After the sunset trip to the supermarket, . . .

Joined Sep 2003
9K Posts | 0+
Puerto Rico/NYC
and after a pint of Haagen Dazs Mint Chip with a few pieces of assorted fruit a half hour or so after that, it was time to taste a tip from a friend. Yesterday I had taken delivery from binnys.com of two bottles of rum and a bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle 15 year old bourbon at 107 proof. Definitely up my alley in the strength range.

Well!!! . . .

Well, indeed!!!

I just don't know what to think. :dunno:

What an incredible blast of flavor with each sip, overwhelming, especially since the shock of the $200 bottle of "root beer" was still settling in. This bottle cost me a lot less, a walk out price of $48.55 after spreading out the shipping costs.

What intriguing, bold, extremely unusual flavors, including if I'm not mistaken, a strong "hit" of toffee finished with caramel after one sip.

I'm sorry folks, this one's going to take me awhile, but it too is headed for the Bloofingtonian Top 25, and it might very well take until the middle of football season to decide on this one. But if you have half a yard, treat yourself, and get a bottle of . . .

Old Rip Van Winkle 15 year old 107 proof bourbon.
 
BTW that initial burst you tasted is Vanilla! You've just never tasted so much loaded up front that it seems like it must be some other topping off a sunday or syrup for an espresso or sumtin'... The sad part is - that very first sip is like a drug... You'll chase it the rest of that bottle. And like they say with drugs, you'll never quite get as much a burst as you did that first time. Mark my words...

I'm not sure how because the 12 doesn't have a burst that's near the 15... The 20 doesn't either. Which makes me wonder what's up with current bottles of the 15. Or do they just blend to this unique profile for that one particular age? Stupid is as stupid does if that is the case!
 
Perhaps it's that "special" place in the warehouse. Booker Noe knew where it was. So does Jimmy Russell. :wink:
 
I doubt that as it would bring up the stupid is as stupid does... As in put the whole wharehouse in that one spot if that's the case!

More curious is the 10 @ 107. I'd like to get acquainted with that and see if 107 proof has something to do with it. If absolutely nothing, that leaves two options.

(1) The 15 is blended to a certain profile that makes one wonder about stupid is as stupid does! Why not blend the rest of the line to the same general area???

or more likely

(2) current bottles of the 15 are uncharacteristic and probably what we taste now will disipate to non-existence! Which is why I was all over your @$$ like a cheap suit to get a bottle NOW!
:lol:
 
"As in put the whole wharehouse in that one spot if that's the case!" - LOL!!!

Yeah, like get a ray gun that will shrink the barrels down to the size of thimbles and put them ALL in that spot. It would also make it easy to shift the barrels around. Then, when it's ready for bottling, move them into position, reverse the ray gun effect back to original size, and presto, they're back to original size and you're ready for bottling!!! :D
 
I guess what I mean is I could see the 10 year old being stored in a very different location than say barrels for the 12 & 15 & 20 & 23...

What loses me though is I seriously doubt they put the barrels inteded for the 15 in one SWEET a$$ spot and what, leave the barrels intended for the 23 in the closet with the A&W rootbeer kegs? At 200.00 a bottle, you'd expect to have more than the 15. Yet I find the 15 to trump the 23, and at a fifth of the price!
:?: :?: :!:
 
Indeed Sensei Hollow Point, but how do you know that ANY barrels are intended for ANY age until after a few years and a few tastings? Suppose they don't store it with any intentions until a few years and tastings go by?

And speaking of the Old Rip Van Winkle 15 year old 107 proof bourbon, I must take a deep, deeeeeeeeeeep bow to my Bourbon Sensei, as he has, with his inimitably infallible palate discerned that indeed, the kick in the face that you get with this bourbon upon entry into one's mouth is vanilla. The rest is mystifying and complex, as well as wonderful. This will definitely make my Top 15, and perhaps my Top 10, but it may take until football season for me to decide, because the heat and humidity are building here.
 
My point exactly. I don't buy that the barrels for the 15 are placed in a specific location exclusive from their other higher end products.

What I would be willing to believe is that based on the wanted age, maybe a different barrel is used, or more/less char time is alotted to the barrel.

But if I had one definitive product, you could best believe I'd be steering everything else I could somewhere into the same neighborhood. I'd sure as hell like to know EXACTLY what it is that separates this one. My gut feeling is it is just a run. I'd be very surprised and really ranting about stupid is as stupid does if in say 5 years a bottle of the 15 is equal or very comparable to what today's bottles taste like. I'll especially be mystified if the 12 & 20 still taste as different from the 15 as they currently do!
 
So what you're saying is, hmmmmmmm, . . . Let me see if I can break it down in terms that I, The Great Dumboni can understand, because sometimes even if I read your stuff three or four times, it leaves me with my head spinning. :dunno: :duh:

So, what you're saying is, . . .

