Old Grand Dad rumor

[Harry in WashDC]

On 12/5/2016 at 10:37 PM, smokinjoe said:

Absolutely, hogwash.

Well, I was going to sort of try to calm the waters by pouring bourbon on them, but some subsequent posts, which I happened to read before I hit "Submit Reply" (thank my lucky stars so I didn't embarrass myself again), sort of addressed that.

 

So, instead I'll just say that, yesterday, I inventoried and repackaged my OGD 114s I have picked up since before I saw the rumor (posted on SB first, at least that's where I first saw it).  It's getting tough to find at under $25 around here.  So, as Joe has suggested, I have been looking elsewhere along the bottom and middle shelves and have found gallons of consumables.  So much stuff.  So little time.  But, I'm doing my best.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Harry in WashDC
add a Y to luck

[Paddy]

^^^^An inspiration, you remain.  The force is strong, in you!   

[Bbstout]

23 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

You could start a poll for options of good/quality bourbons available at "non"-inflated prices, and have a dozen by morning.

Enlighten me...I have seen (in the last 4 years) ETL go from $27 to $40, OWA $18 to $32. Would you like me to go on? Also supposed bottom shelf bourbons like OGD 114 I have seen reports of people paying as much as $30. I understand there are other great values like McKenna, fighting cock, etc.. But all of those have seen an uptick in price as well.

[flahute]

2 hours ago, Bbstout said:

Enlighten me...I have seen (in the last 4 years) ETL go from $27 to $40, OWA $18 to $32. Would you like me to go on? Also supposed bottom shelf bourbons like OGD 114 I have seen reports of people paying as much as $30. I understand there are other great values like McKenna, fighting cock, etc.. But all of those have seen an uptick in price as well.

There's a difference between inflation across the board and artificial inflation due to demand meeting not enough supply.

[flahute]

All this talk about the questionable availability of good bourbon today versus yesterday reminds me of this post from the wayback machine of our archives:

 

https://www.straightbourbon.com/community/topic/98-todays-bourbon-vs-years-past/

[mosugoji64]

7 hours ago, Three quarks said:

 

Had some AAA 10* recently. Tasted and smelled like . . . Alcohol. Not trying to be smart either. That was the primary element. It was also in a plastic bottle (at least I think it was plastic) and I drank it (poured it out) from a plastic cup, which might have affected my opinion. BT is usually my favorite distillery, and I am happy to still have some AAA 10 year.

 

 

Thanks for the review. I was afraid of that. 

[Bbstout]

6 hours ago, flahute said:

All this talk about the questionable availability of good bourbon today versus yesterday reminds me of this post from the wayback machine of our archives:

 

https://www.straightbourbon.com/community/topic/98-todays-bourbon-vs-years-past/

Thanks for the link. My Bourbon reference is very limited compared to the knowledge of long standing members here. I am just frustrated with the current market being influenced by the secondary market. I have only been into bourbon for around 8 years. Not that long ago OWA, ETL, and many others were sitting on the shelf. I can afford to pay double or triple on certain bottles but I feel bad for the blue collar guy who's regular pour was OGD 114 for many years and now he has to ration because he is being priced out. I just have to accept the fact this is the way it's going to be. I have been into craft beer for a long time and the same thing is happening. The limited releases are being snapped up by truck chasers who literally follow delivery trucks and buy limited releases to flip on craigslist. Sad.

[Richnimrod]

Thanx for that link, Steve.    Pretty interesting comments, particularly Mike Veach's and Col. Cowdery's.    I've never tasted REALLY old (bottled not aged) Bourbon, so I can't say; but these guys have, and I trust their statements.

[Paddy]

Nice link Steve!  I agree that the older bourbons were richer and had more grain influence.  I've also noted the mint(y) characteristic discussed.  I've currently got an open ER101 from '84 that I've been working on.  It very much displays those influences, and reminds me of the bourbon I used to drink regularly. 

 

Having said that, we are currently flooded with not only a lot of very good bourbon, but a great many brands to select from.  Never have single barrel and barrel proof offerings been so easily attainable to the general consumer.  

 

In my current bourbon zen, my glass always remains half full!     

[Harry in WashDC]

On 12/8/2016 at 1:51 AM, flahute said:

All this talk about the questionable availability of good bourbon today versus yesterday reminds me of this post from the wayback machine of our archives:

 

https://www.straightbourbon.com/community/topic/98-todays-bourbon-vs-years-past/

OMG, Steve,what a wonderful find.

[BDanner]

Someone with an OGD114 fan page has claimed to have solved the mystery.....

 

 

[MeAndMyWhiskey]

As we might expect, what the Customer Rep cannot say is what will be happening to the product line "tomorrow". As of now it is actively produced and available. I guess we need to live in the Bourbon Moment-Zen and the Art of Bourbon Sipping. 

[Clueby]

I did notice a local store that had been cleared out was suddenly restocked..and at a $5/bottle increase in price.

No more Beam purchases for me till all this discontinued/not discontinued/huge price increase/incremental price increase nonsense stops.

[Limegoldconvertible68]

15 minutes ago, Clueby said:

I did notice a local store that had been cleared out was suddenly restocked..and at a $5/bottle increase in price.

No more Beam purchases for me till all this discontinued/not discontinued/huge price increase/incremental price increase nonsense stops.

Better yet, from my perspective, no more Beam buys PERIOD!  

[Thig]

Better yet, from my perspective, no more Beam buys PERIOD!  

I think it is obvious you are not going to buy any more Beam products, at least half of your 67 post have made that point.

