So, what are your recent acquisitions?

[elam370]

On 10/30/2016 at 2:44 PM, Ethernut said:

True, Willett as I recall doesn't actually make anything.. they buy barrels for their bottlings. There's a little scuttle butt 'round here (I'm from KY) that a Drum release was Pappy Mashbill much like Weller 12 which has some wheat but is also very similar in profile to Lot B.

Hard to verify of course. Cheers!

Only recently has Willett released their own distillate (in the form of a new "Old Bardstown Barreled in Bond (which may well be Heaven Hill)), but yes most of their stocks if not all of it was distilled by others. Notably, most of their current stock is either Beam, Brown Forman or unsurprisingly, Heaven Hill (which is literally just across the way). As far as Johnny Drumm, Vintage XO, Pure Kentucky XO, Old Bardstown 101 go, they're all variations of Heaven Hill juice. Likewise Noah's Mill and Rowan's Creek also fall within that same category of being most likely heaven hill at different year intervals.

 

Though Willett's own distillate might have one or two barrels that are wheated, I do recall a few of their Family Estate Single Barrel bourbons recently being wheated mashbills, maybe it was barrel #1400? Certainly their C and B series and some of their older block letter 17-19 year 1993 Distilled Family Estate bourbon is wheated as that's confirmed to be Bernheim distillate. Ahem. Anyways if in doubt, it's most likely Heaven Hill.

[Ethernut]

13 minutes ago, elam370 said:

Only recently has Willett released their own distillate (in the form of a new "Old Bardstown Barreled in Bond (which may well be Heaven Hill)), but yes most of their stocks if not all of it was distilled by others. Notably, most of their current stock is either Beam, Brown Forman or unsurprisingly, Heaven Hill (which is literally just across the way). As far as Johnny Drumm, Vintage XO, Pure Kentucky XO, Old Bardstown 101 go, they're all variations of Heaven Hill juice. Likewise Noah's Mill and Rowan's Creek also fall within that same category of being most likely heaven hill at different year intervals.

 

Though Willett's own distillate might have one or two barrels that are wheated, I do recall a few of their Family Estate Single Barrel bourbons recently being wheated mashbills, maybe it was barrel #1400? Certainly their C and B series and some of their older block letter 17-19 year 1993 Distilled Family Estate bourbon is wheated as that's confirmed to be Bernheim distillate. Ahem. Anyways if in doubt, it's most likely Heaven Hill.

It seems Heaven Hill is supplying many of the "Potemkin Distilleries." Great information and much appreciated! Funny, being from Kentucky and a person that has better than average knowledge of our namesake product, HH is one distillery that I don't gravitate toward although I do have a bottle of Drum and Rowan's. They were both gifted and both decent whiskeys. Interesting Willett now has 3 year rye offering, it was my understanding until now that all their rye, in fact, most rye period comes from MGP out of Indiana. Word is apparently getting out about that..

http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2010/02/potemkin-craft-distilleries.html

[elam370]

13 minutes ago, Ethernut said:

It seems Heaven Hill is supplying many of the "Potemkin Distilleries." Great information and much appreciated! Funny, being from Kentucky and a person that has better than average knowledge of our namesake product, HH is one distillery that I don't gravitate toward although I do have a bottle of Drum and Rowan's. They were both gifted and both decent whiskeys. Interesting Willett now has 3 year rye offering, it was my understanding until now that all their rye, in fact, most rye period comes from MGP out of Indiana. Word is apparently getting out about that..

http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2010/02/potemkin-craft-distilleries.html

Well it depends how long you've been tracking Willett.

Their older Rye offerings (and indeed their current extremely limited but very expensive 25 year Rye) was almost all exclusively from Berheim (then owned by Schenley) before their acquisition in 1987 by United Distillers (now Diageo) that was left to age and incidentally acquired by Heaven Hill then consolidated.

