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Quote mark Replybullet Topic: rebel yell bourbon
    Posted: 27.01.2005 at 01:02
i have enjoyed drinking this straight sour mash kentucky bourbon for 35 years. always because i don't like the charcoal filtered flavor or many others. recently i bought a bottle which definitely has a charcoal taste. does anyone have any knowledge of this? has the distiller change the recipe? could they have miss labled some w.l.weller bottles, which are the same shape and produced by the same distiller? thanks for any insight.
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TNbourbon
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Quote TNbourbon Replybullet Posted: 21.02.2005 at 23:17
Several points:

[1]Rebel Yell and W.L. Weller are no longer produced by the same distiller, and haven't been for quite a number of years. Both once belonged to Stitzel-Weller, which ceased operation as an entity in 1992. Rebel Yell now belongs to David Sherman Corp. in St. Louis, which does no distilling, but also does not pronounce from where they buy their bourbon. The Weller brands now belong to Buffalo Trace (formerly Ancient Age). So, there would be no label mixup. However, if you've been drinking old Stitzel-Weller bottlings, the current ones surely will be different.
[2]Since ALL bourbons, by law, are aged in charred oak barrels, that charring imparts a 'charcoal' taste, though certainly it varies from bottling to bottling.
[3]The current Rebel Yell still retains a wheat-flavored (as opposed to rye) mash bill, but since DSC does not say where it's distilled, there is no way to know if it's the same as S-W formerly used. Even if it were, the different distilling equipment/process would impart a different flavor.



Tim
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Quote RickR Replybullet Posted: 03.03.2005 at 06:21
Originally posted by mark

i have enjoyed drinking this straight sour mash kentucky bourbon for 35 years. always because i don't like the charcoal filtered flavor or many others. recently i bought a bottle which definitely has a charcoal taste. does anyone have any knowledge of this? has the distiller change the recipe? could they have miss labled some w.l.weller bottles, which are the same shape and produced by the same distiller? thanks for any insight.
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Quote RickR Replybullet Posted: 03.03.2005 at 06:28
A friend of mine just found a bottle of Rebel Yell with a 1974 copyright on it's label. I know that's not much information, but it was found in the basement of a man who died at least 20 years ago. This bottle looks like it was just plucked off the liquor store shelf. Perfect bottle, perfect lable, no evaporation.  Should we drink it, or is it worth enough to save?  Thanks for your response.
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Quote TNbourbon Replybullet Posted: 20.03.2005 at 20:32
Drink it. If it is, indeed, from the '70s, it's Stitzel-Weller bourbon from the distillery's pre-buyout days. Simply put, it's the best post-Prohibition wheat-flavored bourbon made.
As for value, the whiskey/bourbon secondary market is spotty, at best. If something you have happens to catch the eye of someone who really wants to spend a lot of money on it -- well, there you go. But, since that market is small and dispersed, the likelihood of that connection being made is transitory. For the most part, bourbon/whiskey was produced in industrial-sized quantities. There are very few rarities, even among older versions, considering the relative dearth of active enthusiasts.
So, if you've got good whiskey, it's greatest value is probably to enjoy it.
Tim
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