Moderator: Squire
I like EC 18, but it's almost like it is transitioning from bourbon to another beverage.
would Mr. Van Winkle say "23 years is about all you can get out of any bourbon before you ruin it"?
How does HH sell an 18 yo for $30-35 when you would expect to pay $100 and up for a similarly aged product from elsewhere?
Is there a mashbill that promotes graceful old aging?
Strayed wrote:over-oaky flavor that I particularly enjoy: Rowan's Creek, EzraB, Pappy20 (the real one), Noah's Mill, Corner Creek, Turkey 12.
EC18 is actually pretty light for an 18 year old bourbon; I think it's distinctive flavor profile has more to do with the way it's fermented and distilled than how long it's been aged. There is a flavor characteristic that I can only describe as "old-style bourbon", that USED TO BE common in bourbons made before the nineties. If you taste bourbon, not "premium bourbon", but just regular four- and six year old bourbon, from the sixties and seventies, there is a distinctive flavor that's not there anymore. Except EC18. That flavor might be objectionable to you. I think probably many people really don't like it. But for those of us who do, it's got it.
But of course the (embarassing, perhaps) fact is that the most popular bourbon whiskey in the world, this year as it has been every year for decades, is Jim Beam white label. Four years old. Eighty proof. More expensive than some; less expensive than most. The world's favorite bourbon. Could it be that we afficianados don't really even like "bourbon"; what we really like is what our distiller/bottler/heros produce as "premium whiskey"? Think about this... Chuck Berry is certainly one of the masters of rock'n'roll. Yet his only #1 record was... "My Ding-a-Ling". The WHO's only #1 record? "Squeeze Box". Regardless of how important those bands were, to understand rock'n'roll, you need to be familiar with other songs than those. But you also have to understand that Jim Beam white label pays the bills for the stuff we really enjoy. And it does so because more people enjoy drinking it than any other bourbon whiskey made.
angelshare wrote:
What JB has accomplished in JBW is a simple, light flavor that appeals moderately to a whole lot of people.
What it almost sounds like you are saying is basically I should give up the Omaha Steaks and succumb to the Salisbury TV dinner tray fanfare. Forget that I prefer root beer or a clear soda to Coke. Coke pays the bills so maybe I'm just delirious and don't even actually like soda - I'm just hopelessly weird and like other - I guess... Time to trade in the 67 Pontiac - It's Toyota all the way baby!
This JBW thinking is exactly why the top selling ""beers"" in America can not legally be called "BEER" in Germany. Think about it. . . beer crafting came here on the Mayflower. If you took (in particular) the JBW analogy back to it's place of origin with beer - you'd have a tough sell on your hands which would grow exponentially by the square mile headed Eastward.
Alas... I hope enough of you do buy into this. . . I limited the term to *enough* - so that maybe the price falls but there isn't a complete disappearance on things like VW20, Sazerac 18, Jefferson's Reserve, VWFR Rye etc!
are there bourbons that you suspect would appeal more to your taste had they been aged a couple more. . .
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