A fun thing about the MGPI stuff is that Willett actually discloses the location of distillation on their bottles. So their 4-8 year (there's a few 9 and 10 year bottles floating about too now) Rye actually says distilled in Indiana. Consider that Smooth Ambler and Redemption and High West bottle MGP ryes as well and it's not surprising that Willett was part of that. Honestly it's no surprise why there's a ton of Rye coming from Indiana, Seagrams basically mismanaged their stocks to the degree that a ton of it was sold at ludicrously low prices in the early and mid 2000s. But then again there was an entire bourbon glut still in full effect then.

I'll respectfully disagree with Mr. Cowdery though (despite him being rather prominent in Bourbon History) and say that I don't think there's anything wrong with bottling another group's distillate. Considering that blended whisky is still common and that plenty of people bottle other distillate and have done it for a long long time; i.e the Van Winkles or the Weller family, I find it weird that there's a sudden dislike for "Potemkin Distilleries." 

 

Anywaaays. Willett's old ryes were most certainly not Indiana Rye but Kentucky Rye that was very likely a series of awesome consolidated barrels (that's a conversation for another time) that they had acquired from what I presume to be Bernheim post acquisition from Diageo/United Distillers. The actual movement to Willett must have been 2003-2004, but it's important to remember that that old Rye costs an arm and a leg!

[TM-US]

True, Willett as I recall doesn't actually make anything.. they buy barrels for their bottlings. There's a little scuttle butt 'round here (I'm from KY) that a Drum release was Pappy Mashbill much like Weller 12 which has some wheat but is also very similar in profile to Lot B.

Hard to verify of course. Cheers!

Willett has been making their own product for nearly 5 years now. They released the 4 yr. WFE bourbon last year, the 3 yr. WFE rye and Old Bardstown BIB is now their distillate entirely.

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[Ethernut]

@elam370 and @umbzp44 - I feel like such a thread hijacker right now..

As I stated earlier, I've always steered clear of Willett as their pot-still spirit has been sweet for my taste. I'll need to take a closer look though, out of curiosity more than anything.

..since several of you have pretty intimate Bourbon exposure, just curious of your go-to Bourbons?

 

For high end it's Four Roses SBBS OBSV / OBSK all day long, I generally buy the master distillers hand selections from FR a couple times a year. FR is my desert island bourbon.

In the mid range I like a nice Knob Creek (surprisingly) at 120 proof. Have a few bottles of an 11 year bottling that's quite impressive. I also like Woodford Double Oaked. I have some hand selected Single Barrel Barrel Strength Russel's Reserve that turned my head, shockingly good for the price @ $49/bottle (at our local Costco).

For low end it's Old Forester Signature. Love the dram even if a little hot. Amazing Value at less than $25. Heck I like Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond, great barrel bomb for less than $15/bottle and a decent sip.

I think I have around 48 open bottles right now but these are what I gravitate toward and thus are in the front of my cabinet - It's obvious from my picks I'm not into gimmicky Bourbon. I'm pretty meat and potatoes. Much like with Cuban Cigars, I don't find the limited releases to be better than general releases with any regularity.

Cheers Gents!

 

  

[Ethernut]

21 hours ago, elam370 said:

I find it weird that there's a sudden dislike for "Potemkin Distilleries." 

I dont think I would call it a dislike at least for me personally. It's simply difficult for me to consider them a "Distillery" if they're not actually distilling. They're a private bottler at best. I do for example like Wathen's who is quite secretive about their source. I would consider it more market confusion than anything as the secretive nature of the bottling obscures the pedigree of the spirit itself (which for the most of us, is what we're paying for). Here in Lexington we have some of the most amazing liquor stores that are like warehouses with 9 foot shelves and long rows with tons of Bourbon. There are only two things happening in Bourbon and that's Marketing and Whiskey. That's it. The Potemkin movement often feels very much more about Marketing than Whiskey and makes it difficult for the consumer to make a choice on how to spend their money. The Potemkins and Stalwarts have all gotten quite adept at creating an attractive bottle with a compelling story on an alluring label. It's hard to tell them apart. ...and I see the look on peoples faces all the time in that long tall Bourbon aisle. It's confusion, bewilderment, and wonder. In the end they pick the pretty bottles which may not contain the best whiskey. Heck, even when shown what to choose, they more often than not go back to the pretty bottles. Marketing is just so strong.

