Secret Stash Willpower

[funknik]

I just recently started stashing bottles when I found a couple dusty Rare Breeds from '96 and BHC VSOF. Previously, I've only had open bottles, but now I have a very small "bunker." I'm ready to get a little stable of favorites and unusual finds.

Thing is....I've been having a hard time not cracking into 'em, though. I want to keep these around a while and build a little collection, but they're calling to me....

"....Andy.....drink me...."

Will I know when it's the right time to crack into one, or am I master of my own bourbonic destiny?

[MJL]

In my case the bunker tends to grow faster than my ability or willingness to drink it. I like the idea that I can put away bottles for future tasting that I may not be able to get in the more remote future. In particular I am trying to hunt down and buy up some of the older, more difficult to find bourbon in this area. My real problem is finding places to stash the booze. I tend to open and drink the booze I can easily find on store shelves.

[funknik]

In my case the bunker tends to grow faster than my ability or willingness to drink it. I like the idea that I can put away bottles for future tasting that I may not be able to get in the more remote future. In particular I am trying to hunt down and buy up some of the older, more difficult to find bourbon in this area. My real problem is finding places to stash the booze. I tend to open and drink the booze I can easily find on store shelves.

I have the same MO -- if I find something weird, stash it -- if it's everywhere...drink it.

[ggilbertva]

You will find there are two schools of thought on this subject;

Purchase, drink, purchase more

Purchase, bunker, drink, purchase, bunker, etc.

I'm from the second school. I find a lot of out of production bourbons in my area so much of what I have is decades old. I also purchase limited release items like BTAC, Parkers Heritage, etc. As such, I have a collection around 300 bottles that keep me doused in bourbon goodness. I like to keep my open bottle count somewhere around 15 but rarely succeed as I too like to open and try. I'm doing pretty good right now with about 22 bottles open....the latest, a 1976 Yellowstone 86p. Bottom line, I purchase way more than I drink.

[Lost Pollito]

I'm from the first school. Purchase, drink, purchase more. I have absolutely no self-control whatsoever. So sad.

[ILLfarmboy]

I'm from the second school of thought. Perhaps for me anyhow it is a carryover from the way I stockpile food. If I eat X cans/pounds of (fill in the blank) the next time I go shopping I purchase X cans/pounds plus Y. That way when cash flow is at an ebb I'm still sitting pretty.

[StraightBoston]

I'm with Greg in the second school, though thankfully on a smaller scale (not much smaller!)

Except for limited releases and some favorite mashbills (e.g. Old Grand Dad) most of my collection veers towards the out-of-print. I got carried away with opening bottles for new tastes -- close to 40 open -- and I'm trying to knock them down.

My problem is finishing a bottle -- I'm always afraid I'll never get to try it again, or to compare to a newer version of the same expression. (Drawing off a 50ml or two has so far held me over.)

[Sijan]

I'm from the second school of thought. Perhaps for me anyhow it is a carryover from the way I stockpile food. If I eat X cans/pounds of (fill in the blank) the next time I go shopping I purchase X cans/pounds plus Y. That way when cash flow is at an ebb I'm still sitting pretty.

[ggilbertva]

What I want to know Dan, is at what point do you move to make more room for bourbon?

Hope your Thanksgiving was good.

[Stu]

I'm 1st school. I'm 68 and I told my brother in law if my wife and I pass together he could have my stash, darned if I want to give him anything I haven't tasted!

[callmeox]

I'm in the second school I guess. I've slowed my purchasing way down, but my consumption has never been very high to begin with. I can't tell you the last time I emptied a bottle.

The economy has me scared and if the worst case scenario happens, I don't want to run out of (quality) bourbon.

[ggilbertva]

I'm in the second school I guess. I've slowed my purchasing way down, but my consumption has never been very high to begin with. I can't tell you the last time I emptied a bottle.

The economy has me scared and if the worst case scenario happens, I don't want to run out of (quality) bourbon.

