barrel aged - which barrel?

I think we've gone way past the OP's question but this is a fascinating subject that I wish I knew more about. My best recommendation for anyone with an interest in bourbon is to come visit KY and KY Bourbon Trail. Both Louisville and Lexington are up and coming craft beer communities and there is even the odd small farm winery along the way to complete the booze "trifecta" (but don't get the idea anyone drinks in KY).

 

I also think its confusing people that Heaven Hill is both a distillery and a brand of bourbon. So when Founders says they use Heaven Hill barrels for KBS, they don't mean they used barrels that contained the brand Heaven Hill bourbon, they mean they used unspecified barrels from the Heaven Hill distillery. Those barrels contained bourbons that went on to be bottled under a number of different brand names, and coming out of the barrel KBS probably taste significantly different from one barrel to the next. I'm sure Founders has to do a good bit of blending to create their final product.

 

Out here in Denver you'll find that a LOT of the local BA aged beers are from Stranahan's barrels but they aren't allowed to say it. Breckenridge signed an exclusive deal to be able to use the Stranahan's name on the label. They're the only one allowed to specify in advertising, but 1/2 of the BA beers in town probably came from Stran barrels.
Heaven Hill seems to be another common distillery barrel used throughout the country. In fact, it seems like if they don't specify that it's a pretty good guess to make.

 

I had the same question a few months back, so I decided to ask a few insiders at some local big name MI breweries (hint hint) and the answer I got was somewhere along the lines of this:

"With cost, availability, etc. aside, the quality of the barrel really depends on what you are after in the beer. A top-shelf spirit will be a lot smoother and less harsh, which in turn makes it harder for the bourbon character to punch through a really big, flavorful beer (such as a stout.) Therefore if you want a lot of bourbon character, you want to go with a lower quality (non top-shelf) bourbon in order to be achieve a more pronounced bourbon character in the flavor profile of the beer."

Counter-intuitive but makes a lot of sense when you think about it.