Rittenhouse BIB 100 Rye

[enzo]

So, I had a hell of a time getting a hold of a bottle of the BIB 100 proof Rye.

I decided to crack it open today and give it a try.

And all I can say is yuck! This stuff has on overwhelming bitterness and pine/juniper flavor.

Has anyone else noticed this? Or do you think I just got a bad bottle?

I've tried the regular 80 proof Rye, and it was fantastic. Especially in comparison to the bib 100.

Any thoughts?

[cowdery]

"Bad bottles" are so rare as to be practically a myth. So that's unlikely.

If you like the 80 proof Rittenshouse, dilute the BIB and see if that changes your opinion.

[enzo]

Yeah.. I tried diluting it... cuts some of the bitterness, but still has a very acrid, juniper flavor. Doesn't resemble the normal Rittenhouse 80 at all.

Strange...

[mozilla]

Hold on to the bottle and when we get together...I will bring my bottle for you to compare with. If you still don't like it...I will give it a good home.

[enzo]

Hold on to the bottle and when we get together...I will bring my bottle for you to compare with. If you still don't like it...I will give it a good home.

Will do.

[cowdery]

I love it, people helping people.

[p_elliott]

I had a sample of the RITT 21 and I thought it was bitter as well, not undrinkable just a bitter finish.

[enzo]

Hmm... I have a bottle of the 21... It's not at all bitter... I guess they vary quite a bit.

[sailor22]

The only bottle of Rit BiB that I ever bought was just as Enzo described. Several friends tried it and all agreed it was closer to pine sol that a drinkable whiskey.

[sailor22]

Distilled by DSP 354 and bottled by Continental, Bardstown.

[sailor22]

I'll send you some of mine - there is still plenty left in the bottle. Let me know what you think.

meanwhile - give Pikesville a try. I just got a bottle and thought it was delicious with an endless lingering tasty finish. It's surprising that 80 proof can carry so much flavor. A bargain too.

[PaulO]

I have had several different bottles of Rittenhouse BIB. The first time I found it was in TN. Later I discovered it occasionally in IN. I can't recall any DSP numbers, but they all tasted the same. As Jeff described, sort of a softer WT rye. It also reminds me a bit of Grandad 114. I have never seen Pikesville in a store.

[enzo]

Jeff, I've still got that bottle of Ritt BIB... still tastes like Pinesol... I've also got a handle of Weller 12yr that, to me, has a garlic taste to it.

Maybe I have an overly sensitive olfactory... but I can't drink any of these whiskies... I'd be interested in getting your impression on these sometime.

[cowdery]

So far as I know, all of Heaven Hill's rye whiskey is still made by Brown-Forman under contract to HH. That whiskey is strictly made for HH and isn't sold by BF to anyone else. Yes, the Rittenhouse and the Pikesville are the same juice.

The whiskey in the Rittenhouse 21-to-25 year old is rye whiskey made by Heaven Hill at DSP-31.

[BostonEnthusiast]

Enzo-- I also have a "Pine-Sol" bottle of the Rittenhouse BIB (it's not just you!) Too bad, because I'm really fond of the bottle I had from a couple years prior.

I've been using it in cocktails with reasonable success.