BourbonEnthusiast.com

Maybe I'm way out of the loop here and relaying old news, but did you see in the Heaven Hill newsletter (Bourbon Country Herald, I think) that there is a picture of the bottle and packaging for the 21 year Rittenhouse? Classy looking bottle with a container that looks just like the Tribute packaging. Wonder if that means Tribute pricing? "For connoisseurs and collectors" sounds like they're laying crepe for a big price tag to me!

No word in the newsletter about availability whens and wheres. Anybody know the scoop?

HH brought out an unlabeled bottle for us to try as part of their VIP tour last Festival. Superb stuff!

But according to Chuck, expect a pricetag between $125 and $150. Ouch.

Yeah, I saw mention of this bottling in the mailer I just got as well. Very nice looking bottle and label, cleanly done. But wow, that price is quite a bit especially considering how decent of a price the standard Rittenhouse is.

I received today some promotional material about the new 21 year old Rittenhouse, including the attached letter. I found the letter unusually interesting for this sort of thing, which is why I'm sharing it.

Two interesting facts about the product itself. First, it is the first product Heaven Hill has sold that is not chill filtered. Second, they are referring to it as a "one time bottling," whereas originally we were told that they had whiskey in the pipeline that would permit annual releases and it would not be a one-off.

Chuck,

Have you had an opportunity to taste this? Has anyone else tried it? It sure sounds great, but that's one hell of a steep price. I wonder if any is coming to NY, such as LeNell's. BTW, has anybody seen LeNell lately? That gal needs a day off!

A number of us had a taste of it at Heaven Hill during last year's festival. I have had some since then too. It's very good. One justification for the steep price is that there is really nothing else like it. I hope they and others keep making rye and put some back for long aging, because rye stands up to the wood better than bourbon, I think, because the rye gives it so much flavor that even after 21 years, it isn't all wood. The rye itself cuts through.

I have at times expressed the suspicion that some of these other 21-year-old ryes we're seeing are part of this stock as well, but I have learned recently that they are not. The others all come from the same stock of whiskey that Julian Van Winkle used for his 12 and 13 year old Family Reserve rye, which was made at Medley in Owensboro.

As for its availability, allocation is one way (like the BTEC) to deal with scarcity, a very high price is another. I suspect anyone willing to pay the asking price will be able to obtain a bottle.

Chuck,

Do you think its worth $150? Would you pay that price for a bottle of this rye? I ask because I think some items that are expensive are justifiable in their price. Others are not. So, I'm just curious regarding your opinion.

BTW, I bet it was VERY GOOD.

It's very hard to say, objectively, what anything is "worth." I will say that I have tasted nothing else quite like it and it's not only unique, it is unique and good. As I say in my review, "I don't know where you can get a whiskey that tastes like this for less money, because nothing else tastes quite like this."

Is this promotional info for reviewers primarily, or do retailers/distributors get this info as well?

There is a full color sales brochure that contains some of the same information. Retailers get that. Most retailers aren't going to read a two-page letter. Too many words.

cowdery wrote:I will say that I have tasted nothing else quite like it and it's not only unique, it is unique and good. As I say in my review, "I don't know where you can get a whiskey that tastes like this for less money, because nothing else tastes quite like this."

Chuck,

This is basically what I wanted to know. It is hard to assess "worth" on anything. But your impression of its uniqueness AND quality makes one think if they had an extra 150 smackaroos lying around with nothing to do, that you might be able to resolve that question fairly easily.