I'm not surprised to see so many labels sourcing their bourbon; what I don't appreciate (like you were saying) is when companies obscure the origins of their product and try to pass it off as their own.
5:04 Sara nailed it. I don't give a single flying flip where the juice comes from - what I care about is a price I can afford and a whiskey I like. I would prefer that the label would let me know whether they distilled their own or bought it from someone, but I'd also prefer to find the mash bill and the age on every label too. 🙂
That was a good one kids. I knew sourcing is a big thing now days but I didn't realise how big. Nothing wrong with sourcing, blending , and finishing another's juice. It looks like many of those may be new start ups that don't have 4 year juice yet. It would be interesting to see how many of those are just buying and blanding and how many use other's juice to fill in until theirs is ready. They can always produce Vodka and Gin. On the other side, their whiskey is usually not all that good at 2 years.
This may be my fave episode that you have ever done! Great detail and interaction between y’all! The colors overlay was dramatic and showed how much the industry has morphed with customization. Thanks a bunch! ( seems my faves lean heavily to green)
I really liked this video. This is 100% applicable to anyone walking into a store to make an educated bourbon purchase. I tend to drink products from distillers vs blenders and bottlers. Not that there is anything wrong with it. I just prefer their expressions. Chad that video must have taken a lot of work to produce. Tip of the cap. I hope you get a lot of views on this one, because the content is excellent.
Would love to see an episode that breaks out who the biggest distillers are whether they are making their own products or sourcing their distillates out.
Loved this episode. Lots of people say they will never buy from brands that source whiskey and they don’t even know that what they’re drinking is sourced or blended with a source. First thing I thought of was Angel’s Envy I’m glad y’all covered that great video as always
Fantastic episode and great job on the visuals / video trickery that helped keep all the images clear during your explanation. This type of industry / educational video absolutely sets you apart from the other great bourbon channels out there and I’d love to see more of it! My one content comment is that the volume sold may be vastly different than the number of different bottles in the shelf. In that case I would think that self-distilled (green) becomes much greater than sourced.
Now we know what the green screen was for! What a fun episode! I love it! Lots of editing I'm sure, but I loved all the effects and information. I would love to see more episodes like this as well
I love content like this, truly enjoy learning. I would definitely enjoy more videos like this - its almost like you’re creating your own transparency.
Great informative video! At first I was like, "are they on a green screen?" because the green outline was pronounced. After a couple of minutes it was obvious. 😂
Wow, super fun video with lots of "moving parts!" Thanks Sara & Chad! I am envious of the selection in that store (it seems my local liquor stores have 50-70% of that selection). I think that if it tastes great to you, then it doesn't matter (as much) "where it's from" and you should buy as much of it as you can afford. Then again, I'm still a novice at this Bourbon game. I could see being "brand loyal" and trying to support your favourite distillery or source.
Great green screen and sound effects Chad. I had a flashback to the original Jurassic Park movie to the explanation of DNA where he was interacting with the screen.
Loved this one! The only real surprise to me was Old Elk. I don't know why. I guess I don't know enough about them other than i freaking love what's in the bottles. I noticed TX wasn't colored (grey?). I really enjoy Balcones and recently tried TX and have enjoyed it. Garrison next. I also don't know much about TX but now I'm more curious.
The reality is, at least to me, is that the legacy distillers are really hard to beat overall. I know I love me some Barrel, and Smoke Wagon UU, I've even had a great Rebel single barrel. That said, Wild Turkey, Brown Foreman, and Buffalo Trace are really hard to beat with any consistancy. there are some good sourced stuff out there, no doubt, but the legacy stuff is consistantly good all the time. That's just my opinion and YMMV. Happy 4th guys!
I think there’s a big difference between sourced and properly distilled. I’m not saying sourced is bad or crap but the pricing needs to reflect it. IMO, sourced should be cheaper. Why? Because this isn’t bottled water we’re buying and it’s not just about buying alcohol…I like to look into the distillers and their story. It’s part of the experience (for me). I appreciate the craft and nuances. As I do with coffee, wine, and watches. Anything really, the craft is part of the quality. So if some juice is sourced, and put into some smart marketing then the company can’t charge a premium for something that really isn’t theirs. Can a restaurant buy food from another restaurant and rebrand it as theirs….that’s a little deceitful lol.
