Your Bourbon Collection? RANT!!!!

[BigBlueFanClub]

The price for Bourbon is getting out of hand. I have 2 bottles of 2012 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and for me to replace them it's going to cost me $599 ea. For a Bourbon that I loved to drink I can't afford to replace them or drink them. It's sucks!!!!
That Bourbon use to cost $40 a bottle. I never bought a bottle of Papa back in the day but I remember there was plenty of bottles on the shelves. Who knew that its was going to be liquid gold?

Whats in your bar at home????

 

[Willy4UK]

That's weird. Guy down here in Florida who owns Senior Helpers branch that bought 4 bottles of Buffalo Trace in Key West for $17 a bottle. I don't know if that is a good deal or not. But his shit was tickled pink.

 

[funKYcat75]

Drinking is a sin.

 

[CUJO_1970]

Finishing off a bottle of Blanton's...Elijah Craig on deck.

Some well-meaning friend gave me a bottle of 13th Colony "bourbon" made in Georgia (lol, false)...I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

 

[ModernThirst_Bill]

I have a lot of bottles, mostly opened. A big part of that is that writing a blog about it, I get a lot sent to me to sample for free, and then I buy a lot in order to review them on the site. the last inventory I did was about 155 open bottles of bourbon and other whiskeys (mostly Ryes), and maybe 40-50 unopened. I do not collect them, though, I drink them.

I used to buy pappy on the shelf every year when it came out. The 20 year sat on shelves for a month or two every year, as no one would spend $65 on bourbon at the time. the 10 year Rip Van Winkle was always available on the bottom shelf. no one bought it at all.

Then it changed. people began to appreciate it, and realized that just because it wasn't aged for 25 years didn't make it inferior to scotch- quite the contrary. And manufacturers realized there was a huge price gap between their product and Scotch, and prices have been rising yearly. Some things will become easier to get over time, theoretically. Weller is a big one. Labels like pappy and BTAC would have to increase production 1000% just to begin meeting the bulk of demand today, so that's not happening. And today's pappy is not the same as the stuff we were buying in 2000-2005, so I would expect/hope the demand for it begins to wane just a bit. Though as more people "discover" bourbon, that might more than offset it.

 

[makersmarkambassador]

Then it changed. people began to appreciate it,

Think people began to appreciate the fact they could buy a bottle of Pappy 20yr for around $100, and then flip it for $1000. Once people saw what flippers were doing, it caught on. Just my opinion.

 

[ModernThirst_Bill]

Think people began to appreciate the fact they could buy a bottle of Pappy 20yr for around $100, and then flip it for $1000. Once people saw what flippers were doing, it caught on. Just my opinion.

That's certainly a part of it. I tend to think that's what made it jump the proverbial shark.

 

[downw/ball-lineD]

Sorry. BTAC? Love bourbon, but what is that? Interested.

 

[Ineverplayedthegame]

Julian has a good product and by using shrewd marketing and taking advantage of limited supply, he has created an artificial demand out of proportion to the quality of his bourbon. He laughs all the way to the bank.
If you tell people that they can't have something, it only makes them want it that much more. I don't even like wheat bourbon but I would kinda like a bottle of Pappy (not enough to stand in line all night), just to have it, as sort of a validation of my fandom of bourbon. I'm sure a lot of bourbon drinkers feel similarly.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I'm struggling to collect something that's gone within 2 weekends..

 

[ModernThirst_Bill]

I'm struggling to collect something that's gone within 2 weekends..

"Collecting" bourbon is like beanie babies, but worse. Finding rare or expensive bourbon to drink is more appropriate. Those who collect it and don't drink it are a strange lot to me. Those who buy it to flip it are maddening.

 

[funKYcat75]

This sounds a lot like the rise and fall of baseball cards in the late 80s-early 90s.

 

[ModernThirst_Bill]

This sounds a lot like the rise and fall of baseball cards in the late 80s-early 90s.

Similar, although these are consumable- meaning eventually, even the current bottlings become scarce. It's more that it took bourbon a century or so to join the ranks of rare scotch and wine, and people went overboard with it. But like baseball cards, the stuff coming out today is unlikely to continue to appreciate in value the same way stuff just 7-8 years ago did.

 

[downw/ball-lineD]

Absolutely. Same happened to Makers collectors bottles. Once they started to put out more than 20k of them they lost th


http://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/brands/antique-collection

Thanks 8 titles! Interesting stuff.

 

[Kooky Kats]

This sounds a lot like the rise and fall of baseball cards in the late 80s-early 90s.

Omar Moreno never tasted so good.

 

[funKYcat75]

Omar Moreno never tasted so good.

I prefer my Andres Galarraga neat.

 

[CatGotMyTongue]

Drinking on the golf course when it's 114 degrees is a sin.

FIFY

 

[Kooky Kats]

I prefer my Andres Galarraga neat.

Oscar Gamble wasn't so neat, but on the rocks and with a splash of bitters - he was a bad mutherfocker.

