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Does the current value of a bottle prevent you from opening it?


theranman
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Do the crazy prices you see stuff selling for on the secondary market ever make you hesitant to open a bottle already in your stash?  I don't really have any unicorns, but I do have a few bottles that are "worth" 8-10x  what I paid (like OFBB) and many more that are worth 2-3x (like ETL or RHF).   I've never flipped a bottle in my life and I still plan on opening them ALL some day.  But I wonder if subconsciously it's affecting what I open next. 

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The potential value of a bottle that I have in my stash doesn’t usually keep me from opening a bottle, but scarcity, and the inability to easily replace a bottle, especially if it’s my last or only one, does sometimes keep me from opening certain bottles. I’ll eventually open everything I have, but some bottles might be saved for a special occasion. 

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Alas, the quintessential bourbon lovers conundrum.  :mellow:

 

Biba! Joe

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My game has not been going on long enough for me to never open. I do get to them all, eventually. My only bunker fodder are proven loves of particular items & I tend to have an open bottle of all of these. Some enjoyments are delayed, but they are going down eventually...

 

Enjoy the hobby & put into it what you can afford to put in & what you can afford to least lament about...

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Yes, I have a bottle of Booker’s Rye that is unopened. I will drink it someday/somewhere, I just don’t know when. The sad part is once it’s gone, it’s gone forever and I’ll never get another.  I’ve turned down offers for $700. I wont sell it, I want it for myself. In the mean time, it’s a conversation piece in my lounge for people who come over for a pour or two. 

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Hmmmmm.    Well, it hasn't as yet; but, I suppose at some point I may need to consider casing one or two Pappiez or a BTAC or two, I guess.   

I have no such plans, nor would it be an easy decision; but, I guess; never say 'never'.

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Unfortunately, like smokinjoe said..... absolutely. And it really irritates the hell out of me that I let it stop me from opening some of them.

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Never. Bourbon is for drinking and enjoying. Always open the best. If my bunker ever ran low, it would contain least desirable for me to open...the Jim Beam White given to me as a gift...the Jack Daniels no7 given to me by an in law who doesnt drink...the Benchmark no8 I bought when I was dared to.

I've seen some posts complain their bunker was getting low so they would have to open ' the good stuff'.   Good grief! Open the good stuff. Live!

I only have a few open at a time, but eventually they will all be opened and enjoyed.  There is so much great bourbon out there, who cares if it will ever be replaced in your bunker. Enough ranting, I need a drink.

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Unfortunately, yep.  That is why, if it's a unicorn, I try to get two; one to drink and one to keep.  But, some are too sentimental as well, like the Blanton's my kids got me for Father's Day or the engraved JD Single Barrel my wife picked at the distillery on Valentines Day. 

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Secondary market value never has caused me to hesitate.  Even primary market price hasn't caused me to hesitate opening although it has caused me to hesitate buying.  Once it is home, though, it is fair game unless I have a reason to save it like a birthday, anniversary, etc.

 

Physical scarcity, however, has caused me to ration sometimes.

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The good thing about whiskey is that you can open it and it stays good forever.    I've got a few unicorns,  most not yet opened,  but a couple have been opened for years and get brought out at special times.   

 

Which reminds me of a funny thing.   My daughter lives on the west coast,  and her fiancé dropped by my crib for the first time recently.   We naturally adjourned to my bunker and I offered him a taste of anything in the house, open or unopened.   We decided to obtain drams from my half-full bottle of A.H. Hirsch 16-year old bourbon,  the last of the original  Michter's,  and he got a kick when I showed him that the stuff was going for over $1,000 a bottle.   We enjoyed the comraderie,  and the sweet nectar,  and adjourned, leaving the bottle on the kitchen counter.    The next day,  the bottle was empty,  drained to the lost drop.   Seems my wife had dumped it into the pot roast,    

 

She was mortified,  but I couldn't get angry because the $1,000 pot roast just makes for too good a story!   (And yes, it was delicious)

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18 minutes ago, Jazzhead said:

The good thing about whiskey is that you can open it and it stays good forever.    I've got a few unicorns,  most not yet opened,  but a couple have been opened for years and get brought out at special times.   

 

Which reminds me of a funny thing.   My daughter lives on the west coast,  and her fiancé dropped by my crib for the first time recently.   We naturally adjourned to my bunker and I offered him a taste of anything in the house, open or unopened.   We decided to obtain drams from my half-full bottle of A.H. Hirsch 16-year old bourbon,  the last of the original  Michter's,  and he got a kick when I showed him that the stuff was going for over $1,000 a bottle.   We enjoyed the comraderie,  and the sweet nectar,  and adjourned, leaving the bottle on the kitchen counter.    The next day,  the bottle was empty,  drained to the lost drop.   Seems my wife had dumped it into the pot roast,    

 

She was mortified,  but I couldn't get angry because the $1,000 pot roast just makes for too good a story!   (And yes, it was delicious)

You'll be telling that story forever.  Funny

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Interesting as I was just about to post about this in the unpopular opinion thread. Yes!  I am greatly affected by the secondary value.  I am perfectly happy with what I am drinking and while Pappy and BTAC are all very good I would never pay the secondary price for them.  They are not that much better (20x) relative to the WT101 and BT and ECBP and ER and OF and EH Taylors of the world.  

