What bourbon did you purchase this spring season of 2025?

[Kepler]

3 hours ago, markandrex said:

I’m sticking with my mantra of only shopping after a medical appointment.  This is to placate my wife’s concern about the size of my bunker.  My boys are not concerned and normally help themselves when home.  It might take a large Uhaul when I’m gone though so, I understand  the concern, I just don’t share it.

Back on  topic, 2024 4RSBLE.

 

I like your strategy. 

[JT3NSB]

Passed through the area and stopped at Dickel today.   Picked up a 15yr that is 20ish yr at $75 before tax and wondered what is in the $525 18yr? 

 

 

[Skinsfan1311]

35 minutes ago, JT3NSB said:

Passed through the area and stopped at Dickel today.   Picked up a 15yr that is 20ish yr at $75 before tax and wondered what is in the $525 18yr? 

 

 

The 15 year is my favorite Dickel...

[Kepler]

39 minutes ago, JT3NSB said:

Passed through the area and stopped at Dickel today.   Picked up a 15yr that is 20ish yr at $75 before tax and wondered what is in the $525 18yr? 

 

 

 

 

And I notice that 18 Year bottle is also only 700 mL.  Seeing more and more of this in new special releases unfortunately.  I tolerate it with scotch (so many of those have already converted to 700 mL) because the scotch country of origin standard bottle size is 700, but I'm less forgiving of American whiskey companies.  It's purely a shrinkflation situation as I predicted.

[Skinsfan1311]

9 minutes ago, Kepler said:

 

And I notice that 18 Year bottle is also only 700 mL.  Seeing more and more of this in new special releases unfortunately.  I tolerate it with scotch (so many of those have already converted to 700 mL) because the scotch country of origin standard bottle size is 700, but I'm less forgiving of American whiskey companies.  It's purely a shrinkflation situation as I predicted.

Amen!

JD does that shit too..

[MSB]

1 hour ago, Kepler said:

 

And I notice that 18 Year bottle is also only 700 mL.  Seeing more and more of this in new special releases unfortunately.  I tolerate it with scotch (so many of those have already converted to 700 mL) because the scotch country of origin standard bottle size is 700, but I'm less forgiving of American whiskey companies.  It's purely a shrinkflation situation as I predicted.

1 hour ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

Amen!

JD does that shit too..

As is Woodford with some of there special releases.  

 

I think this might be the future of all btls (700ml). I hope not. Business wise it makes sense but as a customer, I DONT LIKE IT.  I think we will get less juice and pay the same or more for it. 

[kcgumbohead]

15 hours ago, Skinsfan1311 said:

The 15 year is my favorite Dickel...

I've seen that posted among several SBrs. I'm a Dickel fan but never went for the 15yr. The initial BiB to me was a bit too oakey so I try to stay under that threshold. The latest 12yr BiB I think is fantastic, such an underrated pour that sits on shelves while the taters clamor to overpay for whatever FB/Insta tells them they need.

[rzelinka]

18 minutes ago, kcgumbohead said:

I've seen that posted among several SBrs. I'm a Dickel fan but never went for the 15yr. The initial BiB to me was a bit too oakey so I try to stay under that threshold. The latest 12yr BiB I think is fantastic, such an underrated pour that sits on shelves while the taters clamor to overpay for whatever FB/Insta tells them they need.

I find many have a dislike for Dickel. Some referring to it as the Dickel funk. I have the 15 year and found it to be enjoyable. 

[Anwalt]

I got a few Dickel 15 KL Wine SP bottles. $50. Stupid cheap for what it is. And I LIKE my vitamins & minerals.

[markandrex]

 

[Kepler]

21 hours ago, MSB said:

As is Woodford with some of there special releases.  

 

I think this might be the future of all btls (700ml). I hope not. Business wise it makes sense but as a customer, I DONT LIKE IT.  I think we will get less juice and pay the same or more for it. 

