Hard Drinkers, Lets Drink Hard (Spirits, Liquors and Cocktails)

[Jett129]

@DeeDee85 As far as I know the only time you get to buy bourbon directly from the distillery is in their gift shop. Otherwise all their products are sent/sold to distributors in every state,who in turn distribute the bourbon to the liquor stores. Had to look this up,but Sazerac is the parent company that owns Buffalo Trace along with over 450 brands of spirits cocktails and related products all across the globe,so having their products all over the world is as important to them as the US market. Bourbon isn’t a big deal,or as big of a deal,at this time,as it is in the US,so it sits on the shelf’s in the UK. Let me know if you find any Pappy Van Winkle sitting on the shelf at list price.

[DeeDee85]

450 brands? Wow.. What is the list price for the Pappy Van Winkle? @Jett129
I’m guessing it’s not £1400 for the 15 year old and £2500 for the 20? that’s what they are coming up at here in the UK. Masterofmalt.com has let me set an email notification for an “arriving soon” bottle of 13 year old Pappy Van Winkle Rye for £200 which is a bit more realistic

[Tago Mago]

@goosehd Cuban cigars…

[Jett129]

@DeeDee85 Here you go. Last time I was able to buy the 20 year old was 2006,and I paid $75

[pechelman]

i had a connection that was able to get me a bottle of the 12yr reserve for ~70$ around the 2010 range iirc. I kinda recall being underwhelmed by it even back then for all the hype around it.

[Jett129]

@pechelman The rye was always my favorite.

[DeeDee85]

@Jett129 Understandable now that scalpers latched onto it looking at the list prices. I’d be happy to send you over the bottle of Rye from master of malt for £200 if I get the email from them? Not sure how we’d get on with customs etc but please let me know if you are interested

[Jett129]

@DeeDee85 Thanks for the offer,really quite nice of you,but I’ve found quite a few drinkable spirits not called “Pappy” that are significantly less money.

[pechelman]

Speaking about prices for weller...lol.

[Jett129]

@pechelman Is the state sales tax really 20.5%?

[pechelman]

@Jett129 yes unfortunately for booze it is higher than regular sales tax in WA which is like 10% otherwise.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@DeeDee85 I wonder the same thing. I'm on a few local lists for this and a few other BTD picks. They take months in between bottles. Most local shops get jack shit for allocations and you have to be on the list to get it. There was a big boom on BTD products a few years ago that is apparently dying down a little now, but the backlog got huge when demand went up and supply stayed the same. I imagine the reason it didn't happen there because the demand could have remained consistent along with the allocations.

As a result of the boom BTD did release a bunch of new products aimed at satisfying the demand but i dont think they went over very well. There are now new Benchmark variations (apparently all of which do share a mashbill with other BTD products other than the wheated versions) and stuff available but none are at the same level as the 'base model' BT bourbon, which i have yet to see return to shelves (along with Eagle Rare) without a markup. Before all this prices were about 27USD for BT and 37USD for ER, now they're about double that from just a few years ago. hope availability returns to normal soon since demand seems to be dropping (in favor of gin, apparently).

The lack of US market US brand products does piss me off. Red Wing is hugely guilty of this too.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@DeeDee85 this too. its driven me to expirement more and try new stuff. Most of the rarities are a good deal at regular price, but for double, they're meh so i'd rather find the next killer buy.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Jett129 speaking of Sazerac. Their Rye (also by BTD) is one of the best buys in rye imo, and somehow didn't get noticed as part of the craze. I still regularly find it on the shelf for not a markup.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Jett129 those are still hella good prices compared to what i've seen, if you can even find it. i'm talking over 1k$

[SKT]

@WhiskeySandwich love Sazerac. Used to be hard to get now my Sam’s Club has it around $20 a bottle. Crazy

[WhiskeySandwich]

@SKT dude yea! i've compared it to a lot of ryes up to 100 bucks and it beats them all. It's def a "bourbon drinker's rye" imo. less pepper spice than most others. It's my go-to for Old F's over bourbon and....i should probably shut up about it before it too starts getting hard to find.

[Jett129]

@WhiskeySandwich Those aren’t real,so to speak,prices but the distillery’s suggested retail prices. There’s one liquor store near me,that once a year sells all that stuff at list price. People camp out overnight to get it. At a certain point they’ll tell people that they’re not getting anything. Everyone is only allowed 1 bottle.I’ve never done it,but one year I asked people on line if they were going to drink it or flip it? Everyone said they would be drinking whatever they got. Not sure I believed that.

[WhiskeySandwich]

oh MSRP, of course....like we're talking about cars LOL. When I see stores price gouging at more than say 5-10% thats pretty egregious and I take my business elsewhere. My one spot is true to MSRP where i get on their allocation list. I sure wouldn't flip anything i got at list price. I can't stand the scalping.

I also wouldn't camp out. If it's not flowing, i'm not putting in the effort or fight lol, I'll go find a perfectly good deal on the shelf. Thats how I do my business.

[Jett129]

@WhiskeySandwich We’re 100% on the same page.