WA. Bourbons...

[T47]

I stopped by the 4th Ave. store in Seattle tonight and spoke with the manager there (Mary). Very nice gal. I gave her my wish list of 12 bottles that I would like to try and find. Only one on my list (Henry McKenna SB) is immediately available on their order sheet, and she is going to get me a couple bottles. Most of the other bottles were Buffalo Trace or VW products, and then Old Forrester Birthday Bourbon.
With the exception of the PVW 20, WA. lists the other VW products as "discontinued".
Though I am sure it will be beating my head against a wall, it will be interesting to find out what they are able to get. Mary says, if it's available in the US she should be able to order it as long as the distilleries themselves do not have regional restrictions or allotments.
For you other WA. or OR. folks, if your interested I will keep you posted and if by chance any "special" bottles are available I will be sure to let you know. Some of you might have more access than I through travel, but just in case I will keep you posted on what I learn.
If you have a bottle you want me to ask her about let me know.
It sure seems that the Wellers have disappeared from our shelves as well i.e. Weller Centennial, Weller 12, Special Reserve.
They do have several bottles of OGD 114 which has been hard to find around here as of late.

[mozilla]

Like you said, distillers have allotments for each area or region. We get tons of Weller, but hardly any HH bonded. Don't worry though, they are still making and distributing all these products. Which means that they will be available in other areas. I just get ready to stock up when traveling to these places. Heck, I couldn't even get Buffalo Trace in Austin for a year or two, just not enough to go around everywhere and be able to fill the shelves.

[Cornman]

I'd be interested in OF Birthday Bourbon, any of the BTAC's, especially the Sazerac, and the 12 or 15 yo VW and especially the 13 VW rye (would settle for some 12 yo). Also interested in the Russels Reserve Rye when it is released and probably any others on your list that don't get up into 3 figures. Might be up for more than one bottle on some of these. Thanks for the info in any event!

[T47]

Much to my disappointment I have been informed that when trying to order VW 15, VW 12 Lot B, and VWFRR, Wa. State is not allocated any
and the response comes back...Not Available



The same is true for my Buffalo Trace wish list as well with the exception of a couple bottles.
I guess I can hope that one day they will reappear on our shelves and I will have to hoard as many as I can if that happens.
Kind of a cross thread topic, but it seems there is a need for more Bourbon Distilleries! Maybe I will win the mega lotto one day!
Not all hope is lost, she says my list is over her computer and she checks the inventorys for me and she says she will continue to do that. I am going to order a couple bottles of Henry McKenna SB because it was the only thing on my list they can get right now. So I guess I will call that a small victory.
As always if I find out anything new I will keep you WA folks posted, and if she lets me know of any coming in, I will do my best to get the word out to local SB.com brothers and sisters so we can enjoy together.

[cowdery]

I think we all regret what happens in states with socialized booze.

[T47]

I think we all regret what happens in states with socialized booze.

So Chuck, to your knowledge is this more an issue of WA's socialized booze or lack of supply to go around? I have no idea how the "allotment" thing works on the distillery end. I find it kind of odd that I on occasion we can get the products, so I am leaning towards the not available response as being on the State side of things. Last summer I picked up 2 bottles of GT Stagg from the one store in the State that had any...and it was only those 2 bottles. Then one bottle of Eagle Rare 17 shows up at a small store up in the hills (I got that one as well)...makes no sense to me at all? I will have to delve into it a little deeper just for my own education. I have little faith in the little man taking on the Bureaucracy with any real success...

[cowdery]

State alcohol bureaucracies are like any other bureaucracy; they're slow, inefficient, and don't care about the taxpayer/consumer. I don't see any reason why Buffalo Trace or any other producer wouldn't give every control state the same opportunity to buy whatever they sell as they would any other distributor. Buffalo Trace itself is still in limited markets and maybe WA isn't one of them. Stagg, although it usually sells out quickly, is distributed nationally and WA probably has the same chance to buy it that everyplace else does. Even more true with Eagle Rare 17, which isn't all that hard to get. Most other things the same way.

The problem is with your state's alcohol authority, not the producers. Same deal in every other control state.

[mozilla]

Some states allocation of a certain label are very limited. Last year around October, the whole state of Texas's allotment for Weller Centennial was 12 bottles. Of which my store was able to get 1, mostly because I made a huge deal to the rep. about it. I think he gave me one to shut me the hell up.

[T47]

I got an email from the 4th Ave Store tonight. Mary says she has put in her order for both the new Wild Turkeys as well as the Hudson Baby Bourbon and Hudson Manhattan Rye. She says the 2 Hudson bottles are pricey...and the reviews I have read here and elsewhere don't make me want to run out and get one if they come in, but at least she is trying to keep the selection "new".

She also continues to monitor my other "requests" which were mostly Buffalo Trace bottles, and if I get any good news on that front I will pass it along as it comes in.

As far as the current not always present bottles on the shelf, looks like a case of Buffalo Trace and several ETL's. The rest was pretty standard.

[cowdery]

I chime in here only to point out the benefits of getting to know your local whiskeymonger, as Todd has done. They, in most cases, really do want to help you achieve bourbonian bliss.