angelshare Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Moderators, please eliminate this thread if I am duplicating something similar from the past! Honest, I did search.I was just wondering if you guys had any favorite personal anecdotes about your bourbon quests with respect to blunders or coups. Personally, I have a lot more regrets than big successes.1) About two months ago, I passed up a bottle ER 17 not realizing it was in short supply.2) I regret not bunkering an old bottle of Bulleit because I think it would have been cool to have now.3) Not bourbon, but I regret not buying more than one "Jack in the Box" at JD in 1994.4) I regret not stocking up on IWH about 8 months ago when I was still seeing it everywhere.5) I regret not looking harder for export only items when I was in the Bahamas in 1998 - I'm sure I would have found something! It's the only time I've been out of the country. As for successes/dumb luck, we did blunder into buying RR 1792 right before the B-F/Barton thing blew up. I also blundered into snagging a bottle of Old Commonwealth before I realized it was lucky find. Of course, the regret is not buying more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Moderators, please eliminate this thread if I am duplicating something similar from the past! Honest, I did search. Don't worry we had something similar but not strictly bourbon related 5) I regret not looking harder for export only items when I was in the Bahamas in 1998 - I'm sure I would have found something! It's the only time I've been out of the country. Don't feel too bad Dave... My friends parents go there (it seems) every year and all they ever really found was Blantons Silver and Gold and only once they found that reproduction Maxwell House bottle from Jack Daniels. The only major regret I have is not calling or driving out to NJ earlier when I was tipped off that this small store still had some Wild Turkey crystal decanter that came in a wooden box. It was supposedly selling for about $150 so I passeed, and come to find out later on they were once in a blue moon on eBay for over $250! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgonano Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I was just in the Bahamas in May and believe me even the Blantons was gone. No special bottlings could be found. This was disappointing. Had to settle for some special rums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneCubeOnly Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 My biggest bourbon regret is not trying Weller 19 when there was a full shelf. I was still a novice in my high-end tasting, and there was an 'anti-wheater' contingent here on SB.com to which I unfortunately listened too carefully.My other big regret is not looking for bourbon in Bermuda--there was a spectacular shop in St. George which had everything imagineable. With my love of Blanton's it would have been great to try their exports.As far as bourbon luck goes, I suppose my bunker-supply of 1792 three days prior to the ordered recall might qualify, as would discovering a shelf full of Jacob's Well in Nashville last month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I feel almost guilty telling you this, Dave, but ER 17 is still on (at least) a few shelves here. Probably what's shelved is all that's left, but it's been my impression that there really aren't a lot of knowlegdeable bourbon drinkers/collectors here in Jack Daniel's country -- those sorts of things eventually disappear, but just in the normal course of business. Nobody (besides me) goes out searching for them.As to the topic, my greatest luck, I guess, was that the first Hirsch 16yo I found was a local bottle from the first, blue-waxed bottling. Biggest regret -- that I didn't buy the only Weller 19 I've ever seen, despite its $99 price tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I found one bottle of Hirsch 16yo. blue wax top The asking price was $75. I thought that was a little to much. Was i right or wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_Pogue Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Bourbon regrets: Prohibition putting our family's 1/2 century old distillery virtually out of business when it made some of the most popular Kentucky bourbons of its day. Bourbon luck: Having the good fortune to bring one of the brands back for retail as a small batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paradox Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Considering the price of the latest release has gone up from its original $40 and the previous gold wax was selling for around $60 2-3 years ago, I personally would have grabbed it for $75. But that's me from a collector's standpoint. Also, I find the older Hirsch 16 bottlings to be a bit better believe it or not, so that may also have factored into my decision. Can you still get it if you wanted to or does this fall into the permanent 'regret' category? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWhiskeyViking Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Nobody beats me in the regrets! Not discovering the blessings of good bourbon sooner. Think of all the bottles missed. Any body higher? “Luck†Discovering 2 bottles of GTS 2002 after spending roughly a month combing thru countless internet sites – advertising the bottle, when they didn’t actually have any left – morons. Weller 19 and ER 17 are still “widely†available here in Europe (as is Sazerac) – but the prices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadewood Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Bourbon Luck- Finding 4 bottles of 2002 Stagg release sitting on the shelf about 4 months ago. Traded 2 of these; one for Weller 19 and another for the original bottle of Ridgewood Reserve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNbourbon Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 I paid $67 for this one -- $73+ after TN sales tax. Since I didn't have a single bottle yet at that point, I probably would have paid more. Fortunately, I didn't have to ponder that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8erdane Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Bourbon luck and regrets sometimes comes in a package, like buying Hirsch 20 for 125.00 and WT 12 last month but having to leave two bottles of old style label Hirsch 16 sitting in the cabinet. Hope they'll still be there when I get back later in the year but I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voigtman Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Bourbon regrets: Didn't buy Weller 19 when it was available, so I never got to try it (same reason as OneCubeOnly ); Didn't buy more Hirsch 20 and Hirsch 16 ; Didn't try Elijah Craig 18 5 years earlier ; Didn't try Elijah Craig 12 5 years earlier ; Didn't meet WEG3 years many earlier ; Didn't try Pappy 20 years 5 earlier and I could go on and on ... Bourbon luck: Two bottles of Hirsch 20 at $96 each ; Elijah Craig 18 regularly at $29 each !! And it is on sale for $25 each !!!!! Cheers, Ed V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 It was was still available 2 weeks ago.Some small store in Indiana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerFan Posted July 19, 2004 Share Posted July 19, 2004 Finding 3 bottles of Weller 19 last fall.Trading one for a bottle of Stagg 2002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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