What's Your Bunker Strategy?

[flahute]

My strategy is simply to...

1. Never regret having decided to stay in for the evening, as there are very few dining and/or drinking establishments that offer the selection available in my own home.

2. See above (when feeling guilty about purchasing another bottle of fine drinking whiskey).

[Harry in WashDC]

What Paddy said: never regret a purchase or, especially, enjoying a purchase. I bunker for me, primarily, but like sharing with my guests. - I don't trade or resell. So, most of what's bunkered is spares of what I drink and serve regularly. The rest are a few really special bottles (thanks, Joe) that I coveted. Nothing in there is for investment - even the ER 10yr neckbands are there because I like ER. In sum my bunker is an extension of my barspace and exists because I have limited barspace.

"Bunker" means any space, other than the liquor cabinet (mostly liqueurs, brandies, and aperitifs) and the butler's table (with the decanters, open port, and loose minis), where my wife lets me store spares. OR, hasn't yet found that I store spares there (car trunk, under the basement workbench, clothes closet top shelf, etc.). Is a good thing she's shorter than I am.

[PaulO]

Early on, I realized that I couldn't have easy access to certain things. Even something like HH 6 year BIB, Old Fitz BIB, or Old Forrester Sig require a 20-30 minute drive. Prices vary between stores too. It makes sense to have at least a couple extra.

Then there's Weller OWA and 12. Availability was always sporadic, and only a few stores. I would buy two, open one, save one. So I managed to hang onto a couple. It's nice to know they're there. I won't go on any heroic quests to get more, or pay above msrp. If BT ever "catches up" - great. If not, I'll keep these as trophies, and enjoy the first three I mentioned. :grin:

I don't have a lot of old, discontinued stuff. Not that I wouldn't like to have found it. My impression is that most stores in Indiana seem to have a relatively fast turnover of their merchandise. I've never had the open sesame moment some have experienced. A guy walks into an old store and sees all these bottles with tax strips; all kinds of S-W and ND product, with the original prices.

Thanks to people at this site giving me a heads up, I did manage to grab some AA 10 year, and VOB 6 year before they all vanished. :thankyousign:

[5cents]

My bunker strategy is simple and has two parts.......First, I am building a library for my two boys. They are 6 and 7. I buy two bottles of everything if possible and the money is there. I think I currently have about 160 different labels. One bottle for me which gets put into the cue to try, and the other for them at a much later date. After reading through this forum the last year I realized that bourbon changes, sometimes with little notice. I also realized that what one man calls rot gut another may cherish.

Second, if I find something I like and it is not easily found here in the state of Ohio, I will bunker a few bottles for easy access. I live about 4 hours from the Party Source so it is not too hard to swing by a few times a year and pick up anything I can't normally get as I find myself drawn to Kentucky quite often. Plus I have a few coworkers who travel and bring me back bottles of things I can't normally get if I need them.

[Jazzhead]

I try to keep eight bottles, and only eight, open at any one time. The open bottles are usually divided equally between scotch and bourbon/rye, although that's been lately affected by my exploration of American craft distillers. My current open bottles are:

Compass Box Peat Monster

Laphroaig 18

Auchentoshen 10

Glen Moray 12

Lot 30 100% Canadian Rye

Rendesvous Rye (High West)

Defiant American Single Malt

McCarthy's Whiskey (American Single Malt)

Not a true bourbon in the bunch, so my current shelf is a bit skewed.

[fishnbowljoe]

My bunker strategy has changed quite a bit over the years.

When I first got interested in bourbon, I started with only three bottles. MM, WR and KC. After I joined SB, and got more involved, I wanted to have a better bunker. Hell, I had to keep up with the Jones's. At that time, I wanted to try anything and everything. Although I had a pretty good idea what my real taste preference was (at the time it was wheaters), I couldn't resist temptation, and waned to try it all. So, I bought anything and everything. My bunker started growing.

After a while, I became interested in dusties. I went on 'hunting' trips solely for the purpose of finding dusties. I found quite a few good ones too. I was pretty fortunate to get interested in bourbon before a lot of the dusties started drying up. My bunker grew even more.

During my quest for dusties, I also became interested in special releases. Pappy, BTAC etc…. I did pretty good there too. And……..my bunker grew.

My bunker grew and grew till I about 230 bottles. As far as open bottles go, it seemed I always had around 30 or so open at any given time. What could I do about that? :skep: Well, I started trying to finish off more of my open bottles, then I bought a Buffalo Trace bottle glorifier that held 12 bottles. That did the job. Other than a few things I keep around for my son and some of my buddies, I usually only have 12 open bottles or less in my glorifier. Give or take a couple.