[gblick]

No matter what happens, at least we'll have some good bourbon to drink!

[Dramiel McHinson]

Finally a forum for the "keep it forever challenged!" Hi, my name is Dan and I'm a whisk(e)y pack rat. Early in life I began to collect bourbon and scotch. I began drinking bourbon and scotch. I began struggling with obsession with buying and drinking bourbon and scotch. Holy smokes! before you know it you drank up the money you planned to buy the 32 foot sailboat with. If you are prone to regret, then don't try this at home.

After a while, I realized that I couldn't buy and taste it all. I needed a plan. The first phase was to taste as many different kinds of whiskies as possible to bracket what I truly like. Once I figured out what I liked and who made it, I zeroed in on them. I buy the ones I like and especially look to buy the ones that I like that are going out of production or being changed by a new owner or for cost cutting measures.

To bunker or not to bunker for me means I only have one or two and it's a world class pour. It's worth saving for a future undisclosed special ocassion. If it's great and I can afford it, I'll buy several. Open one and put the others back. I've saved a lot of money by not having to go back and buy after the price skyrocketed in the last two years.

So...if you collect, have a working collection. It's not like collecting bugs or Pokemon cards. This stuff was meant to be enjoyed through consumption. You get to choose the time and place of enjoyment. Thus, the bunker theory or enjoyment deferred.

Drink well, drink often, save some for later.

[Skunk]

We pretty much don't have a strategic reserve plan. Our motto is drill baby drill, and hope there will be something on the shelf that we can get by with next time. The bourbon will never be bad enough for me to go back to premium tequila, but if it goes too far south there is always wine...

[funknik]

We pretty much don't have a strategic reserve plan. Our motto is drill baby drill

[kickert]

well my lack of willpower is not secret. rather than saving me from raiding my bunker, trying new samples has saved me from buying several $30+ bottles just because I had not had them yet!

[mozilla]

Finally a forum for the "keep it forever challenged!" Hi, my name is Dan and I'm a whisk(e)y pack rat. Early in life I began to collect bourbon and scotch. I began drinking bourbon and scotch. I began struggling with obsession with buying and drinking bourbon and scotch. Holy smokes! before you know it you drank up the money you planned to buy the 32 foot sailboat with. If you are prone to regret, then don't try this at home.

After a while, I realized that I couldn't buy and taste it all. I needed a plan. The first phase was to taste as many different kinds of whiskies as possible to bracket what I truly like. Once I figured out what I liked and who made it, I zeroed in on them. I buy the ones I like and especially look to buy the ones that I like that are going out of production or being changed by a new owner or for cost cutting measures.

To bunker or not to bunker for me means I only have one or two and it's a world class pour. It's worth saving for a future undisclosed special ocassion. If it's great and I can afford it, I'll buy several. Open one and put the others back. I've saved a lot of money by not having to go back and buy after the price skyrocketed in the last two years.

So...if you collect, have a working collection. It's not like collecting bugs or Pokemon cards. This stuff was meant to be enjoyed through consumption. You get to choose the time and place of enjoyment. Thus, the bunker theory or enjoyment deferred.

Drink well, drink often, save some for later.

This describes me, as well.

I hunted hard for a year finding only a few different types of dusties. Then I expanded my search outside my own area and presto...there they were. Almost every odd label became available. So, I tried everything once and zeroed in on a few favorites. After sufficiently stockpiling, I have moved on to other labels and other experiments in bourbon. ie: vatting and rebarreling

I have about 40-50 labels open at one time...kind of a library approach, if you will. I also try not to open a new dusty label until I have at least one bottle in the bunker. And I won't open the bottle in the bunker until I replace that one.

My motto is...A good price will never get better...buy it now. So, any unknown dusty under $15 makes it into my basket. Which, has put me near 31 cases.

[funknik]

I have about 40-50 labels open at one time...kind of a library approach, if you will.

