Today's Bourbon

[gurgalunas]

Sounds like a polite attempt to explain why you are not getting offered stuff from the back room. The driving force on allocated BT deliveries are total Sazerac sales. BT is owned by Sazerac, but by far, the biggest Saz seller is Fireball. 1000 to 1 seller in the portfolio. That means that buying an extra BT probably wont change allocation much... But, in the store owners eyes, sales are what he measures your loyalty by.

The take home from the conversation is that allocated items go to the loyal customers. While they did tell the truth behind the general process with the distributor (sales drive deliveries), the fact he didnt know the half dozen bottles you bought shows he probably wont know what you buy going forward unless you make a point of dealing with him. Sounds like he is the decision maker, so make sure he is involved whenever you go there to get maximum brownie points.

 

[Boudie]

That's really good advice but it may be easier to just try and go someplace with a larger allocation. Good excuse to take a trip. I have to assume that the good bars and fine dining restaurants in this part of Louisiana get first crack, then there are two huge bourbon clubs in my parish and everyone has personal friends and their own collections so I'm not hopeful.

I enjoyed my last two visits to Kentucky so I'll make plans to go again this year, maybe in late September or early October. Going to Florida in a week so I'll be on the lookout for some "hard to find locally" rums.

 

[Grantster]

 

[gurgalunas]

That's really good advice but it may be easier to just try and go someplace with a larger allocation. Good excuse to take a trip. I have to assume that the good bars and fine dining restaurants in this part of Louisiana get first crack, then there are two huge bourbon clubs in my parish and everyone has personal friends and their own collections so I'm not hopeful.

I enjoyed my last two visits to Kentucky so I'll make plans to go again this year, maybe in late September or early October. Going to Florida in a week so I'll be on the lookout for some "hard to find locally" rums.

I've got permission to plan a KY trip for next year...

Total Wine has the Doorly's and RL Seale rums. The new Foursquare bottles should hit shelves soon. 2007 and Empery are new, 2005 is my favorite and still available. Occasionally, 2004, Premise, and Zin Cask can still be found. There is a lot of rum hunting I'd like to do, but limited opportunity.

 

[BourbonBinder]

Not currently in the market for a C918 but when I am, looks like I’m plenty covered

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[icehog3]

Not currently in the market for a C918 but when I am, looks like I’m plenty covered

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[BourbonBinder]

Newly acquired. Haven’t had a pour of this in about 2 years. First bottle purchase.

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[jcolan1]

You guys seem to have access to bourbons I can only wish for.

I was in a local liquor store and as I waved to the owner on the way out he pulled me over "you're in here all the time and we always talk but you never buy anything, is there something you're looking for?" After pointing to maybe half a dozen bottles that I've purchased over the last couple of months I handed him my list of "look fors". He acknowledge that most of what I want is very hard to get and then he proceeded to explain how the local wholesalers allocate whiskey on a point basis. If a shop wants the rarer W L Weller bottles the shop needs to sell a bunch of the more readily available Buffalo Trace products. This means that if I want access to the better stuff I need to buy more of the other Buffalo Trace stuff and my wife has to buy more stuff. That was the second time in a week I was told that I'm not high enough in the pecking order to get the hard to find stuff.

I'm still trying to decide if I should consider myself offended or just educated by the conversation.

What things are you looking for? Some areas seem to get some bottles but not others. If they’re is something in MD/VA that I see on occasion, I may be able to grab you a bottle at cost plus shipping.

On a side note, I’ve found more success and enjoyment searching for private barrel picks rather than just the allocated stuff that is really hard to find. I’ve had some great private barrel picks of regular buffalo trace, Bowman Single Barrel, Elijah Craig, 1972 Full Proof, WT Kentucky Spirit, Old Forester Single Barrel, and several others including a few delicious Maker Mark private selects (which are very different than regular makers mark products).


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[Boudie]

Thanks I'm out prepping for a storm right now but if you're game I'd appreciate it. Mainly Weller stuff

 

[BourbonBinder]

What things are you looking for? Some areas seem to get some bottles but not others. If they’re is something in MD/VA that I see on occasion, I may be able to grab you a bottle at cost plus shipping.

On a side note, I’ve found more success and enjoyment searching for private barrel picks rather than just the allocated stuff that is really hard to find. I’ve had some great private barrel picks of regular buffalo trace, Bowman Single Barrel, Elijah Craig, 1972 Full Proof, WT Kentucky Spirit, Old Forester Single Barrel, and several others including a few delicious Maker Mark private selects (which are very different than regular makers mark products).


