Sorry the bottle didn't live up to the expectations, Matt, but as always, this is extremely informative and valuable to all of us. Thank you so much for being objective and honest. Unlike the bottle of Old Fitz, honesty and objectivity are priceless :)))))
I'm with you 100% on this bottle. I have had the opportunity to try a few releases of Old FItz, and even the 19-year from last year left me unimpressed
Right now im in a raffle for a 8 year bottled in bond old fitz for 110$ plus tax. Im still newer to whiskey hunting but i think the price isnt the worst for what it is. If my name gets pulled for the bottle ill get it. Although it sounds they more than likely wont be the best stuff ever. I would still be excited to have a unique bottle that is hard to find especially where i live. Its hard to get allocated bottles in my town.
I was just about to write and say get a Rebel 10 when you made the recommendation. With loads of the Heaven Hill nuttiness on my bottle of Rebel 10, I’d be shocked it it was distilled anywhere else.
Thankfully I didn’t purchase, but a friend did. OF Birthday bourbon was disappointing when I tried a generous pour. Is it good…yep. Is it $170 good … no chance.
I agree 100%. I saw Old Fitz 10 on the shelf at one of our local bars that often gets rarer whiskies, so I immediately ordered a pour. Regretted it. The only flavor I remember was a slightly off flintstones vitamin flavor. Got a Rebel 10 single barrel a few weeks back and even at the price point, it was way better than the Old Fitz. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Old Fitz is so in demand.
@@jasoncoates1835 I think I get what you’re saying: a few people really wanted it and since it was fairly rare to begin with, when the bourbon boom hit, it became very hard to find. At that point, word of mouth and just pure scarcity makes people think it must be good, so it becomes even more sought after, and rarity/demand ratio spirals. Similar to Blanton’s, the only difference being I would happily pay $60-$70 for Blanton’s because it is good but not blow-your-mind good whiskey, while I would leave Old Fitz on the shelf at any price.
Old Fitz is always interesting, most folks forget that it’s basically an experimental series in a fancy decanter bottle. Most years have been more herbal or even grassy on the nose and leaning more to a honey sweet. This year’s 10yr (srp $140) is more similar to the 17yr in that they are far sweeter on the nose and definitely have brown sugar notes than typical. I have an 8yr, 9yr, 11yr, 16yr and this 10yr open right now and the 10 is completely different and I believe more appealing to the avg bourbon drinker that usually gets disappointed by the herbal notes and oakiness of Old Fitz releases
It’s over my cap so no I won’t be getting this anyway. But thanks for taking one for the team and hopefully saving some of the community money. Unfortunately the trend is seeing prices going way up on premium products which is I believe going to hurt the industry in the long run. Seeing some bottles in the plus 275 and up is just insane and for not great juice to boot. Yes some are bangers but some are really not good and that has to be effecting a few of these makers. Enjoy!!
If I’m being honest, the most disappointing purchase I’ve made in the past year was your 2022 whiskey of the year lol 😂 (Calumet Farms 16 year). A lot of people (not just you) loved it, but I just didn’t get a lot out of it. It was definitely tannic, likely because of the age. But I didn’t find it to be viscous or have big flavors that are typical of bourbon (eg vanilla, caramel, etc.). It’s surprising because normally we’re pretty close in bourbon preferences. Oh well! I still love your content regardless! 😂
Same 100%! Luckily, I got it at MSRP. I really enjoyed the Sam Houston 15 year so I was interested in trying this one and it's not my profile. I get a lot of tannins and oak, but the oak is astringent for me. But most of all, I taste medicinal cherry. Reminds me of drinking cherry flavored NyQuil but with more alcohol.
@@rrkaminski9 Absolutely. I get tannins and the astringent oak you're talking about. And on the nose I get almost a magic-marker scent. It's not great, particularly when I was expecting pretty big things.
