Interesting Situation with Florida ABC Liquior Stores

[BB Slim]

I was informed by my local ABC Liquor store manager that all rare or allotted bourbons must now be kept off the shelves and only sold to customers with ABC rewards card. Apparently some ABC store employees were using the store computer to locate allocated bourbon’s and were buying them to then sell on the secondary market. I assume these would include stuff like Weller’s varieties, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Stagg Jr, and E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof. Florida ABC’s have a lottery for their ultra allocated bourbons such as The Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Because of these transgressions store employees are not allowed to purchase any rare or allocated borbon.  I got the impression that they also would be much more restrictive in using the computer inventory to assist customers in locating these bourbons. The bourbon boom continues to corrupt. 

[JT3NSB]

 did you find anything good? 

[Mako254]

So how does one get a rewards card? My folks still live in Jax and I visit fairly often. A.l friendly clerk took care of my over Christmas w/ a weller 12 would hate to lose out on the occasional bottle. 

[BB Slim]

On 2/13/2018 at 10:26 AM, Mako254 said:

So how does one get a rewards card? My folks still live in Jax and I visit fairly often. A.l friendly clerk took care of my over Christmas w/ a weller 12 would hate to lose out on the occasional bottle. 

I got mine 18 years ago when there was a paper application you needed to fill out and turn in but figuring this may have changed I called the store and asked for you. The employee I talked to said they could sign you up at the register next time you visit or you could sign up on their website.  I’m not 100% sure but I think you have to be a Florida resident to enter their bourbon lottery which is the only chance to get something from the BACT.  They don’t get a ton interesting stuff but they do get Wellers, Stagg Jr., ETL, and differing Bowman expressions if your timing is good.

[BB Slim]

On 2/13/2018 at 10:01 AM, JT3NSB said:

 did you find anything good? 

I cannot tell if your serious or trying to be funny?

[Mako254]

21 minutes ago, BB Slim said:

I got mine 18 years ago when there was a paper application you needed to fill out and turn in but figuring this may have changed I called the store and asked for you. The employee I talked to said they could sign you up at the register next time you visit or you could sign up on their website.  I’m not 100% sure but I think you have to be a Florida resident to enter their bourbon lottery which is the only chance to get something from the BACT.  They don’t get a ton interesting stuff but they do get Wellers, Stagg Jr., ETL, and differing Bowman expressions if your timing is good.

 

Thanks for asking. I’ll sign up next time I’m down. A clerk in Panama City of all places was awesome during the holidays. He saw me browsing and asked what I was looking  for. Said I was from out of town hoping to catch something different than what we get (or dont get) in SC. He took my number said the BT/ saz truck was coming in the morning. He’d give me a choice of a bottle. Damned if he didn’t call at 11 w/ a weller 12. $29.99. Good guy. 

[alcoholica]

i've heard conflicting things from my local ABC. They have helped me out a ton with loading my bunker. Last week they had two bottles of Stagg Jr. come in, so at least in my area they are not holding for allocation. The stores in my area do it one of two ways: they either have a waiting list, or they hold things in the back until someone specifically asks for them. If the bottles hold a week then the employees can purchase. Most of the bottles are outside of the budget for these guys, and if they get caught flipping, they are fired. My area is very serious about it.

 

If they don't know you, my favorite ABC will ask for your rewards card. If you haven't purchased much, you could still get shut out. So don't think a card will be an automatic. I got my first bottle of Weller 12 from BS'ing with an employee. He said hold on a sec and came back with the Weller 12 and asked if i was interested. I have cultivated a few contacts at one of the stores and I'll occasionally get a text if something interesting comes in, but right now that appears to be Boss Hog and Kentucky Owl Rye. 

 

I'm prefacing my area, because I know different areas are run different ways. Also in my area, they will not sell to known employees of private liquor stores. It's actually awesome to watch. I was also told anything rare would be in the allocated lottery, but just not seeing that. It's just a slow time of year and FL tends to be a few months behind. ABC also tends to hold onto to items and disperse throughout the year. 

 

As for ECBP, it will be hard to find now that it won bourbon of the year. The problem continues to be that non-bourbon drinkers are buying bourbon. The minute the ATF gives a flip, this craze will come back to earth. Until then, the black market will spoil.

[JT3NSB]

2 hours ago, BB Slim said:

I cannot tell if your serious or trying to be funny?

i wasn't being funny.  you were in ABC discussing allocated and rare stuff.  did you end up with anything good? 

[musekatcher]

All predictable in a boom situation.  When the fad fades, and the non-bourbon drinkers move on, the market will have to come back to us loyalists.  Memory will prevail, some will profit, and others will disappear. 

[BB Slim]

21 hours ago, alcoholica said:

i've heard conflicting things from my local ABC. They have helped me out a ton with loading my bunker. Last week they had two bottles of Stagg Jr. come in, so at least in my area they are not holding for allocation. The stores in my area do it one of two ways: they either have a waiting list, or they hold things in the back until someone specifically asks for them. If the bottles hold a week then the employees can purchase. Most of the bottles are outside of the budget for these guys, and if they get caught flipping, they are fired. My area is very serious about it.