I think, . . . :dunno: :duh:

that as they become more hip to what they've got on hand, and as they become more streamlined in their operating methods, i.e., cost cutting, etc., we can pretty much expect all their bourbons to someday have a singularly boring flavor profile with the only difference being the various and sundry nuances of age alone, which may not add up to the vast taste differences we now experience.


I THINK that's what he said. :dunno: :duh:
 
Nahh... forget about that thought. There will always be subtle differences just based on AGE alone. Let's say we have a recipe and a big bowl full of said ingredients...

Then you take your portion and make your cake. A one layer cake which takes (1 hour to bake).

I take my portion of the mix but it's two layers and takes 3 hours to bake.

Now granted different ovens subject to different conditions etc... But imagine your cake has a very nice but light Vanilla accent... But mine has this one that knocks you over and you confuse it for other pastries and candied treats it's so bold!


Is that layman terms enough for you? If not, I can break it down till Bob Villa couldn't repair it!

Something either in the recipe WAS different OR something in the barrel construction or grade used WAS different OR the blend to the desired profile for the 15 is superior to the rest. Don't get me wrong the products VW turns out are good... It's just that the 15 leaps away from the others -IMHO of course. The only explainable difference is the 107Proof factor - thus far.
 
Yes, of course age itself could impart differences, but I'm glad to hear you say that something was different, even if it is just barrel char or proof, although grain percentage difference sounds a bit more logical, but then again, . . .

what do I know. :dunno: :duh:

As far as the 15 leaping away from the others, I don't know, the Van Winkle line is all so different, and so good that I hesitate to say that one leaps away from the other. For example, the 13 year old rye is special and unique, definitely, and as for the bourbons, I still feel the Special Reserve 12 year old is unique and "perfect" bourbon, and doesn't taste a bit like the Family Reserve 20, while the Family Reserve 23 is also completely different. As for the Old Rip Van Winkle 15, it's outstanding, but I don't know where I might place it at this time. You of course have tried the whole line, and I have yet to. I think that what tickles me about the ones I've had is in fact the difference, and uniqueness of each one.

If you're talking about one of them shaking out of the mix as being superior in the minds of the management of the folks at Van Winkle, well, that's a different matter altogether.

By the way HP, and for anyone who's interested, toward the ends of my visit to Beekman Liquors to pick up the 23 year old, the distinguished, well dressed lady made some mention of a Van Winkle granddaughter being in charge and having gone to a tasting where many products were on hand. I didn't get to really spend a lot of time there the day I bought that bottle, but I think as for what you and I have discussed, she might be my "in" someday. I complemented her extensively on the prices, at one point exclaiming over their price on the 13 year old rye, and telling her how everyone else is now charging even into the 40's, at which point she cast her eyes behind us where a couple men were having a loud conversation and shushed me with a knowing smile and nod.

I think she may be one of the resident managers, but perhaps not the owner. Although she was casting sort of a suspicious eye at me in my black dashiki with the leopards and african tribal figures on it, and Star of David hanging around my neck, along with the Elvis-sideburns and oozing enthusiasm over bourbon and rye, she did take to my chatty nature, seemingly as enthusastic as I am. She also spent a little time trying to sell me on some kind of special single malt scotch, 35 years old, that just came in but I told her I found my spirit in bourbon, and that during the summer I go for mixed drinks with gin and rum.

More to come on that end, and I'm having my third tasting of the 23 year old as we speak. It tastes a bit less like root beer this time, but I'm still choking on the price. I was hoping for something that might blow the 20 year old away, and nothing blows the 20 year old away in my book. The Hirsch 16 only squeaks by on my list.
 
I´ll have a legitimate response for you after lunch but I gotta ask you this... not now but RIGHT NOW about this black outfit with the leopards etc.

Have you been smoking some New & Improved ISHT?!!?
:!:
 
I had always wanted at least one dashiki in my wardrobe since the 60's, but they disappeared. Up until a few years ago the new African immigrants in NYC, who largely migrate to being street merchants, had been showing up with racks of beautiful shirts and dashikis.

One day around the middle of 1999, I was downtown below 14th Street in the famous Greenwich Village area of Manhattan and on my way to see a friend. She was a photographer who operated out of her apartment. I called her and she told me that a meeting with a client was running late and could I hang for about another 45 minutes before coming over. So I went to have pizza at a place on 10th Street and 7th Avenue South. After the pizza I went outside and on the side of the pizza parlor was one of these African guys with a rack of dashikis and shirts.

