Standard Bottlings VS Hand Selected Bottlings

[fricky]

It may be based on the fact that I am new to this site; however, I have been unable to find any reviews comparing standard bottlings to hand selected bottlings. Only standard bottlings are available in PA. I suspect that if there are differences, they may be quite subtle; however, I have not had the opportunity to make a comparison.

Doug

[angelshare]

Just to clarify, you mean something like a Binny's hand-selected single barrel bourbon vs. the standard version of the same brand? We agree, that would be interesting, though frustrating if you live in a state where mail order is not an option!

[fricky]

You are correct. I was referring to hand-selected bottlings such as Binny's.
Although they are unavailable in Pennsylvania, I may be able to obtain them while traveling out of state. Apparently, few people have made direct comparisons.
Doug

[OneCubeOnly]

The only instance from which I can speak from experience is the 2004 private bottling of BT vs. the standard issue:

Tasting them side-by-side reveals they're clearly variants. Using the 'orchestra' vs. 'soloist' analogy is probably the most accurate way to describe the differences. Ie. you can definitely tell that they share many of the same 'notes', but they're in different proportions.

This is just my experience, but I get the same type of relationship between Evan Williams Single Barrel and EC12. So if you don't have access to a private label, taste those two side by side and I think you'll experience the same phenomenon.

[bunghole]

ima agrees with Gary

[angelshare]

Tasting them side-by-side reveals they're clearly variants. Using the 'orchestra' vs. 'soloist' analogy is probably the most accurate way to describe the differences. Ie. you can definitely tell that they share many of the same 'notes', but they're in different proportions.

That's the perfect anology, Gary. Randy Blank's private bottling of Van Winkle also falls into the same category, and is quite impressive. The only "retail" example of this we have right now is a hand selected version of Knob Creek, and we think the analogy applies there as well, though it doesn't knock your socks off the way the BT and "Van Blankle" do. Linn tried the hand selected KC once at our house, so he may have some comments on that.

This is just my experience, but I get the same type of relationship between Evan Williams Single Barrel and EC12.

We might also suggest EWSB vs. EW 1783.

Are there bottles that are of interest to you specifically? Do any folks here regularly seek out these "hand selected" offerings? They're just too hard for us to get to really think about them much.