tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post307910937459070590..comments2024-03-19T20:31:23.141-05:00Comments on The Chuck Cowdery Blog: Another One Bites the DustChuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-22851228397623364932017-11-07T21:03:18.757-06:002017-11-07T21:03:18.757-06:00Here in the Northeast, there is a mix of 9y/o and ...Here in the Northeast, there is a mix of 9y/o and NAS 750's and Handles (I actually got a 9y/o nip tonight). But certainly no shortage of 9y/o marked bottles, you just may have to look a little.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03896639374222196563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-46292278312637254502017-04-26T22:38:30.557-05:002017-04-26T22:38:30.557-05:00They haven't. It's more like you never kno...They haven't. It's more like you never know what you'll find at Costco. Maybe it's stock that was lost in transit.Chuck Cowderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-69108396912814021682017-04-26T21:46:59.407-05:002017-04-26T21:46:59.407-05:00As a fan of Knob Creek, I was disappointed by the ...As a fan of Knob Creek, I was disappointed by the NAS announcement. I did compare a new NAS 750 with a 9-y-o and found little difference, yet I still chose to stock up on 9-y-o as I could afford it (Binny's had plenty of 9-y-o handles, for example; still has, I think, but my bunker is full).<br /><br />However, on my last two visits to Costco, I noticed it was well-stocked with 9-y-o 750s (it recently had only NAS). Chuck, have you heard that Beam may have changed its mind on this and gone back to 9-y-o? Not too long ago the negative reaction to the watering down of Maker's Mark soon had the brand returning to its old proof. Is this another "New Coke" marketing mistake?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03384240052473813571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-88569016283183010022016-11-27T11:15:28.301-06:002016-11-27T11:15:28.301-06:00Just got back from my liquor store. The same one a...Just got back from my liquor store. The same one at which I bought the last handle of age stated KC last week. No age stated handles. 50/50 on 750s and all the gift boxes were NAS. I bought three more bottles age stated. I have no doubt right now that the NAS is indiscernible from the age stated. But now that I have a handle open and 6 750s downstairs I'll be waiting to side by side them a couple/few years down the road. As it is I think the single barrel store selection that is age stated at $35 is the easy choice over the $28 NAS small batch. Even age stated I'd likely pick the SB. My larger concern is that we'll see quite a hike to the SB offering. Not exactly the same but a bit analogous to the current EC vs their barrel proof offering. One2gofsthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12062780918551815589noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-37940365144891986922016-11-05T16:31:45.426-05:002016-11-05T16:31:45.426-05:00Sooo ... it's six weeks since the big announc...Sooo ... it's six weeks since the big announcement and the buying frenzy doesn't seem to have happened. Just got back from the liquor store; all plentiful sizes of Knob Creek still 9 years. Could stock up for the rest of my life expectancy if I were at all worried about this. I'm kinda waiting to grab the first NAS bottle to show up so I can prove the Chicken Littles wrong in a taste comparison....Punterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13799216706767645268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-44140762869298110192016-09-28T16:48:52.850-05:002016-09-28T16:48:52.850-05:00If they want to buy "tastes like" then o...If they want to buy "tastes like" then our neighbor to the north can probably whip up something resembling what they want. Makes one wonder why Beam/Suntory was ever so naive to produce an age statement bourbon in the first place if the consumers did not care. Cranecreeknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-6381205729047519412016-09-28T13:56:11.184-05:002016-09-28T13:56:11.184-05:00Anon, I don't think that's the case here, ...Anon, I don't think that's the case here, but you bring up a good point. The whiskey glut of the '80s may have been responsible for the focus on age in the nineties, but a lot of that was also due to the Japanese market which demanded old, OLD bourbon. That market is gone now, and today's<br /> main customer expansion target is likely to be more concerned with Knob Creek being available and tasting like they expect it to than what age it is. EllenJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08338031128216161221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-91194499593534934422016-09-28T13:51:36.632-05:002016-09-28T13:51:36.632-05:00To Anonymous above: Bullshit. If they were adding ...To Anonymous above: Bullshit. If they were adding whiskey to Knob Creek that was older, they could still keep the 9 year age statement.<br /><br />Where is this recent "old whiskey glut" conspiracy coming from? Those with older stocks are bottling them and selling them for ridiculous prices every day. Why would anyone blend them into less expensive bottles? I hear a cuckoo clock in the background...Sam Komlenicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-59885822629053035172016-09-28T06:15:37.522-05:002016-09-28T06:15:37.522-05:00Holy crap you guys. This has absolutely nothing w...Holy crap you guys. This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with a whiskey shortage. It is an old whiskey overage that has caused the problem. Old whiskey is piling up faster that Big Gulp can invent new stories about it, so they are forced to blend it with newer whiskey, to maintain the flavor profiles.<br /><br />It is absolutely amazing how gullible the average consume is. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-20586357022955167192016-09-27T18:06:00.381-05:002016-09-27T18:06:00.381-05:00I am getting conflicting views on this development...I am getting conflicting views on this development,on the one hand it is no big deal. The product will be just fine and I will never notice. Then I read that Fred Minnick has said "this has always been one of my easy to find brands,so this news is troubling. Buy as much as you can now." I think I will not subscribe to either of these options but given the many age stated bourbons that are available, I will go that route.Cranecreeknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-9780636441476849402016-09-27T16:38:47.616-05:002016-09-27T16:38:47.616-05:00Anonymous said...
