flahute Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 I'm of a mind to just sit back and watch the master at work Let's just say we've traded one monopoly for distributors that hold monopolies over labels & prices have really soared. We hear complaints about paying "BX" prices for aftermarket bottles in other parts of the country but we pay close to "BX" prices for retail. Agreed - watch and learn from the master. There are baggage limits to how much he can carry back so if he can find some honey holes there has to be some left for us, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBM Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I have only lived in one state, Washington, since I was able to legally purchase alcohol so I have very limited experience or knowledge with the concept of dusty hunting. The state liquor control board maintained tight control of all spirits inventory. If a bottle, even a single one, was not purchased after a short period of time, it was returned to a central distribution center in Seattle and combined with other stock to return to the distributor or sell to employees at cost. I know this because I did work at the LCB distribution center back in 2004-2005. Dusties simply didn't exist, it was bad business to have old stock. The change to privatization in June 2012 was a complex arrangement that it too lengthy to describe here without writing a novel, but needless to say the private owners have only had control of their inventory since that time. Most paid $50,000 to over $1,000,000 just for the right to operate a formerly state run store, so they aren't the type of adult novelty/beverage/corner market stores that most other states have where inventory control is often not a top priority. I have yet to see a Washington store, big city or small town, that has anything worth buying more than a few months old. Hopefully someone can prove me wrong, it would give me hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dementedavenger Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Who is going to direct me to the good dusty hunting when I am out there in July? Thinking I will set my goal high, maybe a 2011 Bookers?LOL, way to antagonize the crowd.The old state stores were auctioned off but you only got the license to operate a store and all the fixtures (which is why so many private stores look like the old state stores). The spirits inventory was auctioned off in lots -- you can see the catalog here -- and it was down to pretty basic stuff by the time it was all over. It's important to remember that the state stopped special ordering nearly six months before they ended retailing. There was nothing left on the shelf because of the bars/restaurants and folks like me, who hunted out even everyday brands like Buffalo Trace.Most liquor in the Seattle is sold by major retailers (BevMo! and Total Wine) or grocery/warehouse stores (QFC, Fred Meyer and Costco). Some of the independents have nice selections but the pricing, more often than not, is outrageous. It's sad because it would be nice to support the little guy but it's hard to do so when you know you're overpaying by anywhere from 50% to 200%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dementedavenger Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 BevMo! in Ballard has Bookers 25th for $124.99 before tax and a limit of one per customer. I believe that works out to $153.44 after tax. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcbt Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 BevMo! in Ballard has Bookers 25th for $124.99 before tax and a limit of one per customer. I believe that works out to $153.44 after tax. LOL.Wait, what? 22.75% sales tax? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Wait, what? 22.75% sales tax?That's right - not to mention the higher price to begin with due to hidden taxes at the distributor end that get passed on to us via the sticker price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) Wait, what? 22.75% sales tax?WA State... Where we get BX'd before BX was BX - yessiree Gov'ner, I'll drop my soap again and have another thank you very much. Edited April 3, 2014 by ChainWhip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dementedavenger Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 FYI: QFC in U-Village has Barterhouse, Old Blowhard, WT101 Rye (1L), WT Forgiven, Rittenhouse, Sazerac and Bowman Brothers, among others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verax Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 FYI: QFC in U-Village has Barterhouse, Old Blowhard, WT101 Rye (1L), WT Forgiven, Rittenhouse, Sazerac and Bowman Brothers, among others. Thanks for the heads up, I'll be headed that way today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiskyRI Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 All is not bad however - I've been able to buy Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon in WA when I've traveled there on business. It was at a store in Redmond - can't remember the name. Willett isn't even distributed in RI, and just about impossible to do anywhere in the Northeast any more. And yes it was "expensive" but it was so tasty so I felt like it was worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 All is not bad however - I've been able to buy Willett Family Estate Single Barrel Bourbon in WA when I've traveled there on business. It was at a store in Redmond - can't remember the name. Willett isn't even distributed in RI, and just about impossible to do anywhere in the Northeast any more. And yes it was "expensive" but it was so tasty so I felt like it was worth it.Those 775 & 781 Willetts were great - some of the best bourbons I've had in the last two years... But there's no forthcoming cool bottlings like that in the near future I fear. If the store you're talking about is the one in old Redmond, that closed it's doors late last year :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBM Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 