BTAC is here!

[TBoner]

OK all my MI Brothers and Sisters, I am in hot water from the Cow Pasture Grassy taste profile line of bourbons produced by our dear friends in Frankfort AKA Buffalo Trace.

I sent an email to my favorite retailer explainly that I am done with BT because of shenanigans by the MI BT rep, because every state in the lower 48 had the '09 BTAC from late Sept thru mid Oct except MI.

He emailed me back and said that he did not blame me and forwarded my email to said BT MI rep.

I got an email from the guy telling me I had many falsehoods in my email and he wants me to call him and/or meet with him face to face to explain to me how business is done in MI.

Of course I have ignored his request, I am a 32 year vet in the wholesale alcohol business and 8 years in the retail line prior to that so I know that, as they say, figures can lie and liars can figure.

Besides this is the same guy that insulted the Michigan Bourbon Hounds before a large audience.

At a BT tasting that was not a very well disguised sales pitch, this guy ran out of answers and looked over to our two tables and told the crowd that "the bourbon nerds over there might say something different", in respose to something he knew nothing about.

I know MI is a Canadien Brown Vodka state so I suppose BT is trying to write us off all together.

Good on you, Oscar. F 'em. I am pretty much done drinking bourbon, so I haven't been around here latelyh, but I do still love a good rye now and then, and I thought I'd check in and get consensus on the Handy for this year. Reading this thread has just pissed me off. Seeing that BT continues to find new ways to dick the consumer makes it easier for me to avoid giving them my $70.

A-holes.

Regards,

Tim

[OscarV]

Regards,

Tim

Hey Tim,

good to see you around,

it has been a while.

Hope all is well.

[p_elliott]

One Internet site has GTS for $938 a bottle that's insane!

[ErichPryde]

^link?^

Oscar, sounds like you guys got a really crappy rep. I'm glad that the rest of the country doesn't have to put up with stuff like that- most of the time here it has to do with the vendor being or jerk or the retailer being greedy.

[heatmiser]

Just got a few bottles of GTS from this year over the holiday weekend while visiting the in-laws. Popped one open last night and it is very good. YUM!!!

[cowdery]

I haven't been following this thread, but I'm now caught up. Rather than a private meeting, I think the rep should respond here. They know this site exists and they know how to use it.

And, yes, the idea that someone is going to 'school' Oscar in how the booze business works in Michigan is hysterical.

This whole thing came up about two years ago when I started to hear reports that bars in San Francisco were being forced to do single barrel programs in order to get a few bottles of Sazerac rye. That led to a story in WHISKY Magazine titled "Too Little of a Good Thing?"

An excerpt:

Inevitably, there are also reports that producers and distributors are using access to the most desirable of these rarities to induce retailers to buy other goods, merchandise the seller wants to move but the customer doesn’t necessarily want to buy. Again, nothing especially new there, except we’re not used to the product being leveraged being an American whiskey.

Leveraging of rarities to get other sales occurs openly where it’s legal and surreptitiously where it isn’t. David Soto, Spirits Director/Specialist at Sam’s Wines & Spirits in Chicago, calls it “free enterprise,†and says you “have to know how to play the game,†but feels he’s been treated fairly by his vendors. “I realize the value of limited quantities and scarcity,†he says.

In New York, where the practice is illegal, LeNell Smothers of LeNell's Ltd: a Wine and Spirit Boutique, says distributors will sometimes say, “Well, LeNell, you really don’t support our portfolio enough to get that product,†to which her response is usually some favorite Southern expletive. “I don’t ever need anybody’s product that bad,†she says.

“We work hard to make sure that our rare whiskeys are allocated in an even and fair manner,†says Buffalo Trace President Mark Brown, whose Antique Collection is a popular annual release program that began in 2000. He acknowledges that rules vary by market, but “my experience is that wineries, distilleries, distributors and retailers endeavor to closely follow the rules.â€

[OscarV]

I haven't been following this thread, but I'm now caught up. Rather than a private meeting, I think the rep should respond here. They know this site exists and they know how to use it.