My most disappointing bottle so far of 2023 is ECBP B523. Paid $88 for it and am not happy. It has the peppery taste with a mix of magic marker and oak. Blah
Bourbon popularity has spiked demand for lots of bottles that are now rare, and lots of reviewers making videos about how amazing some of them are, etc. The FOMO has become so high that when I actually try high end bottles that trade on secondary for 500+, I end up with such high expectations that the taste (while good) so often feels underwhelming vs what I built up in my head. And the large majority of reviews for unicorn bottles these days all tend to have the same conclusion "really good, but not worth it's secondary price" which I agree with
The 17yr was good, 19 was too oaky and the younger ones tend to be just boring; not enough depth or complexity especially when you can pick up a larceny BP for a fraction of the cost
Same-ish story here, on shelf, 185+WSLT.. even with this review probably still would have bought it. Other store down the street has it at… wait for it… 600.00+WSLT. Yes, I double checked and it wasn’t a 19. Ugh. Biggest disappointment so far.. Stagg 131 @ $110 +tax. Not a fan.
@@Best_Served_Neat_On_Ice interesting, the last old fits I bought were 10 a year. It is what it is I guess. More and more of the "new limited" releases are just subpar and seem to be money grabs.
Question - how much does the price impact your rating/enjoyment of the pour? There are tons of bottles out there that are inexpensive in terms of SRP but are being jacked through the roof in non state controlled stores. So if the OF had been say…$100 which used to be the HH pricing ($10/year) would you rate the pour higher?
My personal worst whiskey of 2023 award is actually a tie between Old Ezra 7 Rye and Smoke Wagon Uncut/Unfiltered batch 174B. $160 wasted on yucky spirits is very disappointing but at least all the other bottles I purchased this year were good to very good.
Got one for $165, thrilled to own one cause I’ve always admired that decanter, and reviews have been mixed on this, so I’m going to remain naively optimistic about my bottle 😬
I would say my most disappointing bottle this year so far is Bardstown Foursquare collab. Its not worth the $145 price tag. A close second is Knob Creek 15 while better than Elijah Craig 18 it was just so earthy. I'd rather have a KC12.
@@0529mpb I enjoy oak flavor but the whiskey should taste more like whiskey than wet wood water. For example Calumet 15 had a great oak profile at 15 years but didn't overwhelm the flavor.
I have tried a few different bottles of Old Fitz (current 10 yr and two different 15 yr old bottles) and haven't been overly impressed with any of them. They're ok, but at that price they should be AWESOME.
I've only had an Old Fitz 9 at a bar and I don't remember being overly impressed by it. From what I've heard, Old Fitz has always been very hit or miss. Most of the time, the bottle is nicer than the whiskey inside, but every once in a while there is a batch that seems to legitimately blow people away.
I'd hate for Old Fitz to be your most disappointing bottle of 2023 so maybe you need to revisit Rare Stash! 😂 I see they are up to release #3 of their bourbon and have added a Rye also.
Sounds like every bottle of Henry McKenna l've bought, a disappointment considering the hype and money spent. That said, l see Henry McKenna is back in the $50.00 range in my neck of the woods, that's a long way from $150.00.
I got one bottle and was very disappointed so don't plan on getting another one. I know they're all single barrels so they'll be different but I was so burned by it, I'd rather get something else. My bottle was so bitter.
Hey Matt it’s (store owner name) I have an old Fitz for you. (Matt) I’ll be there in 10 mins. Can you put it on the shelf just before I get there??? (Store owner) you bet I can
Whistle Pig 18yr. Not much there for $400. It's just an easy drinker and not special in any way. Frankly, just about everything they out out is way overpriced.
WTWT, now that you've downsized yourself by 50%, it might be time to downsize that cereal bowl too... (this is the only whiskeytube channel that I actually watch the sponsor portion of the video!)...
Yes, and technically it is $80 bourbon, just in a $30 Decanter. 😂 just grabbed one for $119. Never seen one, and didn’t have to win a raffle or anything. Took the dive, and will be excited to try.
As soon as I saw this on the shelves priced at a lot less than the prices I normally see Old Fitz, I new something was up. Glad I didn't jump on it. ....which may be a good use for that bottle, for people who are into that kind of thing.
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Sorry the bottle didn't live up to the expectations, Matt, but as always, this is extremely informative and valuable to all of us. Thank you so much for being objective and honest. Unlike the bottle of Old Fitz, honesty and objectivity are priceless :)))))
As always love the work you are doing pard, keeping us informed and protected from whiskey that doesnt live up to the hype.