Then I started getting more into BIB's. While I was trying to finish off more bottles, and make my bunker more manageable, I was also buying more BIB's. A vicious circle. (see the Do You Have It? thread)

Fast forward. If my last inventory count is correct, at present, I have 14 bottles open, and 111 in the bunker. The vast majority of my stash is wheaters and BIB's. I no longer actively go out and hunt dusties or the special releases, but if any come my way at a decent price, I'd probably buy them. I occasionally stop in at a few of my usual haunts from time to time just to see what's up, and what's on the shelves. If I'm on vacation, or out and about in a place I haven't been before, I'll still sometimes stop at a few liquor stores just to see what they might have. But, for the most part, it's like the old song, "Don't Get Around Much Any More". Maybe I've achieved my bourbon Zen.(http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?21145-Achieving-Bourbon-Zen-A-Mini-Manifesto&highlight=Achieving+bourbon+Zen) I dunno for sure, but bourbon wise, I'm pretty content for the most part.

After my most recent purchases, I imposed a bourbon buying moratorium on myself. I probably have more than enough bourbon to last me till I croak.:crazy: I went through my bunker a week ago and pulled out 26 of my favorite bottles, and put them in storage. I have duplicates of all but one of them still in my bunker. What's now in my bunker is all fair game. The only bottles I'm holding back are the ones I just put in storage.

So to sum it all up, my bunker strategy is now pretty simple. I'm gonna start drinking it down. :drink:Oh, I'll share some of my bourbon with a few of my bourbon drinking buddies around here where I live, and also with some members of SB (Sampler, KBF, Binny's, etc..), but my main plan is to start enjoying more of what I have. :cool: After all, ya' can't take it with you. :grin:

Cheers! Joe

[393foureyedfox]

but my main plan is to start enjoying more of what I have. :cool: After all, ya' can't take it with you. :grin:

well put. youd roll over in your grave to think of Mrs Fish putting those 111 bottles out on a yard sale table with "best offer" stickers on them. may as well enjoy them.

[Paddy]

well put. youd roll over in your grave to think of Mrs Fish putting those 111 bottles out on a yard sale table with "best offer" stickers on them. may as well enjoy them.

And I hope you live long enough to enjoy each and every one of 'em Joe!

[mosugoji64]

I only bunker things that I know I like and feel pretty sure I won't see again for a while. It may not be something going out of production, but if it's something I can't find readily in my area I'll pick up a couple of bottles to carry me over until I see it again. Not looking to create a museum since I intend to drink everything I have, but it's good to know that I'll be able to enjoy a particular bottle at some point down the road.

[R-Savage]

for me: All of the goto stuff is on deck. Once what I have on deck is gone. It will be replenished. I will have just the basics. the Bunker. will be the stuff that is hard to come by and pauscher stuff that I want to keep and enjoy.

[393foureyedfox]

my new strategy:

slowly work through opens and the vast supply of HH6/90 and HH6BIB I currently have, while only adding sub-$50 7-8 year barrel proofers to the bunker. I feel the days of sub-$50 BP bottlings are coming to a close very soon, from every supplier. Most of my bourbon 'budget' comes from the credit card cash-back rewards I get every few months, so by the time I get down to just one case of HH stuff, I ougt to have a nice collection of 8 year BP stuff. seems like a plan to me!

[tannnehill kid]

Right now I'm putting all I can in it. Starting to get a few bottles deep with the bottles I like.

[RyeNot]

If bunker means having a stockpile of bottles that are not currently open, my strategy is not to have one. My strategy is to have between 3 & 5 bourbons, 2 or 3 single malt scotches, 1 or 2 Irish whiskeys, a bottle of rye, a bottle of Jack Daniels, either #7 or Single Barrel, 1 bottle of gin. My wife likes to have a vodka and MM on hand, so I keep those around as well. I am not a bit drinker, averaging about 4-5 drinks per week. The only time I tend to have multiples of a bottle on hand is when my wife's MM gets down to a few drinks left, I generally get another so she does not run out. Following is my current bar and notes:

Bourbon

Eagle Rare SB - bought a 375ml bottle to try out, still evaluating

Four Roses SB - this is a staple in my bar. It gets replaced as soon as it empties.

Maker's Mark - this is my wife's go to. I do not let it run out.

Rock Hills Farms SB - I had been looking for this for a while and found it last week. It is nice, but not as complex as I would prefer - jury is still out.

Woodford Reserve - I bought a 200ml bottle to try. This did not earn a spot in my bar. I will mix it with ginger ale to finish it.

Rye

Bulleit Rye - this is a staple in my bar.