Yeah. Definitely lots of people trying to keep the hype train going but it feels like the peak has passed and distilleries are racing to cash in right now. The domestic market isn’t going to be radically expanding anymore.
Definitely, these 200+ msrp special releases are all a joke. But I don't blame the distilleries at this point if people are willing to pay it. Most of them are paying it because they think someone else is dumber to pay more but that's going to come crashing down
Thanks for this review and thanks for spending $300 so I do not have to spend $300. I just checked my bar and I have two bottles of single rickhouse Camp Nelson F - though they are both Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit Single Barrels and only cost $55 each. Both were stored in CNF. I bet the WTKS would score in the silver medal category.
Love the review and completely agree. I enjoyed it, but this bottle convinced me there's no reason to spend over $100 for a bourbon (other than to add a bottle/label to your collection) when you can get an ECBP for around $70. I put this in a blind against ECBP A123 and a Woodford Batch Proof (each of which cost substantially less than half the price) and it came in 3rd on both nose and palate. Would be a thumbs up at $80, but for $300?
I always enjoy getting your perspective, but as usual, we don't see eye to eye on Wild Turkey. I do think the recent pricing trend is disturbing. I am also a Turkey fanboy. If you are a WT fan, then you have probably found over the years that you gravitate towards certain rickhouses for their flavor profiles. The original Single Rickhouse Camp Nelson C was birthed from the fact that Rickhouse C at Camp Nelson had developed a sinkhole under it. They were trying to empty the last bit of bourbon out, but also wanted to showcase what the Russells do best, which is blend and also present an expression that represents the essence of that flavor profile of the rickhouse. I enjoyed RRSR CNC last year, but felt it was way overpriced. It was really on par with RR13. This year, I thought the pricing was absurd, but Camp Nelson F is my favorite rickhouse. I tried it after drinking through all of the Russell's 13 batches (spoiler alert: they are all good, but Batch 5 is a step behind). And I thought that it was about as good as RR13... after drinking an absurd amount of whiskey making the comparison. I went back and tried this again with the WT 101/12, RR13 batch 3 (my personal favorite), and lo and behold, I thought it was better. Significantly better. In fact, this is the best I have had all year (I haven't had the BTACs yet, but I have had all other major releases). That's just like, my opinion, man. I love Dillon's hyperbole that anyone who has had lots of bourbons will agree with his assessment. I have about 25 open bottles of RR Single Barrels and have tried another 25 or so... none of those match this for complexity. I do get Turkey funk on this, so I don't know how you all found that missing. Camp Nelson F is one of the funkier rickhouses where Tyrone K is sweeter. Tyrone G is spicy/ rye-heavy. I get the funk here. Someone described it to me as "artificial dusty." I don't quite get that, but I saw what he was saying. BTW, last year's CNC was $250 per, this year is $300. That hurts. What hurts even more is the Wild Turkey Generations, which is $450 per. But they only made 3,000 bottles so you can't really complain about the pricing on a bottle you will never see. I tried a sample and I thought it was a trip, but feel like CNF is both better and cheaper. Oh, BTW, I tried the WTMK Voyage, which went up to $260 this year and I think it is a total rip off. It is middle of the road for WTMK's but priced $100 more. That might be one I leave on the shelf going forward. There is another disturbing trend, which is that the age statement on Russell's Single Barrels has been sinking. Before 2019, you could find some 12 years here and there. After 2019, 10 years, give or take, became the norm. Everything I have seen lately is 8 years and change. Their high age stuff is now going into premium offerings. Same thing with Beam. You used to be able to find Knob Creek 15 year picks for $60. Now people are skipping the KC18, the Hardin's Creek Series, etc., because they are just going to buy a 15 year old store pick for $60. Those days are done. The older stocks are going to premium offerings and being sold for a premium. This is the modern bourbon market. We have seen massive expansion at heritage distilleries, but those supplied won't come online for another 6-8 years. Until then, higher prices and younger whiskey is in store. Strap in.
Dillons point about Russell’s reserve single barrel private being more unique than this is not a hot take, not a unique take. Of course a single barrel will be more unique. It’s by definition 1 of a kind. Classic Dillon being outraged and making a hater comment.
Wish you had come out with this a month earlier. I stood in line for the first time in my life for a chance to get FOUR ROSES LE but they went fast and it was this or a Blantons that I already have 3 of. So I bought it, second most expensive bottle in my collection. Still don't have an EC C923.