I had wanted a dashiki for about 30-35 years, I had the money in my pocket ($25) and was going to come away with at least one. They were all so beautiful I wanted them all, and all the shirts too, but I only had money for one. So, with black being my favorite color and being a cat lover, the leopards were great and the little tribal figure holding the two spears looks great, and so does the rest of the design, so I bought it. It was the only one with a black background, so that tipped it for sure, since all the designs were great.

It's nice to wear around these parts in the horrible summers. Since I come out of work Thursday mornings and do so much of my freelance work that day, I wind up being awake for about a total of 32 hours and dressed in the same clothes most of that period by the time I arrive back home late Thursday night. The dashiki is very comfortable to wear into the firm those Wednesday nights and the two front pockets are very convenient. The Star of David was given to my parents by my father's oldest sister when I was born. I guess it was her way of welcoming my mother into a huge Puerto Rican farm family.

And that's the story of the dashiki, and as for that other thing, I'll see you on e-mail. :D
 
Pictures! I want pictures! Come on Bloof, after all that you have to show us a picture... of it on you of course!

Ed
 
I guess you haven't heard. I'm not only a Puerto Rican Jew, but also part Transylvanian. That's right, Transylvanian, as in Grandpa Munster. I'm from the part of the family that doesn't show up in photographs, and which can make themselves invisible even in mirrors. It was not always so, but early on in my life the family decided that since cameras were breaking all over the place whenever a picture was taken of me, that I should be banished to "that certain" branch of the family.

So, the old bat whipped up a potion to save the world from the sheer horror of having to look at me, much less record the fact of my existence, and so that's why I work the graveyard shift, flying under the radar at all times, avoiding the world. Believe me, no eyes could stand the sight of me. Be glad no pictures exist.
 
To keep it factual I've never had a sip of either of the 10 VW's. I'm most interested in the 107 as it is the same percentage as the 15 year old.

On the contrary, last tastes, I found the 12 to be reminiscent of the 20. The 20 to me shows it's maturity over the 12, but nonetheless, they are definitely cousins. The 15 was adopted - if you ask me!

Here is something to keep in mind. The stuff is now made at Bufffalo Trace distillery... But 12 and more years ago the whisky was not made there and ummm, my mind wonders is something was either lost or gained in translation from the transition.

You mentioned the 13 VW Rye... Interesting coincidental topic or not? There was a vw 12 Rye. It was from the old establishment and dried up in the last few years. The 13 year old Rye is what's left. Your little theory I believe is correct about it being the same as another same age and strength Rye. I believe the difference between the two to be them being stored at different facilities upon procurement! But it's no fun playing God of whisky and guessing. Especially when my disciples are all drunks roaming around NYC in disheik-eez wearing leopard skin under garments! Now I'm thinking to myself, you in such attire must stick out like an albino in full scuba gear with tank and mask strapped on, walking down the strip in Vegas on an average mid day August stroll! :shock:

Are you sure the woman at Beekmans, was not having funny expressions on her face because she was trying to figure out where the camera crew was for the Puerto JewCian guy in front of her who was starring in Coming to America Pt. II?
 
ROTFLMAO!!! to the third power!!!

And NOT leopard skin undergarments!!! :D Don't give me a bad reputation. The leopards are ON THE DASHIKI!!! Just for the record. :D

Yes, yes, sorry, I forgot. If I think about the flavor profiles of the 12 and 20, they are DEFINITELY cousins. I temporarily forgot our discussion about that and your mentions. Yes, the 15 tastes ADOPTED, as in W____r. :D

Yes, I do remember us talking about the 12 year old rye a couple times. I'm sure that someone in the world has a bottle left, but perhaps they're holding out until they can auction it off at Sotheby's for a million bucks.
 
Bloofington said:
I guess you haven't heard. I'm not only a Puerto Rican Jew,

Oh if I still drank I would raise a glass to the memory of Freddie Prinze! :cry:

Ed
 
OK ok... So I got the sharkskin thong mixed up with the bigcat graduation robe... You must be looking like a million bux with the matching elephant tusk necklace and long kneck bottle of bourbon hanging out of your chest pocket... But really walking around New York with such fine gear on is just asking for trouble. Did you at least bring your trusty flare gun? I wouldn't want the city zoo keeper to mistakingly haul you in for disorderly conduct while out on unexcused parole!

You do of course realize that the Van Winkle 12 is ALSO something else that is 12 years old... Except that I've been doing some thinking about what we just said... The first thing that comes to mind is why don't these things taste the same... Well the differnt facilities and other nuances... Hmmm yeah that plays a part but I just had a news flash... They don't taste closely related right now because we have NOT tasted them since they became parallel YET!!! It would take 12 years for that to come to fruition - RIGHT? DUHH... And to think it took me this long to come up with that...

What I think is I'm going to be EXTRA safe and get a few bottles of 15 Van Winkle in the next few months to a year! Just to be SAFE!

If that's ok with you, of course Grasshopper!?