What Should You Start Hoarding Now?

[cowdery]

On another thread, a poster tells about scooping up several bottles of A. H. Hirsch 20-year-old at $45 a bottle. The other day, Mike Miller (Delilah's) and I were congratulating ourselves for Hoovering up the last of the Old Commonwealth.

So, what should today's smart shopper be buying up for the bunker?

The first thing to look for is whiskey from defunct distilleries. There are still Stitzel-Weller dusties to be found. In even greater supply, though perhaps not quite as desirable, are Heaven Hill DSP-31 dusties. Many people try to buy all of the Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve 101 proof they can find, as well as the Eagle Rare 101 proof.

Everything I've mentioned above is a dusty. What about products in general circulation? Are there any whose like we'll never see again?

Remember, once upon a time you could buy all of the Very Very Old Fitzgerald you wanted for about $15 a bottle.

[OscarV]

The latest one would have to be Weller Centennial. They stopped making it months ago so if you see it, buy it.

[TNbourbon]

• BIBs. I'd bet there won't be any left in a decade -- if it takes that long.
  
• Anything 90 proof or higher that doesn't command a premium price (there isn't much in the 80-90-proof range to drop to 80 anymore -- so, I figure 90+ proof is the new 86, ripe for a either a proof reduction or a premium price).
  

[doubleblank]

Good question Chuck......I asked a similar question in the form of a thread and had an inital opinion very similar to yours back in Dec '05.

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4701

It seems the Wt RR 101 was a good call as they seem to be getting a premium over on fleabay. And as Tim said and others in the original thread.....high proofs in general like BIB's would be a good bet.

Randy

[camduncan]

Downunder, there are a couple of 'dusties' worth chasing....

Wild Turkey Russels Reserve 101 - There's still good supplies on the shelves of many stores, but that's it. Once these go, there's no more. It's $75 a bottle.

Wild Turkey American Spirit - still around, but getting hard to find. There were only 6000 bottles sent to Australia, but at $125 a bottle, it's not one of the cheaper ones to buy up.

Wild Turkey Liquor with Honey added - there are still some to be found, but these are true dusties now. Price varies from about $35 - $55 depending on store and area.

Nelson County 80 proof - This Heaven Hill product was introduced a couple of years ago at $24 a bottle making it by far one of the best bargains on our shelves (Jim Beam White sells for $28-$33 a bottle @ 75 proof) It's since gone the way of Beam and is now a 75 proof bottle.

Evan Williams 7yo - still some around, but getting harder and harder to find.

Evan Williams Single Barrel - any vintage before 1996 is getting hard to find.

Knob Creek - replaced a couple of years ago by 'Jim Beam Small Batch with Port Added' - KC is now almost impossible to find on a shelf.

There are a few other products that used to be distributed here that have gone completely - eg Sam Houston, Dickel, Fighting Cock, Jefferson Reserve.

[barturtle]

Anything with an age statement. They're quickly going the way of the Dodo...heck even some of the super premium limited release stuff...I remember way back when...All BTAC bottlings had one...the Small Batch from KBD all had one...There were quite a few 6-10yo with them...

[Jazzhead]

Here in South Jersey, I love to run into the occasional WT RR 101, but I've gotten the biggest kick from a dimpled bottle of Old Forester, especially the BIB.

I've run into I.W. Harper in several places, both in the regular 80 proof the BHC veined bottle with the 15 yo variety. They taste very similar.

Rapidly disappearing, and perhaps gone for good, is Jacob's Well. It's a quality Beam product.

[HighTower]

Wild Turkey Liquor with Honey added - there are still some to be found, but these are true dusties now. Price varies from about $35 - $55 depending on store and area.

Evan Williams 7yo - still some around, but getting harder and harder to find.

Cam,

Honey Liqueur - tell me how many you want soon before they're all gone :grin:

EW 7yo - If you know where this can be had or if you have seen any please tell me where!

I still have an 8yo bottle, I would love to do a vertical tasting of the 8yo/7yo/NAS and see how noticable if at all the change is.

Scott

[HighTower]

Wild Turkey American Spirit - still around, but getting hard to find. There were only 6000 bottles sent to Australia, but at $125 a bottle, it's not one of the cheaper ones to buy up.

1st Choice advertised them in their catalogue last week for $120, but good luck finding any at their stores. They started running out about a month ago...I think they re advertised to clear remaining stocks....which is a shame as I would like to find some of this in a couple of years.

In saying that, even if I don't, the 9 bottles I have here should last me a while!:cool:

Scott

[RWBadley]

EW 7yo - If you know where this can be had or if you have seen any please tell me where!

I still have an 8yo bottle, I would love to do a vertical tasting of the 8yo/7yo/NAS and see how noticable if at all the change is.

Scott

I saw a stash near here, but I may have trouble getting one down your way.

Cheers,

RW

[callmeox]

The latest one would have to be Weller Centennial. They stopped making it months ago so if you see it, buy it.

