risenc Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Last night I was walking on 6th Ave. in Greenwich Village, and was stopped short by a bottle of 2012 Stagg in the window of La Vid Wine and Spirits. I went in and asked the price. Five. Thousand. Dollars.Forgive me if this theme has already been chewed over, but that represents a new level of bourbon insanity. A bottle that five years ago might have sat for weeks on the shelf for $90 has gone up 55 times in price. So there's your morning gem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonVivant84 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Definitely sets a new bar, and all over the city stores have lots of hard to get stuff, some of it years old and it just sits there at ridiculous mark up like decoration. This actual store used to be my go to for cheap Willett rye ($30’s) but someone I guess made a decision to start trying to take bigger slices of the pie. If you have ever scrolled through Financial District Wine and Liquor’s web site they take the mark up to a whole new universe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squire Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Which is the greater insanity, that they charge it or that they sell it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicktrav Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 That's sheer lunacy. There's a place here in LA that has prices like that. I've seen a van winkle of theirs priced at 10,000, but it came with a decanter and an autograph from Julian. Also seen BTACs, some older Willetts and Black Maple Hills priced in the several thousands. But hard as it is to stomach those prices, the craziest part is that these stores are still in business, so someone's supporting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffrey r Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I live in NJ, but work in Manhattan. I don't even bother stopping in liquor stores in Manhattan--it's just too much of a joke. I can buy anything standard for cheaper in NJ, and if the NYC stores happen to have something limited, it will be astronomical. So I just stay away. There is a lot of "funny money" in Manhattan though, so someone probably buys this stuff (not sure at $5k, but who the heck knows). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HD 335 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I think the fact is most stores that do this don't care. The allocated bottles do not support their business and only the whiskey geeks search these releases out like rabid animals. Those stores are just looking for sucker with a ton of money that wants an instant gratification. Many of the local shops I buy from can't wait until the fall allocated season is over. That's sheer lunacy. There's a place here in LA that has prices like that. I've seen a van winkle of theirs priced at 10,000, but it came with a decanter and an autograph from Julian. Also seen BTACs, some older Willetts and Black Maple Hills priced in the several thousands. But hard as it is to stomach those prices, the craziest part is that these stores are still in business, so someone's supporting them.bicktrav, not sure if you got my PM. Let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd2005 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Which is the greater insanity, that they charge it or that they sell it.Do they sell it, though?I get the impression stores sometimes put these bottles in a display case with an insane price tag because they think it increases the prestige of their store to have a "$5000" bourbon for sale.If they do sell it at that price...well...you know what they say about a fool and their money... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd2005 Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I think the fact is most stores that do this don't care. The allocated bottles do not support their business and only the whiskey geeks search these releases out like rabid animals. Those stores are just looking for sucker with a ton of money that wants an instant gratification. Many of the local shops I buy from can't wait until the fall allocated season is over. Definitely true. At a store that sells the allocated bottles for MSRP, it's like a fraction of one percent of their annual sales. They make more money on selling beer in a single weekend probably.For many of these stores it's becoming such a hassle to deal with weeks/months of phone calls and drop-ins looking for them, that they are considering stopping even seeking out the allocated releases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicktrav Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I think the fact is most stores that do this don't care. The allocated bottles do not support their business and only the whiskey geeks search these releases out like rabid animals. Those stores are just looking for sucker with a ton of money that wants an instant gratification. Many of the local shops I buy from can't wait until the fall allocated season is over. bicktrav, not sure if you got my PM. Let me know.Sorry, missed it. Just replied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danz Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Maybe they read an article like this one and thought this was just the natural trend in the pricing. http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?21779-Latest-issue-of-Fortune-Magazine-features-Bourbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flaminiom Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 They put it in the window w/ no price. They don't want to sell it. Might as well said $1 million. They want you to come in, ask, and then look around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Last night I was walking on 6th Ave. in Greenwich Village, and was stopped short by a bottle of 2012 Stagg in the window of La Vid Wine and Spirits. I went in and asked the price. Five. Thousand. Dollars.Forgive me if this theme has already been chewed over, but that represents a new level of bourbon insanity. A bottle that five years ago might have sat for weeks on the shelf for $90 has gone up 55 times in price. So there's your morning gem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P&MLiquorsEric Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Definitely true. At a store that sells the allocated bottles for MSRP, it's like a fraction of one percent of their annual sales. They make more money on selling beer in a single weekend probably.For many of these stores it's becoming such a hassle to deal with weeks/months of phone calls and drop-ins looking for them, that they are considering stopping even seeking out the allocated releases.Did the math yesterday. Limited edition bourbons made up 0.6% (six tenths of 1 percent) of our sales in the past 12 months.Smart businesses don't spend much time worrying or talking about something that makes up less than 1% of their revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd2005 Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Did the math yesterday. Limited edition bourbons made up 0.6% (six tenths of 1 percent) of our sales in the past 12 months.Smart businesses don't spend much time worrying or talking about something that makes up less than 1% of their revenue.Sounds about right. Unfortunately you're probably forced to spend much more than 0.6% of your time answering questions about PVW... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbroo5880i Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Did the math yesterday. Limited edition bourbons made up 0.6% (six tenths of 1 percent) of our sales in the past 12 months.Smart businesses don't spend much time worrying or talking about something that makes up less than 1% of their revenue.Just curious, I would think beer then lighter spirits like vodka and rum would be the biggest sources of revenue. Is this close? How does wine rank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dSculptor Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 You sure that price didn't include a Stagg mount with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garbanzobean Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 You sure that price didn't include a Stagg mount with it? Heck man, I'm pretty sure that's the price of a bottle of GTS at retail AND a round trip guided elk/moose hunt. Prob wouldn't quite cover the cost of having the rack mounted or the meat processed and shipped, though. Maybe if you drove . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P&MLiquorsEric Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Just curious, I would think beer then lighter spirits like vodka and rum would be the biggest sources of revenue. Is this close? How does wine rank?Bourbon and vodka trade off for number 1 depending on season. Wine takes up 50% of store space but only accounts for 20-30% of revenue depending on season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risenc Posted November 8, 2014 Author Share Posted November 8, 2014 They put it in the window w/ no price. They don't want to sell it. Might as well said $1 million. They want you to come in, ask, and then look around.I didn't ask if it was actually for sale. The clerk didn't know the price off hand, but he looked it up in their system. So it was there, at least. But you're probably right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvd99 Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 That's insane. The store probably intends for it to be window candy with no real expectation to sell the bottle so they can confirm that they are important enough to get allocated items. It's a bonus if some fool with money to burn actually pulls the trigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danz Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I pulled out my paper copy of Clay's Bourbon Boom Fortune article again to look at the price list it shows for high end bourbons. It lists Pappy 20 as $1,390 in a graphic price list (apparently not in the online version) and Pappy 23 as $3,500 in the text. I have a hard time viewing those as any less ridiculous than this price for Stagg. I remember thinking the article was pretty good. However, it seems a little ironic now to be surprised that some stores are taking those pricing ideas and running with them.http://fortune.com/2014/02/06/the-billion-dollar-bourbon-boom/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul W Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 A liquor store near me has several bottles of Pappy displayed on the top shelf with a sign that says "not for sale." This same place has bottles of cognac displayed with prices in the the thousands. I have asked what the point is and received no definitive answer. Just to show off I guess or maybe with the hope of someone offering a sky high price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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