It's an Oregon Whiskey Miracle! My first dusty in a control state!

[humchan2k]

I have by and large written off the ability to ever go dusty hunting here in Oregon, as it is a control state that has it's inventory highly regulated, checked, and updated by the OLCC, but sometimes miracles do happen, it seems!

Oregon, Portland in particular, lacks great liquor stores as a whole, largely as a result of being a control state. BTAC and other VW releases rarely ever make it to Oregon at all, and if they do, stores will not get cases, but single bottles at a time....and the idea of finding old stock is pretty much a no go.

Somehow or another, though, yesterday the Bourbon Gods smiled upon me. I went to my fave spot near my parent's house, which I hadn't been to in quite some time...and sitting in the corner away from the rest of the bourbon section (weird!) up on a top shelf I saw...2 bottles of 2009 BTAC Saz 18, Jim Murray's "World Whiskey Of The Year," needless to say, I freaked out and got'em. How 2009 BTAC sat on a shelf in OR for over a year and a half is completely beyond me, especially since just the previous night I was having drinks at Teardrop Lounge and the owners told me that they get, if they are lucky, 1 bottle of each BTAC a year...and have to charge $20-25 for a 2 oz pour.......

As if that wasn't enough of a miracle, sitting next to the saz, I also magically found 2 2010 Thomas Handy ryes!!!!

Just had to share, so to all you out there that think you can't find the good stuff in control states, keep at it, you might just get lucky!

[HP12]

Nice. Just shows to always keep our eyes open while on the prowl. One never knows what might be lurking in the corners and on those lower back shelves of a watering hole we might stumble into.

[CorvallisCracker]

How 2009 BTAC sat on a shelf in OR for over a year and a half is completely beyond me...

[Neat]

congratulations bro! i know that high you get when you find some desirable dusties. that feeling is ADDICTIVE.

saz 18 is pretty difficult to get in houston, tx. it's significantly more difficult to find than any of the other bottles in the BTAC. the thomas handy, on the other hand, is not popular here. it's still on the shelves in a few stores here.

I have by and large written off the ability to ever go dusty hunting here in Oregon, as it is a control state that has it's inventory highly regulated, checked, and updated by the OLCC, but sometimes miracles do happen, it seems!

Oregon, Portland in particular, lacks great liquor stores as a whole, largely as a result of being a control state. BTAC and other VW releases rarely ever make it to Oregon at all, and if they do, stores will not get cases, but single bottles at a time....and the idea of finding old stock is pretty much a no go.

Somehow or another, though, yesterday the Bourbon Gods smiled upon me. I went to my fave spot near my parent's house, which I hadn't been to in quite some time...and sitting in the corner away from the rest of the bourbon section (weird!) up on a top shelf I saw...2 bottles of 2009 BTAC Saz 18, Jim Murray's "World Whiskey Of The Year," needless to say, I freaked out and got'em. How 2009 BTAC sat on a shelf in OR for over a year and a half is completely beyond me, especially since just the previous night I was having drinks at Teardrop Lounge and the owners told me that they get, if they are lucky, 1 bottle of each BTAC a year...and have to charge $20-25 for a 2 oz pour.......

As if that wasn't enough of a miracle, sitting next to the saz, I also magically found 2 2010 Thomas Handy ryes!!!!

Just had to share, so to all you out there that think you can't find the good stuff in control states, keep at it, you might just get lucky!

[wadewood]

I picked up plenty of the BTAC in Oregon stores when I was living in Seattle. It was easier to find in Oregon than WA state.

[CorvallisCracker]

I picked up plenty of the BTAC in Oregon stores when I was living in Seattle. It was easier to find in Oregon than WA state.

How long ago was that?

[Virus_Of_Life]

How long ago was that?

Well before I met you there.

[gburger]

nice find, enjoy it while you can

[wadewood]

How long ago was that?

BTAC from 2004 to 2006. moved to Texas in Fall of 2007.

[CaptainQ]

moved to Texas in Fall of 2007.

Sorry about that. :grin: (My wife is from Corpus Christi)

Hey Scott, how did you let those Saz get by you? Were they not on the list??:skep:

2009 a dusty:confused: This post does not give me hope at all especially after this latest VW release debacle. In fact I have a buddy in Portland this weekend and was going to have him pick me up a Pappy 15...long gone.

[humchan2k]

[

2009 a dusty:confused: This post does not give me hope at all especially after this latest VW release debacle. In fact I have a buddy in Portland this weekend and was going to have him pick me up a Pappy 15...long gone.

[CorvallisCracker]

Hey Scott, how did you let those Saz get by you? Were they not on the list??:skep:

Every year, about two months before the BTACs are released, the OLCC posts a price increase for them. It does not mean that they will actually be receiving them all.

In the past, when they've come in, the store in Eugene has always managed to get three bottles each of those received in Oregon. In 2009 they got three each of ER, GTS, Handy and WLW. The store owner told me that there was no Saz in the Oregon allocation. I don't believe he would have lied to me about that, though it may be that the OLCC lied to him.

So I didn't see the point in going up and searching through 25+ Portland area liquor stores for something I didn't believe to exist.

2009 a dusty:confused: This post does not give me hope at all especially after this latest VW release debacle. In fact I have a buddy in Portland this weekend and was going to have him pick me up a Pappy 15...long gone.

The Oregon allocation this spring was:

48 bottles 20yr

24 bottles 15yr

18 bottles 23yr

ALL of for Portland area stores and restaurants. My store in Eugene, for the first time, didn't get any.

Yeah, and it seems that Scott scored one of the Pappy 15's, cuz I looked on the OLCC website and there was 1 store in PDX that had 2 bottles left...I went in and asked for 'em, and they were "on hold for someone," which turned out to be you-know-who.

Yep. ONE of them. Of the three that store received and the 24 that the state received. And I accomplished that by monitoring the Van Winkle Facebook page and by maintaining an ongoing correspondence with someone at the OLCC. It's not like it just fell into my lap.

Trust me, dude, in a liquor nazi state like OR, a 2009 Saz 18 sitting on a shelf is the very definition of a dusty. I honestly had never even heard of the idea of a dusty until I joined this website, because the OLCC typically manages their inventory like the nazis that they are....you can go on their website and type in anything you want, and it will tell you how many there are of that particular booze at all the stores in the entire network, which is convenient, but it also guarantees that NOTHING sits on shelves for very long....

That web site is not comprehensive. Only stores that have a computerized inventory AND link it to the OLCC system are going to show up on that web search. I've been told, by the OLCC, that's the case for less than half the stores in the state.

So there is a chance that there may still be some Pappy 15s still available in Portland area stores. But I'd call around before wasting your gasoline.

I am beginning to think that the store I went to, which has been my fave for a long time, has some off-the-books bootleggin' sideshow shit goin' on.

Maybe. Or maybe, somewhere in the information relay between the OLCC, the manager at my favorite store, and myself, the facts got lost re Saz 18 in the 2009 allocation.

Either way, I congratulate you on your find, and do not begrudge you those. Please do not begrudge me the one bottle of Pappy 15. If you ever get down Corvallis way, bring one of those Saz 18s. I'll pour you a generous glass of Pappy 15 and you can pour me a generous glass of Saz.

[humchan2k]

Trust me, Sir, I do not begrudge you ANYTHING! You're an SBer, you hunt, hard, and you got it done! If I can't find any Pappy, at least I know I'm not finding any cuz the right folks are getting on it!

Next time I'm in Corvallis, you're on, sir.

[CorvallisCracker]

Next time I'm in Corvallis, you're on, sir.

It's a date! :cool: