More Age Statement Deception by Sazerac

[brettckeen]

Wow....that was fast. Less than a year from 10yr to 8yr to #8. Wonder if they're straight up diverting to standard BT or ER10 due to aged product not matching the OC profile?

I think you are putting the nail on the head here.

[BigBoldBully]

It would be interesting to do a survey (I expect those in charge of marketing the big brands already have) to find out what percentage of the buyers (end customers) of brand x would identify knowing its minimum age as a factor in their decision to buy it. I suspect it would be more than 1-5%, but I really have no idea.

[squire]

They have the marketing muscle and apparently believe the numbers are in their favor.

[mbroo5880i]

They have the whiskey and apparently believe that works in their favor.

[Paddy]

They have the whiskey and apparently believe that works in their favor.

Ultimate trump that is!

I also could not help but notice how the VOB BIB lost its age statement game played out (right into their hands). People were running out to clear the shelves like the end of time was upon us. I bet sales jumped 200% last month!

Hell, with those numbers, I'd look to drop an age statement (or two) every month!

Edited January 26, 2014 by callmeox
Cleaned up broken quote block

[393foureyedfox]

I also could not help but notice how the VOB BIB lost its age statement game played out (right into their hands). People were running out to clear the shelves like the end of time was upon us. I bet sales jumped 200% last month!

Hell, with those numbers, I'd look to drop an age statement (or two) every month!

yeah, sales seriously jumped as the shelves were cleared out, but......

the shelves were cleared by those who enjoy the product, and probably wont be buying them any more from that point on. sales will nosedive once the --6-- label is all thats left.

[theglobalguy]

I think you are putting the nail on the head here.

My parallel theory has been a lot of stock not fitting profiles. I have had BT and ER10 store picks this year that was way outside bounds of the normal product. So they are scrambling to shuffle products around, and it never hurts to shuffle upmarket.

[mbroo5880i]

My parallel theory has been a lot of stock not fitting profiles. I have had BT and ER10 store picks this year that was way outside bounds of the normal product. So they are scrambling to shuffle products around, and it never hurts to shuffle upmarket.

I can see this! I have had the same experience with both BT and ER10. BTW, I think I will be heading down to Louisville this week and plan to pick up another ER10 #162.

[theglobalguy]

I can see this! I have had the same experience with both BT and ER10. BTW, I think I will be heading down to Louisville this week and plan to pick up another ER10 #162.

Still ample stock when I was there last week. Funny, the other barrels are long sold out even though a harsher profile. Guess low # wins sometimes.

[shoshani]

They ought to call it New Charter.

"Young" Charter seems more appropriate!

Baby Charter, maybe?

[Enoch]

When I first heard they were dropping the age statement, I bought all I could find ($21/handle). I noticed yesterday that it has been replaced with the "8" bottles. BUT the neck label still says "8 Years Old". I wonder if they are straddling the fence until we get used to just seeing the "8" or just have a lot of the old neck labels left over. It will be interesting to see if the next batch just has "8" on the neck. I would assume that these bottles are still 8 years old since it says so on the neck.

[Josh]

It's annoying to see this monkey business again, but every OC 8 (or dusty 7) I've had has blown, so I am not crying any tears over the loss of the age statement in itself.

[sku]

When I first heard they were dropping the age statement, I bought all I could find ($21/handle). I noticed yesterday that it has been replaced with the "8" bottles. BUT the neck label still says "8 Years Old". I wonder if they are straddling the fence until we get used to just seeing the "8" or just have a lot of the old neck labels left over. It will be interesting to see if the next batch just has "8" on the neck. I would assume that these bottles are still 8 years old since it says so on the neck.

Sounds like they just screwed up the labeling.

[TunnelTiger]

It's annoying to see this monkey business again, but every OC 8 (or dusty 7) I've had has blown, so I am not crying any tears over the loss of the age statement in itself.

Josh - one of the things I really enjoy about your posts is that everyone knows where you stand. No sitting on the fence for you!

In my case I tried to like it because of the age statement and the price but just can't do it.

Doesn't quite blow, but is on the negative side of the meh meter.

[Josh]

Josh - one of the things I really enjoy about your posts is that everyone knows where you stand. No sitting on the fence for you!

In my case I tried to like it because of the age statement and the price but just can't do it.

Doesn't quite blow, but is on the negative side of the meh meter.

Ha! Thanks. I like your notes. I may ad a meh meter to mine.

[mbroo5880i]

Interestingly, I have seen some VOB BIB 6-Yr show up on the shelves recently. This is at a few stores that had the "6" on the shelf. The bottles with "6" on them are not on the shelf.

[brettckeen]

Interestingly, I have seen some VOB BIB 6-Yr show up on the shelves recently. This is at a few stores that had the "6" on the shelf. The bottles with "6" on them are not on the shelf.

Indiana distributors have been known to not cycle their product... IE all the Louisville Weller Special Reserves that kept showing up in your state....

Our latest Eagle rare 10 came in with the new label on the front not indicating single barrel and the 10 year age statement was moved to the back... the neck tag that normally says 10 years old single barrel now just has stars.

[Josh]

Interesting. Could you post a pic of the new label?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[squire]

Our latest Eagle rare 10 came in with the new label on the front not indicating single barrel and the 10 year age statement was moved to the back... the neck tag that normally says 10 years old single barrel now just has stars.

[kcgumbohead]

I agree. You and I know that but some consumers see "8" or "12" and they think that is the age, especially when the "No. 12" is made to stand out. Whether intentional or not, large numbers on labels confuse people.

[dcbt]

If ER10 goes NAS and not single barrel, what's the point of keeping the brand around? At that point it's essentially BT.

[TunnelTiger]

For the majority of the buying public it's still the same. They'll never notice the change.

[squire]

So long as it retains a public perception of quality it will sell.

[sutton]

Cracks me up how much my "dusty" collection has increased without dusty hunting ...

[TunnelTiger]

One of thing that amazes me is how fast inventory actually vanishes from the shelf. As soon as VOB made the change to the "6" all of the 6 yr was gone in a matter of weeks at all of my stores.