Had this at Justin's House of Bourbon. Great pour...if the bottle was 90 bones. Bad pour at 3 hundo. This is the Land Rover of Bourbons; terrible value for a bougie bottle.
I have seen you for a long time what happened to the Butcher of Bakersfield. Loved the four of you guys. I’m happy to have found you all again I have subscribed to your new channel. Great review!!
So tired of these bourbon companies trying to milk the consumer for everything. These special releases every year are ridiculous , especially at their prices when most don’t even have age statements.
I opened mine and thought it was pretty good but not as good as the older Turkeys like 13 year (export stuff mainly). I do think it is NOT as good as M10 or C923.
I bought one at cost when they 1st came out. Havent cracked it yet since i got so much open. Now prob wont and use it as a trade in a year or 2 when russels geeks want the whole set.
Nice points! I got mine for 200.00 and I really enjoy it, RR 13yr for 115.00 and it’s also great, but RR single barrel 58.00 not as good but still really nice, and for that price it kicks butt:)! Cheers
I somewhat gotta take Dutch's side here. I didn't get the "strange youth/proof" per se but there is some sort of barrier to flavors hitting their mark here. I only had a sample but was not at all floored by it (give me Russell's 13- even at the new $150 price). But perhaps he is on to something where things can be unlocked by proofing it down.
Great. I got this for $300 all in and thinking I got a good one. This was $300 retail. These scores are sad and pathetic. I agree with that. Man my luck sucks. I go in on this and am stuck with a sucky one. Oh well.
You guys are insane. This is the second best bottle I have ever tried. Only beaten by George t Stagg. This is a 90 point easily
Thank you, Campari for turning anything outside of daily shelfer products from Wild Turkey to a premium priced product. Vote with your wallet folks.
Bourbon bubble is bursting. All these newer brands and labels with 200+ price point are gonna be on the clearance shelf sooner than later
Yeah. Definitely lots of people trying to keep the hype train going but it feels like the peak has passed and distilleries are racing to cash in right now. The domestic market isn’t going to be radically expanding anymore.
Definitely, these 200+ msrp special releases are all a joke. But I don't blame the distilleries at this point if people are willing to pay it. Most of them are paying it because they think someone else is dumber to pay more but that's going to come crashing down
Thanks for this review and thanks for spending $300 so I do not have to spend $300. I just checked my bar and I have two bottles of single rickhouse Camp Nelson F - though they are both Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit Single Barrels and only cost $55 each. Both were stored in CNF. I bet the WTKS would score in the silver medal category.
Nah
Thanks as always for the genuine honesty guys. I'm sick of all of the other "hype" bourbon channels out there. Buy what tastes good!🤙🎇🎉
Love the review and completely agree. I enjoyed it, but this bottle convinced me there's no reason to spend over $100 for a bourbon (other than to add a bottle/label to your collection) when you can get an ECBP for around $70. I put this in a blind against ECBP A123 and a Woodford Batch Proof (each of which cost substantially less than half the price) and it came in 3rd on both nose and palate. Would be a thumbs up at $80, but for $300?
I always enjoy getting your perspective, but as usual, we don't see eye to eye on Wild Turkey. I do think the recent pricing trend is disturbing. I am also a Turkey fanboy. If you are a WT fan, then you have probably found over the years that you gravitate towards certain rickhouses for their flavor profiles. The original Single Rickhouse Camp Nelson C was birthed from the fact that Rickhouse C at Camp Nelson had developed a sinkhole under it. They were trying to empty the last bit of bourbon out, but also wanted to showcase what the Russells do best, which is blend and also present an expression that represents the essence of that flavor profile of the rickhouse.
I enjoyed RRSR CNC last year, but felt it was way overpriced. It was really on par with RR13. This year, I thought the pricing was absurd, but Camp Nelson F is my favorite rickhouse. I tried it after drinking through all of the Russell's 13 batches (spoiler alert: they are all good, but Batch 5 is a step behind). And I thought that it was about as good as RR13... after drinking an absurd amount of whiskey making the comparison.
I went back and tried this again with the WT 101/12, RR13 batch 3 (my personal favorite), and lo and behold, I thought it was better. Significantly better. In fact, this is the best I have had all year (I haven't had the BTACs yet, but I have had all other major releases). That's just like, my opinion, man. I love Dillon's hyperbole that anyone who has had lots of bourbons will agree with his assessment. I have about 25 open bottles of RR Single Barrels and have tried another 25 or so... none of those match this for complexity. I do get Turkey funk on this, so I don't know how you all found that missing. Camp Nelson F is one of the funkier rickhouses where Tyrone K is sweeter. Tyrone G is spicy/ rye-heavy. I get the funk here. Someone described it to me as "artificial dusty." I don't quite get that, but I saw what he was saying.