I'm with you 100% on this bottle. I have had the opportunity to try a few releases of Old FItz, and even the 19-year from last year left me unimpressed
Right now im in a raffle for a 8 year bottled in bond old fitz for 110$ plus tax. Im still newer to whiskey hunting but i think the price isnt the worst for what it is. If my name gets pulled for the bottle ill get it. Although it sounds they more than likely wont be the best stuff ever. I would still be excited to have a unique bottle that is hard to find especially where i live. Its hard to get allocated bottles in my town.
“A faint whisper of my $175 plus tax.” Classic!
I was just about to write and say get a Rebel 10 when you made the recommendation. With loads of the Heaven Hill nuttiness on my bottle of Rebel 10, I’d be shocked it it was distilled anywhere else.
The Jokester from Lucky Seven was my disappointing bottle… it wasn’t bad…. It just wasn’t great.
Thankfully I didn’t purchase, but a friend did. OF Birthday bourbon was disappointing when I tried a generous pour. Is it good…yep. Is it $170 good … no chance.
I agree 100%. I saw Old Fitz 10 on the shelf at one of our local bars that often gets rarer whiskies, so I immediately ordered a pour. Regretted it. The only flavor I remember was a slightly off flintstones vitamin flavor. Got a Rebel 10 single barrel a few weeks back and even at the price point, it was way better than the Old Fitz. I cannot for the life of me figure out why Old Fitz is so in demand.
I had the exact same experience. Mine was "why the heck is this so hyped. It's nothing special at all"
It's in demand because it's in demand, I think. (That sounds silly but I mean it.)
@@jasoncoates1835 I think I get what you’re saying: a few people really wanted it and since it was fairly rare to begin with, when the bourbon boom hit, it became very hard to find. At that point, word of mouth and just pure scarcity makes people think it must be good, so it becomes even more sought after, and rarity/demand ratio spirals. Similar to Blanton’s, the only difference being I would happily pay $60-$70 for Blanton’s because it is good but not blow-your-mind good whiskey, while I would leave Old Fitz on the shelf at any price.
i wonder what the bottle in the thumbnail could be, it could be anything, any one of the many bottles that look like giraffes in a hat
Old Fitz is always interesting, most folks forget that it’s basically an experimental series in a fancy decanter bottle. Most years have been more herbal or even grassy on the nose and leaning more to a honey sweet. This year’s 10yr (srp $140) is more similar to the 17yr in that they are far sweeter on the nose and definitely have brown sugar notes than typical. I have an 8yr, 9yr, 11yr, 16yr and this 10yr open right now and the 10 is completely different and I believe more appealing to the avg bourbon drinker that usually gets disappointed by the herbal notes and oakiness of Old Fitz releases
Matt rocking the guns. Looking good buddy. Mucho respect for your dedication. Plus love the whiskey reviews.
Thank you!
Nice catch getting the Old Fitz. Here in Jersey we can't even get the $12 dollar bottle.
Just found a bottle of michters toasted rye cask strength for msrp in a local store huge grab!!!!
It’s over my cap so no I won’t be getting this anyway. But thanks for taking one for the team and hopefully saving some of the community money. Unfortunately the trend is seeing prices going way up on premium products which is I believe going to hurt the industry in the long run. Seeing some bottles in the plus 275 and up is just insane and for not great juice to boot. Yes some are bangers but some are really not good and that has to be effecting a few of these makers. Enjoy!!
Thank you for the honesty, I appreciate it.
If I’m being honest, the most disappointing purchase I’ve made in the past year was your 2022 whiskey of the year lol 😂 (Calumet Farms 16 year). A lot of people (not just you) loved it, but I just didn’t get a lot out of it. It was definitely tannic, likely because of the age. But I didn’t find it to be viscous or have big flavors that are typical of bourbon (eg vanilla, caramel, etc.). It’s surprising because normally we’re pretty close in bourbon preferences. Oh well! I still love your content regardless! 😂
Same 100%! Luckily, I got it at MSRP. I really enjoyed the Sam Houston 15 year so I was interested in trying this one and it's not my profile. I get a lot of tannins and oak, but the oak is astringent for me. But most of all, I taste medicinal cherry. Reminds me of drinking cherry flavored NyQuil but with more alcohol.
@@rrkaminski9 Absolutely. I get tannins and the astringent oak you're talking about. And on the nose I get almost a magic-marker scent. It's not great, particularly when I was expecting pretty big things.
