Help finding a Copper Whiskey Thief & Bung Hammer

[camduncan]

During the Sampler, I kept an eye out at various distillieries for a copper whiskey thief and/or a bung hammer as I thought they'd make a fairly unique item to bring home to Australia. Unfortunately I lucked out. The only whiskey thief I found was at the Heaven Hill Herritage Centre for $180, and I never saw a bung hammer.

Does anyone know where I could source these? And, if so what price they generally sell for? Any help would be appreciated.

[smknjoe]

Supposedly Wild Turkey sells a bung hammer. I don't know the price.

[theglobalguy]

Cam, not sure if you're looking for new or used. Looks like Grainger (online tool supplier based in USA) has one;

http://www.grainger.com/search?searchQuery=beechwood+hammer&op=search&Ntt=beechwood+hammer&N=0&sst=All

[p_elliott]

Cam I assume you are looking for the old fashion wooden bung hammer?

[p_elliott]

I sent an email to Vendome Copper & Brass works to see if they made the thief. I'll let you know what I find out.

Edited May 14, 2014 by p_elliott

[camduncan]

Thanks heaps Paul!! I'm not 100% sure what you mean by 'old fashion' wood bung hammer, but it's something similar to this that Scott (Hightower) has - see attached.

[p_elliott]

Vendome Copper & Brass Works do make whiskey thief's.

[Gillman]

Why Cam, you need only order by mail, so easy:

http://digital.hagley.org/cdm/ref/collection/p268001coll12/id/8017

Just look at page 26, you can get a liquor thief with valve, or without, in tin, or copper. You can get different size mallets too, see page 21. There is much else here that would go well with them, e.g. a spittoon, or white bartender's coat, or graduated beaker. It's all here from someone clearly who specializes in all this, L&M Goldsticker of Fulton Street, New York.

Now the catalogue does go back a few years, but hopefully these items are still in their inventory. Don't the prices look good too!

Gary

P.S. There is that porcelain bowl for "Tom and Jerry", hmmm, that's a puzzle. Funny how a few years can go by and the meaning of things starts to cloud up!

[sailor22]

During the Sampler, I kept an eye out at various distillieries for a copper whiskey thief and/or a bung hammer as I thought they'd make a fairly unique item to bring home to Australia. Unfortunately I lucked out. The only whiskey thief I found was at the Heaven Hill Herritage Centre for $180, and I never saw a bung hammer.

Does anyone know where I could source these? And, if so what price they generally sell for? Any help would be appreciated.

If that was a copper thief $180 is a bargain. I have seen them for $400. Check wine makers supply for a thief - most are glass or pyrex but some are copper.

[Gillman]

More like $1.80 Steve. The good old days...

Gary

[callmeox]

From what I saw on Twitter, Four Roses gave away a thief to each attendee at their Bourbon Affair event. Check the auction sites.

[Vietish]

I saw that on Instagram as well and was about to say the same thing!

People will always sell freebies for a buck.

[camduncan]

If that was a copper thief $180 is a bargain. I have seen them for $400. Check wine makers supply for a thief - most are glass or pyrex but some are copper.

I wish I'd know that.... I would have grabbed it real quick

[camduncan]

From what I saw on Twitter, Four Roses gave away a thief to each attendee at their Bourbon Affair event. Check the auction sites.

Thanks Scott. Nothing on ebay yet, but I'll keep looking!

[fricky]

At one time, Heaven Hill had a copper whiskey thief available in their visitor center. It may have been last year (Sampler 2013) when I saw them. I did not see any this year; however, it may be worth contacting them.

[sailor22]

Thanks Scott. Nothing on ebay yet, but I'll keep looking!

I have been watching "whiskey thief" on ebay for a few years now. In all that time only one has turned up - meanwhile, using different searches there have been two or three bung hammers turn up.

[KyleCBreese]

I saw a tweet from Vendome Copper that they would soon be offering their copper thiefs for sale. Something to look into Cam...

[camduncan]

That's certainly a great one to keep an eye on. I wonder if Vendome would ship, or do I need an excuse for a return trip in a year or so

[p_elliott]

Only thing about the Vendome thiefs is they run between $200 and $400.

[fricky]

The Heaven Hill Visitor Center has Copper Whiskey Thiefs for $179. I was there last Sunday, September 21 and they had a few.

[camduncan]

Yeah, I'm kicking myself for not grabbing the one I saw at Heaven Hill. I'll just have to plan a return trip in a year or two and hope for the best

[ThomasH]

Email the gift shop and see If they Will ship you one!

[garbanzobean]

I bought a Copper Whiskey Thief at Heaven Hill today after looking around and realizing they aren't all that easy to find. There were four on the shelf. I went with the one that looked like it had the best welds. The Elijah Craig logo looks a little cheesy (would have preferred a Bourbon Heritage Center label if they had to mark it), but I think it'll peel off pretty easily.

[camduncan]

As it turns out, with the extremely generous help of a fellow member, I am the proud owner of a brand new whiskey thief! I can't thank them enough for what they did to help me out. It's people like this who make this community the great place that it is.

[garbanzobean]

As it turns out, with the extremely generous help of a fellow member, I am the proud owner of a brand new whiskey thief! I can't thank them enough for what they did to help me out. It's people like this who make this community the great place that it is.

Outstanding! Is this one available at the Bourbon Heritage Center, or did you get it from a top sekrit location?