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I’m still agitated that I missed the one opportunity to buy a bottle of Elmer T. Lee at my shop, and for only $39. They sold out in minutes, but I add two days late to reply (holiday weekend). Is that stuff easier to allocate or do you guys have similar difficulties?


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[Boudie]

There is a local chain that posts their inventory on the internet. If you are interested I can provide the link and if there is anything you want I'd be happy to pick it up for you. I'm pretty sure we are all looking for the same thing. Yea, Elmer T Lee would also be nice to track down.

I'm assuming the end of September beginning of October is the best time to visit Louisville, Bardstown and Frankfort if looking for the new releases. Is there some way to fine tune that time frame a bit? I have the link to the Bourbon Review and Breaking Bourbon.

 

[jcolan1]

I’m still agitated that I missed the one opportunity to buy a bottle of Elmer T. Lee at my shop, and for only $39. They sold out in minutes, but I add two days late to reply (holiday weekend). Is that stuff easier to allocate or do you guys have similar difficulties?


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Stuff like Weller and EFL never seem to hit the shelves here. OWA is occasionally available at county whiskey events. I have only ever seen ETL on a shelf at somewhat regular prices twice in my life, and I think maybe only once more at a crazy price. I don’t recall it being released here in the past several year.


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[JayGresh]

I'm on a kinda dry 9 month right now. (wife is pregnant so not buying and barely consuming) Come end of Oct I'm looking to buy Ardbeg 10 and maybe Buffalo Trace or Monkey Shoulder. I know only Buffalo Trace is bourbon but hey what's delicious is what's delicious.

 

[marshall9779]

Stuff like Weller and EFL never seem to hit the shelves here. OWA is occasionally available at county whiskey events. I have only ever seen ETL on a shelf at somewhat regular prices twice in my life, and I think maybe only once more at a crazy price. I don’t recall it being released here in the past several year.


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Yeah and in the county @jcolan1 and I live in, we only get OWA. Have never seen Weller12 and they don’t even have a sku for WSR. I’ve never seen ETL in our county. Our county is controlled so prices are MSRP but they hold a lot of highly allocated stuff for events. Other allocated stuff they spread around all the county stores but sometimes it’s only a bottle or two in each store. This past week was the only time I’ve seen OWA on the shelf not during an event. I have been seeing BT stuff including Blanton’s hitting way more than ever now but again only 1-2 bottles at a time, and the allocated stuff they don’t show the inventory for on their website.


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[BourbonBinder]

There is a local chain that posts their inventory on the internet. If you are interested I can provide the link and if there is anything you want I'd be happy to pick it up for you. I'm pretty sure we are all looking for the same thing. Yea, Elmer T Lee would also be nice to track down.

I'm assuming the end of September beginning of October is the best time to visit Louisville, Bardstown and Frankfort if looking for the new releases. Is there some way to fine tune that time frame a bit? I have the link to the Bourbon Review and Breaking Bourbon.

That’s mighty kind of you. I am a huge fan of Bourbon hunting, like many of you guys (the thrill of the hunt). My leg muscles are in tip top shape from climbing in and out of my car at random stores along my travels, more times than not walking out empty handed.

Breaking Bourbon is my favorite reviewer by far. I still can’t believe how high he rated Knob Creek Single Barrel, but I definitely agree.

Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon Review | Breaking Bourbon

Review and tasting notes for Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon.

www.breakingbourbon.com

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[Boudie]

I'm on a kinda dry 9 month right now. (wife is pregnant so not buying and barely consuming) Come end of Oct I'm looking to buy Ardbeg 10 and maybe Buffalo Trace or Monkey Shoulder. I know only Buffalo Trace is bourbon but hey what's delicious is what's delicious.

I would think your wife's pregnancy is a perfectly good reason for you to drink much more then normal, not less!

 

[BourbonBinder]

Celebrating a recent Job offer, normally i don’t bring bourbon this pricey to my lounge but I couldn’t help myself.

Rocky Patel San Andreas 2006 Vintage was an absolute show stopper

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[pbibby]

Maybe THE best house warming gift ever.

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[SharkyZiff]

Cracked this one open last night. I think I need to pick up another bottle...

 

[Grantster]