 

I see Pursuit United is overhauling their packaging.  Guess what bottle size they decided to downsize to?  Yup 700 mL

 

Press release Pursuit Spirits unveils new expressions alongside packaging redesign

 

I've never bought a bottle of their stuff and now I have another reason not to.

[rzelinka]

15 minutes ago, Kepler said:

 

I see Pursuit United is overhauling their packaging.  Guess what bottle size they decided to downsize to?  Yup 700 mL

 

Press release Pursuit Spirits unveils new expressions alongside packaging redesign

 

I've never bought a bottle of their stuff and now I have another reason not to.

Sadly we will see more of this trend. Why, because they can

[MSB]

44 minutes ago, Kepler said:

 

I see Pursuit United is overhauling their packaging.  Guess what bottle size they decided to downsize to?  Yup 700 mL

 

Press release Pursuit Spirits unveils new expressions alongside packaging redesign

 

I've never bought a bottle of their stuff and now I have another reason not to.

I am not sure I have said this here before, so bare or bear with me if I have. 

 

I read somewhere that there is more bourbon in barrells aging now than ever before. Somewhere between 2-4 times what was stored 15-20 yrs ago. But the bottling of bourbon has remained relatively the same in that same time frame. ( i will try to find my source)

As you all prolly know ,I can find a lot of false info. Lol

 

So with the boom busting, what is going to happen? Less bourbon drinkers, tariffs affecting global sales and distribution,  more bourbon aging, same bottling volume, and demand diminishing.... are they going to give us better bourbon in smaller bottles(same or more $$$) or continue status quo? Will global markets benifit once the tariff wars end?  

 

Maybe this belongs on a different topic. My bad.

[MSB]

If my interpretation of this chart is wrong, I know I will be corrected. 

 

Is it true? I have no idea.

[Kepler]

26 minutes ago, MSB said:

I am not sure I have said this here before, so bare or bear with me if I have. 

 

I read somewhere that there is more bourbon in barrells aging now than ever before. Somewhere between 2-4 times what was stored 15-20 yrs ago. But the bottling of bourbon has remained relatively the same in that same time frame. ( i will try to find my source)

As you all prolly know ,I can find a lot of false info. Lol

 

So with the boom busting, what is going to happen? Less bourbon drinkers, tariffs affecting global sales and distribution,  more bourbon aging, same bottling volume, and demand diminishing.... are they going to give us better bourbon in smaller bottles(same or more $$$) or continue status quo? Will global markets benifit once the tariff wars end?  

 

Maybe this belongs on a different topic. My bad.

 

It's complicated and tonight I'm too distracted to offer a thoughtful response.  FWIW, there is a whole thread here on SB in the General Bourbon forum dedicated to your very questions.  That thread has been going strong for 10 years.  When you have some free time to waste, you might find it interesting (and possibly amusing, 20/20 hindsight being what it is) to skim over some the predictions folks have had about this bourbon bubble the past several years.  

 

That thread is named "Our ongoing observations about whether the boom has peaked"

[fosmith]

On 5/6/2025 at 5:18 PM, JT3NSB said:

Passed through the area and stopped at Dickel today.   Picked up a 15yr that is 20ish yr at $75 before tax and wondered what is in the $525 18yr? 

Wow!  20 yo Dickel and nearly cask strength for $75 is unbelievable in today's market, and the whiskey is insanely good, even at lower proofs.  I've had some 17 and 18 yr ones that were outstanding.  What's the proof on your bottle?   I had a bottle at 84.x proof that had amazing concentration of flavor.  

 

What I heard (from someone who got it directly from Dickel) is that these barrels come from the lower floors of the rickhouse and lose proof as they age.  They have a range of target proofs for these so, at bottling, they proof them down by 1-1.5% or so in order to simplify the bottling and labeling process.  So, my most recent bottle of 15yr, bottled at 96.2 proof, probably came out of the barrel at around 97 proof.  That small amount of water is not going to impact the flavor to any significant degree.