I absolutely loved the Calumet 16. Went through one bottle and bought two more 😂
@@michaelbush1374 Glad to hear it! That’s just not me haha
Grateful for your honest reviews. I've got a Maker's Cellar Aged and a Rebel 10 Year, so I'm cool not finding the Old Fitz.
Heaven’s Door Refuge. It wasn’t super expensive but it was pricey enough and garbage.
QUESTION!!! Were you in the multi-horsepower Mustang screeeeeching into the parking lot when you found this at $175 plus tax???
Biggest disappointment is what it is. You pay for the decanter. Spend your money wisely people.
Appreciate the honesty 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Loving the content as always - what are the glasses that you use in your videos? Would love to check them out.
I wonder the samething and asked in another vid n never responded
I love your channel and would like to see you do a review of J.W.Kelly single barrel double oak.
Never good when you get disappointed by a 175 dollar bottle of Bourbon.
Bookers Apprentice batch. 100 bucks. Ugh
Im having a hard time bringing myself to pay $100 for a bottle, much less $170+.....bourbon is good but it aint worth the prices nowadays.
‘‘Twas a top five pour, for me, from last year.
Condolences for your loss...of 175 fricken dollars. I would still be happy to add it to my collection for that price though. Great video Matt.
My most disappointing bottle so far of 2023 is ECBP B523. Paid $88 for it and am not happy. It has the peppery taste with a mix of magic marker and oak. Blah
B523 ECBP has become a shelf dusty.
Si, great content as always!
Thank you for the honest review Matt! That bottle of Old Fitz was high on my must find list. NOT ANY MORE! Keep the great content coming!
Damn dude. You lost weight and look great. Been pumpin' iron too. Look at em' pipes!!!
Ive never had old fitz but I do own a bottle of rebel 10 and honestly im not very happy with it, guess I won’t be chasing the fitz either
Bourbon popularity has spiked demand for lots of bottles that are now rare, and lots of reviewers making videos about how amazing some of them are, etc. The FOMO has become so high that when I actually try high end bottles that trade on secondary for 500+, I end up with such high expectations that the taste (while good) so often feels underwhelming vs what I built up in my head. And the large majority of reviews for unicorn bottles these days all tend to have the same conclusion "really good, but not worth it's secondary price" which I agree with
Ezra Brooks 99
... absolutely atrocious... had to dump it.
The 17yr was good, 19 was too oaky and the younger ones tend to be just boring; not enough depth or complexity especially when you can pick up a larceny BP for a fraction of the cost
I’ve been wanting to try this. I’ll gladly take this off your hands 😆 powdered donut and all.
Same-ish story here, on shelf, 185+WSLT.. even with this review probably still would have bought it. Other store down the street has it at… wait for it… 600.00+WSLT. Yes, I double checked and it wasn’t a 19. Ugh. Biggest disappointment so far.. Stagg 131 @ $110 +tax. Not a fan.
I have the 2021 11yr Old Fitz and both Rebel 10s I've had are not even close unfortunately.
Isn't MSRP on the Old Fitz $10a year? So this should have an MSRP of $100 not $175.
MSRP for this one is $14 per year.
@@Best_Served_Neat_On_Ice interesting, the last old fits I bought were 10 a year. It is what it is I guess. More and more of the "new limited" releases are just subpar and seem to be money grabs.
I was only allowed to buy one box of sweet cereal a year. On my birthday.
Am I the only one that tries to guess Matt’s scoring before he calls it? I nailed this one. Thanks Matt!
Thank you 🥃👍🏋
Question - how much does the price impact your rating/enjoyment of the pour? There are tons of bottles out there that are inexpensive in terms of SRP but are being jacked through the roof in non state controlled stores. So if the OF had been say…$100 which used to be the HH pricing ($10/year) would you rate the pour higher?
So many of these expensive 10 yr BiBs out there. And they're not any better than the ones available for $40.
Waterlogged beechwood or beach wood? I’m guessing the latter.
Will someone in the comments please remind me of the glasses Matt uses? I’m down to my last glen and I thought I’d try something new.
