The Elmer Craze

[bicktrav]

Was going to post this in general bourbon discussion, but didn't want the wide viewability over there to feed the hype. I was on a wait-list for Elmer (standard, not commemorative) at K&L. Yesterday, I got an email notification that it was back in stock. I saw the email about 1/2 hour after it landed in my inbox. Clicked the link to buy a bottle, and lo and behold Elmer was listed as unavailable. The only option I had was to get on a wait list. So I called K&L and asked why the link brought me to a page that said Elmer is gone, and they replied that the hundreds of bottles they received were gone in minutes. Elmer is unavailable again, but they'd be happy to put me back on the wait list. Insanity. I hung up.

[HD 335]

Was going to post this in general bourbon discussion, but didn't want the wide viewability over there to feed the hype. I was on a wait-list for Elmer (standard, not commemorative) at K&L. Yesterday, I got an email notification that it was back in stock. I saw the email about 1/2 hour after it landed in my inbox. Clicked the link to buy a bottle, and lo and behold Elmer was listed as unavailable. The only option I had was to get on a wait list. So I called K&L and asked why the link brought me to a page that said Elmer is gone, and they replied that the hundreds of bottles they received were gone in minutes. Elmer is unavailable again, but they'd be happy to put me back on the wait list. Insanity. I hung up.

[bicktrav]

Holy crap. K&L is a beast at sales, Certain account managers that sell to them must love the K&L account. I still love K&L for their specific store select products but I gave up on any allocated stuff from them. I read there is literally tens of thousands in the Whiskey Club. I asked David D how I could join but that question was pretty much ignored... not that I would have any significant better chance at getting something unique. Initially I always wondered by rarely does allocated bottles reach their retail stores, then read someone that it may first go to the club members. Once I realized my position to get bottles I wanted from them was more marginal, I started to give me regular business to other shops. Even if I spent $500 a month with them, I'm still the little guy mingled in with everybody else.

A couple of months ago there were a few Bevmo's around me that received some regular ETLs. They were gone in about 3 weeks. I'm sure their pricing is higher than K&L as well. I think it was around $33 + tax, so about $36.

[rndenks]

Wow. I have seen standard ETL appearing in multiple stores around me. Probably three stores with 10 bottles each. Made me feel like things were back to normal, so I passed them right by.

[bicktrav]

Wow. I have seen standard ETL appearing in multiple stores around me. Probably three stores with 10 bottles each. Made me feel like things were back to normal, so I passed them right by.

Interesting. Maybe it's regional. I'm in California. They're ridiculously hard to come by out here.

[kjbeggs]

I've had more than one retailer in my area tell me that standard ETL was "discontinued". While I know that's BS, I wonder if it's their distributors way of telling them "Don't expect to get any in DFW"...

A year ago, I could walk into just about any local store and find ETL just waiting there for me. I miss those days.

[dcbt]

One retailer told me they may start allocating it to customers like they do BTAC, PVW, etc. It's unbelievable almost.

[dcbt]

Was going to post this in general bourbon discussion, but didn't want the wide viewability over there to feed the hype. I was on a wait-list for Elmer (standard, not commemorative) at K&L. Yesterday, I got an email notification that it was back in stock. I saw the email about 1/2 hour after it landed in my inbox. Clicked the link to buy a bottle, and lo and behold Elmer was listed as unavailable. The only option I had was to get on a wait list. So I called K&L and asked why the link brought me to a page that said Elmer is gone, and they replied that the hundreds of bottles they received were gone in minutes. Elmer is unavailable again, but they'd be happy to put me back on the wait list. Insanity. I hung up.

Sounds like the car reservation Seinfeld episode.

"I understand what a reservation is."

"I don't think you do, because if you did, I'd have a car right now. Anyone can take a reservation; the key is to HOLD the reservation. That's the part you failed at, the holding."

[jeffrey r]

I am glad I stocked up on ETL store select single barrels to the tune of about 6 bottles, so I am well stocked and can stay out of the fray. I didn't see any comm. by me, and the regular seems to come and go sparsely and quickly. Once a bourbon gets that buzz, it's a whole new ballgame.

[MauiSon]

Beanie Babies. Retailers - just direct customers to Blanton's. Better package, better bourbon.

