HUZZAH I'M RICH!!!

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

OK you're a billionaire. How would this change the way you buy bourbon?

[jbutler]

A billionaire? So that's at least a one followed by nine zeros?

Why think small? I'd buy the entire industry, then throw a party for a few thousand of my closest friends

[rwilps]

As you could probably guess, I'd want to bring whiskey distilling back to the Monongahela valley. The Whiskey Rebellion is alive and well - now all we need is a good distillery...maybe I'd build a new Sam Thompson distillery in Large, PA. All Straightbourbon.com members could be charter members of the Monongahela Rye Society, with consulting rights on mashbills and the use of the small pot stills for "special projects".

Ralph Wilps

[tdelling]

>OK you're a billionaire. How would this change the way you buy bourbon?

Well, the first thing I'd do is to go buy myself a dozen congressmen.

That would change the we *all* buy bourbon.

(Everyone I know has voted me "most likely to own a distillery"... I see

it as my destiny: an eventuality that I cannot avoid.)

Tim

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

BLeeee!

[MurphyDawg]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />

Well, the first thing I'd do is to go buy myself a dozen congressmen.

That would change the we *all* buy bourbon.

[jeff]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />

OK you're a billionaire. How would this change the way you buy bourbon?

As I know I could not properly run a distillery that would meet my standards, the only thing I would do different if I was a billionare would be to enjoy more premium bourbon

[bobbyc]

One thing you could do is what moneyed people do all the time and that is to back up what you say . By that I mean there was a fellow who bought an old public building near here and wanted to change the zoning so he could use it for something else. They were giving him hell and so was his neighbors. He said screw you I'll tear it down and run 500 hogs on it. The zoning was quietly, and quickly changed in his favor. I would have access to the bottlings I wanted, period . And if they gave me the crap about only selling it in Japan , they would only be so glad as to ship it there buy it and bring it back to me. Hell I might give up Bourbon and start drinking sc**ch.

[ratcheer]

Heh, heh. If you had a billion dollars, you might be able to afford sc**ch. Tim

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

As of today we have 23 votes.

9 votes, or 38% are for either building a distillery or buying their favorite distillery.

14 votes, or 60% wouldn't change much of anything other than the way they buy bourbon.

I guess 2% of the votes were lost due to rounding. Think of it as the angles share.

Overall I think this shows great satisfaction with the bourbons that are being produced and marketed today.

One thing I'd like to do (but goes beyond the scope of this poll) would be to start an American Whiskey Academy. Many of you may know that David Beam has in his possession the entire pot distillation apperatus from the now defunkt Michter's Distillery. It is a very small barrel-a-day capacity that was made as a working display piece for Michter's by Vendome Copper & Brass Works of Louisville. The whole thing could easily be mounted in a standard freight trailer.

Students would take a week long class in basic whiskey making tought by master distillers. Then they would get to be master distillers for a day with each student producing a barrel of his or her very own whiskey. The academy would have to be a licensed distllery and the whiskey would have to stored in a legal facility until bottled and taxes paid. There are probably a bunch of other legal hoops to jump through. But I think it would be doable.

The mobile mini-distillery could then travel to the WhiskeyFests in New York and Chiago and to the WhiskeyExpo in San Francisco. If there was sufficiant interest classes could be held in various regions of the country.

After taking the class you could just make arrangements for the use of the distillery for a very reasonable fee. That way you could distil a barrel or more every year. Because the academy and the mobile mini-distillery are in essence philanthropic gifts to bourbon lovers everywhere student costs should be quite low, and scholarships would also be available.

Now wouldn't that be neat?

[bobbyc]

On a related note, I was wondering how we could get our own label as well. Do you have to have a license first? Or just a big pile of cash? Realistically are there people who would drink something on our recommendation, how much ( if any) clout do we ( The Straight Bourbonites) have?

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Bobby your question is best directed towards Jim Butler. What I can tell you is that if Jim wanted to commercialize this site he would have already done so. It would be very easy to have cheap T-shirts; shotglasses, rocks glasses, and snifters for sale at 100% profit. I know Jim Butler, and I know for a fact he is a top quality dude. He demands excellence, both of himself and of his bourbon. Bourbon industry insiders read this forum daily. Jim could (if he wanted to) have a bourbon with a StraightBourbon.com label and logo on the market with a single phone call. I also know that there are some legal hoops to jump through and logistical demands such as quatlity control and order fulfillment. Then there are the tons of paperwork like B.A.T.F. regulations; taxes, and accounting along with employees and payrolls. It ain't easy!

[bobbyc]

In today's world I guess it takes a hell of a lot of intregrity to not sell out. It makes guys like Jim Butler rare and a breath of fresh air. That's also why participating here can be so much fun!

[CL]

Build my own distillery - heck no! There's too much other good bourbon in this world to try without waiting many years!

Buy my own distillery - heck no again! Who needs the aggravation? If you are a billionaire, you could get into any distillery any time you wanted!

Buy all my favorite bourbons and bottle them under my own label- Ditto (heck no). No originality.

Wouldn't change a thing - Bingo!

New choice to add to the list - buy a bunch for my friends at StraightBourbon.com!

[ratcheer]

> "New choice to add to the list - buy a bunch for my friends at StraightBourbon.com!"

Wonderful idea! I'd do that, too.

Tim

[gr8erdane]

How much for the whole state of Kentucky I wonder??????

[Cholly]

With that much money I could have bourbon legaly acknowleged as the national spirit with it's own holiday and the day off with pay.

[pepcycle]

It would take me about 2 seconds to call John Ed and get that old Hirsch Pot Still fired up in Bardstown. Yahoo! Master Distiller Pepcyle would be barreling Old Peppi T Van Jefferson Washington Bardstown Reserve, Hand Batched Sourpuss Potstilled Straight Bourbon Whisky.

Ya that's the ticket.

[gr8erdane]

I want to be at your first tasting for sure. You might have to go with 5 gallon bottles to get all that on the label though.