Bourbon County Vanilla-now or later?

Discussion in 'Cellaring / Aging Beer' started by elliott1184, Jan 24, 2013.

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  1. elliott1184

    elliott1184 Maven (1,296) Mar 31, 2011 Minnesota
    Trader

    Any thoughts on how this is drinking presently? I have one bottle & seem to be waiting for the mythical special occasion to open it; if anyone has opened one recently, what did you think? I opened an 08 BCBS recently & was astounded by how good it was; balanced & mellow, great creamy mouthfeel, & I hope the BCBVS is aging as gracefully, but worry a little about things like the vanilla falling off...
     
  2. Psychmusic

    Psychmusic Initiate (0) Jun 22, 2012 Massachusetts

    all reports are vanilla is falling off. my totally unprofessional opinion is to open it at your next "special occasion" as odds are its going down hill from here on out (assuming hasn't been refrigerated).
     
  3. pmoney

    pmoney Initiate (0) Apr 15, 2011 Illinois

    What reports are you referring to?

    From everything that I've heard and personally experienced, BCBVS has only become better. I opened a bottle in October and had it at Black Friday in November and it was absolutely awesome. In both tastings, I personally liked it more than Rare and all other variants. The vanilla flavor is absolutely not fading.
     
  4. pmoney

    pmoney Initiate (0) Apr 15, 2011 Illinois

  5. Kmccabe33

    Kmccabe33 Pundit (794) Nov 4, 2011 Georgia
    Trader

    hellomisterp likes this.
  6. Bay01

    Bay01 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2008 Illinois

    Had a Vanilla a few months back with a few other guys and we all thought it was phenomenal, much improved since fresh. I would drink soon, not sure it could get any better.
     
  7. Number45forever

    Number45forever Initiate (0) Jan 6, 2012 Vermont

    I had one about the same time and thought exactly the same thing. It was great...like a slightly sweeter version of similarly aged BCBS. But I got almost no vanilla. Considering the hype, I was "disappointed." Instead of it blowing me away it was just like another bottle of awesome BCBS. I'd have loved to try it fresh to see how much vanilla was there at that time.

    I wonder if there's some bottle variation, because so many people claim it's still a vanilla bomb and I didn't get that at all...
     
    CityofBals likes this.
  8. Auracom

    Auracom Initiate (0) Nov 5, 2010 Illinois

    It's been a year now since my last sampling, and while it was drinking great then you have no guarantee. This is true for anything BA. Sooner rather than later in nearly every situation.
     
    timc13 likes this.
  9. stxSS07

    stxSS07 Initiate (0) Nov 23, 2010 Illinois

    Drink up my man.

    Had it in...November(?) next to Bourbon/Brandy Vanilla DL. Vanilla was seriously lacking in the BCBVS.

    Like others have said it's still tasty, but the vanilla is more like Swayze in "Ghost"...invisibly kissing your neck while you sip.
     
  10. ant880

    ant880 Savant (1,179) Nov 7, 2010 New York
    Trader

    Never before has BCBVS been so poetically described... Somewhere "Ghost" Swayze is proud, but "Roadhouse" Swayze wants to rattle your jaw
     
    davey101, Gosox8787, smutty33 and 2 others like this.
  11. mocktm

    mocktm Initiate (0) Jan 3, 2011 Virginia

    Opened my bottle at a recent tasting. I really didn't detect too much vanilla in it which means its probably already faded considerably. Was essentially just a sweeter creamier version of BCBS. I'd open it now unless you're sitting on a couple and have an extra to play with.
     
  12. pmoney

    pmoney Initiate (0) Apr 15, 2011 Illinois

    There must be bottle variation because I'm in the same boat as Bay01. And I've consistently had a great experience with BCBVS, and I've thought it has improved every time I've had it (probably 8-10 times since 2010).
     
  13. mcaulifww

    mcaulifww Initiate (0) Aug 18, 2011 Virginia

    I had one next to a fresh bcbs and I thought the bcbs tsted better. There was no vanilla
     
  14. standardcherry

    standardcherry Initiate (0) Jan 17, 2011 Massachusetts

    I was really disappointed by vanilla, had it in December and vanilla was non-existent. To me it tasted like a really sweet BA stout. Not that great, in my humble opinion. Would have taken a BBPt5 any day over vanilla.

    I'd say drink it soon, it probably won't get any better with time.
     
  15. kscaldef

    kscaldef Initiate (0) Jun 11, 2010 Oregon

    I will take any Vanilla off the hands of anyone who feels it is "falling off".
     
    smutty33, Shmeal and MordorMongo like this.
  16. TotallyHosed

    TotallyHosed Initiate (0) Jun 20, 2009 Illinois

    Had a Vanilla just a few weeks ago that had spent it's entire life (since purchase) in the refrigerator. This bottle had the most vanilla flavor than the several glasses I've had on tap at different locations and dates throughout 2012. I'm convinced that the refrigeration kept the vanilla flavor intact, which really should not be surprising. This made me rethink my cellar strategy: drink fresh then decide to refrigerate or cellar the second bottle.
     
  17. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (3,730) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Lots of BCBVS haters in this thread...prehaps the expectations were set too high? Afterall its just beer in the end no matter what label it has...
     
  18. stxSS07

    stxSS07 Initiate (0) Nov 23, 2010 Illinois

    Not seeing any haters. Guess I need a new prescription.
     
    pmoney likes this.
  19. tjfilippo

    tjfilippo Initiate (0) Jan 28, 2008 Illinois
    Trader

    Agreed! It all depends how it was stored. IMO BCBVS was at it's peak when it was fresh. However, a month ago I had a BCBVS that was kept in the fridge and there was still alot of Vanilla flavor. Much more so than one I had 6 months ago that wasn't stored in the fridge.
     
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