Regular ETL, Barterhouse and one bottle of ECBP batch 4 at TW Bellevue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBM Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Has anyone seen ECBP batch 5 in the state? Just curious if distribution has made it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Has anyone seen ECBP batch 5 in the state? Just curious if distribution has made it here.Come & gone - I was too slow this time around... Maybe a few more cases will pop up like batch 3.Interesting a batch 4 is there... Maybe somebody refunded one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Has anyone seen ECBP batch 5 in the state? Just curious if distribution has made it here.It showed up briefly at Total Wine. Didn't last long. Haven't looked anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelturtle1 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 The two I saw in Seattle were batch 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dementedavenger Posted August 8, 2014 Author Share Posted August 8, 2014 Pleasantly surprised to see Heaven Hill 6YO BIB at QFC in UVillage today. Frank, the store manager, is very responsive to requests (he added OGD 114 a few months ago) and I'm pretty sure someone on here requested he carry this. It's twice the price as it is in Kentucky but it's a great value bourbon for WA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
393foureyedfox Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 ya know, even at $20-25, id still have it all the time. congrats on the find! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 So just an FYI. Clearview's prices are sans 17% excise tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBM Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 So just an FYI. Clearview's prices are sans 17% excise tax.How? I know there has been legislation tossed around to reduce taxes paid for former state run stores (which Clearview technically is) butnothing has passed that I'm aware of. Clearview did successfully argue that the 17% excise tax amount can't be included in the amount subject to the 20.5% sales tax (it's illegal to tax a tax) which lowered prices a little, but this is breaking news to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 How? I know there has been legislation tossed around to reduce taxes paid for former state run stores (which Clearview technically is) butnothing has passed that I'm aware of. Clearview did successfully argue that the 17% excise tax amount can't be included in the amount subject to the 20.5% sales tax (it's illegal to tax a tax) which lowered prices a little, but this is breaking news to me.Just an FYI for peeps shopping there. Their POS can't code for the 17% properly or something like that but the 20.5% is still tacked on top of retail+17% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQ Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 If anyone in WA is still waiting for the Elmer T. Lee Commemorative bottling to hit store shelves, your wait is over......A big FU to Youngs Market for only selling it to bars and/or restaurants. They even had the balls to deny receiving any, but Buffalo Trace says otherwise. Screwed again.:hot: I was really looking forward to getting a bottle of this to place alongside my 90th Birthday and 15 year SB bottlings. Sorry for the rant, but I am so pissed off right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBM Posted August 19, 2014 Share Posted August 19, 2014 The unfortunate truth is that this happens with most every distributor in WA, and likely in every state. Deception, lying, half-truths and every slimy sales tactic imaginable. I think this style of business is prospering because of our recent transition from a control state to a private market; distributors are abusing the system in every way imaginable to protect their turf (and revenue, and profit margin). It's a shady industry in general, but some distributors take it to the extreme.I recently went to Oregon and had a great experience at the state stores. I will say it - I miss the state monopoly. The retailer (state) could keep the distributors in check, now distributors are running loose with no enforcement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChainWhip Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 If anyone in WA is still waiting for the Elmer T. Lee Commemorative bottling to hit store shelves, your wait is over......A big FU to Youngs Market for only selling it to bars and/or restaurants. They even had the balls to deny receiving any, but Buffalo Trace says otherwise. Screwed again.:hot: I was really looking forward to getting a bottle of this to place alongside my 90th Birthday and 15 year SB bottlings. Sorry for the rant, but I am so pissed off right now.The unfortunate truth is that this happens with most every distributor in WA, and likely in every state. Deception, lying, half-truths and every slimy sales tactic imaginable. I think this style of business is prospering because of our recent transition from a control state to a private market; distributors are abusing the system in every way imaginable to protect their turf (and revenue, and profit margin). It's a shady industry in general, but some distributors take it to the extreme.I recently went to Oregon and had a great experience at the state stores. I will say it - I miss the state monopoly. The retailer (state) could keep the distributors in check, now distributors are running loose with no enforcement.This is the liquor "business" we are talking about here so...Are you still looking for an ETL death bottle Dave? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQ Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 This is the liquor "business" we are talking about here so...Are you still looking for an ETL death bottle Dave?Thanks Johnny, but I found some out of state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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