Van Winkle in the NY Post

[scratchline]

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/food/this_season_most_wanted_D8iFYFGTlCqafdgsY0oF0N

And not a mention of Stitzel or Weller. The fever burns ever hotter.

[Josh]

Please, media, keep hyping VW and completely ignoring Four Roses. Thanks.

[Tony]

Please, media, keep hyping VW and completely ignoring Four Roses. Thanks.

[Rockefeller]

For those not from NYC, you should understand that the NYPost is the trashiest "newspaper" the city has. When I saw this article being circulated by twitter and finally by coworkers (they know I'm a whiskey aficionado), I seriously started reconsidering my whiskey collection and purchase history both in terms of time and money. How many more signs do we need to realize that we are in a ridiculous whiskey bubble?

On Joe Kennedy (father of JFK), one of the richest Americans of his time during and after the stock market crash:

Kennedy later claimed he knew the rampant stock speculation of the late 1920s would lead to a crash. It is said that he knew it was time to get out of the market when he received stock tips from a shoe-shine boy

[squire]

I also heard (read) that anecdote Rock but I suspect Mr. Joe was actually getting his advise elsewhere.

[Tico]

Yawn

It's not only cool to drink pappy, it's cool to write about how hard it is to get also! I'm glad I've got a bunker with the older stuff, no need to chase the new non-SW bottlings. I'll continue to buy some ORVW and lot B plus the occasional rye I come across but that's it.

[Rockefeller]

Yawn

It's not only cool to drink pappy, it's cool to write about how hard it is to get also! I'm glad I've got a bunker with the older stuff, no need to chase the new non-SW bottlings. I'll continue to buy some ORVW and lot B plus the occasional rye I come across but that's it.

Elitist bourbon 1%er

[White Dog]

Elitist bourbon 1%er

That elitist .001%er.

[Tico]

Everyone who posts here is basically a bourbon 1%er :cool:

seriosuly though, these articles do no service to the consumer. It's basically a show off to say "look at me and what I'm drinking, ps you can't ever drink what I am drinking unless you are resourceful enough to find a bottle"

[yountvillewjs]

How many more signs do we need to realize that we are in a ridiculous whiskey bubble?

none. if I were a flipper, I'd be sell sell selling. Ocean bourbon, $450 Michters, $500+ PVW -- the writing is on the wall.

[Rockefeller]

Everyone who posts here is basically a bourbon 1%er :cool:

seriosuly though, these articles do no service to the consumer. It's basically a show off to say "look at me and what I'm drinking, ps you can't ever drink what I am drinking unless you are resourceful enough to find a bottle"

Well, I could basically say the same about 1/4 of John Hansell's blog posts ($1k+ bottles, whiskey that isn't even imported into the US, etc.) I think the exercise there is to educate the consumer about what is out there in the world, like a good journalist.

The NYPost article on the other hand is rather unoriginal, a rehash of other articles from over a year ago and only serves to rile up the masses!

[squire]

Speaking as one of the masses I'm not riled. I'll just quietly use the same amount of money to buy a case of Barton.

[Rockefeller]

http://sprudge.com/12-gifts-for-the-hipster-barista-the-ultimate-gift-guide.html

This really needs to stop.

[squire]

Strike my last post, for that price I can get two cases of Barton.

[T Comp]

This too shall pass...or at least become passe, as soon as the celebrity chefs driving so many trends, move on to the next big thing...as in pork belly and soon to come for offal meats :grin: .

[RT Fan]

I saw that article & knew it wouldn't be worth trying to find any VW here in NYC. What came in has been allocated to the big spending customers. If you are able to find a bottle you should expect to pay a significant premium over list for it. While I will say that VW 20 yr is one of the 3 best alcoholic drinks I have had in my life, in the grand scheme of things if I am not able to acquire any more, I'll get over it. There is plenty of good whiskey to be had without the hassle.

