Your timing on this video could not have been better... I picked up (total wine lottery $160) a Blanton's straight from the barrel two weeks ago. Cracked it open today when I saw your video. Whew! I got a "glass one!" This bottle is Blanton's on steroids! Drinks warm (not hot), but gives a punch of the fruitiness you find in regular Blanton's... it also balances the sweetness with oak. Very good! Stats on my bottle (if you're interested): Dumped on 6/8/23, Barrel 916, Warehouse H, Rick #27, 131.4 proof. I really like and appreciate your videos. I know how much time and effort it takes! Cheers!
Just curious about the Total Wine Lottery…I shop there all the time but have never heard of them doing a lottery…how does it work in your neck of the woods?
@@GeeWhizbang Join their club and you gain 10 points for every dollar you spend. When you gain 25000 points in a year ($2,500), you gain "grand reserve" status thereby giving you access to their lotteries which happen 2 to 4 times a year. They send you an email with 7 offerings and you rank them 1 thru 7. The more points you have the better chance you get your higher choice. If selected, you have 7 to 14 days to purchase the bottle.
Way to go Josh picking up on them being similar. In the beginning it seemed like Aron thought the same. You guys had me singing and fumbling the words to reading rainbow, trying to remember the words. 😂
I’ve had the same experience with straight Blantons. I’ve had some great pours in restaurants, some really good bottles, and some that are just plain “what the heck am I drinking“? My absolute favorite was a store pick. Just picked up a bottle of Blantons gold in a lottery, and got a straight from the barrel in a lottery last year. Now I’m going to have to open them. Thank you as always for your honesty.
Very informative review. I just had a similar experience. I recently opened a store pick private barrel that was the worst whiskey I've had all year. Yesterday, my friend offered me the same brand store pick from the same store, just a different barrel. It was the best whiskey I've had all year!
Great show as always! Single Barrel roulette is about as accurate of a description as possible. Not everyone has this kind of money to gamble with! Russell's Reserve Single Barrel has been more consistent with their offerings at less of a gamble. I'll stick with that! Cheers!
They’re still our favorite products for their uniqueness, but specifically speaking we love single barrel picks where we know the palates picking the barrels so that we know they’re prequalified. Paying a premium for an unknown palate’s selection isn’t appealing to us.
This ought to be interesting. I had a couple of samples a while back - regular Blanton's and Blanton's Straight From the Barrel. The SFTB was the one that lived up to the hype. Josh you might could leave the singing to Erin. 😂❤
Was able to snag a SFTB recently at msrp. It is sssssooooo good. My buddy and i traded samples of SFTB and i find my bottle is way better at a lower proof. 124.8 vs 129proof
My boss was kind enough to let me have a small small maybe 0.1 or 0.2oz sample of our SFTB we got on the bar. We have 5 bottles and I believe the one I sampled was 126.7 proof. Immediately on the nose, for me, it smelled like Eagle Rare. Not even close to Blanton's for me. I was kind of shocked considering they are different mash bills.
Slight mashbill differences don’t make as big of a difference as many would lead folks to believe if you ask us. Definitely not a big enough difference to detect blind. Even Buffalo Trace’s “high rye” mashbill #2 isn’t all that high of rye.
@@stuffandwhiskey I’m pretty new to it but I just couldn’t believe it reminded me so much of Eagle Rare right off the first nosing. Which I love Eagle rare. But then when you say each could be a hit or miss, it’s tough to want to pull the 200$ish secondary trigger. For sure.
Would 100% agree with you there. Stagg Jr and EHTBP > Blanton's SFTB pretty much every time, save for the real ringer Blanton's SFTBs which are few and far between.
