Booker's Limited Editions

[kjbeggs]

I'm pretty sure there was some discussion of this in another thread, but I can't seem to find it, so posting here.

mods, feel free to move as appropriate...

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/bookersr-bourbon-unveils-collection-of-limited-edition-releases-1990942.htm

[GrPeMi]

This seems like it's just a new marketing push...but no real change to the bourbon. I think it was Sku who posted the new labels from the TTB several months ago. I think they're just going to use these new nicknames (probably for better marketability...each batch is a "new release") instead of just the plain old batch numbers that they've been using.

It also seems like they might make the roundtable batches more visible as well.

I sure hope this doesn't come with a price increase, as well, though, now that it's a "Limited Edition". With our taxes, it's $78 out the door in WA.

[dcbt]

I sure hope this doesn't come with a price increase, as well, though, now that it's a "Limited Edition". With our taxes, it's $78 out the door in WA.

I can't get over your state taxes. You guys can get shipped to, though, right? Seems like it'd just be cheaper to buy from an online retailer out-of-state...

[GrPeMi]

Blame me, I voted for the privatization...but that was before I really understood how things work. I'm in OR once or twice a week, so I usually just pick up stuff there.

Technically, much like TX (I think), direct sales/shipping of spirits into WA is prohibited from out of state (different than wine). With that being said, some on-line retailers take the position that title transfers to the buyer at the moment the transaction is completed, so that the buyer is bringing the liquor into the state, and not the retailer. I don't know if it would stand up in court, but that's how they're handling it, from what I understand.

That's how I got a Bookers 2014-07 a couple weeks ago, plus some other stuff, at a steal of a price.

[Dave43]

I wonder why Bookers was selling for $25-$30 not that long ago in MN. Now prices are back to $60. I wonder if they were unloading inventory to justify a price increase once supply was diminished.

[Harry in WashDC]

FWIW, Chuck's blog has a report on what Suntory-Beam is doing with its Bookers line (dateline Feb 12, 2015, which also links to an article he posted in May 2014 about this). Chuck helped with the picking. The promotion is not as nefarious as some of us cynics would like to believe.

http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/

Edit - Uh, Beam Suntory is their preferred, I think.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Harry in WashDC

[GrPeMi]

I enjoyed reading Chuck's well-written piece (as I do most of his posts on his blog). I never thought that the bourbon itself might change. But that piece does nothing to dispel or refute (IMO) the possibility of price hikes...

And the press release linked by the OP seems to speak to a much more aggressive marketing push than in the past. While they've put out PR's for some of the roundtable batches in the past, have they ever put out a PR for one of the "ordinary" batches? I can see them doing a PR for each batch from here on out. It's really the best of both worlds: a "limited edition" with better and wider availability (than, say, 4R or BTAC) and more frequent releases. Why not charge more?

(ATTN Beam Suntory: I claim this business strategy as my intellectual property. You're not allowed to use it...)

[MDBourbon]

I read that article last night. I would like to try these, any ideas when they are landing? I like to get there on the first day so i can get a fresh whiff of the markup ink

[jvd99]

I'm not so sure the roundtable versions will be that different from any other batch. The process seems to be the same except for who's got input on the final batches that go into the bottle. The special names seem PR and marketing driven. I'm sure I'll but one though if I see it