When thinking about private selections, it left me pondering about how much they’ve changed in recent years. 8 years ago, these private selections were less frequent to come upon (not including stores with a long history of them), but today there are pretty readily available. While I’m excited to see more of those selections, I’m also afraid that the odds of getting a great barrel may be decreasing. Several years back, if you went to a distillery for a private selection, they’d roll out maybe 7-10 barrels for you to try – and if you didn’t find something special enough to buy the whole barrel – you could walk away without buying anything (or so I’ve heard; I haven’t personally experienced a complete sh!t show among that many barrels where my group has walked away). Today, more and more distilleries are providing far more limited choices – like three barrels – and some are requiring an up-front commitment to buy one of those three before you sample any of them! That bothers me, as I think it significantly reduces the chance for finding that unique barrel, and increases the odds of private selections being mediocre.
The first private barrel selection I was fortunate enough to participate in was at Buffalo Trace in 2013. They rolled out 9 barrels of bourbon, which were destined to be bottled as Elmer T Lee. They had all been distilled and barreled on the same day (9 years prior to our pick) – and were all from the same rick in the rickhouse. A few members of our barrel-picking team were disappointed with the lack of variability, and voiced that with the barrel manager Beau. For me, I was just thrilled to be trying barrel proof Elmer T Lee! Of those 9 barrels, the team (which was 20+ people!) was split between two barrels, that everyone thought were really special. There was also a consensus that at least 2 of those barrels shouldn’t even be considered for Elmer T Lee, and that they should consider blending those into Ancient Age or something else. The other 5 were good, but not especially great. I walked away with a greater appreciation for the consistency we get as consumers when it comes to whiskey, as well as just how much each individual barrel influences the whiskey. When 9 barrels as similar as they could possibly be had that much variation, I wondered how in the world they maintain the same flavor profile in a standard label.
When I think back to that first selection, I wonder “What if they’d rolled out the two dud barrels and one that was just average?” Or “What if they rolled out one dud and two that were average?” In either scenario, we’d have picked what we thought was the best (and thought it was amazing!); but in a blind tasting with a standard label Elmer may have found it wasn’t really special.
To be clear – I’m not suggesting that they would intentionally push sub-par barrels out to a group that is now locked in. First – the folks I’ve met in the bourbon industry have all been straight shooters, and the effort needed to coordinate a deception like that seems too far-fetched to me. Second – if a store is willing to buy an entire barrel (which isn’t an insignificant up-front investment), they want that store to be happy with the selection, to be able to move the bottles timeline, and ultimately – to buy more in the future!
What I am suggesting is that with limited options, the role of the picker is somewhat reduced – and the odds don’t favor finding that truly special barrel. This doesn’t necessarily make me avoid private selections, but I do plan to pay attention to see if there is a downward trend – while hoping that isn’t the case.
Cheers!
Gary
