"Bottle is Not For Sale"

[DogfaceSoldier]

While traveling a few weeks ago, I had a few store employees inform me that their store owners had purchased the limited release bottles still on the shelves. This struck me as odd since it happened twice - once with a bottle of PHC8 and at a different store with PVW15. I'm not angry with the store owner's decision to hold on to the bottles as they too are entitled to good bourbon, but I was surprised by it.

Has anyone else run into this? Or are these two unique experiences that happened close together?

[petrel800]

I see this from time to time in different stores, but it's typically not "newer" releases. One place I stop in has a case of "not for sale" old Cognacs, another has a case of "not for sale" Marilyn Monroe wine bottles, one place I stopped had a ton of old WT decantors. I've always considered it to be like a garage or car lot that has some old classics that they want to show off. I mean they are in the booze business, so it doesn't surprise me that some folks collect booze.

I've also always thought to some extent they were on display as well for "the right price." At the end of the day, everyone has a price and when it comes to really unique stuff, sometimes, every once and awhile someone comes along willing to make an offer you can't refuse. At least that's kind of how I've always looked at it.

[TunnelTiger]

Nope, never. In fact both of my go to dealers use every bit of their space for selling product.

[HD 335]

It typically a bit more rare for newer releases but I have come across it once. They refused to sell their last bottle of ECBP and FR LE 2014 Small Batch. With older bottles, I was just at Wingtip in SF and they had quite a collection of Karuizawa whiskey, a bottle of Red Hook Rye, old hyper aged block typeface Willetts and lots of other old bourbons. I'm going to guess it was at least $50k worth of whiskey just sitting there.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

I don't understand the logic behind this practice other than to show off and piss people off. Bottles that are not for sale should be in a back office or storeroom.

I could understand a bar building a library/museum of bottles but not a store.

[Paul W]

Yes, there is a liquor store near me that had various Pappy bottles on the top shelf with a handwritten "not for sale" sign below them. I asked why and the counter person did not really know. A few months later I went back and they had huge, gouge-y prices on them.

My speculation is that the "not for sale" but displayed bottles are there with the hope that somebody will come in an make an offer on them anyway, and that the owner is afraid that any price he puts on them might be lower than the offer he might receive. I speculate that after a few months of that not working, he decided to actually price them. So Pappy 10, 15 and 20 are now priced at 600, 750 and 1200 (as I recall).

Curiously, I am much happier now that they have prices, even though I would never pay them.

Oh, and of course, these are not 2014 releases. He has had them for a while.

[The Black Tot]

It's a great practice for us - It gives us an instant red flag to know the store isn't worth dealing with. Narrows things down easily.

There will come a time when stores WILL care if we take our business elsewhere. Right now, they don't need us, they're turning customers away.

Stores like Eric's will have customers (even from out of state, like me) long after this bubble has burst.

[michaelturtle1]

cash is king, I have bought many "display" dusties by simply breaking out a stack of bills.. that stack may have been $20 but the stores I usually deal with rarely have $20 sales let alone $100 sales.

[kjbeggs]

I wonder if there's a little "Sure, we have Pappy. come on in..." at play here. A little bait and switch. Yes, they have some highly allocated bottles, no you can't buy them, but while you are there, how about a bottle of W12 for $50, it's "basically Pappy"...

This could work in their favor if the store has a website displaying inventory too , just to drive foot traffic.

Edited December 19, 2014 by kjbeggs

[michaelturtle1]

Let's face it, it is only whiskey and in the long run it really doesnt matter... I have had plenty of occurrences where bottles havent been for sale in a store and not amount of conversation with the owner changed his mind. I just move on and stop back from time to time to see if the situation changed.

[jvd99]

Never seen that around here. I agree that it would be red flag for avoidance rather than lure for me. One store that I used to shop at started gouging on VW products and making you buy several other BT products to even be eligible to pay the gougy prices. Once I saw that, I've never been back.

[danz]

I don't understand the logic behind this practice other than to show off and piss people off. Bottles that are not for sale should be in a back office or storeroom.

I could understand a bar building a library/museum of bottles but not a store.

This is what I think it is. I ran into it last year with a Pappy 15 at a crappy little store in the financial district (not FiDi itself) and the guy behind the counter said: no, that's mine, I'll keep it up there until I'm ready to take it home. The one BTAC was $400, EC12 (regular) was $39, etc. Makes me glad I don't live in the financial district. Before you say it's the Wall Street money effect, most of the "Wall Street" money isn't around Wall Street any more - more is in midtown and the financial district itself is relatively run down. I think this place was more a product of the very limited selection in the financial district: it's pretty much the boondocks if you want to buy any sort of food or drink, or really anything.