The lean times are officially here

[flahute]

I've been noticing more and more when I'm in the liquor stores that the ratio of NDPs and other odd labels is as big or larger than the legacy distillers.

And, the legacy distillers that are present on the shelf are only there at the most basic level. It's been this way for a while so I'm calling it a trend.

Of course, your mileage may vary as we all have different situations in our various markets.

 

Here's the current situation with the big boys:

 

Wild Turkey - only 81, 101, 101 rye, RR10 (which was out but just restocked), and RR6 rye in stock. RRSiB, Rare Breed, and KS have been out for months.

Beam - all the basics are there plus the 108 proof single barrel, the OGDs, KC9 and rye. Standard KCSiB has been out for the last half year or so and no store picks have been around either.

Heaven Hill - the basic bottom shelf EW are available but no single barrel. Basic EC and rye. Larceny. 

Four Roses - everything but small batch available though single barrel is a couple bottles at a time so you have to strike when you see it. No store picks since last fall.

Old Forester - they are doing better with everything except 1870, 1910, and the rye available. (No single barrels or other LE's of course.)

Buffalo Trace - nothing. No joke. You can occasionally find basic BT but again, you have to strike fast. 

Barton - only 1792 SmB

Maker's Mark - everything but cask strength and 101 available though these two aren't out for too long in general.

 

Still lots of great bourbon to drink but I am at attention when RRSiB, Rare Breed, KS, and KC120 enter extended dry spells. McKenna and all things BT are old news of course but those didn't bother me too much when I had those others. Fingers crossed this is a temporary glitch in supply. Of course my bunker is deep so I can ride this out and the current situation which we all saw coming to a certain degree is part of the reason why we have them.

 

How are things in your area?

[Peprsprayyoface]

BT is all over here in CA. Regular at least. See it at every grocery store and even the place that does barrel picks down the street from me sells it cheaper than everywhere else because I think he purposely sells at cost so he can sell higher volume of the regular offerings and he gets all the rare stuff and jacks up the price. 

[FasterHorses]

I think its regional.  We are doing ok down here. 

[Peprsprayyoface]

Weller and Blantons are pretty non existent though. 2 years ago I got blantons at Albertsons. Now I can’t even find it at the specialty places at gouge prices

[mal00768]

As far as basic selection goes we are doing okay up here in MA. Including BT, but I don’t generally pay that much attention to products from here.
 

I agree that RRsib and 4R sib picks have become difficult to get. So they’re must be even more strain in the supply.

Edited April 11, 2022 by mal00768

[lcpfratn]

Many things are out of stock or in short supply in my area. Some come back in stock, but then quickly go out again. It’s across all spirits lines though, not just bourbon. Many times it’s bottle size issues. Many 1.75L bottles are not available, but sometimes it’s the reverse and 1.75L is available and 750ml isn’t. It’s a crazy world out there right now. 

[Skinsfan1311]

With the exception of WTRB Rye, there seems to plenty of everything, here in the Land of Pleasant Living (aka Baltimore metro area).   

 

Admittedly I don't look for, (or care for) Blanton's, Eagle Rare, or some 4R products.    

[BigRich]

Pretty much the same on Heaven Hill and BT products in Atlanta.  The rest we see pretty consistent stock. 

[PaulO]

A couple stores come to mind.  They have one thing in common.  They stock a fairly big number of different brands.  The way they do this is offering all these NDP brands, fake or real craft whiskey, plus flavor added swill of many brands.

It's amazing to me, some of this NDP or craft stuff, that seem to appear one day out of nowhere, are offered at crazy prices.  Look at the label.  There's nothing to justify it.

I go into Kroger, Big Red, or TW and see at the American whiskey area.  At least half of it is wasted space in my opinion.  Now I could be wrong from a business perspective.  No doubt there's a big profit selling bottom shelf well liquor at premium prices (if people buy it).

 

For the stuff I would buy, I do OK.  Mostly this is mid shelf offerings from the legacy distillers.  I know which stores stock what.  Nobody has everything.  I have seen some inflation price creep.  I'm at that Bourbon Zen place where I no longer drive around looking for unicorns.  Either I know on premise accounts or people in the supply chain gobble them up, or the value just isn't there for me.

[BogusOwnz]

RRSiB, Rare breed, and KS have been mostly gone in my area the last 4-6 months. Rare breed is around occasionally but has been hit with a recent price increase at most stores from previous $50 to know $56-$65.  

[Old Hippie]

Most are experiencing sporadic out of stocks on some items that are normally easy to find. This is due in large part to glass supply. When there have been large scale outages then the pipeline gets depleted and it takes several cycles to get that situation satisfied, and it can vary from region to region.

Good news is there are plenty of good whiskies available and these shortages provide us with forced motivation to make new discoveries.

