like: all the depth and complexity that comes with this much aging without all the excessive oak. "

He compares it very favorably to the overly woody Evan Williams 23 year old.

Hansell doesn't think EW 23 has excessive oak??? :bigeyes: :bigeyes:

I think I'll pass on this one.

Joe :usflag:

[Sijan]

Joe, I think you may have misread what I wrote.

[Rughi]

Hansell doesn't think EW 23 has excessive oak??? :bigeyes: :bigeyes:

I think I'll pass on this one.

Joe :usflag:

You misunderstood, Joe.

Here's a more extensive quote from Hansell's blog

...The wood is there, but it never crosses the line. The next closest Heaven Hill bourbon in age is the Evan Williams 23 year old for the export market. There’s no comparison. This PHC has it easily beat. The EW 23 is way past its prime. In fact, this PHC shows less oak and lethargy on the finish than the 129.6 proof expression of last year’s inaugural 1996 vintage PHC, a whiskey less than half its age...

Roger

[TNbourbon]

Weren't we previously told that the Parker's HC bottlings would be a rye-recipe bourbon, a wheat-recipe bourbon, a straight rye, and a straight wheat? And weren't we told that the first edition, despite some suspicions, isn't a wheated bourbon?

So, what's this new 27yo? Is it a wheater, which notoriously ages better for longer periods than rye-recipe (think Pappy 23)? And, if so, what was Parker doing distilling wheat 27 years ago, almost two decades before HH owned a wheat-recipe brand? If not, what of the previously-announced 'schedule'?

Seems the rules are changing on the fly. I hate it when that happens, especially at $200 a bottle...:frown:

[Gillman]

Aging at a lower level in the warehouse seems to be the U.S. equivalent to the Scots practice of maturing whiskies intended for very long storage in casks that have been reused many times. The cask becomes "neutral" and will impart less woodiness or other flavoring characteristics to the spirit than aging in, say, a first-fill bourbon barrel. I was told by a Ballantine ambassador that if a 30 year old whisky was aged in the same type of barrel as whiskies intended for 8 or 12 years aging, the result would be too tannic and woody.

It is interesting (I find) that whiskeys aged for far less than 27 years, and even some under 12 years of age, can acquire a woody taste.

Recent Weller 107s seem to have a noticeable hit of wood. I know some of these bottlings were around 9 years of age, but still, warehouse position must have something to do with it. Jack Daniels Single Barrel can be notably woody even though it is only some 4-5 years old (maybe a little older).

Recently I vatted about 7 bottles of JD Single Barrel and got an extremely good result (as attested by a group of experienced tasters I offered it to here). I assume the single barrels or some of them are drawn from the warmest parts of the warehouse. However, some bottles are less woody than others, and my goal in mingling the group was to reduce the woodiness of some of the bottles and combine the characteristics of all in the best way. In effect it is a small batch, very small. Tasted next to the R-19 from February of this year discussed on the board recently, it was IMO rounder, smoother, had a better nose and a better mouth feel, taste and finish.

I would think that the best qualities of the 27 year old Parker's were achieved partly through the batching process albeit all the barrels were of the age mentioned and from the same part of warehouse. The qualities of each year's Stagg would be similarly produced.

Gary

[cowdery]

We were told that, in the future, they would do this, that or the other thing, and that the next one probably would be a rye, but it never felt like a hard commitment, the "probably" gave them an out, and I prefer that they go looking for something at the appropriate time and give us the coolest thing they've got. I'm sure they also made some adjustments in the plan based on the response to the initial run.