Baker’s Bourbons Old vs. New 7 and 13 Year Single Barrels

[@993C2S]

That was a very comprehensive review. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Thank you.

[@LiquorHound]

Glad you enjoyed it and cheers! 🥃

[@delinquentflair]

I'm two years late on the comment, but I just picked up a bottle of the new Baker's 7 (barreled 12-2013) and am enjoying your review. I don't know much about bourbon, being more of a Scotch guy, but I picked up the Baker's 7 and a Wild Turkey Rare Breed (116.8) to compare and get my bearings. Your videos are very informative, so thanks!

[@LiquorHound]

Thank you for watching and cheers!

[@darkoanton5]

Liquor Hound in da house! Great review. I've been looking for these comparisons.

[@LiquorHound]

Lol, thanks for watching and I’m glad you’re here! Cheers! 🥃

[@LoudNinjasCG]

I love the beam profile so much. Such huge oak influence on even younger whiskies like bookers but that funky spirit will hold up to it almost indefinitely in the cask.

[@iamalan4221]

Huge Beam fan. The JB BiB is a dandy daily drinker, and the entire Knob Creek lineup 9/12/15 all works for me! I'm even warming up to the Maker's Mark since they put out the 101, although it doesn't stand up to Weller 107, lol.

[@johncashion8428]

Excellent review Thank you

[@MaltMuserWhisky]

Well done as always! Enjoyed this a lot.

[@LiquorHound]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for being here and cheers!

[@aldogomez2681]

Booker's, Baker's and the old Knob 9yr are some of my favorites. On The new bottles how do you gas them?

[@mrwawa2024]

What's your bourbon of choice

[@LiquorHound]

It varies since there's so many, but I've always had a soft spot for good Knob Creek Single Barrels and Old Grand Dad Bottled-in-Bond or 114's though. Cheers!

[@gregmartin1757]

Nice review. I always felt bakers was a bit of a underappreciated bourbon. Always seems to get kinda lost between bookers and knob creek. I have the current 7 yr the 13 and a older bakers as well not from 92 but late 90's . Probably 98-99 . 100% agree with your assessment of these.

[@LiquorHound]

Thank you and cheers!

[@daynastone875]

Would really get a kick out of watching you do a blind tasting! The details and descriptors you give would be so interesting in a blind tasting.

[@jesseG223]

Passed on the 13 year old 8 months ago and am having major regret now.

[@LiquorHound]

My condolences, but keep your eyes out for the 7 - I'm still seeing them around. Cheers!

[@jesseG223]

@@LiquorHound Thanks LiquorHound. The 7 year SiB never leaves the collection! Cheers man

[@raul87ish]

Hey there another great informative review. Bourbon question? Have you ever tried the Doc Swinson 15 yr old batches? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated & thanks in advance.

[@LiquorHound]

Yes. Given the current pricing of 15 year bourbons, their $150 price point isn't outrageous, but it is a tad bothersome considering we were getting 15 year Knob Creeks for $50 a year or two ago. That said, Batch 6 and the new Batch 9 are both enjoyable, but need some time to open up when first cracked. Cheers!

[@DMBVR4]

I'm a huge fan of the last Baker's 7 small batch bottlings, the black wax bottles. I pick one up every time i see it under $45, especially now that its discontinued and replaced with something more expensive and less impressive.

[@TheWhiskyExplorer]

Cool comparison! I’d really like to know how the newest older one stacks up against the new 7yr old single barrel. How much gas do you add? Do you only do that with bottles you intend to keep for a long time? I’ve noticed some bottles (Col. EHT SB) were incredible when I first opened them and about 1/2 through became very tannic and bitter. That bottle lasted less than a year. I have found this trend with many bourbons I’ve owned (opposite to what everyone else seems to say).

[@LiquorHound]

Thanks! To prevent oxidation (some say degradation) of my open bottles, I keep a close eye on cork conditions and use a tank setup of a heavy inert gas (argon) to reseal all my bottles after every pour. Now for smaller collections/home bars, I'd recommend using a wine preserver (like "Private Preserve") to help protect the opened bottles. You can buy them from Amazon for about $10 and they say you can get 120 uses out of one. They recommend a 1 sec. spray followed by 3-4 small bursts, but when I was using them I sprayed them heavy (2 seconds long and 3-4 short bursts), so I only got 70-80 good seals per can. The key to using gas is that you do not disturb/move the bottle once it's gassed (which will disrupt the gas layer). Here's an old video of mine where I talked about oxidation and the spray (starts at the 4:22 mark): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIi8inqJadyGqrM . To see the larger argon tank that I use, here's a video that shows my setup (starts at the 10:18 mark): kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHjMlGCVmK5ofK8 . Cheers!

