These days, most liquor stores that cater to American whiskey enthusiasts almost always have a few store picks on the shelf. Store picks or private barrel picks are when a store, club, or individual purchases an entire barrel of a commercially available spirit. Single barrel whiskeys are generally considered better than a standard offering but in my experience, that isn't always the case. Though not always the case, most single-barrel picks aren't usually inexpensive expressions. After all, these most appeal to whiskey geeks so a $60 Russell's Reserve Bourbon makes more sense than a Wild Turkey 101 single barrel (which is probably known as Kentucky Spirit at $65 anyway). There have always been exceptions such as Elijah Craig and Larceny picks around the $30-35 mark and now, I've got a Rittenhouse Rye single barrel. Hmmm, Heaven Hill seems to be the common thread. Of course, there are Weller Special Reserve and Buffalo Trace single barrel bottlings but those have even gotten hard to find and more spendy than they should be.
So, today, Dan and I will open up a Rittenhouse single-barrel store pick and compare it to a standard Rittenhouse bottle. These are sub-$30 finds so will there be any difference, or at least, any difference worth noting? For good measure, we'll do the same with one of our favorite recent finds, Boulder Spirits Cask Strength Bourbon. Pricier but the concept holds.
We did this with Blanton's a while back, which you can see here - https://youtu.be/kfI4lO_Tpa4
Cheers!
On a non-whiskey note. You probably know that we also produce some excellent bicycle content. Slow Guy on the Fast Ride is focused on road and gravel cycling. Dan hosts a podcast and we put out a fair amount of gear-focused content. Our Lemme See That Videos are a hoot and valuable and we also do longer-form, written, and video reviews of road and gravel cycling gear. We also just launched Dawn Patrol MTB which is focused on mountain bikes as the name suggests.
At the moment, it's just me and Dan cranking it out, and when we can with our limited resources, we pull in freelance writers. We really want to provide diverse insight into cycling but we don't want to ask others to work for free (like we do so far) so we're asking for your support (beyond watching us, which we so greatly appreciate). If you can donate at this link - https://www.gofundme.com/f/reshape-cycling-media - we'll use all proceeds to pay talented freelance writers from backgrounds different from our own, to produce bike content that we know will appeal to a wide audience. Of course, whenever possible, we'll pour them a tipple of tasty whiskey too. Anyone who donates $75 or more will receive some goodies, not limited to a Slow Guy t-shirt, stickers, and probably more. Thank you for all you do to support the Practical Still and me and Dan.
Cheers!
#ryewhiskey #bourbon #irishwhiskey #blantons #buffalotrace #buffalotracedistillery #wildturkeybourbon #russellsreserve
If you're into bicycles, we are too! Take a look at slowguyonthefastride.com and @Slow Guy on the Fast Ride for reviews, interviews, and our podcast. In August, we'll launch Dawn Patrol MTB - a digital mountain bike title with videos, reviews, and more. You can already follow us on Instagram @DawnPatrolMTB.
And give a listen to the latest podcast to join us, Mental Healthlete - www.mentalhealthlete.com and @mentalhealthlete - it's on all the podcasts apps. We all struggle from time to time and maybe athletes more than most. Host Bill Garrels opens up about his own struggles and has great guests on to share their stories and the strategies they have found to keep them moving in the right direction.
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