It will be wonderful when the bourbon “boom” is over. Maybe the orange man’s tariffs will destroy the overseas markets and help us out. It is tiring to walk into a Liquor Barn / Party Source type of place and not be able to find something that is both interesting and readily available. I don’t have the time or patience anymore to hunt/search for rare bourbons.
Makers/Woodford/etc. are great bourbons and love having them readily available at restaurants, but they don’t scratch that itch on the evening sofa. And the whiskeys that are readily handy and moderately intriguing - Kentucky Spirit, for example - all cost fifty bucks plus. A lot of money for a good, but not great, whiskey.
This is one of the reasons I have delved deeply into scotch in the past couple years. Yes, you pay for it. But the variety, age, and interest level simply cannot be matched with the current readily available domestic offerings.
/TLDR