I wonder if it would be possible for our forum to create a run on a product with none of us actually buying it. Just a thought. Talk of just how great Old Crow Reserve has become recently, perhaps. Gotta get a bottle to try it out, say. I guess it would be best to try with a brand that undergoes a label change, so it can be distinguished from previous product.

Edited June 19, 2014 by MauiSon

[bananaslug]

This is a hilarious idea haha.

Beanie Babies. Retailers - just direct customers to Blanton's. Better package, better bourbon.

I wonder if it would be possible for our forum to create a run on a product with none of us actually buying it. Just a thought. Talk of just how great Old Crow Reserve has become recently, perhaps. Gotta get a bottle to try it out, say. I guess it would be best to try with a brand that undergoes a label change, so it can be distinguished from previous product.

[BourbonJoe]

Pennsylvania is listing a 12 y/o ETL. Amazing.

Joe :usflag:

[woosterbill]

It's definitely become hard to find lately, I would guess largely because of enthusiastic newbies like myself. I'd never really thought about ETL, but after seeing all the buzz on here I went out searching. Most stores were sold out, but I did find success eventually, and had my first pour of it last night - delicious! Now to go back and see if that store has any left...

[PaulO]

...

I wonder if it would be possible for our forum to create a run on a product with none of us actually buying it...

Yeah, and then we could write a musical and call it The Non-distiller Producers. :slappin: But seriously, I think we could create a run. I don't think Old Crow would work because there is just too much of it around. It would have to be something not too common, or too rare, and something none of us care about purchasing ourselves.

As to the ETL craze. I used to find it without too much trouble until the past year. Even when it was available, it would go missing for a month or two at a time. A guy in a big store told me they got a few bottles of the commemorative, but they were gone in no time. My solution is just get some of the other bourbons from BT mash bill #2.

[TunnelTiger]

Beanie Babies. Retailers - just direct customers to Blanton's. Better package, better bourbon.

I wonder if it would be possible for our forum to create a run on a product with none of us actually buying it. Just a thought. Talk of just how great Old Crow Reserve has become recently, perhaps. Gotta get a bottle to try it out, say. I guess it would be best to try with a brand that undergoes a label change, so it can be distinguished from previous product.

Ah but you forget that except for Hawaii most of us have to pay twice as much for Blanton's as ETL

[David D]

Hey guys,

Let's straighten this story out a bit: we got 12 bottles of Elmer T. Lee and there were 1000+ people on the waitlist. When you add yourself to the waitlist we send you an email when the product comes back into stock and then it's first come, first served at that point. We can't "hold" bottles for people when there's no guarantee how many we'll get or when we'll ever get it again. The best we can do is send you an email when it hits. The problem is that people live on their phones these days, so people can see a new email literally seconds after they get it and then act instantly by clicking a link. You've got no chance if you're not one of these folks. We didn't sell 300 bottles of Elmer T. Lee in minutes (although we could have because the demand is that pent up) because we can't get 300 bottles unfortunately. We only get a case here and there every few weeks.

Also, we don't have a whiskey club at K&L, so I don't think I ignored anyone about signing up for one (at least I hope I didn't). I'm always happy to add anyone to our email list. All your have to do is email me and I can add you to the insider's list (which is the only "club" we have).

We're always happy to help anyone who wants to shop with us. You just have to understand that there are 10,000 people on the insider's list and 850,000 people on the general list. It's a big pool of people who all want the same thing and it's not easy to make everyone happy.

David D

daviddriscoll@klwines.com

[HeathMIS]

Last time I checked, they still had some at the BevMo in Sac.

I picked up one a couple of weeks back when I got my FR LE 2014

[smknjoe]

Did you ever get very much of it in the first place, David? I used to be able to get it here in Houston, the 4th largest city in the US, at about 5 stores. While I could, and still can, get the entire Weller line at 200+ stores.

Edit: My point is that I don't think it's ever been widely available and that's part of why it's so hard to find now.

Edited June 19, 2014 by smknjoe

[David D]

Did you ever get very much of it in the first place, David? I used to be able to get it here in Houston, the 4th largest city in the US, at about 5 stores. While I could, and still can, get the entire Weller line at 200+ stores.