 

[MatadorKarma]

I try to find decent bourbons in the $30 range, right now:

Elijah Craig Small Batch (12 yr off the bottle is a disappointment)
Russell's Reserve Small Batch 10 yr
Evan Williams Single Barrel
Jim Beam Signature Craft 12 yr (I think they quit making this but I like it a lot)
Rittenhouse Rye
Eagle Rare 10 yr
Elmer T Lee (was $27 when I first started buying it, last time $47. Now I can't find it)

A couple other bottles
Colonel EH Taylor Small Batch
Angel's Envy
Boundary Oak - Patton Armored Diesel (haven't opened this, have it just because it is near my home. I can't imagine that it is any good.)

If anyone has any suggestions in that $30 range...

 

[L Butler]

E.H. Taylor
E.H. Taylor Singel Barrel
Van Winkle lot b
Weller 12, antique, special reserve
Knob creek 2001, single barrel,
E.T. Lee
Jeffersons reserve, 25 year, ocean 8 voyage
Woodford double oak
Stagg and stagg jr.
Elijah Craig 18, barrel proof
Poor mans pappy
Four roses barrel proof (liquor barn pick)
Four roses single barrel
Old scout 10 year, rye
Blanton SFTB
Willet 4 year
Bookers bluegill
Makers mark, cask strength

 

[BigBlueFanClub]

Finishing off a bottle of Blanton's...Elijah Craig on deck.

Some well-meaning friend gave me a bottle of 13th Colony "bourbon" made in Georgia (lol, false)...I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it.

I love Elijah Craig and Blanton's. You got great taste my friend. Hopefully they won't get out of price.

 

[BlueRunner11]

Need some empty Pappy bottles to fill with Heaven Hill and sell to the hip "bourbon drinkers" out here in CA.

 

[BankerCat12]

I prefer my Andres Galarraga neat.

Matt Nokes is definitely on the rocks.
Danny Tartabul needs to be chased

 

[Kybluedude]

One of my friends is a bourbon snob. Has 100 bourbons in his bar with a laminated list of them. Loves Four Roses. I filled an empty bottle of FR with some old Yellowstone 90. All night he drank it and lectured us about his good bourbons. The Yellowstone doesn't even have the same color much less tast the same.

 

[downw/ball-lineD]

Anyone ever had a Remy Martin Louis 13 100yr old cognac? Thoughts?

 

[robo222]

Asian market driving cost up and availability down........

 

[BigBlueSean]

I like Bourbon but the best thing I have is a bottle of Lagavulin 20-year old Scotch.

 

[ThroughBlue]

Give me a bottle of Even or Jim

 

[buster3.0]

Anyone ever had a Remy Martin Louis 13 100yr old cognac? Thoughts?

No, but I do love me some Hennessy.

 

[bigbluedon]

"Collecting" bourbon is like beanie babies, but worse. Finding rare or expensive bourbon to drink is more appropriate. Those who collect it and don't drink it are a strange lot to me. Those who buy it to flip it are maddening.

Totally agree Bill

 

[kyfan606]

Always been to busy consuming to get a collection started

 

[-BBH-]

 

[-BBH-]

Always been to busy consuming to get a collection started

Always been mine too bruh.

 

[GhostVol]

Anyone ever had a Remy Martin Louis 13 100yr old cognac? Thoughts?

No, but try some Louis Royer Force 53. My every day cognac is Hennessy, but I break out the Force 53 for company. 106 proof but damned smooth. Drink it neat or with just a splash of spring water. Tap water ruins the taste (at least our local tap water)

 

[JohnKBA]

I'm to the point now that I can't justify opening a lot of the bottles I have. When I can sell a PVW20 for $1200, WFE 21-23 year for $1500, etc, that's way too much opportunity cost for me.

My jam right now is Four Roses private picks. There is plenty of variety across the 10 recipes, they are about $60 a bottle, barrel proof, and readily available.

 

[L Butler]

I’ve been lucky enough to purchase a few Weller Antiques and a few others. 1.75 weller 12 is going for $199 to $399 bucks. Elmer T Lee for $100!! Better have a hook up and I’m not talking craigslist.

 

[MdWIldcat55]

I'd bet not one person in ten who 'collects' bourbons would catch on if you put something like Maker's Mark 46 in a 15-year-old Pappy Van Winkle bottle.

 

[downw/ball-lineD]

^^^^^^you r probably correct md. I don't profess to have a great "pallet" for bourbon---or anything else in particular---but I will say pappy--IMO--is on another level. It is excellent and distinct. I might catch this, but I confess I would likely not be able to tell the difference between most bourbons. I can certainly appreciate the hype of pappy---as far as taste, not price.

 

[BankerCat12]

I'd bet not one person in ten who 'collects' bourbons would catch on if you put something like Maker's Mark 46 in a 15-year-old Pappy Van Winkle bottle.

You probably picked the only one that if people have had 46 would know. That has a distinct wood taste...def not PVW.

 

[ganner918]

I don't chase the limited release ones, but it sucks that prices have gone up and age statements have been dropped.

Van Winkle 12 year (was a wedding gift)
Noah's Mill
Woodford
Makers
Makers 46
Elijah Craig
Old Granddad