(ri)1

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(ri)1

Unread postby bourbonv » Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:36 am

I had the opportunity to try this new rye from Jim Beam last night at the Bourbon's Bistro. I will say the packaging is interesting and I would say designed to appeal to the young crowd. The whiskey itself is also, in my opinion, designed to appeal to the young crowd without sophisticated palates. The whiskey has nothing offensive as in bad tastes or mustiness, but also is very one dimensional. The only flavor that dominates the whiskey is sweet corn syrup flavors. I would say this is probably a barley legal rye whiskey at 51% rye and of the other 49% of grains, from 40% to 45% is corn with barley malt and enzymes used for conversion. It is very bourbon-like in its corn sweetness so if you are expecting some nice rice spiciness, skip this product.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby bourbonv » Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:23 pm

I would not count out trying it. You should do like I did and try it at a bar if nothing else. If you wanrt to see how similar a rye can be to a bourbon, then this product is a very good example to use.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby bourbonv » Thu Nov 13, 2008 3:11 pm

I would say that it is different from old Overholt. It is much sweeter and less complex (if you can imagine that) than Old Overholt. Like I said try it in the bar. It is worth experiencing, but you probably will not want a bottle unless you like real sweet rye whiskey. Like I said, I think this is aimed at the twenty-something crowd that like sweet liquors. You know the type - the ones that drink the lolli-pop drinks.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby MikeK » Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:56 pm

Tried this (for free) at a tasting a few weeks back. I found it thin on flavor and quite sharp. Most any other bottle of rye on the shelf at $10-$20 is miles superior. I can't believe they are charging $45+ for this. Good on Beam if they can make the big profit. Bad on them if they turn off a new whiskey drinker after they drop big $$ and decide that bourbon and rye suck.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby shoshani » Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:40 am

mozilla wrote:The few Beam labels worth buying are all jacked up on price, because of their advertising budget attached to the Beam name(with the exception of KC, when on sale).


Eh...I'm kinda partial to OGD, which does not (to me, anyway) taste of Beam Blandness, yet has a fairly low price.

All this talk of sweet, bourbonlike rye has me hankerin' for some Rittenhouse BiB! :clown:
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby shoshani » Fri Nov 21, 2008 1:36 am

mozilla wrote:Have you had the opportunity to try some National Distillers OGD?


So...I'll tell ya a story. I have a good friend of many years who bought a house. The basement of the house had a bar with many bottles of wine and one bottle of whiskey, all unopened.

Said friend is a wine freak but despises whiskey, so from the largesse of his basement I inherited an unopened bottle of ND OGD BiB that was bottled around 1972. I had tasted mid to late 1980s OGD but this blew me away. I don't think anything is distilled and bottled today that can even come close, for many reasons...not the least of which that the 125 barreling proof used by most distillers today was above the legal limit back then.

Today's OGD BiB is not the same but I find it pleasant in its own right. Not to say that it's all that complex or challenging; not by a long shot. But it has its honeyish caramelish moments. And goes well in egg nog - something I would not use ORVW 10YO 107 for . 8-)

I was (and still am) a huge fan of ND Old Taylor BiB. I still have an open pint and one unopened, both bottled in 1980 from six year old stock. I use them sparingly, mostly to demonstrate to whiskey-loving friends - the kind who can discuss bourbon intelligently - what bourbon whiskey should taste like! (As opposed to those who ask if I have something to drink, then take what I pour them and toss it down their throats without tasting it...I keep a bottle of "floor wax" for people like that.)