I'd love it if the Potemkins would share something about the whiskey like, High rye (35%) aged 9 years in a new oak barrel with a No. 4 alligator char. Instead we get, "Glitzy Name" label with great story pulling on your patriotic historical heart strings housed in a sekzy bottle. 

Good on the Potemkins though for creating a successful business model and even brand recognition from purchased barrels. One thing to love about America, and I do love it.

Just my thoughts without getting long winded -

[sengjc]

Some vintage Australian wine:



- 3 bottles of the 2001 Jasper Hill Emily's Paddock
- 2 bottles of the 2002 Mount Mary Chardonnay



Also some whisky:



- 2 bottles of the Springbank 21 Year Old Single Cask Release (Italian market bottling)
- 2 bottles of the 1996 Longrow 10 Year Old
- a bottle of the Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2015 bottling)

[Ethernut]

5 hours ago, sengjc said:

Some vintage Australian wine:

- 3 bottles of the 2001 Jasper Hill Emily's Paddock
- 2 bottles of the 2002 Mount Mary Chardonnay

Also some whisky:
- 2 bottles of the Springbank 21 Year Old Single Cask Release (Italian market bottling)
- 2 bottles of the 1996 Longrow 10 Year Old
- a bottle of the Kilchoman Loch Gorm (2015 bottling)

Huge Springbank fan! Nice score! Now one question I have as I see your prolific acquisition posts is, this all for personal consumption or are ya doing something else with all this wine and whiskey?

[BrightonCorgi]

 Here's some cases of Musar; one of my favorite red wines.  Their white is outstanding as well

 

[sengjc]

Huge Springbank fan! Nice score! Now one question I have as I see your prolific acquisition posts is, this all for personal consumption or are ya doing something else with all this wine and whiskey?

Mainly for personal consumption and collecting at the moment.

[Lant63]

Aberlour and Glenmorangie



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[Phinz]

On 11/1/2016 at 1:57 PM, Ethernut said:

@elam370 and @umbzp44 - I feel like such a thread hijacker right now..

As I stated earlier, I've always steered clear of Willett as their pot-still spirit has been sweet for my taste. I'll need to take a closer look though, out of curiosity more than anything.

..since several of you have pretty intimate Bourbon exposure, just curious of your go-to Bourbons?

 

For high end it's Four Roses SBBS OBSV / OBSK all day long, I generally buy the master distillers hand selections from FR a couple times a year. FR is my desert island bourbon.

In the mid range I like a nice Knob Creek (surprisingly) at 120 proof. Have a few bottles of an 11 year bottling that's quite impressive. I also like Woodford Double Oaked. I have some hand selected Single Barrel Barrel Strength Russel's Reserve that turned my head, shockingly good for the price @ $49/bottle (at our local Costco).

For low end it's Old Forester Signature. Love the dram even if a little hot. Amazing Value at less than $25. Heck I like Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond, great barrel bomb for less than $15/bottle and a decent sip.

I think I have around 48 open bottles right now but these are what I gravitate toward and thus are in the front of my cabinet - It's obvious from my picks I'm not into gimmicky Bourbon. I'm pretty meat and potatoes. Much like with Cuban Cigars, I don't find the limited releases to be better than general releases with any regularity.

Cheers Gents!

 

For me,   I go to the Old Grandad 114 for the low price entry, the Knob Creek for the mid-price (although the price has climbed in recent months) and Bakers for my high-end (although close to the Knob Creek in price today). Beyond those prices, I'll move on to scotch.