"So now that the new a...Anonymous said...<br /><br /> "So now that the new and improved Knob Creek is starting to flow, what happens to all the awards and medals that the real Knob Creek won? Do they go in the garbage can?<br /><br /> The advertising for the new Knob Creek really can't mention awards and medals it has won, because it is a totally new product and by itself has won ZERO awards, and it is starting from scratch on the awards counter."<br /><br />Hee, hee. Do you mean the same way that Pappy Vin Wankle has lived off that 99/100 Beverage Testing Institute rating it got around the end of the last century? The 20-year-old wonderful elixer in the greenish-colored bottle that was neither Stitzel-Weller nor even a wheated whiskey? The one that Julian told us, in early 2002, was already depleted and what he was bottling (back in the old Commonwealth distillery in Lawrenceburg) was a very good product but quite different from the original. The label didn't change, though. It was still 20 years old. But it wasn't the same whiskey. So now we'll have Knob Creek (admittedly not in the same class) WITHOUT an age statement, but carefully vatted to preserve the current flavor of the product. That is, after all, what most distillers consider their ultimate objective... to maintain unwavering consistancy. Really, it's us whiskey nerds who seem to abhor "commonly obtainable" bourbon and fear that the really good stuff must certainly suffer it is to be produced on a larger scale.<br /><br />And then, of course, there are those of us who remember when Knob Creek (arguably a better bourbon, especially at barrel proof) was thought of as ersatz, second-shelf Booker's, bottled for the masses :=))<br /><br />P.S. - Fantastic comments, SuperSam! But then, what would I expect?<br />EllenJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08338031128216161221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-73525311148641578502016-09-26T20:53:35.671-05:002016-09-26T20:53:35.671-05:00>Since distilleries have been increasing produc...>Since distilleries have been increasing production, do you think that with time as inventories stabilize, the distilleries will once again bottle bourbon with age statements? Or are we seeing the end of that era?<br /><br />Well, the sad thing about this is the fact that this can actually be achieved quite easily - if we actually stopped drinking so much bourbon. The general rule of thumb about age statement is that they usually go up when the demand is low and it usually goes down (or more recently, disappear) when the demand goes up. It's not something restricted to bourbon either - it's happening in the world of Scotch as well.<br /><br />As Chuck described in an earlier post, however, this is also a good thing - it shows that bourbon (actually whiskey in general, it seems) is doing well and gaining popularity. To quote Chuck, "business is healthy, new distilleries are opening, existing distilleries are investing, and everybody is working". We'll just have to see how good of a job they do when they say they're going to maintain the taste.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05304819800346634684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-24582201921796865902016-09-26T15:10:10.458-05:002016-09-26T15:10:10.458-05:00Why do people have to be such drama queens? As you...Why do people have to be such drama queens? As you say in your follow-up post, it's entirely predictable, but in my experience, the doom and gloom hardly ever pans out. <br /><br />"The advertising for the new Knob Creek really can't mention awards and medals it has won, because it is a totally new product..."<br /><br />Poppycock. It's going to be the almost exact same Knob Creek. What will happen is that Beam will start sneaking younger barrels into the dumped batch starting with homeopathic quantities while carefully observing consumer reaction and sales numbers. They'll keep doing that until there is either a discernible negative effect or they've achieved a sustainable level, just like any smart business. As long as the consumers are happy and can't tell the difference, what difference does it make? It's a beverage after all. An age statement isn't magic, its effect is mostly psychosomatic. Some of the best bourbons, like Blanton's or Four Roses, never had an age statement. They stand on quality. Knob Creek can and most likely will too.Erik Fishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12240369317945678257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-66014112857254357542016-09-26T14:28:21.428-05:002016-09-26T14:28:21.428-05:00And yet a 1979 Chevy Nova is very much not at all ...And yet a 1979 Chevy Nova is very much not at all like a 1985 Chevy Nova. One is a rear wheel drive beast and the other is a crappy hatchback. