[longknocker]

Originally Posted by stearns

The way I like to describe them (using some assumptions and made up numbers) is, using EC as an example, say a batch of blended shelf Elijah Craig requires 100 barrels to make. The blender knows what the target profile is, so they start dumping barrels and taste it. Maybe they think it needs a little more oak to hit the target profile so they add a few barrels that are higher aged (in EC's case up to 12 years). Maybe then they taste it and it needs a little more sweetness so they dump in a couple barrels they have tasted and know have a sweet note. Maybe they taste a barrel to add and it's got a funky peanut note to it, which does not fit into the target blended profile at all so they don't even add it. These barrels all started as the same whiskey recipe in them but the age and location in the warehouse has changed the bourbon so much and in such a variety of ways that you can't just pull one off the shelf and throw it in a shelf EC bottle, it won't taste like Elijah Craig.

Now, imagine somebody gets to come in and try these single barrels that may or may not have been on their way to being blended. If the chooser likes oak in their bourbon they may pick one that is aged longer, so buying that 12 year bottles is going to taste vastly different than a blend that is only usually made up of 10% 12-year bottles (again, made up numbers). The chooser could also be going for something "a little sweeter than normal EC" and pick the barrel that would have been used to sweeten up the batch, or maybe they are going for something that is in an EC bottle but tastes nothing like any EC you'll buy elsewhere, they're gonna pick that funky one-off

Some distilleries let you have input in the final proof but those are usually smaller ones (ex/ my group is doing a pick at Limestone Branch today and they let you choose between three proofs, I want to say 100 107 and 114). As far as I know Elijah Craig only lets you do 94 proof, but if I'm wrong I'd love to try a sample of a barrel proof pick

Thanks, Ben!. I Guess The Only Problem Comes When Your Tastes Differ From The "Pickers'".