Isn't alcohol required in order to get any kind of serious flavor out of a barrel? $10 says they just add some TFA Red Oak And call it done anyway...
Start collecting addresses to send your money to because it's definitely barrel steeped. There are hundreds of pics and video online of the barrels they use and dealers who carry CLR have to buy their stock by the barrel which 5P bottles for them from their purchased barrel. The used barrel is then given to the dealer for display purposes. 5P is not the typical juice vendor using off the shelf flavorings, adding a ton of VG to look impressive, and calling it their juices some stupid name like "Unicorn Piss" or "Custard That Cuts The Mustard". They use unique flavorings and are hands down the most complex juices available, which they better be for what they charge, and they are.
As for these new flavors, just some random thoughts....
These new flavors are all flavor emulsions. They literally take an actual ingredient, let's say cinnamon as an example, and add it to a big jar of PG to draw the actual flavors of the cinnamon into the PG. They demonstrated this at their booth during the last conventions. They had their booth lined with jars of PG all sitting with a fruit, or spice, or other ingredient This is why their flavorings kick ...., because it's not flavoring as we think, but rather fresh, made in house extracts.
The new 4 sound amazing and I cannot wait to try them. There has been such a void of good liquor base juices that don't suck. I have faith in 5P to get these liquor notes right because they hit it out of the park with Castle Long Reserve. They have been working on these since last summer so they took their time to craft these right and not rush out sub par.
The fifth flavor, Castle Long will make many happy. I'm skeptical on this one however. While many will jump for joy that they can now get CL anytime they want and for $10 bucks cheaper, I feel the oak barrel steeping is such an intricate part of CLR that makes it so good however. I fear those of us who really enjoy CLR will only be able to focus on what's missing rather than what it is. Those who never had CLR will undoubtedly love it however. I do feel this somehow cheapens CLR as well. Jack Daniels makes a very good single barrel whiskey, but you'd never know it because their old #9 is available everywhere, at all times, and for less, and eclipses the single barrel sales 10 fold. Whiskey enthusiasts looking for a really special single barrel bottle are not going to look to a bottle of premium single barrel whiskey based from a common blue collar brand. Same principal applies here I think. Best case scenario for 5P here is CL becomes a favorite and cannabalizes future CLR sales. If it's really good, which I'm sure it will be, it'll be hard to convince consumers, and dealers for that matter, already paying and selling CL at $27.50 that they should pay another $10 bucks for the reserve version. Not very well thought out on 5P's part. I would have rather they modified the recipe to make it unique and it's own flavor, but still based on the CLR we all love. Maybe add a twist of orange and bitters to it to make up for the lack of oak.