BTW, last year's CNC was $250 per, this year is $300. That hurts. What hurts even more is the Wild Turkey Generations, which is $450 per. But they only made 3,000 bottles so you can't really complain about the pricing on a bottle you will never see. I tried a sample and I thought it was a trip, but feel like CNF is both better and cheaper. Oh, BTW, I tried the WTMK Voyage, which went up to $260 this year and I think it is a total rip off. It is middle of the road for WTMK's but priced $100 more. That might be one I leave on the shelf going forward.
There is another disturbing trend, which is that the age statement on Russell's Single Barrels has been sinking. Before 2019, you could find some 12 years here and there. After 2019, 10 years, give or take, became the norm. Everything I have seen lately is 8 years and change. Their high age stuff is now going into premium offerings. Same thing with Beam. You used to be able to find Knob Creek 15 year picks for $60. Now people are skipping the KC18, the Hardin's Creek Series, etc., because they are just going to buy a 15 year old store pick for $60. Those days are done. The older stocks are going to premium offerings and being sold for a premium. This is the modern bourbon market. We have seen massive expansion at heritage distilleries, but those supplied won't come online for another 6-8 years. Until then, higher prices and younger whiskey is in store. Strap in.
Dillons point about Russell’s reserve single barrel private being more unique than this is not a hot take, not a unique take.
Of course a single barrel will be more unique. It’s by definition 1 of a kind. Classic Dillon being outraged and making a hater comment.
Wish you had come out with this a month earlier. I stood in line for the first time in my life for a chance to get FOUR ROSES LE but they went fast and it was this or a Blantons that I already have 3 of. So I bought it, second most expensive bottle in my collection. Still don't have an EC C923.
Had this at Justin's House of Bourbon. Great pour...if the bottle was 90 bones. Bad pour at 3 hundo. This is the Land Rover of Bourbons; terrible value for a bougie bottle.
The closest I'll get to this are the Kentucky Spirit single barrels from Camp Nelson F that I've found recently. I have really enjoyed them.
Thanks for saving me $300. I was only a little bit curious.
Don’t ever spend $300 on any bourbon. Especially when there’s no age statement, these distilleries and suppliers can kick rocks.
Admit it, the whole review gets tanked by the price, not just the value category.
I have seen you for a long time what happened to the Butcher of Bakersfield. Loved the four of you guys. I’m happy to have found you all again I have subscribed to your new channel. Great review!!
So tired of these bourbon companies trying to milk the consumer for everything. These special releases every year are ridiculous , especially at their prices when most don’t even have age statements.
I opened mine and thought it was pretty good but not as good as the older Turkeys like 13 year (export stuff mainly). I do think it is NOT as good as M10 or C923.
We’re watching with our own eyes the downfall of such a iconic brand sad to see
Tbh you could probably say that about all these bourbon companies atm. They can all kick rocks with their ridiculous prices.
I bought one at cost when they 1st came out. Havent cracked it yet since i got so much open. Now prob wont and use it as a trade in a year or 2 when russels geeks want the whole set.
We need more tequila blinds !
Nice points! I got mine for 200.00 and I really enjoy it, RR 13yr for 115.00 and it’s also great, but RR single barrel 58.00 not as good but still really nice, and for that price it kicks butt:)! Cheers
I'll buy that Russell's 13 off of you for $150!
@@BuckMcAntlerson !! Half gone already and I’m looking for another!
The bottle has hype so Dillon takes a point off in every category
And somehow tastes youth, which, for all its (many) faults, is one thing this bottle doesn't have.
I somewhat gotta take Dutch's side here. I didn't get the "strange youth/proof" per se but there is some sort of barrier to flavors hitting their mark here.
I only had a sample but was not at all floored by it (give me Russell's 13- even at the new $150 price). But perhaps he is on to something where things can be unlocked by proofing it down.
Where is the Foursquare 18 Covenant review ?
Great. I got this for $300 all in and thinking I got a good one. This was $300 retail. These scores are sad and pathetic. I agree with that. Man my luck sucks. I go in on this and am stuck with a sucky one. Oh well.
It’s almost like Wild Turkey 13 is 90 proof and maybe that’s why it’s more drinkable lol
46👍
Dillon…chill, it’s just whiskey.