For the fun of it I took four excellent bourbons in equal quantities from three different 'houses' and vatted them to produce a first rate concoction.
I used Rock Hills Farms and Hancock Reserve from Buffalo Trace (although HR may be a label they inherited when they acquired Ancient Age?), Ridgemont Reserve (from Barton), and Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2008 release (from Brown Foreman).
The Hancock is on the soft side at 88.9 proof and is, to the taste, a low rye bourbon and nicely sweet with good barrel flavors. The Rock Hill Farms (100 proof) is higher in rye content, which gives it a lively bite while still acknowledging the barrel in which it was raised. The Ridgemont Reserve (93.7 proof) has that special sweetness, and earthy cast as a counter balance to that sweetness, that I often find, and like, in Barton bourbons. The Old Forester '08 B'Day (94 proof) is one of those bourbons that is highly complex, subtle, somewhat dry, makes a nod to the pot still with its dry and metallic qualities, and owes a great deal to the 13 years it spent in the barrel on the upper floors of a BF warehouse. It is the anchor bourbon in the quartet.
The resulting bourbon is truly first rate, having some slight cognac-like overtones. It definitely owes most to the '08 Birthday Boy because its 13 YO dryness totes the other's sweetness, and even the rye bite, to a long conclusion..... one which honors the barrel flavors each has contributed. It is of some interest to me that the Birthday bourbon dominates as much as it does, since it is only 25% of the contents.
Still, I am quite happy with this vatting, because the '08 Birthday bourbon has always been a favorite of mine.