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-34466724357760694322016-09-26T11:40:52.502-05:002016-09-26T11:40:52.502-05:00The Chevrolet Impala changes every year. It's ...The Chevrolet Impala changes every year. It's still the Chevrolet Impala.Chuck Cowderyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-61715616721928428782016-09-26T11:25:31.949-05:002016-09-26T11:25:31.949-05:00So now that the new and improved Knob Creek is sta...So now that the new and improved Knob Creek is starting to flow, what happens to all the awards and medals that the real Knob Creek won? Do they go in the garbage can?<br /><br />The advertising for the new Knob Creek really can't mention awards and medals it has won, because it is a totally new product and by itself has won ZERO awards, and it is starting from scratch on the awards counter.<br /><br />Sure will be interesting to see how the new Knob Creek will be advertised, especially if the advertising mentions awards and medals that were won years ago by the real Knob Creek. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-82074741328149475702016-09-25T23:46:27.526-05:002016-09-25T23:46:27.526-05:00I stand corrected Dan....actually the age most atr...I stand corrected Dan....actually the age most atributed to it is "a blend of 6,7 & 8 year old stock. When I called it a 4 YO it was just my lame attempt at making a pointWeaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04618981947650181361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-76651243496935036822016-09-25T19:16:14.572-05:002016-09-25T19:16:14.572-05:00Weaver,
According to Jimmy Russell who ought to k...Weaver, <br />According to Jimmy Russell who ought to know, WT101 is between 7 and 8, not 4 years old.<br />Regards,<br />DanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-40653627485903643152016-09-25T14:16:03.079-05:002016-09-25T14:16:03.079-05:00As far as I can tell they have not lowered the pri...As far as I can tell they have not lowered the price Sam, at least not in my neck O the woods.Weaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04618981947650181361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-51555944860421995802016-09-25T09:17:37.642-05:002016-09-25T09:17:37.642-05:00Beam made this move because of skyrocketing demand...Beam made this move because of skyrocketing demand. What sense would it make for them to lower the price on a brand that's so popular it can't keep up with a 9 year age statement?<br /><br />The price will stay the same because of US and what WE are demanding from the distiller.Sam Komlenicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-87169896687754442142016-09-24T21:25:41.125-05:002016-09-24T21:25:41.125-05:00If the age statement drops should the price drop t...If the age statement drops should the price drop too? I think so. It is not the same, for better or worse, probably worse. Flavor/Taste profile is a joke to justify keeping the same price using younger juice.MadMexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-22678763855044841342016-09-24T05:56:03.404-05:002016-09-24T05:56:03.404-05:00Hmmmm....speaking of 4 YO juice, WT 101....not a b...Hmmmm....speaking of 4 YO juice, WT 101....not a bad alternative if it comes to needing an alternative.Weaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04618981947650181361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-73482855670335734242016-09-23T22:17:25.526-05:002016-09-23T22:17:25.526-05:00Annon said, "Beam can now legally fill bottle...Annon said, "Beam can now legally fill bottles labeled Knob Creek with its 100 proof white label "backwash" juice. This is so unfair to the consumers and fans."<br /><br />Well it would be unfair if they actually do that. Do you have any evidence of Beam taking that tack? I'm thinking you might want to actually see what the product tastes like before passing trashing it. You sound like someone who trashes a movie/restaurant/music release, though never having seen it/eaten there/heard it.<br /><br />Beam has always been pretty upfront (as far as I can remember), and they were upfront in this move. I seriously doubt they will be filling Knob Creek with inferior whiskey. But unlike you, I'll wait to see what happens.Brian (AKA The Dean)https://www.blogger.com/profile/15072638994343667673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-45026764908064222032016-09-23T16:32:00.764-05:002016-09-23T16:32:00.764-05:00Jesus wept. Jesus wept. Michael Kelleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07798986059381496767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-54616873837017200482016-09-23T14:37:48.655-05:002016-09-23T14:37:48.655-05:00I have a 1.75l bottle set aside just for the purpo...I have a 1.75l bottle set aside just for the purpose of "seeing how well he does".Weaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04618981947650181361noreply@blogger.com