 

If they don't know you, my favorite ABC will ask for your rewards card. If you haven't purchased much, you could still get shut out. So don't think a card will be an automatic. I got my first bottle of Weller 12 from BS'ing with an employee. He said hold on a sec and came back with the Weller 12 and asked if i was interested. I have cultivated a few contacts at one of the stores and I'll occasionally get a text if something interesting comes in, but right now that appears to be Boss Hog and Kentucky Owl Rye. 

 

I'm prefacing my area, because I know different areas are run different ways. Also in my area, they will not sell to known employees of private liquor stores. It's actually awesome to watch. I was also told anything rare would be in the allocated lottery, but just not seeing that. It's just a slow time of year and FL tends to be a few months behind. ABC also tends to hold onto to items and disperse throughout the year. 

 

As for ECBP, it will be hard to find now that it won bourbon of the year. The problem continues to be that non-bourbon drinkers are buying bourbon. The minute the ATF gives a flip, this craze will come back to earth. Until then, the black market will spoil.

It's smart to preface in my area because I agree things vary from store to store and in different regions of Florida.  I probably should have reference here in Daytona.  I am pretty sure different regions of Florida get different allotments.  I was told, not sure how factual though, that the Fort Myers stores were the only ones to get ECBP but I  may be confusing it with total wine.  I have only seen ECBP at one liquor store in Florida (not an ABC) and they wanted $130 for it. I have went into stores around Orlando and managers have told me that none of the highly sought after bourbons make it to the shelf and are all sold on waiting lists.   Fining the right store and the right time is the key.

[BB Slim]

20 hours ago, JT3NSB said:

i wasn't being funny.  you were in ABC discussing allocated and rare stuff.  did you end up with anything good? 

Sorry!  I was able to find a Stagg Jr. Batch 9.  No Weller 12 or Antique this year because of the unscrupulous employees.  Any of the really rare stuff like BTAC is done through a lottery which gets harder to win every year.

Edited February 16, 2018 by BB Slim

[alcoholica]

14 minutes ago, BB Slim said:

It's smart to preface in my area because I agree things vary from store to store and in different regions of Florida.  I probably should have reference here in Daytona.  I am pretty sure different regions of Florida get different allotments.  I was told, not sure how factual though, that the Fort Myers stores were the only ones to get ECBP but I  may be confusing it with total wine.  I have only seen ECBP at one liquor store in Florida (not an ABC) and they wanted $130 for it. I have went into stores around Orlando and managers have told me that none of the highly sought after bourbons make it to the shelf and are all sold on waiting lists.   Fining the right store and the right time is the key.

I got the B517 (if that's the right number) at ABC. Missed out on a 2nd batch they brought in. So that's two that i know of last year, and they both made the shelves. So it must be Total Wine. They did tell me at ABC that if they aren't sold out/down of certain bottles, they won't get replenishment. So some of this could be a timing issue.

[BB Slim]

23 hours ago, alcoholica said:

I got the B517 (if that's the right number) at ABC. Missed out on a 2nd batch they brought in. So that's two that i know of last year, and they both made the shelves. So it must be Total Wine. They did tell me at ABC that if they aren't sold out/down of certain bottles, they won't get replenishment. So some of this could be a timing issue.

Sometimes bourbon stories can get like fish stories. I don’t know if you are near Jacksonville but I stopped into Whiskey Jax a couple years ago. They have an excellent bourbon selection so I ordered a pour of ECBP.  Told the wait staff that I was pleasantly surprised to see this on their list. She told the manager and he came over to the table to talk bourbon. He claimed at that time only 30 something bottles of ECBP made it to Florida and he got 20 of them. Not sure how factual he was but like I said other than empty tags I have only seen it once. Glad you got one. Alas, maybe on day.

[Theiano]

Some stores get better allocations than others, been over a year now since I lived in Jax but when I was there I found an ABC store that got one of the better Weller allocations, OWA around 4-5 bottles a month, I personally saw them get bottles of W12 in on a couple of occasions and also they were able to order in an ECBP for me (once the manager approved). One of the other ABC stores had said he hadn't even seen an OWA in 6 months when I asked, I know he was being truthful because he was the one who recommended the other store!

[alcoholica]

2 hours ago, Theiano said:

Some stores get better allocations than others, been over a year now since I lived in Jax but when I was there I found an ABC store that got one of the better Weller allocations, OWA around 4-5 bottles a month, I personally saw them get bottles of W12 in on a couple of occasions and also they were able to order in an ECBP for me (once the manager approved). One of the other ABC stores had said he hadn't even seen an OWA in 6 months when I asked, I know he was being truthful because he was the one who recommended the other store!

What I've found out is that some ABC's have bourbon fans working there and they help with the orders. Others just order whatever they sell the most of. So, if your store has some bourbon guys on staff, you'll probably have better luck than not.