[bayouredd]

20 hours ago, flahute said:

I've been noticing more and more when I'm in the liquor stores that the ratio of NDPs and other odd labels is as big or larger than the legacy distillers.

And, the legacy distillers that are present on the shelf are only there at the most basic level. It's been this way for a while so I'm calling it a trend.

Of course, your mileage may vary as we all have different situations in our various markets.

 

Here's the current situation with the big boys:

 

Wild Turkey - only 81, 101, 101 rye, RR10 (which was out but just restocked), and RR6 rye in stock. RRSiB, Rare Breed, and KS have been out for months.

Beam - all the basics are there plus the 108 proof single barrel, the OGDs, KC9 and rye. Standard KCSiB has been out for the last half year or so and no store picks have been around either.

Heaven Hill - the basic bottom shelf EW are available but no single barrel. Basic EC and rye. Larceny. 

Four Roses - everything but small batch available though single barrel is a couple bottles at a time so you have to strike when you see it. No store picks since last fall.

Old Forester - they are doing better with everything except 1870, 1910, and the rye available. (No single barrels or other LE's of course.)

Buffalo Trace - nothing. No joke. You can occasionally find basic BT but again, you have to strike fast. 

Barton - only 1792 SmB

Maker's Mark - everything but cask strength and 101 available though these two aren't out for too long in general.

 

Still lots of great bourbon to drink but I am at attention when RRSiB, Rare Breed, KS, and KC120 enter extended dry spells. McKenna and all things BT are old news of course but those didn't bother me too much when I had those others. Fingers crossed this is a temporary glitch in supply. Of course my bunker is deep so I can ride this out and the current situation which we all saw coming to a certain degree is part of the reason why we have them.

 

How are things in your area?

I almost posted something to this effect...

For a few months, you could tell there were a few things unavailable. The stores here had a sparse feel to them. Like a spirit was abound and not spirits. I paid little attention as nothing hindered me except for the missing BT stuff. The last two weeks have been different; finally no MM101 for the 1st time since it's inception & no Bulleit 10 year. WTH???

[Mattk]

Pretty much how it is here. Of course I focus on the rye. But many of my regular shelves are out of pours I would expect to be everywhere. So when I come across them I have been buying a few. Basically no LEs. Ritt, wt101 rye, and OF rye have been a game of patience. Baby saz has somehow been available. But thats pretty well over already it seems. Noe the ones that remain are well overpriced. This is northwest of Baltimore Maryland.

[Mattk]

9 hours ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

With the exception of WTRB Rye, there seems to plenty of everything, here in the Land of Pleasant Living (aka Baltimore metro area).   

 

Admittedly I don't look for, (or care for) Blanton's, Eagle Rare, or some 4R products.    

So actually pretty easy to get the rare breed rye up my way at the moment. Cant find a 101rye for the life of me.

[mbroo5880i]

I still most of what I want on the shelf just a little bit higher in price.

 

WT101 and WTR101 are pretty much everywhere and can often be found on sale.  Rarely see WTKS or RRSiB.  Rare Breed is around but often in the $60 price range.

OF100 seems to be showing up more places.  One retailer has had it on sale for $17.48 for the past few months.  Statesman, OF 1910, 1920 etc.  are plentiful.

BT - 750s and 1.75s have been hanging around for a while.  Never see any other BT products.
Standard Beam plentiful but KC comes and goes.  Bookers and Bakers show up occasionally.

FRSiB, SmB, and SmBSelect are plentiful.  Prices continue to creep up.

1792 Small Batch but nothing else.

 

I saw on Binny's website that EWSiB is KY only effective immediately. 

Edited April 12, 2022 by mbroo5880i

[Rhettro]

53 minutes ago, mbroo5880i said:

I saw on Binny's website that EWSiB is KY only effective immediately. 

Wha….??

[fishnbowljoe]

17 minutes ago, Rhettro said:

Wha….??

Yep. I just received one of my regular advertisement emails from them. I scrolled down aways and saw the following.

 

https://portal.criticalimpact.com/user/28901/image/whiskey-hotline/4-9-2022/evan-4-9-2022.jpg

Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon $34.99 Sad news, bourbon lovers. We just got word that the cases we received this week of Evan Williams Single Barrel will be our last. Effective immediately the brand will be sold in Kentucky only. This is a great bourbon and a tremendous value. Quantities are limited to stock on hand, strictly limited to 1 per person in store only.

[Rhettro]

12 minutes ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Yep. I just received one of my regular advertisement emails from them. I scrolled down aways and saw the following.

 

https://portal.criticalimpact.com/user/28901/image/whiskey-hotline/4-9-2022/evan-4-9-2022.jpg

Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon $34.99 Sad news, bourbon lovers. We just got word that the cases we received this week of Evan Williams Single Barrel will be our last. Effective immediately the brand will be sold in Kentucky only. This is a great bourbon and a tremendous value. Quantities are limited to stock on hand, strictly limited to 1 per person in store only.

