Barrel Club

mikeecho

Any other members of the Barrel Club here.. I know there's a few.

What the thought on the Xmas release.

People have been saying that it's a RB27 , but the image doesn't match..

Any ideas what Mr DHL will be bringing?

kuang1

You're right the image doesn't match.

I'd be utterly shocked if it was redbreast 27 for xmas!

Maybe they'll feel obliged to give something a bit nicer than usual after the recent rumblings of discontent.

Justin10

This was in line for a while before the issue with the jameson pot still.

Seems to be a purple cork, which would be a sherry cask.

My best guess would be a cask strength px or lustau

sceach16

It ain't a 500 euro Redbreast 27 yo! It is a redbreast ...possibly a follow on of the Iberian series started with PX last year.....as usual, time will tell.

Smurts

Yes likely a cask strength, definitely not a 27 year old or even a 15 year old at that!

Hopefully decent whatever it is, giving the release this week of the Jameson Single Pot Still at €60, outside of the Johns Lane Cask Strength that was included in one of the deliveries, (and maybe the small bottle of Jameson 21 last Christmas) there hasn't really been anything else to write home about in the other packages...

Justin10

Its poor really, for €500 euro I'd be expecting a lot more. First preference on all ballots be a start.

Jameson retailing at €60 sure give people two bottles of last quarters release so because the price of that package was €125

Smurts

Not forgetting one of the samples with the pack was the Jameson Cold Brew! Less said about that the better.

Agreed, the first year was underwhelming but I thought they had taken the initial feedback on board with the Johns Lane Cask Strength, but as you say if its reverting to essentially a €60 bottle of whiskey every month that's available in the shops shortly after then what's the point of joining really!

Black Sheep

My neighbour is in it and when I went around for the John's Lane cask strength tasting with him I almost signed up myself.

The value element would not necessarily be the decision maker for me, more a question of whether I would actually want this much Irish whiskey coming my way, but for what it's worth when you do the maths of what members receive from an annual perspective I think it works out better than on a monthly basis.

That month with the cask strength John's Lane and deconstructed samples... Certainly that would make up for one or two dud months. How much did bottles of that and the deconstructed tasting set go for online? 200?

He also told me there was some bonus associated with signing up for another year, another bottle of something, can anyone confirm?

In general with all these clubs, however, I accept that if they become a matter of "trying to get your moneys worth" every time there's a delivery then yes, probably not an enjoyable thing for someone to pursue.

Smurts

Yea the bonus for the 2nd year sign up was a bottle of Black Barrel Cask Strength, which was decent. Its lovely stuff.

I suppose from my viewpoint, its not trying to deduce the monetary value out of the packs as I have no interest in what I might get if I was to sell on a bottle but moreso that if you're a member of a club you do expect some exclusives/specials, regardless of value. There's little point paying a premium and having no choice in what you are getting quarterly, if they are available in the shops where you can pick and choose what you want and don't want, and don't have to pay a subscription.

mikeecho

Christmas Cake... Who saw that coming .

Smurts

Wow, where did you find that picture! Interesting…

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119784457#Comment_119784457

Facebook, barrel Club page.. it's up on some whiskey appreciation pages as well.

Smurts

I see that, strange that they’ve released it prior to the release, first time they have done that, obviously trying to push more sign ups! Still, bring it on, looking forward to it

mikeecho

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119785092#Comment_119785092

They did the same with the new Jameson pot still.. it did come with different packaging for the BC

CardinalJ

I signed up the other day.

A little disappointed with the Christmas cake RB. It's obviously pure novelty so could be good or bizarre. But it also rules out another bottle of RB for the year.

Citizen Six

I wouldn't let that put you off, it could be quite nice. I'm getting a sample of it in December, and looking forward to trying it.

Justin10

I've a feeling it's going to be very very similar to standard redbreast.

Hope I'm wrong.

kuang1

Got my Christmas redbreast delivered yesterday.

Haven't tried it yet!

One the drams is redbreast 12 so will be very easy to determine similarities/differences.

A unique, never-before-released redbreast does make up a bit for the last quarter's offering I think.

Smurts

Yep received mine yesterday too, will open the RB over the Xmas.

A bit disappointed with the other samples, nothing there to get excited about, but the RB makes up for it, especially at that ABV!

Justin10

Had really hoped for a cask strength lustau in the samples.

Looking forward to trying the redbreast over the weekend.

So, for anyone who has been a member for a while..........is it worth it? Would you be better off spending €500 on bottles that you know what you're getting?

Citizen Six

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120160385#Comment_120160385

I know about three people who are members, and they all think it's worth it. They are also the kind of guys who buy a decent amount of whiskey anyway.

Tech_Head

Signed up for it in September so this will be my first year.

Haven’t tried it yet. Spotted it for auction at Christmas and went for €390-€410 which is almost the cost of a years subscription.

https://irishwhiskeyauctions.ie/views/all-auctions.php?page=search&word=Redbreast%20christmas&date=1

Citizen Six

Hadn't looked at the Christmas Redbreast prices. Mad that people are paying those prices, when they could have just subscribed themselves.

Tech_Head

Agreed. I know there are meant to be only so many places available but was easy enough to subscribe.

Maybe it just lets them pick and choose. The club could give you stuff that you don’t care about either so this way you just get the rare/exclusive stuff.

Citizen Six

The number of places isn't limited. No one has been turned away. And once membership 'closes', it reopens fairly soon after.

foxsake

i'm on my second year . I really enjoy it and glad I signed up

nice to get something nice in the post.

Ive a bit of a backlog built up though

BobBobBobBob

Knappogue Castle 12 year old bottle and 14, 16 & 21 year old samples.

A bit disppointing quarter package.

Smurts

As expected. I assume its the standard 12 year old? Pretty disappointing, a bottle you can pick up for just over €50

Black Sheep

Did they not do anything, like a higher ABV 12 year old or something like that?

Smurts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120366657#Comment_120366657

I havent been home to look at it yet but I believe it is just the standard bottle