Benchmark Single Barrel

[angelshare]

I remember this being on the shelves a few years ago and really enjoying it. I hadn't seen it for ages until I found a lone bottle this week while travelling. I assume it is no longer produced, although I'm not certain. After doing a little searching around, I found some references to it, but nothing definitive regarding its origin, its current availability, etc. I got the impression that this was a BT product or at least a bottling put out around the time that BT took over the Benchmark label.

Can you guys educate us on this one?

[Strayed]

The bottle we have says, "distilled, aged, and bottled by The Old Benchmark Distilling Co., Frankfort, Kentucky". That's a pretty convincing case for Buffalo Trace. Interestingly, the regular Benchmark sold at that time was also from Benchmark Distilling Co., but only "bottled by", and the location of origin was New Orleans (as was Eagle Rare's Prentice Distillery after it was no longer made by Seagram's). I suspect that the New Orleans location meant that both were owned by Sazerac, rather than Age International, who owned most of AA's other brands. When Seagram's owned them, Benchmark's origin was Louisville and Eagle Rare was Lawrenceburg.

By the way, another brand that existed at that time was Elmer T. Lee (both the single-barrel and the 107-proof). They were made (in the same Frankfort distillery as they are today) by an otherwise unknown company named Buffalo Trace.

[jbohan]

Go to greatbourbon.com and you can see every brand that BT makes, Benchmark is there.

[TNbourbon]

Go to greatbourbon.com and you can see every brand that BT makes, Benchmark is there.

But not a single-barrel offering. Google it, however, and you will find some references (not all that many), including tasting notes and the fact that it's listed on your own VA ABC price list (94 proof, $22 for 750), Dave and Tina. Seems it's also called "Benchmark XO".
And, while I find Leestown Distiling (pre-BT) and Sazerac, Inc. listed as producers, I find not a single reference of it being produced by Buffalo Trace, so you may be right that it's no longer produced.

[angelshare]

... it's listed on your own VA ABC price list (94 proof, $22 for 750), Dave and Tina. Seems it's also called "Benchmark XO".

Ahh, yes, the VA ABC list. I saw that, too. It taunts us with the "availability" of IW Harper everytime I look at it! According to the price list, Wathen's never ran out, "Ridgewood" Reserve went on special in May, 2004, & Stagg is always available by special order!

The Benchmark SB used to be fairly standard shelf item in larger ABC stores a few years ago. We probably had two bottles or so in the past. When it disappeared, I sort of forgot about it until this week.

Although, since you pointed this out, maybe I should just try ordering it. You never know. Maybe there's some stashed in the warehouse or something.

[mickblueeyes]

I have a bottle of the Single Barrel--let me tell you, it is fantastic!

I would give my left you-know-what for a bottle of the Benchmark XO!

[dgonano]

Picked up a bottle a few years ago in VA. I have yet to open it. I , as John knows, noticed the reference to"distilled and bottled in Frankfort".

The bottle gives reference to "honey spot" and single barrel dumping, but I find it odd that there is no indication of the barrel# or any distilling date, age, dumping date, etc.

[Strayed]

A lot of them don't, Dave. It's like it doesn't reallly matter.
Marvin Franz and I share a totally unsupported suspicion that the term "single barrel", like "Tennessee Whiskey", has no legally-recognized definition at all, and really means pretty much the same as "high quality", "user-friendly", and "low carb". We both feel that the only real single barrel bourbon on the market is probably Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit, and we base that opinion on the fact that there is often a radical difference in flavor and overall quality between bottles from one barrel and the next. Which makes WTKS the most authentic single barrel... and also a helluva gamble of your forty bucks.

[jbohan]

Ask Elmer T. Lee whether or not the bottle with his name on it and says its from a single barrel is not actually from a single barrel. While you are at it ask him if Blanton's is not truly a single barrel bourbon. I'm not sure why you think Wild Turkey is the only true single barrel product.

[bourbonv]

Here is a question for you - If you dump 100 barrels of bourbon and then put them back into the barrels without adding anything, and then can you bottle them as a single barrel if you do it one barrel at a time?

Mike Veach

[gillmang]

Good question. I would say, no, not even if you had recasked, i.e., aged the aged mingled whiskeys for a further number of years. Since single barrel is not defined in the U.S. distillery laws, it would fall to the aplication of the ordinary misleading advertising laws (some of which are be State laws I would think) as to whether what you described would run afoul of those rules. In Canadin law it is the ordinary impression conveyed that counts, that is the test. I would think that single barrel implies on this test that the liquor was aged its full term in one barrel. I don't think it would matter if distillates from different mashes were entered in the barrel (even from different companies) as long as the mingling meets the bourbon defintion and the combination was aged throughout in one barrel. That is what I think the ordinary person would understand by the term single barrel but that is just my opinion and I could see that people might take different views on it. What you described Mike is rather what I understand as a small batch.

Gary

[cowdery]

I say yes simply because "single barrel" has no legal meaning and, therefore, it can mean whatever the producer wants it to mean. There is no "single barrel authority" to stop them from calling anything "single barrel." Truth in advertising laws only cover outright falsehood and leave a wide berth for "fluffery."

[gillmang]

Here perhaps is a difference from Canadian law, which takes into account too any materially omitted statements. We have puffery (as it is termed here) but it only goes so far and less so in the modern era. Here is a summary, from the first law firm I joined back in the 70's, of Canadian law, which is still valid (in Canada) today:

"... the section provides for a general impression test, which requires a court to consider the overall impression conveyed by the representation and accordingly broadens the scope of the area of misleading advertising to cover for example a representation which is literally true but fails to reveal certain essential information and the effect of such failure is to make such a representation misleading... ".

This is how it might be viewed here but I don't say this view is definitive and different people might look at it differently, even here.

Then again, however the legal issue is viewed, I really do not care if a single barrel product is produced the way Mike mentioned. All whiskey (as I have said many times) is a blending or mix of different things in a broad sense. If anything I am a proponent of intelligent mingling. So I wouldn't care, myself.

Gary

[mickblueeyes]

I think I am going to have to argue this point a tad. Take for instance Korbel California Champagne. Now, everyone knows that Champagne can only be produced in the Champagne region of France. However, since Korbel is not exported from the US, it can carry the Champagne name.

My argument here is that every country has labeling laws, like the ATF presides over here. Blantons, Elmer T. Lee, Ezra Brooks and Evan Williams single barrels can be found internationally. I am sure that if these whiskies are sold in foreign countries, the production methods are questioned to ensure consistency with the labeling. That is just my guess. I might be way off.

[TNbourbon]

So, here's the $64,000 question: Does anybody here have empirical knowledge of any "single-barrel" bourbon out there which contents is NOT from a single barrel?