[Rockefeller]

To quote the Young Gunz song, "Can't stop, won't stop"

http://eater.com/archives/2012/11/29/the-eater-pappy-locator-where-to-find-pappy-right-now-1.php

[VAGentleman]

The hype machine continues. This was posted on Foxnews.com today

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/11/29/bourbon-that-cant-get-your-hands-on/

[Rockefeller]

The hype machine continues. This was posted on Foxnews.com today

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/11/29/bourbon-that-cant-get-your-hands-on/

That is the same article reposted.

[RT Fan]

Just 2 or so short years ago, which was the last time I was able to get VW here in NYC, I paid the following prices:

10yr/90=$30

10yr/107=$35

Lot B=$55

20yr= $99.

I am afraid those days are long gone.

[LostBottle]

I buy Pappy not because I like it, but because my friends find the bottle looks impressive next to my Johnnie Walker Blue.

Edited November 29, 2012 by LostBottle

[qman22]

http://sprudge.com/12-gifts-for-the-hipster-barista-the-ultimate-gift-guide.html

This really needs to stop.

The idiot that wrote this article actually linked the PA Liquor Control Board's website to buy Pappy 23. Good luck with that if you don't live in the PA area or you didn't buy it within minutes of it going on sale. The entire state of PA got all of 60 bottles of the 23 yr this fall

[cowdery]

There's a reporter, based in Louisville, who covers the business and is probably as knowledgable as anybody, who regularly uses me as a source, and I got a note from him last week saying that he's working on a Van Winkle story. Probably his editor's idea. One of his questions was, "how special would it be to receive a bottle of Van Winkle as a Christmas gift?"

Anyway, here is my reply, in part. It was not my intention to insult him, because he's a good reporter and will at least do original reporting for anything he writes, but he may have been offended because he didn't write back. Here's what I wrote.

"Van Winkle is a problem for retailers because there’s so much more demand than supply and people who fancy themselves ‘good customers’ get testy when a store can’t fulfill their Van Winkle desires.

"The phenomenon is driven primarily by lazy journalists who simply copy what other people write, so everybody who writes about bourbon and desirable high-end bottles writes about Van Winkles. I’m not directing that at you but at ‘life style’ journalists whose bread and butter is ‘ten best’ lists, which they simply compile from a couple of already published ‘ten best’ lists, so the thing feeds on itself. Generally, the people clamoring for a Van Winkle know almost nothing about bourbon. It’s the lazy shortcut route to connoisseurship. They read somewhere that Van Winkle is the best, they believe they only buy the best of everything, and they (apparently) have more money than they know what to do with. For example, if they actually just want a very good bottle of that type of bourbon (wheated and well-aged), the Weller line is right there for them. The Weller 12-year-old is comparable to all but the 20-23 year-old Van Winkles, and costs about $30 a bottle. It’s in short supply too, though not as crazy as Van Winkle. But you would have to actually know something to know that, and most of these Van Winkle fanatics don’t.

"Julian Van Winkle explains the scarcity strategy well. Because there is so much more demand than supply, his cost of selling is about zero. He simply announces how many bottles he has to sell, customers tell him how many they want, he tells them how many they can have, and pretty soon it’s all gone. Most stores never put it on the shelf, and they have people on long waiting lists for it.

"It’s great for Julian but it’s kind of a nuisance for the stores. Yes, they sell every bottle instantly, at a healthy markup, but they have to deal with dozens if not hundreds of unhappy customers.

"There are plenty of knowledgeable bourbon enthusiasts who like Van Winkle (it is genuinely good stuff, it’s just not ambrosia) and wish they could find and afford it, but they’re competing with all the dopes who have to have it because they read something about it in Maxim."

[p_elliott]

Nice answer Chuck

[squire]

Good answer Chuck. When I started serving Van Winkle to my guests (I donno, maybe 20 years ago) I had some who I thought somewhat knowledgeable actually ask me if it was some new brand with a gimmicky label.