Bourbon/Whiskey Availability in Texas

[horn1602]

So I am in the position of having to move from Denver, CO to what I remember as a fairly bourbon poor area of Texas in August of this year. Don't get me wrong, I love Texas, but just don't remember it having the bourbon availability that I have here. When I lived there previously I wasn't into bourbon as I am now, so can't remember the availabilities of things there in general. As a result, I'm looking at trying to shore up my bunker with stuff that I like and wondered if any of you Texas SBers could tell me if a few items are even available in Texas? Well, maybe its more than a few. I'll put a list of things I'm interested in and if I can't find them in Texas I'm going to try and pick a few extra of each up here (with the exception of the limited stuff at this point). Anyway, thanks in advance for your help!

Anything High West

Anything Old Scout

Old Forester Signature and Birthday

OGD114

PHC when released

Stagg Jr

VSOF

I may think of some others to ask about, but for now these are the ones that come to mind. Mods, if this is the wrong forum for this, please feel free to move. Thanks everyone!

[smknjoe]

I haven't seen HW or OS stuff around. If it's available it's very limited.

Old Forester is pretty available.

OGD 114 is pretty easy to get.

PHC is pretty easy to get if you are fast and keep a look out.

Stagg Jr. is pretty easy to get around here.

VSOF I've only seen once.

[jmj_203]

Awesome how much availability differs. Can I ask how much the high west stuff is in co? I can only add that here on the east coast the high west I can special order, its not carried in any stores but its like 60 a bottle. I would imagine its fairly pricey if available in Texas. Good luck with your move, hope all goes well and hope that bunker travels well stocked and safely with you.

[horn1602]

Thanks Joe - that helps me focus my purchasing in the next few months.

Awesome how much availability differs. Can I ask how much the high west stuff is in co? I can only add that here on the east coast the high west I can special order, its not carried in any stores but its like 60 a bottle. I would imagine its fairly pricey if available in Texas. Good luck with your move, hope all goes well and hope that bunker travels well stocked and safely with you.

Thanks for the well wishes. The bunker will be traveling with me so as to ensure safe travel. I'm leaving the baby to ride with the better half! HW runs anywhere from around $35 to $65 depending on which you are looking for. If I remember the American Prarie Reserve is around $35 and I think I paid ~$65 for a Bourye straggler several months ago. Most everything else has been in between if I remember correctly.

[Eskwar]

I haven't seen HW or OS stuff around. If it's available it's very limited.

Old Forester is pretty available.

OGD 114 is pretty easy to get.

PHC is pretty easy to get if you are fast and keep a look out.

Stagg Jr. is pretty easy to get around here.

VSOF I've only seen once.

Welcome back, Jason. smknjoe is in H-Town, while I'm in DFW, so there are slight variances, both b/n Texas regions and among stores. For my area, generally:

- HW is plentiful;

- SA I've never seen on a shelf that I recall;

- Those particular OFs you have to put some effort into finding;

- OGD 114 is cheap and easy;

- PHC finds you w/ little effort, it seems;

- Stagg Jr is pretty easy to find;

- Closest VSOF I've seen was in Little Rock. Happily, W12 is still pretty easy to come by, and is less pricey, and tastier (IMHO).

Happy packin'.

Edited April 28, 2014 by Eskwar

[smknjoe]

Eskwar is right that there will probably be differences depending on where you are in TX. And now that I think about it, there is one chain around here that seems to have a good supply of HW. I haven't seen it in other stores though. The rest of my list is accurate for Houston.

Some of it depends on what the whiskey bloggers say about a particular bourbon though. Before the 2013 release I could find OFBB as old as 2008 at a few stores. When the rave reviews came out about the 2013 it became very difficult to find. That's not because we didn't get it here. It's because people were buying up every bottle they could find. Just like PVW or 4RLE's.

[horn1602]

Welcome back, Jason. smknjoe is in H-Town, while I'm in DFW, so there are slight variances, both b/n regions and among stores. For my area, generally:

- HW is plentiful;

- SA I've never seen on a shelf that I recall;

- Those particular OFs you have to put some effort into finding;

- OGD 114 is cheap and easy;

- PHC finds you w/ little effort, it seems;

-

Thanks for the response. I'll actually be in either the Waco or Georgetown area (depending on where the Mrs decides to work - I'll be working in Temple), but have in-laws in the FW area that I'm sure we'll be visiting on a fairly regular basis. After having relative ease in acquiring stuff here I'm apprehensive about moving back from a bourbon perspective. It helps to know there are other bourbonians in the general (for Texas anyway) area!

[horn1602]

Eskwar is right that there will probably be differences depending on where you are in TX. And now that I think about it, there is one chain around here that seems to have a good supply of HW. I haven't seen it in other stores though. The rest of my list is accurate for Houston.

I appreciate the info. My family is north of Houston by about an hour, but doubt I'd visit them as much for both family and location reasons. Nevertheless when we do come that way I'll definitely be looking to see what I can find!