My personal worst whiskey of 2023 award is actually a tie between Old Ezra 7 Rye and Smoke Wagon Uncut/Unfiltered batch 174B. $160 wasted on yucky spirits is very disappointing but at least all the other bottles I purchased this year were good to very good.
Got one for $165, thrilled to own one cause I’ve always admired that decanter, and reviews have been mixed on this, so I’m going to remain naively optimistic about my bottle 😬
Beware if the juice in a fancy bottle!
I would say my most disappointing bottle this year so far is Bardstown Foursquare collab. Its not worth the $145 price tag. A close second is Knob Creek 15 while better than Elijah Craig 18 it was just so earthy. I'd rather have a KC12.
You must have a real issue with oak. KC 15 is the weakest of the 3, but KC 18 is really special.
Knob Creek 12 is titties.
@@0529mpb I enjoy oak flavor but the whiskey should taste more like whiskey than wet wood water. For example Calumet 15 had a great oak profile at 15 years but didn't overwhelm the flavor.
You should compare it to rebel 10yr.
I have tried a few different bottles of Old Fitz (current 10 yr and two different 15 yr old bottles) and haven't been overly impressed with any of them. They're ok, but at that price they should be AWESOME.
The 17yr is really really good, the 19yr is also really good.
Eh Taylor small batch disappointed me. The last bottle was from 2019 and the new bottle is from 2023 and tastes noticable younger to me.
It’s a badass decanter though…😆😆
The last few bottles I spent over $120 on were all pretty disappointing. I think I'm done with that unless I get to try it first.
My big disappointment this year was the Ardbeg Heavy Vapor. It was $140 and not as good as the $80 Uigeadail.
10 yr seems like a huge jump back from the 19 yr. Seems odd if they move back maybe a 17 or 15 yr but not go half the age of the prior year.
I've only had an Old Fitz 9 at a bar and I don't remember being overly impressed by it. From what I've heard, Old Fitz has always been very hit or miss. Most of the time, the bottle is nicer than the whiskey inside, but every once in a while there is a batch that seems to legitimately blow people away.
Was this much different than the rebel 10 year?
I'd hate for Old Fitz to be your most disappointing bottle of 2023 so maybe you need to revisit Rare Stash! 😂 I see they are up to release #3 of their bourbon and have added a Rye also.
It's got an oaky afterbirth 2:43
Ehhh give me a good bottle of larceny barrel proof any day.
8yr, 14yr, 16yr, 17yr and 19yr are great others I have tried not so much
The 11 year is Meh
Comments+1
Sounds like every bottle of Henry McKenna l've bought, a disappointment considering the hype and money spent. That said, l see Henry McKenna is back in the $50.00 range in my neck of the woods, that's a long way from $150.00.
I got one bottle and was very disappointed so don't plan on getting another one. I know they're all single barrels so they'll be different but I was so burned by it, I'd rather get something else. My bottle was so bitter.
jD heritage is ok but not worth what I traded to aquire it I guess
Hey Matt it’s (store owner name) I have an old Fitz for you. (Matt) I’ll be there in 10 mins. Can you put it on the shelf just before I get there???
(Store owner) you bet I can
Never been super impressed with OF. Only one that I thought was great was the 16 yr.
Whistle Pig 18yr. Not much there for $400. It's just an easy drinker and not special in any way. Frankly, just about everything they out out is way overpriced.
SRP is $140.
WTWT, now that you've downsized yourself by 50%, it might be time to downsize that cereal bowl too... (this is the only whiskeytube channel that I actually watch the sponsor portion of the video!)...
Didn't it used to be around $10 per year of aging?
Yes, and technically it is $80 bourbon, just in a $30 Decanter. 😂 just grabbed one for $119. Never seen one, and didn’t have to win a raffle or anything. Took the dive, and will be excited to try.
So not worth the price ?
Blood Oath Pact 9👎🏽👎🏽
Most reviews of Old Fitz have been pretty marginal, but this remains a sought after bottle… better historically than recently?
Lower your expectations…..that’s how I ended up with my wife…..eh, let’s be honest, other way around
Well folks, this is what happens sometimes when a tater decides to tate. 😂
As soon as I saw this on the shelves priced at a lot less than the prices I normally see Old Fitz, I new something was up. Glad I didn't jump on it. ....which may be a good use for that bottle, for people who are into that kind of thing.