[@TheWhiskyExplorer]

LiquorHound wow! I really appreciate you taking the time to respond! All the best.

[@100puremustard5]

Great through review! I'll probably never see the 13yr. I did find the Bakers 7 single barrel at my local Costco for $44.99, guess I need to grab one at that price. Cheers!

[@jonzylka9474]

Another excellent video my friend. I always enjoy a new upload from you. This is the first time I have heard you mention re gassing your bottles. Something I am not familiar with at all. If one were to not do that process how long will an opened bottle of scotch/bourbon be good for??

[@LiquorHound]

Thank you! For open bottles, I’ve always said that If you don't do anything to them, you'll probably get 6 months to a year without losing noticeable flavor. The higher the abv, the longer they can usually go. Cheers!

[@robbanta2979]

I have a 13 and 7 single barrel in my bunker. Haven’t opened them yet.

[@LiquorHound]

Ahh, so lucky! Congratulations and cheers!

[@ShineSunjr]

What do you use to keep your bottles gassed? Great videos and great channel!

[@LiquorHound]

Thanks for watching! I use a tank setup of a heavy inert gas (argon) to reseal all my bottles after every pour. Now for smaller collections/home bars, I'd recommend using a wine preserver (like "Private Preserve") to help protect the opened bottles. You can buy them from Amazon for about $10 and they say you can get 120 uses out of one. They recommend a 1 sec. spray followed by 3-4 small bursts, but when I was using them I sprayed them heavy (2 seconds long and 3-4 short bursts), so I only got 70-80 good seals per can. The key to using gas is that you do not disturb/move the bottle once it's gassed (which will disrupt the gas layer). Here's an old video of mine where I talked about oxidation and the spray (starts at the 4:22 mark): kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIi8inqJadyGqrM . To see the larger argon tank that I use, here's a video that shows my setup (starts at the 10:18 mark): kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHjMlGCVmK5ofK8 . Cheers!

[@ShineSunjr]

@@LiquorHound thank you for the info and references

[@dingdingding4033]

First! Woohoo! Bakers, nice!! Thank you.

[@brianhoerchler2318]

Do you think the cask wood being used now is also causing a change in the flavor profile?I have heard people say that the quality of the oak is not as good as it once was. Too new and not enough character to impart some of the flavor note you spoke of in the older bottle.

[@whiskeyace398]

i don't think the armagnac reference sounds to far fetched actually based on how much strawberry -esq vibe I get on the younger variation

[@scottf.8627]

You make a pretty good case for the 7yr Bakers. If I can find one at a reasonable price i'll pull the trigger. As far as the 13yr I can't help but compare it to the KC SB Select releases that have been floating around the past year. I've been lucky enough to find several at 14+ yr and under $50! Add a touch of water and I just can't imagine it would fare worse than the Bakers. How do you expect them to match up?

[@LiquorHound]

I've had a few of those older Knob Creek SB's that were well above average, but many that didn't age very well. The Baker's 13 year (at least this single barrel) has an elegance to it that most KC's don't have (Beauty & The Beast). 😋 Thanks for the great comment and cheers!

[@BloodManDan24]

I really like Baker's, but at the price point it's kind of stuck in the middle, and I can see why they tried to change up the bottle. I'd rather spend a bit extra and get Booker's. If I'm trying to save money I usually go for the Knob Creek. I was able to get a few bottles on sale for under $40 and I felt that was a steal. Also I completely feel what you say about dusty bourbon. I have a Wild Turkey 12 that I bought when I was in Japan. It has that dusty characteristic that I haven't seen in any new bottles. I wish Wild Turkey would bring back WT 12Yr 101, it would be an instant buy for me.

[@mikethered123]

I wish my wife would let me support content I love on Patreon. I really wanna see those Patreon videos, but my frugal (but loving) wife just doesn't understand lol. But these KZbin videos are awesome.

[@LiquorHound]

Totally understandable Mike! And while I do focus on my weekly Patreon videos, I’ll still try and do some fun ones like this on here as well. Thank you for watching and cheers!

[@Caliban_80]

I really enjoy the 7. I'm fairly new to bourbon, coming from strictly scotch. This is the first one I really enjoyed.

[@Caliban_80]

@Adam Gagliano the single barrel. It was fantastic. That ABV is a sweet spot for me

[@whiskeyace398]

Really dug the new single barrel(8 yr 6 month)..one of my favorite bourbons of the last year or so but took a few tries to get used to how fruity it was

[@robbanta2979]

Who dusts all your bottles?? 😂

[@LiquorHound]

Lol, that would be me and it's no small feat. Cheers!