[kjbeggs]

Welcome back, Jason. smknjoe is in H-Town, while I'm in DFW, so there are slight variances, both b/n Texas regions and among stores. For my area, generally:

- HW is plentiful;

- SA I've never seen on a shelf that I recall;

- Those particular OFs you have to put some effort into finding;

- OGD 114 is cheap and easy;

- PHC finds you w/ little effort, it seems;

- Stagg Jr is pretty easy to find;

- Closest VSOF I've seen was in Little Rock. Happily, W12 is still pretty easy to come by, and is less pricey, and tastier (IMHO).

Happy packin'.

I can concur pretty much with Eskwar's statements.

Never seen any Old Scout in DFW (sadly).

Most High West releases are easy to find.

Old Forester is pretty easy, but the BB's aren't.

OGD 114 is (at this point) easy to find.

PHC is easy enough if you don't wait too long.

Stagg JR is fairly easy to find as well.

If you've got ETL up there, I'd suggest you stock up (if you don't like ETL, you can just bring it to me instead), as it's gotten scarce around here.

Luckily, Weller 12 & 107 still seem to be plentiful.

You'll also likely have a (slightly) better chance of finding Balcones products down here.

[wadewood]

Texas has very good availability of bourbon; among the best in the nation. Every brand you listed is available in Texas. For, the limited release stuff like PHC/OFBB/BTAC Texas gets it's fair share but there are also just as many hunting for those so they go quick. Either develop a good relationship with a retailer or get lucky in finding it.

Here is a site you can search for labels that have been approved for sale by Texas: https://label.tabc.state.tx.us/esd3-tlabel/index.php?_module_=esd&_action_=keysearch

[horn1602]

I can concur pretty much with Eskwar's statements.

Never seen any Old Scout in DFW (sadly).

If you've got ETL up there, I'd suggest you stock up (if you don't like ETL, you can just bring it to me instead), as it's gotten scarce around here.

Sounds like I'll have to stock up on the OS here. We're having the same scarcity of ETL here. Haven't seen it since September/October. Still being told 'next month'. Same as last month and the month before.

[horn1602]

Texas has very good availability of bourbon; among the best in the nation. Every brand you listed is available in Texas. For, the limited release stuff like PHC/OFBB/BTAC Texas gets it's fair share but there are also just as many hunting for those so they go quick. Either develop a good relationship with a retailer or get lucky in finding it.

Here is a site you can search for labels that have been approved for sale by Texas: https://label.tabc.state.tx.us/esd3-tlabel/index.php?_module_=esd&_action_=keysearch

I know the general availability is pretty good. I moved out of the Waco/Temple area last year and swore I'd never move back (to that area anyway - I was born and raised in Texas and love most of it). Now I'm having to move back. I never found the selection in that area to be very good. The Spec's in Temple and Waco never seemed to get much in the way of special releases that I can recall. Same with the Twin's in both places. Wanted to grab as much as I could here to hold me between out of town trips to FW and Austin. Maybe the landscape has changed over the last year, but I'm not particularly optimistic. Thanks for the link - I'll spend some time with it over the next several months.

[dcbt]

If you like Weller, Texas is the place for you. I often wonder what my everyday pour would be if I had to move out of state since apparently it's hard to find almost everywhere else.

[z327]

You can get a good idea of what's available from Specs & Total Wine in Texas

http://www.specsonline.com/cgi-bin/showpage?pageid=search&keyword=&inclass=Liquors&webclass=Liquors&subclass=120&origin=&region=&size=750ML&Sortby=Name&pricefrom=&pricethru=&

http://www.totalwine.com/eng/categories/spirits/bourbon-american-whiskey|bourbon-american-whiskey!sortBy/PHL!viewPerPage/96

[smknjoe]

That's way too easy, man.:cool:

[horn1602]

If you like Weller, Texas is the place for you.

I took this for granted before I moved out here. Its pretty tough to find here, but if you look hard enough you can run across a few here & there. I was visiting a friend in Austin last month and stopped by his local store and saw the bounty of Weller. At the time I wasn't sure if I would be coming back or staying here, so I bought a bunch of bottles (and they were $5 cheaper than any I've seen here), but since I was flying I couldn't get them back. As he'd never had it we opened one up and spent the evening with it. He loved it, so he had half a bottle left to finish on his own. When I signed my contract for work and finalized the intent to move back I told him and his first question was "Since you're coming back and can get this in Texas, can I open another of these bottles?". I said sure and his response was as giddy as a school girl! I may not have anything left of that purchase when I get back, but at least it may begin to expand his horizons and hopefully give us more opportunities to share in some good bourbons.

[The Black Tot]

What impresses me about this thread, since I've done most of my bourbon buying in Texas, is that Colorado must be pretty awesome shopping. Duly noted! tbt

[horn1602]

What impresses me about this thread, since I've done most of my bourbon buying in Texas, is that Colorado must be pretty awesome shopping. Duly noted! tbt

[TXLandman]

Just saw SAOS on the shelf for the first time this weekend, at Spec's.

[Quantum]

Downtown Specs, or one of their other stores?