This bourbon is not likely to turn up for $150. It is the only version of Blanton's that I would take a look at if I saw it in a store, but I only expect to see it at a museum, marked up to an absurd price. I won't be hunting it, but if it turns up at a bar and isn't too costly, I'll happily give it a try. There are plenty of other high quality, cask strength single barrel products that are possible to find and cost less than $150. I find store pick single barrels to be an interesting option, and my whisky purchases lately have shifted almost exclusively to these. They usually seem to be from better quality barrels, or they might be a little off profile. Of course, the taste preferences of the person picking the barrel are going to be part of the process, but having a representative from the store taste and select the product adds another layer of quality control. I don't expect to see a store pick Blanton's SFTB, but I've found store picks of Knob Creek, Four Roses, Russell's Reserve, Whistle Pig, Teeling, Signatory, Cadenhead, Weller Full Proof (this was a surprise), and even products from smaller and lesser known producers lately. I haven't been disappointed with a single one, and none of them broke the bank.
"There are plenty of other high quality, cask strength single barrel products that are possible to find and cost less than $150." Such a great point. And we agree on single barrel picks selected by palate(s) you know and trust. While we're hesitant to splurge on standard single barrel products as we have no clue why they were chosen, if someone picking the single barrel is someone whose palate we align with, then we feel safe knowing we'll enjoy the bottle (and that's held true so far, both for us in buying picks and now with us doing our own barrel picks that others are buying).
Not sure and honestly having tasted so many barrels in rickhouses, it’s way more about the barrel itself than the rick. Chasing ricks is a wild goose chase in our book.
Your timing on this video could not have been better... I picked up (total wine lottery $160) a Blanton's straight from the barrel two weeks ago. Cracked it open today when I saw your video. Whew! I got a "glass one!" This bottle is Blanton's on steroids! Drinks warm (not hot), but gives a punch of the fruitiness you find in regular Blanton's... it also balances the sweetness with oak. Very good! Stats on my bottle (if you're interested): Dumped on 6/8/23, Barrel 916, Warehouse H, Rick #27, 131.4 proof. I really like and appreciate your videos. I know how much time and effort it takes! Cheers!
Just curious about the Total Wine Lottery…I shop there all the time but have never heard of them doing a lottery…how does it work in your neck of the woods?
@@GeeWhizbang Join their club and you gain 10 points for every dollar you spend. When you gain 25000 points in a year ($2,500), you gain "grand reserve" status thereby giving you access to their lotteries which happen 2 to 4 times a year. They send you an email with 7 offerings and you rank them 1 thru 7. The more points you have the better chance you get your higher choice. If selected, you have 7 to 14 days to purchase the bottle.
Awesome score! Congrats!
Way to go Josh picking up on them being similar. In the beginning it seemed like Aron thought the same. You guys had me singing and fumbling the words to reading rainbow, trying to remember the words. 😂
I’ve had the same experience with straight Blantons. I’ve had some great pours in restaurants, some really good bottles, and some that are just plain “what the heck am I drinking“? My absolute favorite was a store pick. Just picked up a bottle of Blantons gold in a lottery, and got a straight from the barrel in a lottery last year. Now I’m going to have to open them. Thank you as always for your honesty.
Very informative review. I just had a similar experience. I recently opened a store pick private barrel that was the worst whiskey I've had all year. Yesterday, my friend offered me the same brand store pick from the same store, just a different barrel. It was the best whiskey I've had all year!
Thanks for the tip..found the free tier and joined...that got me to the blooper reel, It was great !
Loved this! Would enjoy more batch vs batch videos like this
Hey, I just wanted to tell you thanks for getting the Reading Rainbow song stuck in my head for the rest of the night😂😂
You’re welcome! It’s a classic.
Great show as always! Single Barrel roulette is about as accurate of a description as possible. Not everyone has this kind of money to gamble with! Russell's Reserve Single Barrel has been more consistent with their offerings at less of a gamble. I'll stick with that! Cheers!
Great stuff, guys. I’ve been done with single barrels for a while. I like tasting the art of blending good whiskey.