Edit: My point is that I don't think it's ever been widely available and that's part of why it's so hard to find now.

Yes, in the past I could order it 500 bottles at a time without a hitch. It's been about a year, however, since that happened. The Bay Area is a tricky place though. We drink more "boutiquey" booze than almost any metropolitan area, so the competition is fierce. Things that are commonplace elsewhere can be cut-throat when 500 cutting-edge bars, restaurants, and retailers all want to offer something small in distribution. I think they steer a lot of limited stuff our way, but then it gets divided into teeny-tiny little pieces, so it doesn't end up helping. We end up making 12 people happy and 988 pissed off.

[tanstaafl2]

Yeah, funny enough I have never actually bought from K&L, mostly for the reasons you mentioned. Recently, though I was on their website and figured why not put myself on a wait list for a couple things. Just couldn't believe how fast Elmer went. I got a bottle, which is about half way through a month or two ago at a local shop, but even they couldn't keep it on the shelves for more than 3 or 4 days. It just seems like it's exploding in popularity. I know what you mean about dropping $500 a month and still being a small fish at a place like K&L. The sad thing is that's how it is at a lot of local shops too, at least the ones that get large allocations of stuff. I recently was able to grab a bunch of amazing stuff from a friend who works at a local shop, but other than him I don't have much shot at BTACs or anything like that. That's frustrating, but now it seems like even Elmer is going that direction. Same with anything Weller. Really annoying.

I find if you can take the time to get to know the staff (ideally a manager or even better the owner) AND they have a similar level of interest in whiskey (or you can encourage and cultivate one) AND you can find the time to talk whiskey with them on a regular basis and show you really are interested in more than just the limited bottles it can really help you jump even some of the big spenders. That usually means a smaller store where you may pay more per bottle but it can get you on the short list of the short list. Even better you might even end up making a friend with a similar level of interest in whiskey.

Can't always find that perfect storm of characteristics but when you do it can be a beautiful thing!

[Jiggity]

Holy crap. K&L is a beast at sales, Certain account managers that sell to them must love the K&L account. I still love K&L for their specific store select products but I gave up on any allocated stuff from them. I read there is literally tens of thousands in the Whiskey Club. I asked David D how I could join but that question was pretty much ignored... not that I would have any significant better chance at getting something unique. Initially I always wondered by rarely does allocated bottles reach their retail stores, then read someone that it may first go to the club members. Once I realized my position to get bottles I wanted from them was more marginal, I started to give me regular business to other shops. Even if I spent $500 a month with them, I'm still the little guy mingled in with everybody else.

A couple of months ago there were a few Bevmo's around me that received some regular ETLs. They were gone in about 3 weeks. I'm sure their pricing is higher than K&L as well. I think it was around $33 + tax, so about $36.

Edit: <Removing the old link>

I was driving to pick my kids up from school when I saw the Elmer T. Lee email and they had 2 bottles left when I clicked the "add to cart" button. Both were gone by the time I was able to pull my vehicle over to put the order through. Bummer...

I am fortunate to live a short drive from K&L. The whiskey buyers do a fantastic job marketing and selling through inventory like no other. That said, I totally agree with you, I've spent thousands there this year and I am still a small fish in their sea, likely not eligible for any LE or rare finds. I still go to K&L for private store selection and the occasional bottle, but I've reduced my spend there in favor of BevMo and 3 small local liquor stores w/ competitive pricing. I go with the low cost leader thinking if I shop smart, I will have saved enough over the course of the year to thrown down for a LE bottle or two on the black market or inflated small liquor store price.

Edited June 19, 2014 by Jiggity

[David D]

Here's a link w/ info on how to join the K&L whiskey club.

I was driving to pick my kids up from school when I saw the Elmer T. Lee email and they had 2 bottles left when I clicked the "add to cart" button. Both were gone by the time I was able to pull my vehicle over to put the order through. Bummer...

I am fortunate to live a short drive from K&L. The whiskey buyers do a fantastic job marketing and selling through inventory like no other. That said, I totally agree with you, I've spent thousands there this year and I am still a small fish in their sea, likely not eligible for any LE or rare finds. I still go to K&L for private store selection and the occasional bottle, but I've reduced my spend there in favor of BevMo and 3 small local liquor stores w/ competitive pricing. I go with the low cost leader thinking if I shop smart, I will have saved enough over the course of the year to thrown down for a LE bottle or two.

