Where Did All the Bargain Bourbon Go? Blame the Whiskey Mania.

The pandemic drove demand higher by combining unexpected free time, in the form of quarantines, with unexpected money, from a booming stock market and government stimulus checks.

Social media then amplified the hype. For many, the so-called crotch shot, in which a lucky buyer posts a photo on Instagram of his latest find, ideally taken from the driver’s seat just after leaving a liquor store, has become a status symbol. Depending on the bottle, it can be as potent as a Rolex-clad wrist.

While some people will drink those bottles, others will flip them on the illegal secondary market, often for much more than they paid, or hold onto them as an investment.

“There’s some poor guy out there whose wife has been nagging them about the 120, 200 bottles in the basement,” said Taylor Cope, who edits the website Malt Review. “And he says, ‘No, you don’t understand, I paid X for these and they’re worth 2X or 5X or whatever,’ and maybe for him that’s some weird nest egg or retirement savings.”

 Lazy8 wrote:

And when you recover, this is *my* favourite:

I have been designing a new bottle for the St. Augustine Distillery
(not this one in the pic) and during the project I received as a gift
their "The Saint Bourbon" (the one in the pic). This product is so
decadently highly priced that I have been reluctant to even open it. 
But I will definitely share it with my son-in-law who like me is
a boozer connoisseur of fine spirits.

 Lazy8 wrote:


I picked up a sample of PiggyBack Rye this afternoon. We'll see!

 Lazy8 wrote:
sudden wisdom?

 Proclivities wrote:
They're having trouble meeting local demand so I guess that's not surprising.

 Lazy8 wrote:
That looks interesting - unfortunately their site shows Tennessee as the only Southeastern state which has distribution.

An enthusiastic manager at the DEN Centurion lounge recommended this to me. Just finished it and - although quite good - I didn't see what made it so noteworthy. That could absolutely be my inability to get subtleties in bourbon without them being set up side by side for comparison. 

 Antigone wrote:
When you recover...this is my favorite:

 Antigone wrote:
Some are available in the 350 or 375 ml. sizes.

 Antigone wrote:

Netflix has the 'classic fireplace,' and the 'birch special fireplace' films.  Complete with cracklin's.
Not a 27 episode TV series! 

 Proclivities wrote:


You're making me want to try some more rye. We'll see. I'm a little fireplace poor at the moment!

 Antigone wrote:
It's good stuff.  Straight rye has more of a bite - more "spicy" than most bourbons - not as sweet.  There are some "high rye" bourbons that are kind of in-between.  Redemption makes a very good one.

 Proclivities wrote:

I like their small batch bourbon. Very nice.

 Proclivities wrote:

Haven't tried that one.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: