Kepler Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 4 minutes ago, fishnbowljoe said: Excuse me Kepler. Dick isn’t really very appropriate. ASSHAT is more like it! Biba! Joe Asshat is right! What was I thinking?!? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I should probably leave well enough alone, but.... The subject of BT came up today in texts exchanged among guys in our local bourbon and cigar group. One guy stopped at a store here, and saw no BT on the shelf and wondered if there was a BT shortage. Before I tell my response and show a pic, I’d like to clear the air. I’ve been buying (and drinking) a lot of BT the last few months. I never cleared any shelves though. I usually buy one or two bottles at a time. The pic isn’t as bad as it looks. In the pic are four different private selections. Two different years from Binny’s, and two different years from a local store. I bought two liters a few weeks back that I decanted into 750’s. I did the same with two liters I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, what I texted the guys in our group was, “BT shortage?” I followed that up with the pic below. Biba! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepler Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 (edited) ^^^ Well Joe you are stocking up the right way A few at a time and don't clear the shelf. No problem at all with that. BT is something that is truly mass produced, Sazerac is making a sh!t ton of it (we all know they expanded their distillery production a couple years ago) so there is NO REASON to clear the shelves of BT unless a person has ulterior motives (e.g., flipping). Edited March 28, 2021 by Kepler 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepler Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 ^^^ P.S. And a guy like Joe who actually DRINKS it, I also have ZERO problem if you buy it by the case. It's the asshats who clear shelves so they can flip it that irk me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0895 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Do people actually flip BT? Is that a thing? *sigh* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepler Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I believe so, in places it's not readily available on the shelves (due to behavior reported above) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 A year or so ago we took a drive north, out of state. We stopped at one liquor store and they had one bottle of BT in a glass case priced at $40.00 or $45.00. I asked why, and the guy at the store said it was locked up because it was rare and he could hardly get it anymore. I shook my head and told him that pretty much all of the stores in my area had it most of the time, and that regular prices were between $24.99-$29.99, with sale prices of $21.99. He just gave me the look. As I turned around and left, even though he didn't say another word, I knew exactly what he was thinking. If we had BT at those prices where I live, what the hell was I doing there? What can I say? Biba! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mal00768 Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I've seen people trying to flip store picks of BT from particularly well known stores. It's still baffling to me why people clear the shelves of BT when WT101 exists. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 11 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said: I should probably leave well enough alone, but.... The subject of BT came up today in texts exchanged among guys in our local bourbon and cigar group. One guy stopped at a store here, and saw no BT on the shelf and wondered if there was a BT shortage. Before I tell my response and show a pic, I’d like to clear the air. I’ve been buying (and drinking) a lot of BT the last few months. I never cleared any shelves though. I usually buy one or two bottles at a time. The pic isn’t as bad as it looks. In the pic are four different private selections. Two different years from Binny’s, and two different years from a local store. I bought two liters a few weeks back that I decanted into 750’s. I did the same with two liters I purchased a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, what I texted the guys in our group was, “BT shortage?” I followed that up with the pic below. Biba! Joe Heehee! You wouldn’t want to hear my response if you shoved that picture on me in that situation... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 1 hour ago, smokinjoe said: Heehee! You wouldn’t want to hear my response if you shoved that picture on me in that situation... No biggee Joe. You just don’t know the guys in our bourbon and cigar group. They ain’t nuthin’ at all like you and our guys that meet at the GN/gazebo. We also unmercifully give each other a hard time every chance we get. One of the reasons I went to our get togethers and tolerated a couple of them was Vosgar. Since he’s been gone, and with Covid and everything, I just haven’t felt like going to any of the get togethers. It’s kinda frustrating in a way, because one meeting place is only a few blocks from my house. The guy that asked if there was a shortage of BT pretty much only goes to one store. Today, I texted our group back that Binny’s has some on the shelf, and asked if he was looking to buy any. His answer. “Possibly.” The clip below might give you a better understanding. Biba! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Tot Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 Anyone who shelf clears BT is probably just the butt of his own sad joke. I say probably, because hey we don't know his story - maybe he was organizing a huge party or sorting the bar for his friend's wedding. They're crankin' that juice out. It's nothing to get annoyed with. BT was one of the last BT bourbons to get scarce, and it will be the first to flood back. It's the overwhelming majority of what they distill there. BT is a supermarket bourbon in Europe. It costs the equivalent of 26 US bucks (700ml bottle though). I've never seen a hole in the shelf or a break in the supply. Guys like this can't clear all the shelves of BT for much longer. It's coming back faster than they can drink it. Watching someone clear a shelf of BT would just make me smirk. We all had to learn, and still are. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Loblaw Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 On 3/28/2021 at 4:33 PM, The Black Tot said: Watching someone clear a shelf of BT would just make me smirk. We all had to learn, and still are. This is quite accurate. I am not a regular buyer, but think BT is on the shelves for $25 pretty much all the time. They pick a few BT barrels each year so I tend to purchase 2-3 1.75L and that gets me through the next year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.B. Babington Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 On 3/28/2021 at 12:58 PM, mal00768 said: ...It's still baffling to me why people clear the shelves of BT when WT101 exists. You're correct. It's bourbon boom mania. Doesn't matter what is good, but what's vogue. It's all right by me, while people fighting for certain brands, I'm fat and happy drinking better stuff found right there on the shelf. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 On 3/28/2021 at 12:58 PM, mal00768 said: It's still baffling to me why people clear the shelves of BT when WT101 exists. I'm not sure I remember the last store I visited that did not have WT on the shelf. BT on the other hand, is missing in hundreds of these same markets. So, when you consider different market dynamics, it should not be baffling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 It's a supermarket Bourbon in my market too. I see it for low $20s per 750ml. There are times where a store may be temporarily out, but they get more, meanwhile other places still have it. People can buy all they like. Not hating on it, but it just isn't my favorite brand. For the same $, I enjoy others more. The thing we don't seem to get are the BT single barrel selections. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 36 minutes ago, PaulO said: It's a supermarket Bourbon in my market too. I see it for low $20s per 750ml. There are times where a store may be temporarily out, but they get more, meanwhile other places still have it. People can buy all they like. Not hating on it, but it just isn't my favorite brand. For the same $, I enjoy others more. The thing we don't seem to get are the BT single barrel selections. When I was a newbie to bourbon, like most other newbies then and who have come since, I thought I was a BT guy. As I evolved, BT and all their brands have become my least consumed bourbons. I still declare Stagg to be the King and PVW15 is special but when it comes to the every day brands they just aren't as interesting to me. My fellow moderator Joe is through and through a BT guy and we all know he was that way before BT became the darling of the bourbon world so I respect his obsession. Everyone else I wait to see how long it takes them to discover what they really like. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulO Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 I agree, and that sounds familiar. I was a huge BT fan in the days of OWA 7 year and AA 10 year - not impossible to find and under $25. That was like 15 or 20 years ago. I've never had the BTAC Stagg, but imagine barrel influence really takes over at some point. No doubt also those are some of their best selected barrels too. The other mash bill #1 stuff I have tried - mostly tolerable, but not really in my wheel house. I'm totally fine if other people like it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoFingers Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Locally here, almost all BT products are hard to find so I am not all that surprised that someone would clear the shelf of regular BT. Spoke to a Virginia store clerk not long ago who said that when he had BT and folks lined up and they sold out in an hour. I won't be one of those doing that. BT is only an occasional pour for me and good for a change of pace. I prefer mash bill #2 stuff but you can just about forget seeing any of that around here. With WT, FR and HH available, there are too many other good things on the shelf. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnbowljoe Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 Thanks for the good words Steve. My whiskey and bourbon journey was/is a long, odd one. How else would you explain going from Canadian Club and Coke to being a Weller/wheater whore? Biba! Joe 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MM818 Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 I like the comment about barrels per person in KY. https://apple.news/A6iqaZTQzTAuukl0LzNHFpQ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueby Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 Interesting read about barrel picks. https://www.gobourbon.com/op-ed-have-private-barrel-picks-jumped-the-shark/ 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepler Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 2 hours ago, Clueby said: Interesting read about barrel picks. https://www.gobourbon.com/op-ed-have-private-barrel-picks-jumped-the-shark/ I saw that. Yes good read thanks for posting this. Hopefully we are almost over the decals & wax tops phase. I'm sure someone will come up with another cash cow gimmick though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayouredd Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 2 hours ago, Clueby said: Interesting read about barrel picks. https://www.gobourbon.com/op-ed-have-private-barrel-picks-jumped-the-shark/ Interesting explanation of what I am seeing in my area, though in a limited fashion... Being a single barrel lover, I thought this one LS had the best pickers a few years ago; but their last efforts had been mediocre at best. I didn't know if their choices were limited or they had lost their touch, but this article says a lot. Every time I visit a new store, I ask for barrel picks. I am hesitant if they don't have samples as they try to over sell how good it may be. This has been the case for about a year and a half. An OF Sib 100 has been the only "WOW" that I've had in that time period, with a WR DO from the same store, not bad at all... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueby Posted June 25, 2021 Share Posted June 25, 2021 52 minutes ago, bayouredd said: Interesting explanation of what I am seeing in my area, though in a limited fashion... Being a single barrel lover, I thought this one LS had the best pickers a few years ago; but their last efforts had been mediocre at best. I didn't know if their choices were limited or they had lost their touch, but this article says a lot. Every time I visit a new store, I ask for barrel picks. I am hesitant if they don't have samples as they try to over sell how good it may be. This has been the case for about a year and a half. An OF Sib 100 has been the only "WOW" that I've had in that time period, with a WR DO from the same store, not bad at all... In the past, store picks were almost ALWAYS pretty significantly better than the standard release of the same product. I can only think of one or two that weren't. Lately it seems to be about 50/50 whether they even just as good as the regular release. I have had a couple OWA and ER picks that were (IMHO anyway) way below the quality of the standard release. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flahute Posted June 26, 2021 Share Posted June 26, 2021 13 hours ago, Clueby said: Interesting read about barrel picks. https://www.gobourbon.com/op-ed-have-private-barrel-picks-jumped-the-shark/ I saw this as well and agree 100% with the author. It's been the case for a couple years now. I remember about 5 years ago telling my whiskey friends (the ones I trusted) that good single barrels / store picks were where the action was if you got shut out of the LE's. I was right for about 2-3 years after. Then it all changed. Luckily I stocked up while the getting was good. I'm also still picking good barrels with my group and my local so I'm still adding to the bunker. Outside my group and my local though I don't trust any of other store picks out there. The great barrels are so far and few between. And I've always, always, always, hated the stickers and wax. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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