Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington
Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
September 12, 2020 (edited September 15, 2020)
Fluted glass in the shade, lakeside at the end of summer. Nose of sweet/sour grain, dusty leather, allspice? There might be some dark fruits there as well but but spice and sweetness predominate. Nose in deep and ethanol shows itself.
Smooth as can be and delicately reveals prunes, wet oak and buttered cornbread. All make a quick entry and exit. Medium to thin mouthfeel, zero burn. Pleasant but in no way a WOW pour.
This is really, really easy to drink neat - which seems to be BT’s corner of the market. I admittedly like this a bit more than Weller 12 as it provides a more complex palate. As compared to other $40 bottles this is also disappointingly thin, front-palate forward and not stacked with flavor. There is some toasted marshmallow and wet leaves on the back end but only a flicker and then gone. At the end of the glass I hold the sip in my mouth, my nose in the glass and get vanilla, dilute cranberry juice and maybe worschisier sauce. Interesting but not especially memorable.
I paid $20 for this pour and feel a bit disappointed. Would I pay $40 for a bottle blindly and without the hype? Likely. Would I shell out $100 or more? Absolute no. I honestly feel like I could mix ER with plain old BT and a splash of a young sweet mash bourbon and have a clone.
20.0
USD
per
Pour
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BT pricing is way out of control.....Let the idiots buy it for these stupid prices, they're not even drinking it. I did get a liter bottle of Weller12 for $65 from my bourbon source. Got it home and opened it. Im drinking it not looking at it
Sorry meant @dhsilv2 not @dhsiri
@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington You’re right...it’s been like this for years. And I think @dhsiri was right—-over one year ago, my take was that once the economy goes south, we’ll see this market crash. @dhsilv2 ’s position was it won’t. He’s right...if it hasn’t crashed during these times, it simply won’t.
@dhsilv2 @PBMichiganWolverine I apologize in advance for the rant. It seems to be in line with the rest of the Blantons, Weller, EHR craze that has likely brought in a large number of new bourbon drinkers. The problem is these bottles are lauded for being “smooth” and tied to Pappy (which is somewhat incorrect and overhyped to begin with). All together it seems the industry is gaining in popularity, which is great, but the price of easy drinking allocated bottles is going up. Even my best back-channel secondary friends can’t get this for less than $220 right now. Was quoted Rock Hill Farms for $250 - and this is someone who would part with Weller 12 for $150 when the secondary was calling for $300. Still cheap compared to good single malts but seems to be the price we all pay to grow the whiskey fan base and support the industry.
@PBMichiganWolverine it's a 2500 point bottle for me, 2,500 bucks spent at the stores for the right to buy. Yeah they're hard to get here. I have ZERO idea why the market is so crazy beyond it's limted and it's supposed to be the "best picked barrels" whatever that means.
@dhsilv2 wait, seriously ? I have 2 of these that I got ages ago for $40. Opened one up back then, didn’t think much of it, esp compared to Four Roses . Why is it so expensive? Rarity ?
@PBMichiganWolverine to be honest I think that's well under secondary, so if they're available, not the worst buy out there for the novelty of it. I hear bourbon is the new wall art after all.
These are over $120/bottle here...seems outrageously overpriced
I bought one of these a few years back, I think retail was 50-55. A bit bitter, boring, and pretty much not that different as you pointed out from ER and BT. The hype on this one doesn't make any sense what so ever. I'd get another just to retest my experience but only at retail and even then, i'd have reservations.
@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington I've never seen this for less than $150. While I like it a lot, it's just too expensive.
@ContemplativeFox I’ve been thinking about the soft texture and zero-burn approach BT takes to some of their bourbons (Weller 12, ETL and to a lesser extent EHT BiB and the elusive Rock Hill Farms). In search of a readily available replacement I had IW Harper 15yr come to mind, which tends to run $75-100/(fancy)bottle. In today’s world I know I shouldn’t hate on a $100 bottle of BT product but the $300-400 secondary is still unreasonable. Maybe I should start drinking IW 15 again and keep my mouth shut before it disappears too.
I first had this at $20/pour and I must admit that is a bit steep. I had it again at $12 though and it was well worth it. It's so sad that BT is so expensive.