Logical next step has to be to look at all the red and yellow and break it out into who blends their own with sourced, who blends all sourced, and who just sources and bottles without doing anything themselves.
Totally agree that the hate against sourced whiskey is silly. Some of my favorite bottles are sourced blends - specifically everything RY3. Of course there is a ton of MGP/Squibbles sourced whiskey on the market but they are not all the same - people forget these sourced barrels are still blended and proofed to achieve a desired flavor. Now sourcing MGP and then selling it in a single barrel is a bit boring because... well, what did you even add to the equation other than a lable. The opposition to sourced whiskey reminds me of the people who obsess with age statements and equate age with quality. Neither factor really tells you how good a bottle is. They might be clues but that is all. I've had some 4 year old bottles that absolutely crush 10+ age stated bottles. I've also had some MGP bottles that crushed LE's from well established brands.
Keep in mind that Total Wine also has their spirits direct which is except for one rum brand and a few bourbons, are normally made up brands specifically for Total Wine that sell for cheep because they make huge margins off the products. I know Redemption and Still Austin are brands that Total Wine puts in the spirits direct category that can be found outside of Total Wine. It’s worse with the winery direct products as a majority of them are made up brands that maybe made by well known wineries but most likely sourced which is a big no in the wine geek community. Us wine geek are all about supporting wineries that make the wine themselves, quality wineries, whether they source the grapes, big difference between sourcing grapes and sourcing whiskey, or grow their own.
Total Wine will always be heavier on the sourced bottles simply because they do so many private label sourced bottles like Wolcott, Bondstone, and etc. Basically the stuff their sales people try to tell you is "Just like Eagle Rare". About every other time I'm in a Total Wine I see someone ask the staff " Do you have Eagle Rare or Blanton's?" and the response is "Not now and it sells out really fast but I have this *instert Total Wine label* right here and it is just like Eagle Rare and even better." Now, I'm not an Eagle Rare fan myself but none of those bottles capture of the heavy juicy fruit palate of an Eagle Rare and they ALL taste very youthful. When I see someone buy a bottle of Wolcott for their partner or family member because a Total Wine employee tells them it is better than Eagle Rare I cringe so hard inside. I just imagine how I'd react if my brother or wife gifted me a bottle of Wolcott because he was told it is like Eagle Rare but better. I'd be like "Oh, that's great, thanks!" Then I'd hope they never notice I buried their bottle on the bottom shelf behind the EW BIB and Costco bottles.
Good video. The very fact that the sourced bourbons hide this information gives fuel to those that think GDP isn't as good. As for me, I don't care--as long as it tastes good😊
Not sure when exactly it happened, but If your bottle has a good UPC label on the bottle, it’s the new stuff. We did an episode about it 2 years ago or so.
That was interesting, but... I'm (somewhat) colour-blind, so the visuals didn't really work for me! Someone once sent me a set of colour-coded samples and I had to ask for clarification, as all I could see was "four pale, one dark and a small"!
A lot of the stuff in the red category is just marketing- somebody wants to create a company so they buy the product, they buy the bottles, they come up with a catchy name and put on the label a bunch of bs about how good it is, and they sell it. I could do that and I'm no more of a bourbon company than mcdonalds is. I've noticed that a lot of the companies that sell only sourced product have significantly higher prices than companies who distill their own and make good product, they rely on the marketing to sell the product.
Sourcing wouldn’t be so frowned upon if there was more diversity in the distilleries used. All the white label MGPs makes me discredit it. Whiskey is more than barrel characteristics. We need to value the distillate…
How deep down this rabbit hole yall wanna go? Lol These shelves were clearly from a big box that owns a lot of those labels. Now would the %s be the same at a mom and pop shop that curates the shelves more closely? Put on the lab coat Chad!
Originally we were going to call out the bottles that were Total Wine house brands, but both ran out of time and the episode was getting too long, so that could be another episode all by itself!
