Gobbledygook Dept: Small Batch & Single Barrel

[Capn Jimbo]

Words are important...


...and used to actually mean something. You know, like "facts". Oh, those silly old concepts. The new truth is kindly provided to us willing sops as their marketing version - the new "truth". This was recently admitted by the president of Templeton Rye, who after being outed everywhere, finally admitted their whole marketing program was as much as a lie but, get this - it didn't matter since to Templeton "the whiskey is incidental" - it's the town and false reference to its history that count.

He actually said this. These Potemkin distillers are without shame, and really are now well departed by reality - but hey, that's old school, like facts and truth. The new word is actually - seriously - "truthiness".


Appearing true is all it takes...

Ergo "Small Batch" and Single Barrel". What do these really mean? Those of us who are mired in the old concepts of fact and truth immediately think "small batch" is well, small. You picture either a craft distiller, or a large operation that has set aside a smaller still (like a modified pot) to produce these special "handcrafted" spirits.

Single Barrel? Silly me, that must surely mean well, spirits from a single barrel. We think that what we get depends on whether that barrel was a good one or not, but take marketing heart when we read "special hand selected barrels". My heart and tongue flutter!

The real fact and truth?


As you've guessed, all these terms mean exactly...

Nothing. No one is watching, there are no real regulatory or labeling definitions so all these terms - every single one - mean absolutely, positively nothing.

But the marketing copy says otherwise. Surely the distillers don't lie or exaggerate, right? Do you also believe age statements are accurate (except for the very few bonded spirits)? How about Templeton and their marketing which convincingly implied they actually distilled the product in Iowa, using original Prohibition recipes?

Ralfy too is aghast at these silly phrases, as expressed in his review of Knob Creek 9 (at 3.00 min):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Dt_wsv3sk


What should these terms mean?

Ralfy makes a convincing case that anything more than the merging of ten barrels starts to lose the unique character and true meaning of the term "small batch". Same for "Single Barrel" which can and usually is a vatting of many "single barrels", and with the same result. Meaningless terms, speaking of which...


Other highly abused descriptors:

1. Hand bottled
2. Limited quantity
3. Superior taste and smoothness
4. Special selection
5. Hand crafted or crafted
6. Classic (Prohibition) recipe/spirit

You get the picture - all these terms are designed to recreate spirits as they once were, and try to imply customization and real handcrafting for their mass-produced products. It's like calling your new Ford pickup "hand crafted".

Moose droppings, one and all...

[bearmark]

I've heard that the term, single barrel, just means that this bath was in a single barrel at one time (i.e. it could have been blended from several other barrels into a single barrel for some duration). This is what Cruzan means by single barrel on the label of Cruzan Single Barrel Rum. Apparently, GlenDronach got caught by this as well recently on some of their single cask offerings; however, they also have several single cask offerings that spent their entire time in a single cask (imagine that!). Whenever you see the term single barrel or single cask, it would be wise to read closer and/or research the product better before coming to any conclusions.

As far as small batch goes, well... that's a very ambiguous term... and then there's Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve Small Batch Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon... that's descriptive!

[The Black Tot]

.. and then there's Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve Small Batch Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon... that's descriptive!

Unfortunate label, yes. But one of their best whiskeys, nonetheless.

At least we know where it was distilled and aged, and by who, and that it's excellent. And also that it has been confirmed to be a single barrel product. And 110 proof. And non-chill filtered.

Missing an age statement is unfortunate, but these days three out of 4 ain't bad.

Still, I'm not sure this was not a misprint or other clerical error, since there is no advantage to WT for muddying the waters with the additional term.

I prefer it easily to their clearly labeled small batch.