Bourbon alert!!!

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jmforge

Banned
Joined
Jul 26, 2011
Messages
1,308
Reaction score
0
If any of you are fans of wheated bourbon like Makers Mark, Weller, Van Winkle and what have you, I would suggest that you scrape up the cash ($87.50 for a fifth here in my neck of the woods) and buy you a bottle or two of Jeffersons Presidential Select 18 year old. Why, you may ask? Well, Ill tell you. This stuff is supposedly the LAST of what was left aging at the old Stitzel-Weller distillery when Sazerac/Buffalo Trace bought it a number of years ago and closed it down. A fair bit of what has been released in the premium line of stuff like 19 year old Weller and I think t eh Van Winkle stuff has ben that leftover. This is the last. They relased some last year as a 17 year old and this batch as an 18. In addition to being some monster hooch, it represents the end of an era. My brother, whi has a bit more cah than I do, bought one bottle, tried it, and went back and bought 6 more. One of his normal borbouns is Basil hayden, which is some damn good stuff and not cheap. He said tha after drinking this Jefferson, the first sip of normally smooth Hayden tasted like lighter fluid. :lol2: The suttf is expensive, but nothing like the $200+ you pay for the 22-23 year old Van Winkle and the same or slightly less than you pay for the current 18 year old William Larue Weller. This stuff is better than the Weller they are selling now and possibly the equal of the old 19 year old Weller that I say is stlll the best bourbon that i have ever had.
 
FYI, 2010 was the last year for the Van Winkle 15 from leftover S-W stock. As of 2011, it is Buffalo Trace product like all of the younger Weller, etc. The 22 and 23 Van Winkle is still S-W as is this Jefferson. I would suspect that the William Larue Weller is going to be switching over to BT made booze assuming that they continue making these lines.
 
I think I just lucked into the stuff. These limited Weller/Van Winkle runs usually go pretty fast.
I wonder if my local can order some of this. Best I can get here regularly is Woodford.
 
Funny, just bought a bottle of this today almost at random for a present--maybe I should keep it for myself
 
Is this one any good. I always like gin more but it think I can get into bourbon. I got 4 of these from my meat guy for Christmas.

image.jpg
 
I was looking to buy a bottle of bourbon as a Christmas gift and I saw your post this morning. Went out and got a bottle of batch #10, thanks jm!
 
I usually have Blanton's on the desk but I'll have to watch out for this. Thanks for the heads up.

Dave
 
Same batch as mine. Interesting that they let it sit around for a couple of years after they took it out of the barrels. The bottle says that it was distilled in fall of '91. With special batches like this, they tend to stop the aging it when they don't think that it is going to improve significantly with more aging and as you know, unlike wine or bottle conditioned beer, once it comes out of the barrel, it's done.
I was looking to buy a bottle of bourbon as a Christmas gift and I saw your post this morning. Went out and got a bottle of batch #10, thanks jm!
 
just so i understand i thought we are talking about

Pres18.jpg


anywho i wanna buy a bottle just have to find it in PA(which doesnt allow you to just buy it and have it shipped to me) or have to do a SLO through the restaurant but if i am able i will soon own a bottle or two.
 
That be the stuff.
just so i understand i thought we are talking about

Pres18.jpg


anywho i wanna buy a bottle just have to find it in PA(which doesnt allow you to just buy it and have it shipped to me) or have to do a SLO through the restaurant but if i am able i will soon own a bottle or two.
 
Same batch as mine. Interesting that they let it sit around for a couple of years after they took it out of the barrels. The bottle says that it was distilled in fall of '91. With special batches like this, they tend to stop the aging it when they don't think that it is going to improve significantly with more aging and as you know, unlike wine or bottle conditioned beer, once it comes out of the barrel, it's done.

Yeah, I don't know what that's about. Looking at the thread on Bourbon Enthusiasts it looks like we got a good batch. :whistling:
 
Okay, i think that I might have figured out some more backstory on this stuff. It is bottled by McClain and Kine in Louisville, which is owned by Castle Brands, who also make Goslings rum and Boru vodka. No idea how they got hold of the S-W hooch. I was under the impression that Buffalo Trace and Julian Van Winkle III were the only ones who had access to that leftover stock from the old distillery. Guess not. The original story that I heard about the first batch of the 19 year old Weller was that when they were doing inventory of the aging warehouses after that sale of the distillery in 1992, they found this stuff that had been sitting in the back for 19 years. The warehouse guys allegedly said that it was an extraordinarily good batch of the "Old Weller" "feedstock" that they made their premium 10-12 year old 107 proof stuff in the purple velvet bag and they had left it and kept checking every year or so to see how it was doing.
 
Well, I haven't opened mine yet (almost afraid to open it without some good reason) but my brother bought the one bottle, tried it, proclaimed it be, and i quote, "good sh*t" (that's what he texted to me) and went out and bought three more for himself, one for my dad for Christmas and one for his doctor buddy up in DC. :lol2: I will be a mooch and taste it at his house next week.:biggrin: I am tempted to try to find at least one more because we are still kicking oursleves for not buying last the two bottles of that old 19 year old Weller that were at our local store back in the day. It turns out that they were two of the last four in all of Florida and we were unable to find any more even in Kentucky with about 4 people looking!!
Yeah, I don't know what that's about. Looking at the thread on Bourbon Enthusiasts it looks like we got a good batch. :whistling:
 
The Buffalo Trace distillery tour is well worth a visit if you ever get near Lexington, KY. I just wish I would have bought that 20 YO Pappy Van Winkle when I was there.

Dave


IMG_0479_zps3a7a6378.jpg


IMG_0478_zps4bd1576c.jpg


IMG_0471_zpsd3b18532.jpg
 
Loved Buffalo Trace! We took the "Hard hat" tour, which is longer and more detailed.

BTW I buy the basic Weller wheated bourbon, it's a tremendous value.
 
Yes, it is. They have recently brought back what looks like the previous "Old Weller" 107 proof.
Loved Buffalo Trace! We took the "Hard hat" tour, which is longer and more detailed.

BTW I buy the basic Weller wheated bourbon, it's a tremendous value.
 
I am going to be in BIG trouble if my brother got that last bottle out of the one good barrel and all the rest taste like goat pee!!!:lol2:
 
Since finally finding a place that had this near me, I have been into 3 other places that also stocked it.

Now I need to find some Four Roses 2012 Limited Edition Small Batch. They are about the same price, if someone wants to trade a Jefferson for a Four Roses, I would be down.
 
Since finally finding a place that had this near me, I have been into 3 other places that also stocked it.

Now I need to find some Four Roses 2012 Limited Edition Small Batch. They are about the same price, if someone wants to trade a Jefferson for a Four Roses, I would be down.
I may have seen a bottle of this at the store, I will add it to the list to check.
 
Back
Top