They’re still our favorite products for their uniqueness, but specifically speaking we love single barrel picks where we know the palates picking the barrels so that we know they’re prequalified. Paying a premium for an unknown palate’s selection isn’t appealing to us.
I like the shirt Josh😄
This ought to be interesting. I had a couple of samples a while back - regular Blanton's and Blanton's Straight From the Barrel. The SFTB was the one that lived up to the hype.
Josh you might could leave the singing to Erin. 😂❤
😂😂 you’re not wrong on the singing. I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.
@@stuffandwhiskey Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. 🎶
Great video. Fun experiment!
Was able to snag a SFTB recently at msrp. It is sssssooooo good. My buddy and i traded samples of SFTB and i find my bottle is way better at a lower proof. 124.8 vs 129proof
My boss was kind enough to let me have a small small maybe 0.1 or 0.2oz sample of our SFTB we got on the bar. We have 5 bottles and I believe the one I sampled was 126.7 proof.
Immediately on the nose, for me, it smelled like Eagle Rare. Not even close to Blanton's for me. I was kind of shocked considering they are different mash bills.
Slight mashbill differences don’t make as big of a difference as many would lead folks to believe if you ask us. Definitely not a big enough difference to detect blind. Even Buffalo Trace’s “high rye” mashbill #2 isn’t all that high of rye.
@@stuffandwhiskey I’m pretty new to it but I just couldn’t believe it reminded me so much of Eagle Rare right off the first nosing. Which I love Eagle rare. But then when you say each could be a hit or miss, it’s tough to want to pull the 200$ish secondary trigger. For sure.
Love this video. Single Barrels, got ta love em.
This was a fun video!
You guys gotta put up the lyrics with the bouncing ball so we can sing along lol 😂
Is that a KOK back there?!
Indeed it is. Gift from a dear friend that knew it was my holy grail.
I tasted the Blantons streight from the Barrel and mine was better than Stagg
Man now I have to order a new shirt. It wasn't there when I ordered my last shirt.
I buy if it’s SRP but Stagg is better IMO.
Would 100% agree with you there. Stagg Jr and EHTBP > Blanton's SFTB pretty much every time, save for the real ringer Blanton's SFTBs which are few and far between.
I hate how much I like SFTB - no shot at buying it for a decent price
WHISKEY CHEERS 😎
This bourbon is not likely to turn up for $150. It is the only version of Blanton's that I would take a look at if I saw it in a store, but I only expect to see it at a museum, marked up to an absurd price. I won't be hunting it, but if it turns up at a bar and isn't too costly, I'll happily give it a try. There are plenty of other high quality, cask strength single barrel products that are possible to find and cost less than $150.
I find store pick single barrels to be an interesting option, and my whisky purchases lately have shifted almost exclusively to these. They usually seem to be from better quality barrels, or they might be a little off profile. Of course, the taste preferences of the person picking the barrel are going to be part of the process, but having a representative from the store taste and select the product adds another layer of quality control. I don't expect to see a store pick Blanton's SFTB, but I've found store picks of Knob Creek, Four Roses, Russell's Reserve, Whistle Pig, Teeling, Signatory, Cadenhead, Weller Full Proof (this was a surprise), and even products from smaller and lesser known producers lately. I haven't been disappointed with a single one, and none of them broke the bank.
"There are plenty of other high quality, cask strength single barrel products that are possible to find and cost less than $150." Such a great point. And we agree on single barrel picks selected by palate(s) you know and trust. While we're hesitant to splurge on standard single barrel products as we have no clue why they were chosen, if someone picking the single barrel is someone whose palate we align with, then we feel safe knowing we'll enjoy the bottle (and that's held true so far, both for us in buying picks and now with us doing our own barrel picks that others are buying).
which ric is each bottle from?
Not sure and honestly having tasted so many barrels in rickhouses, it’s way more about the barrel itself than the rick. Chasing ricks is a wild goose chase in our book.
Ah single barrels. So wonderful. So annoying at times.
❤❤VIDEO ❤❤