I wish I had the space for Jeff's library approach, although I don't really have enough bottles bunkered to have 40-50 open at one time. Having a dozen or so bottles open at one time has been working for me, but it does pose a few problems, the biggest of which is that once I open a bottle, I know it will be gone in a matter of months.

On the other hand, my anxiety regarding opening bottles has diminished considerably, especially since I have a good supply of a few favorites.

One thing I have noticed lately when looking over my bunker is that it is very wheat-heavy. This is kind of funny to me, since I think my tastes run very much on the high rye side of things . . . most of it is a matter of availability, I guess . . . I have 7 VSOFs and 6 Centennials but only one dusty Wild Turkey for high rye & then a couple of Staggs and a couple slope shoulder OCPRs for "low" rye. It's just kind of funny to me . . . six months ago, I never would have imagined myself stockpiling wheaters -- thanks for those who introduced to some good stuff!

Anyway, I guess what I need to do is visit some other states and try to find some ER10/101 and dusty WTs to keep my rye train rolling. The current Rare Breed is also a very fine bourbon that is always nice for a rye fix.

Other than that, the bunker is in fine shape and I have been enjoying its bounty. Thanks everyone who helped me out and pointed me in the right direction . . . it's nice to have some really good, affordable current recommendations to help preserve the stash.

[barturtle]

You will find there are two schools of thought on this subject;

Purchase, drink, purchase more

Purchase, bunker, drink, purchase, bunker, etc.

I'm from the "Purchase, Bunker, Drink Other Peoples" school:lol:

[Klepackage]

When I got seriously started with bourbon, I bought a lot and drank a ridiculous amount. I would kill a 750 a week but would find two more lined up to take its place. I was opening damned near everything I got and having a blast. Even then, I didn't like having a lot of open bottles.

Then I started buying various backups of stuff that I really liked and is either difficult to get on a regular basis, some form of yearly release that changes, or a large stockpile of stuff that I got a good price on. My bunker a large chunk of my closet filled with some extra BTAC, a ton of VW products I got on the cheap, discontinued stuff (OCPR and Cent), etc., and a few bottles that I'm saving for a very special occasion.

Recently, my policy has shifted. I try to keep at least one open bottle of everything I have. If I buy a lot to bunker, I'll still keep one open and slowly nip away at it. I really enjoy having the variety when I want something to drink. It also helps when selecting samples or when someone comes over because there is always something that catches their eye.

I am planning on saving some of these bottles for quite some time though. My intent is always to drink them, just at different times. I have a unique perspective because I got into the bourbon game so young. I'm planning on pulling out a Centennial 20 years from now. However, Em doesn't think I'll last that long....

That's my 2c.

[ggilbertva]

I'm from the "Purchase, Bunker, Drink Other Peoples" school:lol:

I like that school and I've been attending such a place. Had a very nice evening at a friends house tonight and enjoyed some Parker Heritage (1st release), Willett 7 year, VWFRR and a nice Irish Whiskey.....oh, and some Port from 1983......nice school.

[jsgorman]

I've been collecting wine for 20 years, so I have the whole deferred gratification thing down pat.

I also think the longer you've been collecting, the easier it is to collect. The first rule is that you cannot be a completeist with everything. Pick your battles - otherwise you end up getting overwhelmed.

I don't have anything 'stashed' that is widely available. I do keep a set of the BTAC as collectables, but have open bottles as well. I think the trick is to have reasonable expectations around your collection. I have open bottles and bottles 'on deck' for opening. I know there are bottles that I am holding for collecting, drinking and trading.

[jburlowski]

Unlike others here who are much more organized and disciplined, my bunker is simply a bunch of haphazardly stacked cases in a closet off my bar. No speadsheet or database here.

I gather bottles spasmodically and instinctively, not unlike the squirrels burrying nuts frantically in the yard all year. All are bottles that I like, with some emphasis on limited-editions or semi-dusties.

I have, at best, a vague idea of what I have. Someday I will do an inventory... but I fear it will breed more of a feeling of anxiety than security.