My local candy shop owner called Monday to invite me to stop by last night. He had three different half pints of Buffalo Trace for barrel picks and wanted a few of us to try them and give opinions. Five guys total showed up. I don't feel like I have a very sophisticated palate but appreciated the invite. His last years barrel pick showed up on December 23 and about 18 of my clients and friends got bottles as gifts. Hence my opinion was included.
Each of the bottles was from rick house Q, different floors, rows and barrels it appeared to me. We didn't get into that much, although one of the tasters was quite interested in that. We had tiny solo cups and bottles of water to drink between. The first bottle was, honestly, not the best. I was unimpressed but kept quiet, as did the others. We wrote down some notes but I was thinking it was pretty ghastly stuff. Bottle 2 however was heavenly. Smooth, tasty, just a joy. Everyone's faces brightened up, and smiles abounded. Bottle 3 was nearer bottle 2, but clearly not as good. Notes got thrown out the window at this point.
One guy put it like this: "If I grabbed a bottle off the shelf and got #3, I wouldn't be disappointed. If I got #1, I sure would be. #1 is for cocktails only." Agreement between us was easy, and the shop owner was somewhat relieved at that. He remarked he hadn't thought about what to do if we had some disagreements among us. It was really fun and interesting.