And, yes, the idea that someone is going to 'school' Oscar in how the booze business works in Michigan is hysterical.

This whole thing came up about two years ago when I started to hear reports that bars in San Francisco were being forced to do single barrel programs in order to get a few bottles of Sazerac rye. That led to a story in WHISKY Magazine titled "Too Little of a Good Thing?"

An excerpt:

[whskylvr]

Hey All,

I can tell you that wine reps will tell you if you support this product then you can get this in very limited quantities.

ex. If you buy 10 cases of Caymus Conundrum (white wine) regularly then when the time comes you can get 1 cs of Caymus Cab. If you buy this much 5 Caymus Cab then you can get 1 six pack of Caymus Special Selection Cab.

Sometimes it has to do with a NEW product they want introduced and in order to get it into the account they offer selected HARD_TO_GET products. I know it also works in the spirits industry as well.

[DeanSheen]

So Oscar, does that mean some is headed your way? I mean do you now have some on order earmarked for you at a reasonable price?

[Special Reserve]

So Oscar, does that mean some is headed your way? I mean do you now have some on order earmarked for you at a reasonable price?

[AVB]

Eagle Rare 17 finally showed up in my part of PA. Only three weeks after I bought it in Maryland. There are a whole 24 Eagle Rares, 12 bottles of Stagg, 6 of Handy, 9 Sazeracs, and 3 Wellers shown for the ENTIRE STATE at the moment.

Pennsylvania purchasing power in action!

[Dr. François]

I haven't seen too many reasonable prices for the BTAC in MI.

[p_elliott]

One Internet site has GTS for $938 a bottle that's insane!

[p_elliott]

I see they have lowered it but it's still outrageous

[BourbonJoe]

Stagg just hit my local PALCB store. $55 is not a bad price.

Joe :usflag:

[The Boozer]

Hey Chuck, somebody got the message somewhere.

Another retail friend of mine told me on Monday that he was informed that BT is sending another shipment of BTAC to MI.

Hmmm, squeaky wheel, grease, etc.

Damn! I love StraightBourbon.com!

Didi a little research today at a 3-4 of my favorite stores and they still haven't been able to get any BTAC. I mean zip. On the other hand stopped by Red Wagon and still plenty of product @ $89.99 a bottle. The wheels have been greased alright.

TJ

[IronHead]

I see they have lowered it but it's still outrageous

[Lost Pollito]

Their prices are usually pretty in line. I wonder what gives.

[cowdery]

This is probably pouring salt on the wounds of our dear brothers in Michigan, but I was in the Clark Street Binny's yesterday and they had all of the 2009 Antiques on the shelf and priced at $69.99.

[Special Reserve]

As a MI bro, I was able to find a WLW and a GTS at ~$66 and at ~$71. Most are in the high $70s to $100 for the BTAC. I think we will have to learn to suck it up in the future if we want to purchase the BTAC in MI.

[OscarV]

I think we will have to learn to suck it up in the future if we want to purchase the BTAC in MI.

[cowdery]

It's just a beautiful thing to walk into my neighborhood liquor store and see a lot of bourbon, well presented and reasonably priced. It's what I call...civilization.

[cas]

This is probably pouring salt on the wounds of our dear brothers in Michigan, but I was in the Clark Street Binny's yesterday and they had all of the 2009 Antiques on the shelf and priced at $69.99.

That's what I paid here in Ann Arbor. But next weekend I am headed to Chicago and will check out Sams and Binnys.

Craig

[hectic1]

That's what I paid here in Ann Arbor. But next weekend I am headed to Chicago and will check out Sams and Binnys.

Craig

Just an FYI that Sam's has been bought by Binny's so you should be able to cross Sam's off your list. IMO Binny's alone is worth the trip to Chicago!

[cowdery]

Just an FYI that Sam's has been bought by Binny's so you should be able to cross Sam's off your list. IMO Binny's alone is worth the trip to Chicago!

Sam's is now a Binny's so if a former-Sam's is the convenient place for you to go, there's still a store there, but it's Binny's so if another Binny's is more convenient for you, there is no point in going to the ones that used to be Sam's.