Liquor Store "Huh?" Moments

[Bourbon Sabbath]

5 hours ago, BDanner said:

Hmmmmm....A roll of TP and a bottle of Flintstones Chewables and I may pull the trigger.

And if you can't locate the Flintstone chewables, a shot of Dickel will suffice.

[steven s]

beat me to it

 

[PaulO]

I was out doing my grocery shopping yesterday and decided to check on one of my favorite liquor stores.  They had a folding table set up in front of the store and a paper sign indicating customers not go into the store.  A lady asked "what can I get for you".  I said "I'm good, I just wanted to browse".  So, I bought nothing.  I like this store because I'm often surprised to find items there that others don't have (or better deals).  Taking the browsing out of the equation sort of ruins it for me.  I could tell they were doing a brisk business on beer and whatnot.  I didn't feel it was the time to have an elaborate question and answer session about what they did or didn't have and the price.  I wish them the best, and will return when things calm down.

[jvd99]

On 4/18/2020 at 7:55 AM, PaulO said:

I was out doing my grocery shopping yesterday and decided to check on one of my favorite liquor stores.  They had a folding table set up in front of the store and a paper sign indicating customers not go into the store.  A lady asked "what can I get for you".  I said "I'm good, I just wanted to browse".  So, I bought nothing.  I like this store because I'm often surprised to find items there that others don't have (or better deals).  Taking the browsing out of the equation sort of ruins it for me.  I could tell they were doing a brisk business on beer and whatnot.  I didn't feel it was the time to have an elaborate question and answer session about what they did or didn't have and the price.  I wish them the best, and will return when things calm down.

Ask for the bottle of PVW in the managers office 

[PaulO]

This was a new employee to me.  She seemed stressed.

Now, if it had been one or two of the other employees (who in the past have gotten me items from under the counter or office) - a proper bull session would have been initiated. 

[Mattk]

The local Total wine had a hit on a Kentucky Owl batch 1. I went to go check it out. When I got there it was a batch 2. Which I pointed out to the employee helping me. He insisted it scanned in his system as batch 1 and was therefore batch 1. I left it there and ended up walking out empty handed.

[lcpfratn]

10 minutes ago, Mattk said:

The local Total wine had a hit on a Kentucky Owl batch 1. I went to go check it out. When I got there it was a batch 2. Which I pointed out to the employee helping me. He insisted it scanned in his system as batch 1 and was therefore batch 1. I left it there and ended up walking out empty handed.

Kentucky Owl, like most other batch whiskey products, doesn’t change UPC codes from batch to batch. Someone at Total Wine added the batch to the description when the product first came in and hasn’t changed it...better to never include the batch in the product description to start with if the UPC doesn’t change. 

[BigSkyDrams]

So when I was picking up some wine over the weekend, a clerk that I'm friendly with and who knows I like whiskey saw me checking-out some IW Harper 15 in the glass cabinet beneath the register.  I haven't seen it stocked in sometime, and wanted to check the price they had put on it: $75.  I've never had it before, but I've been curious.  In fact, I had previously made a thread about it here, which, at the time, tilted me into "not buying at that price" category.  

 

Anyway, as the clerk saw me looking he asked "do you like Blantons?"  to which I replied, "very much so."  Then he pointed to the IWH15 and told me it is the "same mashbill and everything as Blanton's".  I didn't press him on the details of what he meant, but I inferred him to be saying it is the BT mashbill #2 distillate which was then sourced by Diageo.  That certainly didn't sound right to me, though the appeal of the sales pitch is obvious: man would I love to try some 15 year old Blanton's!  Unless I'm missing something, I don't think he was trying to be misleading, just mistaken/confused . . . though I question where he would have received that misinformaiton. 

 

In any event, I won't be buying based on the sales pitch, but might buy anyway for all of the other reasons one might buy a 15 year old bourbon.  

[TehRegion219]

Tough to pull the trigger when it’s bottled at only 86 proof. 

I bought one last year when it first came out thinking omgbbqsauce, 15 yo sauce at a fraction of the price!?!? What a steal!!!!

 

Ive yet to open it.....

[Bob_Loblaw]

2 hours ago, BigSkyDrams said:

In any event, I won't be buying based on the sales pitch, but might buy anyway for all of the other reasons one might buy a 15 year old bourbon.  

 

27 minutes ago, TehRegion219 said:

Ive yet to open it.....

 

It's not good.  

[TehRegion219]

1 hour ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

 

 

It's not good.  

Exactly what I thought. Wish I could get that $80 bill back.....  coulda got 4 VOB100s

[mal00768]

But it's age stated and 15 years old guys. 

 

It's looks totally great on my shelf.

[Mattk]

It would really look great on the shelf, it's a really pretty bottle.

[BigSkyDrams]

Whether I will actually buy it or not is perhaps another topic -- though as has been pointed out, would make a fine decanter once empty.  But to the point of this thread:  it is not 15 year old Blanton's, right?  I can't imagine it would be sitting on shelves for $75 anywhere if that had any modicum of truth.  