BUT WHY!??

 

This is terrible news. Just terrible. EW SiB is one of my favorite dailies. I’m absolutely crushed. 

[fishnbowljoe]

HH making EWSiB KY only. Barton discontinuing tours. Kinda makes me wonder if there might be some truth to the “tongue in cheek” April Fools article in Bourbon Review/GoBourbon about Old Foresters Jackie Zykan. “We want single barrels off the market.”

 

Biba! Joe

[Anwalt]

8 hours ago, Rhettro said:

Wha….??

 

and "I saw on Binny's website that EWSiB is KY only effective immediately." 

 

Thanks for the heads up.  The distributor in PR still has a bunch of them for circa $37 each (good price by PR standards).  I took the liberty of getting a dozen of them.

 

Strange times it seems.  Given my newness to this, I understand the strangeness vicariously via you guys.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Anwalt

[JakeySnakes]

10 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Yep. I just received one of my regular advertisement emails from them. I scrolled down aways and saw the following.

 

https://portal.criticalimpact.com/user/28901/image/whiskey-hotline/4-9-2022/evan-4-9-2022.jpg

Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon $34.99 Sad news, bourbon lovers. We just got word that the cases we received this week of Evan Williams Single Barrel will be our last. Effective immediately the brand will be sold in Kentucky only. This is a great bourbon and a tremendous value. Quantities are limited to stock on hand, strictly limited to 1 per person in store only.

Major bummer! This is one of my favorite summer pours. Gonna need to stock-up. 

[PaulO]

1 hour ago, Anwalt said:

 

and "I saw on Binny's website that EWSiB is KY only effective immediately." 

 

Thanks for the heads up.  The distributor in PR still has a bunch of them for circa $37 each (good price by PR standards).  I took the liberty of getting a dozen of them.

 

Strange times it seems.  Given my newness to this, I understand the strangeness vicariously via you guys.

Whiskey distribution is a funny thing.  I've said before, the states can act like fifty foreign countries in this respect.  Thanks to this site, I see people posting stuff we stopped seeing a long time ago.  Also, Indiana is about the last place to get anything new, if at all.

Then we have the high end products, made and bottled in KY, only to be sold overseas, not in the U.S.

Still, I consider the glass half full.  On any day there are maybe 6 - 12 brands I think are quite good, and can easily buy at reasonable price.

[Anwalt]

 

21 minutes ago, PaulO said:

Whiskey distribution is a funny thing.  I've said before, the states can act like fifty foreign countries in this respect.  Thanks to this site, I see people posting stuff we stopped seeing a long time ago.  Also, Indiana is about the last place to get anything new, if at all.

Then we have the high end products, made and bottled in KY, only to be sold overseas, not in the U.S.

Still, I consider the glass half full.  On any day there are maybe 6 - 12 brands I think are quite good, and can easily buy at reasonable price.

 

OK, speaking of State Weirdness:  Worth getting?  Seems like an Ohio special.

 

https://www.ohlq.com/ohlq-hub/news-and-lifestyle/ohlq-exclusive/high-west-american-prairie-bourbon-and-double-rye-whiskey?utm_source=brand&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=exclusive-high-west&utm_content=american-prairie-view-exclusive-button-red

 

I will be in Ohio later today before heading to Indy Saturday and can get a bottle or two of each.  I also get that some of you are more value focused/cost sensitive

than others.

 

 

[smokinjoe]

While the last couple of EWSB have been good, I haven’t eagerly anticipated its yearly release for a number of years.  They had become less than…challenging?  I really believe HH let this one fall of their radar, and unlike when Parker Beam was guiding it, have not put much thought into the barrel selections.  I have noticed it’s absence from local shelves for several months.  Now, I know why.  Well, I’ve since re-found the redone 1783, which has replaced it on my bar.  Regardless, I would like to see a rebooted EWSB with older whiskey and more thought into barrel selection to make it the premium label it was intended to be years ago.  Perhaps, the move to KY only will provide that incentive and opportunity.  

[Jazz June]

While sad, this seems to make sense for the brand. Evan Williams is largely a value brand, with the green label, black label, 1783, and BiB white label all below $20. Evan Williams red label 12 year and the 23 year are distillery and export only as far as I know. The single barrel was some how in the middle of these two poles: a single barrel suggesting a more premium product, a mid-shelf price point, and yet nationally available. It didn't appeal to enthusiasts that much and I guess it wasn't convincing EW black drinkers to upgrade either. With Heaven Hill's plethora of brands and expressions, I'm sure they can easily find a place for these barrels, even if just to age them a touch more and put them in Elijah Craig. And this expression will still be available in Kentucky if there are still any Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage collectors left.