Let me also clear this up: that's a post on the blog from four years ago and that club lasted about six months before it was dissolved. People didn't want to commit to that much whisky so it didn't turn out the way we planned. There were only 20 guys in that club as opposed to thousands on our list. In the end, people didn't like the idea of having to pay for access and I don't blame them. However, that's why you have the Elmer T Lee situation like you have it now. It can't be going to "eligible" "big fish" customers when we're sending emails to you directly. Now it's merely a battle of the fastest fingers.

There's also no such thing as "eligibility" for bottles at K&L as we sometimes raffle off special LE bottles at this point. However, you're right to look elsewhere for things like Pappy. You have to remember that we're the first place people call when they want this stuff. We might have 5,000 guys competing for 12 total bottles. If you don't get a bottle you're just like the other 4,988 other people who shop with us everyday and don't get a bottle either, so it's got nothing to do with how much money you spend.

Again, if you were on the whiskey email list this would all be known. Everyone is on the same playing field there.

[bicktrav]

Hey guys,

Let's straighten this story out a bit: we got 12 bottles of Elmer T. Lee and there were 1000+ people on the waitlist. When you add yourself to the waitlist we send you an email when the product comes back into stock and then it's first come, first served at that point. We can't "hold" bottles for people when there's no guarantee how many we'll get or when we'll ever get it again. The best we can do is send you an email when it hits. The problem is that people live on their phones these days, so people can see a new email literally seconds after they get it and then act instantly by clicking a link. You've got no chance if you're not one of these folks. We didn't sell 300 bottles of Elmer T. Lee in minutes (although we could have because the demand is that pent up) because we can't get 300 bottles unfortunately. We only get a case here and there every few weeks.

Also, we don't have a whiskey club at K&L, so I don't think I ignored anyone about signing up for one (at least I hope I didn't). I'm always happy to add anyone to our email list. All your have to do is email me and I can add you to the insider's list (which is the only "club" we have).

We're always happy to help anyone who wants to shop with us. You just have to understand that there are 10,000 people on the insider's list and 850,000 people on the general list. It's a big pool of people who all want the same thing and it's not easy to make everyone happy.

David D

daviddriscoll@klwines.com

David, just to clear things up, this thread was never intended to be a knock on K&L. It was meant to be commentary on how hard ETL has become to get a hold of. For what it's worth though, unless I misheard, whomever I was on the phone with mentioned an allotment of hundreds of bottles. Could be that I misheard that and she was saying there were hundreds of buyers on the wait list. Either way, I've got no issues with K&L. I just wish I could have snagged a bottle.

[David D]

David, just to clear things up, this thread was never intended to be a knock on K&L. It was meant to be commentary on how hard ETL has become to get a hold of. For what it's worth though, unless I misheard, whomever I was on the phone with mentioned an allotment of hundreds of bottles. Could be that I misheard that and she was saying there were hundreds of buyers on the wait list. Either way, I've got no issues with K&L. I just wish I could have snagged a bottle.

I get it, no worries. I'm sensitive however to how we get represented online and I want people to know how things actually do work and how they can be a part of it in the future. These are always good opportunities to clear things up and help spread information that's accurate and up to date.

For example, we don't have an insider's club so I don't want information like that going around. Plus, you had a frustrating experience and I want to be able to help you in the future. You can always just email me when you need help. That offer extends to everyone on this board at all times.

[HD 335]

I get it, no worries. I'm sensitive however to how we get represented online and I want people to know how things actually do work and how they can be a part of it in the future. These are always good opportunities to clear things up and help spread information that's accurate and up to date.

For example, we don't have an insider's club so I don't want information like that going around. Plus, you had a frustrating experience and I want to be able to help you in the future. You can always just email me when you need help. That offer extends to everyone on this board at all times.

Thank you for your posts David, and I apologize for the mis-use of describing the email list as whiskey club. It's been so long since I originally asked how to be a part of the insider's list that I generically referring to it as a club on my initial post. But I'm still a shopper there at both the SF and RWC locations! I can't wait to get some of the Signatory stuff later in the year.