My 14 carat Pappy

[393foureyedfox]

I've had a similar experience with PVW20. Not that great IMHO. I can't help but wonder if people are actually drinking it with blinders. I keep hoping that the flippers get caught with a load of it and can't give it away. Here's to wishful thinking.

I doubt it will happen. Simple human psychology.....most of us are easily mislead into believing that the more something costs, the better it is. Sometimes that is true, but as a blanket statement, it is false.

[kjbeggs]

Word.

I last paid $100 for PVW20, in 2009, which is the most I've ever paid for any bottle of whiskey. It was great, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also wasn't heartbroken when it was gone; it's far down my list of "best thing I've ever tasted." I'll cross that $100 line eventually, I'm sure, but it will not be for PVW20. That's just a subjective thing... Glad you were able to get one, glad you opened it, glad you dig it... And I hope you get some 15 soon, it's my pick of the two. Cheers!

That seems to be the popular opinion, that not only does the 15 have just the right amount of aging, but the best taste/price ratio (at retail anyway).

My options last year were 10,12, 20, or 23. I thought the 23 might be too woody for my palate (not to mention pricey), so I went with the 20. I ended up getting my hands on 10 and 12 later on. So I'm hoping to get lucky enough to find a bottle of 15 this year, without hitting the secondary market.

I've got four bottles I've crossed the $100 threshold for, a JD Sinatra, EC21, AECS, and PVW20. I like the AECS, but wouldn't pay $150 for it again. Same goes for the Sinatra. Haven't opened the EC21, because a fellow SBer wants to trade me a bottle of GTS for it, (but offered me a couple pours from his dwindling current bottle, so I'll get to try it at least). I'll pay retail for Pappy 20 all day, as long as the quality remains the same, but if I'm paying over $1000 for any bottle of Whiskey, Kate Upton better hand-deliver it, and help me drink it.

[squire]

They're buying a label. You could fill the bottle with Evan Williams or Four Roses and most wouldn't notice. Put a Timex face on a Rolex movement and the watch will keep just as good time but no one would pay much for it.

[Special Reserve]

They're buying a label. You could fill the bottle with Evan Williams or Four Roses and most wouldn't notice. Put a Timex face on a Rolex movement and the watch will keep just as good time but no one would pay much for it.

The Timex watch may just keep better time than the Rolex, but the Rolex does have some other features that make it desirable.

[393foureyedfox]

if I'm paying over $1000 for any bottle of Whiskey, Kate Upton better hand-deliver it, and help me drink it.

for some reason, I think Id prefer her to drink the whole thing upon delivery.

[dSculptor]

Ok .. sometimes I get a problem when I see this subject mentioned out here, we talk about flippin’ and reselling and what the market demands, you know all in all guys that’s what life is about , if you ever sold anything in your life ,a car, boat, wood, anything, you usually and technically are flippin’ .. We’re all big boy’s out here, it’s what makes the world go around… literally.. It’s when people pay way too much for something.. That’s what drives the market up.. demand… I got to have it mentality.

So every time we see this come up here we immediately get perturbed about it, because of what the general consensus has made it out to be.

If I buy an ounce of gold tomorrow, I’m hoping that next yr. it’s going to be worth more... Period. Whiskey.. is just another commodity, like coffee, oranges, grapes, gold or silver. If we sell it on our own(or if we choose to drink it) it’s no different than not reporting anything else you ever bought with cash. I mean.. Really.. we all know it.

I believe the bottom line here is, if we can get all these people that think they need it for this amount, to start thinking WOW! That’s a lot of money for that, think I’ll pass.. That’s what will bring things back down to earth.

Just like gas.. What if we all refused to pay those high prices… what would happen..Eventually supply will exceed demand, then, what do you call that? (glut?)

Now don’t get me wrong here, I’m not condoning anything here, but I just went thru sort of the same experience recently, with my PVW 23 that I was fortunate enough to get for retail.. which was still high in my book ($220), and knowing it was worth much more, (realistically you have to be a fool not to think about it) I had my qualms about popping it, and when I finally did, realized it wasn’t worth what I paid for initially!(IMHO). So in all actuality I saved someone ahead of me a lot of money for something they didn’t really need.

I think most people that buy these high priced whisky's for the first time,would never buy them again at the same high price again,because they realize this is ain't worth that.

Sooner or later, fiction will meet fact..

I think that out here most members just don’t want to talk about it.. Technicalities? Whatever may the reason be.. We all should honor the person’s wishes and his rules that began this wonderful forum.

Throw a stone in a pond and what happens?

Just saying…

I just poured a good pour of that elusive and most demanding of prices.. PVW 23, and after all this writing, it tastes damn good…

Worth it this time around?

I guess that’s another story.

But.. I'll bet it is too my buddy who will have a taste of it this weekend for the very first time..

Edited March 19, 2014 by dSculptor

[Paddy]

As Don describes above, when you and friends can gather together to enjoy something that provides a true once in a lifetime and/or first of a lifetime moment....that is what truly makes a bottle a 14 carat jewel.

[DBM]

I've noticed lately that the "market value" of the PVW series is being referenced significantly higher than the real trading value of the product. The hype is getting hyped. Only the outsiders, the novices, the ignorant (not used as derogatory) believe the costs are as high as what is printed in a magazine. The problem with trying to sell for these extra-inflated prices is that you are playing in the uninformed sandbox which carries more risk than an established trade route.

[393foureyedfox]

Ok .. sometimes I get a problem when I see this subject mentioned out here, we talk about flippin’ and reselling and what the market demands, you know all in all guys that’s what life is about , if you ever sold anything in your life ,a car, boat, wood, anything, you usually and technically are flippin’ .. We’re all big boy’s out here, it’s what makes the world go around… literally.. It’s when people pay way too much for something.. That’s what drives the market up.. demand… I got to have it mentality.

i have to disagree here. when you resell your car, house, boat, etc....its not the same as 'flipping', for several reasons. One, those items you are selling are only one item ( you dont own every house in a specific suburb). Two, you have competition (other houses in the same suburb). and Three, flippers come in and buy ALL the stock they can get, which allows them to monopolize the local market and reset prices considerably.

Yeah, everyone that tries to sell something tries to get what they can for something...obviously. but monopolizing a limited commodity and pricing them much higher is different. illegal/immoral/unethical/just plain wrong...call it what you like. if you happened to have bought one for yourself and later decided you didnt really want it and sold it for a profit, that's fine, since you are not monopolizing the market on it

[danz]

I've noticed lately that the "market value" of the PVW series is being referenced significantly higher than the real trading value of the product. The hype is getting hyped. Only the outsiders, the novices, the ignorant (not used as derogatory) believe the costs are as high as what is printed in a magazine. The problem with trying to sell for these extra-inflated prices is that you are playing in the uninformed sandbox which carries more risk than an established trade route.

I have two general thoughts.

(1) The author of the article should have said something to explain why the prices listed were questionable.

(2) Buffalo Trace/Sazerac and Pappy, for all that people enjoy criticizing them, have tried to maintain retail prices that are far more reasonable than the listed prices in the article - or the prices being marked up by many retailers. In other words, the people who actually put the time and effort into making these very good products are trying to offer them at (relatively) reasonable prices, and the ridiculous prices we are seeing do not reflect money that is going to the people who make the products, but to one or more middlemen: the retailers or retail level flippers. It would irritate me less if the distillers were trying to collect these high prices, but instead it is people who produce nothing.