[smokinjoe]

1 hour ago, Clueby said:

No more Beam purchases for me till all this discontinued/not discontinued/huge price increase/incremental price increase nonsense stops.

 

I'm afraid that if you used the same criteria to determine your bourbon purchases across all distilleries you'd not be buying any bourbon  for quite some time!   

[Thig]

My comment might have been a little snarky but to me saying you won't buy any more Beam because of what they did to Booker's is like saying I will never buy another Chevrolet Impala or pickup because they doubled the price of the Corvette.

[smokinjoe]

...

Edited January 4, 2017 by smokinjoe
Double post

[Limegoldconvertible68]

53 minutes ago, Thig said:

My comment might have been a little snarky but to me saying you won't buy any more Beam because of what they did to Booker's is like saying I will never buy another Chevrolet Impala or pickup because they doubled the price of the Corvette.

I have mouthed off a lot and will try to tone it down but just a few short weeks ago it was thought that this price increase would be so successful it would lead to other distillers following suit. I have to wonder if it wasn't for loud mouths like me bitching whining and moaning in every post here and else where if the outcome might have been different.  I love bourbon but I'm not going to be held hostage by it. 

[garbanzobean]

49 minutes ago, smokinjoe said:

 

I'm afraid that if you used the same criteria to determine your bourbon purchases across all distilleries you'd not be buying any bourbon  for quite some time!   

I was working myself up to a moratorium on B-S products, but then I looked through my inventory of whisky/whiskey and it appears I already don't purchase much of their stuff.  My current supply of Beam Suntory products consists of a couple bottles of Laphroaig 18 I bought back when it was $60 and not discontinued, a couple bottles of Hakushu 12 from when it was $50ish, and a couple random IBs of Ardmore and Bowmore.  The only B-S product I appear to have purchased in the last year was a bottle of Bowmore 15 Darkest from last summer, and it was tasty and reasonably priced.  Zero bourbons or ryes.  I doubt they are making a whole lot of money off of the IBs I buy, so if I "boycotted" them, it appears they would be out the profits of maybe one Bowmore 15 every other year or so.  It doesn't really make sense to stop purchasing a good quality, reasonably priced product ($60 for a 15 year old sherried peater ain't bad) so often just as some sort of symbolic show of rage toward a company that is behaving logically (even if they annoy me sometimes)?  I should add that I am more irritated with them for their behavior in the malt whisky realm, so the Booker's thing was more of an eye roll and "here we go again . . . " moment for me.

[garbanzobean]

5 minutes ago, Limegoldconvertible68 said:

I have mouthed off a lot and will try to tone it down but just a few short weeks ago it was thought that this price increase would be so successful it would lead to other distillers following suit. I have to wonder if it wasn't for loud mouths like me bitching whining and moaning in every post here and else where if the outcome might have been different.  I love bourbon but I'm not going to be held hostage by it. 

Oh I think it's still going to be very successful.  Unless they've changed tracks in the last 24 hours, the current plan is still to increase MSRP to $99, just more gradually than they announced at first.  If Booker's continues to sell well, the other producers of $50ish barrel proofers are going to have a hard time leaving that kind of change on the table.  The fact of the matter is that supply and demand for bourbon, particularly premium bourbons, are not really at equilibrium.  Increased supply and competition may help eventually, but in the short run I still think we are in for a few years of fairly drastic price increases.  Probably nothing close to what the malt whisky realm has endured, but still significant.

[Clueby]

5 hours ago, smokinjoe said:

 

I'm afraid that if you used the same criteria to determine your bourbon purchases across all distilleries you'd not be buying any bourbon  for quite some time!   

You may have a point. But I still don't have to like it! As Garbanzo said, it's not going to affect me much either. I have a new bottle (plus an inch or so in a 2013 bottle) of Booker's, 3 or 4 bottles of OGD114, and a mostly empty bottle of KC that I've probably had over 5 years.

[smokinjoe]

41 minutes ago, Clueby said:

You may have a point. But I still don't have to like it! As Garbanzo said, it's not going to affect me much either. I have a new bottle (plus an inch or so in a 2013 bottle) of Booker's, 3 or 4 bottles of OGD114, and a mostly empty bottle of KC that I've probably had over 5 years.

Oh...well sounds like you're not in the market for Beam anytime soon then, regardless of what Beam does with their product line offerings and pricing...

[BDanner]

On 12/7/2016 at 7:38 PM, Three quarks said:

 

Had some AAA 10* recently. Tasted and smelled like . . . Alcohol. Not trying to be smart either. That was the primary element. It was also in a plastic bottle (at least I think it was plastic) and I drank it (poured it out) from a plastic cup, which might have affected my opinion. BT is usually my favorite distillery, and I am happy to still have some AAA 10 year.

 

Same here. I get a lot of alcohol and a finish like Gold Listerine (Eucalytus and mint). Not impressed with this at all. 

[DeltaAlphaVictorEasy]

On 1/12/2017 at 8:07 AM, BDanner said:

Same here. I get a lot of alcohol and a finish like Gold Listerine (Eucalytus and mint). Not impressed with this at all. 

 

Tip for fellow NC'ers-  I have found on the shelves of some ABC stores here, the 'older style' bottles of AAA10*, which is the supposedly longer-aged stuff (more than 36 mos. although not 10 years). The bottle difference is slight- the older ones have rounded shoulders and the newer ones have more 'faceted' shoulders. The contents are definitely different.

 

On topic: the Orange County ABC stores still have full shelves of OGD114, priced at 29.99