[Bob_Loblaw]

44 minutes ago, BigSkyDrams said:

 it is not 15 year old Blanton's, right?  

Others will have more concrete info, but I would say zero chance it can be Blantons.  Maybe it happens, but BT does not seen to ever really source out or sell any of its distillate that I know of.  And even in the unlikely scenario that it is BT juice I would have a harder time imagining that they would ever let center cut "Blanton's" barrels from Warehouse H go.  But that's just my gut.

 

Interesting how people vary, I find the boxy, studded bottle of IW15 pretty ugly.  

 

On the decanter side, I really like ETL bottles for their compact size/shape.  Ironically, Blantons bottles look awesome as a decanter with labels removed.  4R BP or SiB bottles look good also as there is just the glass rose in the middle.  Hibiki (japanese scotch) has a really nice bottle that looks the most like an actual decanter vs an empty old bottle.

[FacePlant]

51 minutes ago, BigSkyDrams said:

 But to the point of this thread:  it is not 15 year old Blanton's, right?  

You are correct. It's not 15yr old Blanton. Information on IW Harper is easily found on the net.

[camduncan]

21 minutes ago, Bob_Loblaw said:

Hibiki (japanese scotch) has a really nice bottle that looks the most like an actual decanter vs an empty old bottle.

Sorry for the thread drift.... and fun story about using Hibiki bottles for water.... I work a few doors down from one of Australia's most awarded whiskey bar.  They used to use empty Hibiki bottles as water bottles for patrons to grab from a serving area for their table as they wanted/needed water.  Problem was, as Hibiki grew in popularity, customers started sticking them under coats, under shirts, and even down their jeans and walking out with them as a souvenir.

[BigSkyDrams]

30 minutes ago, FacePlant said:

You are correct. It's not 15yr old Blanton. Information on IW Harper is easily found on the net.

Yes indeed.  I guess I was asking more rhetorically, in the sense of, what would make this clerk think that?  I will have to engage him in some good-natured dialog next time I'm in to see what sort of information could lead to that kind of confusion.  

 

After reading some reviews on other websites, it does seem to be a divisive pour, as is at least a contingent of folks who rate it very highly, while other reviews are abysmal.  So, consistent with the prior conclusion, I think I'll let this one sit, at least until I can try a bar pour somewhere (which won't be for some time still).  

[Kane]

6 hours ago, Mattk said:

It would really look great on the shelf, it's a really pretty bottle.

Be the bigger person. Let the store owner enjoy it on their shelf.

[steven s]

i was disappointed for the $. do use the bottle as a nice decanter for the last ounces of bourbon bottles im finishing...

[jnewberg]

Had a little discussion with a store owner I have become friendly with over the past couple months... He kept asking why I come in and always pass on the Bookers, Angels Envy, WR Batch Proof and WP that I walk past every time... Told him I don’t value them at those prices and he keeps with the “state minimum” pricing that he follows... I told him I understand the pricing isn’t his fault but just in my eyes something I don’t value... I think he finally realized it and then he asked what he should probably stock for better value on tougher to get bottles... Never had someone ask even though they have a lot of knowledge... Was a good convo where sometimes it can be not so good 

[Flyfish]

On 4/18/2020 at 8:55 AM, PaulO said:

I was out doing my grocery shopping yesterday and decided to check on one of my favorite liquor stores.  They had a folding table set up in front of the store and a paper sign indicating customers not go into the store.  A lady asked "what can I get for you".  I said "I'm good, I just wanted to browse".  So, I bought nothing.  I like this store because I'm often surprised to find items there that others don't have (or better deals).  Taking the browsing out of the equation sort of ruins it for me.  I could tell they were doing a brisk business on beer and whatnot.  I didn't feel it was the time to have an elaborate question and answer session about what they did or didn't have and the price.  I wish them the best, and will return when things calm down.

Back in the Good ol' Days when Ohio was even more controlled than now, when you went in the LS you filled out a form to tell the clerk what you wanted and he went to get it. No such thing as "browsing." But, then, there was no need to browse because the guys in Liquor Control decided what you wanted and how much you wanted to pay. Apparently everyone wanted Beam White or Kessler's.

[Mattk]

Oh no! My favorite local spot has been discovered by the taters. The parking lot is always full. They have cleared the shelves of my daily drinkers for the most part and many other things. The "tater talk" is defining if you are inside and the lines are super long. This is a small family run business that has always been a nice quiet spot. It's terrible. However the owner did keep back a few bottles he knows I want and let me through "express" as I got checked out elsewhere. But damn, the tater swarm was massive. I had no idea. Btw the new WP farmstock is in almost every one of their orders. It's not even like I'm really on the beaten path, this store is in the exurbs.

[Shizzy]

Had a decent "huh?" moment at a liquor store yesterday.  Kentucky Owl batch 8 KSBW sitting in the case for $200, while the batch 3 rye sitting right next to it was marked at $350.  Walked out the door with the bourbon a happy individual.  Remarkable flavors.  Noses like a Four Roses product and has a finish that goes and goes.

[Vosgar]

In spite of a store employee trying to be helpful, is this condescending if it's usually true for most of us? Probably.......