YES!
I absolutely
fell in love with batch 40!
That was as close to candy as any bourbon has ever come, and I'm sad it's gone. I bought as much as I could afford and drank it down just as quickly.
I always thought that Brown-Forman should have left well enough alone, and left Woodford Reserve right where it was at batch 40.
I don't really like the ultra-metallic super copper taste that is now a part of the flavor profile.
I do like the pot stilled bourbon as a single barrel expression, but not as part of Woodford Reserve. I guess they expect us to forget, and that new Woodford drinkers will have no reference to the pre-#69 batches.
I don't agree with Brown-Forman's marketing strategy of rising prices = higher quality. I guess that some folks think that 'this bourbon costs more so it must be better'. It has worked for sc**ch and v**ka, as for some reason some folks will pay more for the illusion of better quality and therefore the illusion of better taste. It sure worked for Maker's Mark.
I like to keep a bottle Woodford Reserve around, but I don't drink it very often anymore now that it is $30 a bottle. Old Forester used to be a mainstay in my bourbo-bunker, but now I feel it is way over priced and I haven't bought a bottle in over two years other than Birthday Bourbon.
Sorry Brown-Forman, but what used to be profit in your pockets is now going to other distillers. Buffalo Trace is a prime example although I am angry with them for cutting Virginia off from the Ancient Ancient Age 10 year old.
Although Knob Creek isn't cheap at $27 a bottle I buy it ten-to-one over Woodford Reserve.
Indeed, Evan Williams Single Barrel is a far better bourbon, and a far better buy than either Knob Creek or Woodford Reserve, and seven to ten dollars a bottle less expensive. Whenever it's on sale, I buy this a lot.
Yes I miss good old batch #40. It is a great sadness.
Linn