 

I am very familiar with the argument  that it is only  worth what you paid and not the secondary price and wholeheartedly disagree.  To me its the same as someone who is up $1,000 in blackjack and says "It's ok!  I am playing on house money!"  No, you're not. You won that money, its yours. And that mentality is exactly what builds the house.  I am also familiar with the "you only live once and can't take it with you" argument, but that doesn't compel me either.  I would have no regrets if i died tomorrow and my wife liquidated my stash, or better yet, her and all my closest friends and family tore through it all.   It would be one hell of a party.   Finally, I am a start from the ground floor type of guy.  I lurked on here for quite awhile and went through several bottles of "bottom shelf" BiB expressions., I have worked my way through most of BT's offerings as well as Heaven Hill, then Wild Turkey. Currently going through 4 Roses (blind) and  most recently its been BF, but there is still so much to try!

 

The flip side (no pun intended) is that I also have no intention of selling for secondary prices so it is a total catch 22.  That said, if some random person just walked up and without solicitation offered me top dollar cash for everything in my bunker  I'd snap that deal.   I do think that after the missus and I buy our house I will start cracking more of the valuable bottles. when I have the bar space.  And there are certain occasions where I plan on opening something special.  For example, my father in law retired recently and when we celebrate it I plan to bring something rare and it will likely be opened and killed that night.  In the interim, there are still plenty of readily available bourbons I have yet to try and I will continue to explore and experiment with barrel aged cocktails and blind tastings.  

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I guess it's nice to know some items now sell for much more than the original purchase price.  I've tasted in the past, all but one bottle that are unopened in the bunker.  What keeps me from opening some bottles is the practical impossibility of replacing.  

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I don't think it's really value that keeps me from opening items as much as the inability to easily replace things that keeps me from opening some.  Although I've tried to do a better job of opening up some pretty nice stuff too.

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1 hour ago, PaulO said:

I guess it's nice to know some items now sell for much more than the original purchase price.  I've tasted in the past, all but one bottle that are unopened in the bunker.  What keeps me from opening some bottles is the practical impossibility of replacing.  

 

Everything I have is fair game aside from a few souvenir bottles that will likely remain unopened. They're nothing of value on the secondary market, just sentimental value. As Paul said, there are some that I've yet to open or return to infrequently because of the lack of available replacement, but they all will be finished at some point.

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Honestly, if I'm willing to buy it, it gets opened.  If it's more than I want to spend, pass.  My wife throws a fit when I buy Pappy, suggesting I should sell it, but I just pull the tab on the seal to end the argument...

 

I always offer the first pour to the LS I buy from. Just to prove I'm not flipping, but have never been asked to do it...

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14 hours ago, lcpfratn said:

The potential value of a bottle that I have in my stash doesn’t usually keep me from opening a bottle, but scarcity, and the inability to easily replace a bottle, especially if it’s my last or only one, does sometimes keep me from opening certain bottles. I’ll eventually open everything I have, but some bottles might be saved for a special occasion. 

For me, this is the perfect reply.  The only thing I will add to this what Freddie Johnson's father said to him when he went to cap the Pappy in the documentary NEAT.  I share with special bourbon with special friends. 

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I have two kinds of bottles in my collection. Ones that are open, and ones I just haven't opened yet. Admittedly, it's not the greatest collection, but I do have an opened Weller CYPB. A Forged Oak that I will open at some point. A Weller 12 that will be opened as soon as I finish my heavily rationed first bottle. A bottle of Age State Elijah Craig that I'll open when the mood hits. Living in a control state, I've never paid over MSRP for anything. It's not a lot of stuff that's crazy pricey on BSM, but a few things. As stated above, for me it's more about scarcity than what a bottle may fetch on the secondary.

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16 hours ago, lcpfratn said:

The potential value of a bottle that I have in my stash doesn’t usually keep me from opening a bottle, but scarcity, and the inability to easily replace a bottle, especially if it’s my last or only one, does sometimes keep me from opening certain bottles. I’ll eventually open everything I have, but some bottles might be saved for a special occasion. 

This. 

I open some fairly quickly (Booker’s 30th, a ‘95 WT 12/101 split) and others I’m hanging onto for a bit (Al Young, RR 2002). Most of my purchases are barrel picks and I don’t seek out LE all that often. 

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17 hours ago, lcpfratn said:

The potential value of a bottle that I have in my stash doesn’t usually keep me from opening a bottle, but scarcity, and the inability to easily replace a bottle, especially if it’s my last or only one, does sometimes keep me from opening certain bottles. I’ll eventually open everything I have, but some bottles might be saved for a special occasion. 

^^^^

This

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12 hours ago, mosugoji64 said:

 

Everything I have is fair game aside from a few souvenir bottles that will likely remain unopened. They're nothing of value on the secondary market, just sentimental value. As Paul said, there are some that I've yet to open or return to infrequently because of the lack of available replacement, but they all will be finished at some point.

Same.

They're meant to be enjoyed.

 

Disclaimer: that pic is not from my stash. They belong to a buddy of mine who feels the same way. His bunker is huge, the collection is valuable,  with a lot of expensive, rare, and hard to find bottles

He generously shares with his friends. Well, his friends who appreciate good bourbon.

 

20181019_214528.jpg

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