I bought two 750's of Centennial today thanks to a co-worker who was traveling out of state to visit family. I turned a few of my Canadian blend drinking workmates on to Forty Creek recently and they've taken to it like a fat kid and a candy bar. One guy is in Buffalo visiting family and was headed out to buy up a bunch of FC to bring home so I told him to call me if he saw anything on the shelf with Van Winkle or Weller on the label. To my surprise, he called and said that he found some Centennial and Lot B. Since I'm set on the latter, I took two of the former.

If I don't like it, I'll have one to trade for something else that I can't get in Ohio.

[mgilbertva]

All the one-off special releases, but that's a given. That would obviously include BTACs (as Timothy mentioned), Parker Beam Heritage, the 4Roses 40th and upcoming 120 anniv edition, and I suppose all the experimental wine-finishes from BT and Woodford. The last of the Hirsch gold foil, if you like that sort of thing (I don't). But again, those are the obvious choices.

Among the age statement bourbons, AAA 10yr is something we grabbed a bunch of and would again if I saw it. I know where there's some Old Charter 10 yr, but I'm not a big enough fan. I like the older, dusty expressions better.

Older bourbons and ryes, like those put out by KBD (Vintage, BMH, Michter's) and BT (such as Pappy's). Small releases like VWFRR and annual releases such as EWSB and OFBB. What about Henry McKenna BIB? Among harder to find releases, Wathens and OCPP come to mind. Definitely Wathens.

Current BIBs? VOB, VOHH, Old Bardstown, maybe even Old Bourbon Hollow.

[bromike666]

Man, I can't drink fast enough to keep up and try all the recommendations I get from these type of posts:smiley_acbt:

Purchased a couple of bottles of the Weller Centennial and the Russell's Reserve 101 today, still have about 20 bottles ahead of these I still need to open and try!

[VERITAS]

Wow - you found Russel's Reserve 101 in California? I've been up an down the state and haven't seen a single bottle - I'm dying to score a couple, but so far no luck....

[cigarnv]

I am not sure if you can go wrong with any high quality whiskey if in fact your hoarding is to offset what could be substantial price acceleration in the coming years. Just looking at the cost of grain, energy, transpotation costs and associated expense I sense we are in for significant price increases in addition to what rising demand will cause. Another concern is that of taxes which may rise as our governments look for additional sources of income. JMO....

[pepcycle]

Anything that lists DSP-KY-31

[bromike666]

Wow - you found Russel's Reserve 101 in California? I've been up an down the state and haven't seen a single bottle - I'm dying to score a couple, but so far no luck....

Internet is my friend, I use the Pro Version of Wine Tracker and my CC.

[mgilbertva]

I find I am an inveterate bourbon hoarder. Unfortunately, I'm running out of room to store things. Maybe that's a good thing - now I have a physical limit to help suppress my urges which will help my pocketbook.

[cigarnv]

I find I am an inveterate bourbon hoarder. Unfortunately, I'm running out of room to store things. Maybe that's a good thing - now I have a physical limit to help suppress my urges which will help my pocketbook.

Mark, keep on buying and I will store it. The best part of "NV Storage" is that I do a weekly quality taste check to insure that your stock is in good drinking order.......

[camduncan]

In relation to my previous post, I've personally been hoarding bottles of Wild Turkey RR 101 and Evan Williams SB expressions (I have a couple of bottles of each from '93 onwards)

Thanks to the generosity of one of the board members, I have a US version of Wild Turkey American Spirit and am trying to track down a couple of Australian releases.

[pepcycle]

The space limitation is physical.

The mind will win.

You will not stop until every space you own is filled.

[mgilbertva]

The space limitation is physical.

The mind will win.

You will not stop until every space you own is filled.

That's what my wife is afraid of!

[pepcycle]

Wife??

You still have a wife???

There's plenty of room still available then.

Its your choice what to do with it.

(Shoes-Out, Pillows-out, Artificial Flowers-out, Stagg-IN!!!!)

[TNbourbon]

Well, now, if the question is 'what am I hoarding now?', then, of course, it's the c. 19 liters of proven Stitzel-Weller stock -- which doesn't include the 4 fifths I have open and 'reduced', nor the 1.75L Weller 12yo, old-label I found in Bowling Green last month, with '04 embossed in the bottom (let's see, 2004 minus 12 years is: 1992! Bingo, works for me!) -- I have.

Three I have open are leftovers from the Sampler in April. Generally, I have one open at a time. And, I still run across one, increasingly infrequently, once in a while. With luck, only its memory will last as long as I do.

[TomH]

I guess today is my last day of hording. Having built my bunker/hoard to 301 unopened bottles, the time has come for them to serve their purpose - supplying me with good drinking during my retirement.

As of today, I am officially retired (actually Thursday was my last working day). With a lot of BTAC and ORVW 15, along with scotches from every region and subregion, I ready to begin leaving more bottles on the shelves and start drinking what I have. While I will probably not buy more than 1 bottle of any release in the future, I will risk the wrath of the wife if I stumble on any stash of ORVW15.

Tom