EDIT: My ND Old Taylor is NINE years old, sorry about that. Distilled Spring 1971, bottled Spring 1980.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby drinkdrankdrunk » Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:16 pm

You tell'em Jeff. I'm pretty sure this experimental effort will fail much like Jacob's Well. Just a fad. They will make their money for a couple of years off of non-bourbon drinkers and it will fade away. It's a shame that some "marketing jerk" as you put it thought up that plan as a legitimate marketing strategy. Probably a Beam family member, maybe as a high school science or economics project or something.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby BuffaloBill » Sun Nov 23, 2008 4:12 pm

I saw it and immediately passed on it. A tad too glitzy and out of sorts for my eyes. Should we begin praying for the powers-to-be (?) to NOT turn Bourbon into a fancy-fruity Vodka-of-the-month marketing campaign? It's all about FUNDAMENTALS while Bourbon remains an integral part of American History - and not the latest fad. BB
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby cowdery » Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:42 pm

drinkdrankdrunk wrote:You tell'em Jeff. I'm pretty sure this experimental effort will fail much like Jacob's Well. Just a fad. They will make their money for a couple of years off of non-bourbon drinkers and it will fade away. It's a shame that some "marketing jerk" as you put it thought up that plan as a legitimate marketing strategy. Probably a Beam family member, maybe as a high school science or economics project or something.


The Beam family does not run Beam Global and hasn't been in charge of the company that bears their name since Prohibition. Fred Noe and his cousin, Jim Beam Noe, work at the distillery in Kentucky. Fred is also a spokesperson. The company is run from the Chicago suburb of Deerfield and that is where all marketing decisions are made. There are no Beam family members in Deerfield although Fred's college-student son, also Fred, did serve a summer internship there. I'm pretty sure (Ri)1 wasn't his idea.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby cowdery » Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:16 pm

I finally had a chance to give this product a thorough tasting and have posted a review of it on my blog. The headline may give you a clue as to my opinion:

"Beam's New Rye Is Not As Superficial As You Think."
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby Bourbon Joe » Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:55 pm

I agree with Jeff.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby drinkdrankdrunk » Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:33 am

cowdery wrote:
drinkdrankdrunk wrote:You tell'em Jeff. I'm pretty sure this experimental effort will fail much like Jacob's Well. Just a fad. They will make their money for a couple of years off of non-bourbon drinkers and it will fade away. It's a shame that some "marketing jerk" as you put it thought up that plan as a legitimate marketing strategy. Probably a Beam family member, maybe as a high school science or economics project or something.


The Beam family does not run Beam Global and hasn't been in charge of the company that bears their name since Prohibition. Fred Noe and his cousin, Jim Beam Noe, work at the distillery in Kentucky. Fred is also a spokesperson. The company is run from the Chicago suburb of Deerfield and that is where all marketing decisions are made. There are no Beam family members in Deerfield although Fred's college-student son, also Fred, did serve a summer internship there. I'm pretty sure (Ri)1 wasn't his idea.


Thanks for the info Mr. Cowdery and for setting the record straight. I was just joining in on the drunkin' Beam bashing and no real thought was put into my statement. I actually do enjoy some Beam brands, for example OGD 114. I always have a bottle on hand. It makes me wonder though, do any Beam reps ever read the postings on this site and chime in like the guys from BT do? It seems they would want to know how bad a job they are doing.
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby bunghole » Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:14 pm

I urged my reply. Some smigged my wikkinz. some blurged my flunkinz. Hunka Hunkna Do!
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby cowdery » Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:28 pm

drinkdrankdrunk wrote:It makes me wonder though, do any Beam reps ever read the postings on this site and chime in like the guys from BT do? It seems they would want to know how bad a job they are doing.


I know one young woman at one of Beam's PR agencies who, as part of her job, has to read my blog. I asked her what she was being punished for.

All of the producers follow these things and have for years. Fiften years ago I got in trouble with Beam for something I wrote on the old Prodigy Wine and Spirits bulletin board about their Jacob's Well Bourbon (like that it was a total fraud).
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Re: (ri)1

Unread postby cowdery » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:14 pm

I'm not quite sure what you're going for there, Jeff, but I think I may be offended if you're suggesting I don't call them as I see (or taste) them. The people at the producers are all grown-ups and they generally take criticism well. If you think I don't criticize them then you haven't been paying attention.
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