 

[elam370]

@Ethernut I don't really have a go-to if only because I'm a strange person and I seldom drink. It all depends on your budget. Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selections especially well picked OBSV and OBSK are fantastic and excellent bourbons. Sadly my normal go-tos now are pricy like the Buffalo Trace Antique collection or old Wild Turkey bottlings. Being a sucker for limited releases and variety has made my wallet much lighter! I do enjoy my single barrel Willetts and I have a soft spot for awesome old rye (both of which are far too expensive) and I love some good aged scotch, but I think whatever works for you works.

I think the weird non-disclosure of independent bottlers in the US is strange. It might be an NDA they signed but I can't figure out why they just outright refuse to disclose. Still it's not that easy to pick out good barrels. There are some stores that do single barrel store picks that are atrocious so I'm not entirely opposed to a good NDP. The problem and I suppose the fun is that trying to figure out "mystery juice" is always something I welcome.

My recent "bottle I love immensely" is probably Nikka 12 Taketsuru Pure Malt. It's not proofy, but it's tasty, with complex notes and a nose and palate that's just bright and welcoming.

[TM-US]

@elam370 and @umbzp44 - I feel like such a thread hijacker right now..

As I stated earlier, I've always steered clear of Willett as their pot-still spirit has been sweet for my taste. I'll need to take a closer look though, out of curiosity more than anything.

..since several of you have pretty intimate Bourbon exposure, just curious of your go-to Bourbons?

 

For high end it's Four Roses SBBS OBSV / OBSK all day long, I generally buy the master distillers hand selections from FR a couple times a year. FR is my desert island bourbon.

In the mid range I like a nice Knob Creek (surprisingly) at 120 proof. Have a few bottles of an 11 year bottling that's quite impressive. I also like Woodford Double Oaked. I have some hand selected Single Barrel Barrel Strength Russel's Reserve that turned my head, shockingly good for the price @ $49/bottle (at our local Costco).

For low end it's Old Forester Signature. Love the dram even if a little hot. Amazing Value at less than $25. Heck I like Very Old Barton Bottled in Bond, great barrel bomb for less than $15/bottle and a decent sip.

I think I have around 48 open bottles right now but these are what I gravitate toward and thus are in the front of my cabinet - It's obvious from my picks I'm not into gimmicky Bourbon. I'm pretty meat and potatoes. Much like with Cuban Cigars, I don't find the limited releases to be better than general releases with any regularity.

Cheers Gents!

 

  

I don't have a go to bourbon, same with scotch. I like variety so I drink all sorts of stuff. I have found recently that private barrel picks have been consistently better than a lot of limited release bourbons.

I have some Four Roses SB private picks that are better than the last couple years of limited editions. I just opened a Buffalo Trace private barrel that was really good.

But my best bourbons are some of the wheated mashbill Willett Family Estate bourbon in the 21-22 year range. Old Bernheim distillate. I've had some of these that I can say are hands down the best bourbon I've ever had.

I love good cheap bottled in bond bourbon as well. Evan Williams, Old Heaven Hill, white label Heaven Hill 6 yr., Very Old Barton, etc.

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[Lant63]

Not booze but rather glasses.
I broke them in nicely too


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[StingMeadery]

Last weeks mail...



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[StingMeadery]

Today's mail just arrived...
Completely forgot about this one

That's a very rare 36 year old 1974 Inchgower that rates a splendid 91 points...

Thought I had better finally try a decent one.



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[sengjc]

Not booze but rather glasses.

Very nice, Canadian Glencairns

[Lant63]

Very nice, Canadian Glencairns

Thank you


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[Lant63]

forgot to snap pictures before I tried them out. The Jeffersons is far superior to the four roses.
beer


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[scottm12]

[scottm12]

[sengjc]

New World Projects "Starward Limited Release" - PX Cask No. 3.

[JohnS]

Yes, yes, yes....it arrived in the mail today! I was fortunate enough to get a bottle of this wondrous Four Pillars Australian Christmas Gin before it sold out on-line!

[TypicalSituation]

Win.