I was on the bourbon train for a time. I only like the 80-85 proof stuff. I have a lot of inventory that I will most likely never get to.
When I turned 50 I had my bday in Franklin, KY and we did the bourbon tours. I secretly went off and did get to try the Pappy 23. That wasn’t a good one for me - too boozy. But the guy that was sitting in the seat besides me and I had a nice conversation. He even ordered one for himself and we chatted about it.
I also got the first batch from Castle and Key. I opened one and was going to save another.
Later that year I won a lotto for Weller CYPB (White). Any time I ran into the Wellers I’d buy them (Currently have Green, Black, Blue). I am done trying to find/chase the rest.
I am also a fan of the old fashions - and I will use Angel’s Envy or 4 Roses.
So I went to get the details of the bourbon drop from the expert at the liquor store
Summary
While the doors open at 8, some bourbon bros will start lining up the evening before and stay there all night. I’m not doing that. Maybe I’ll show up 7am ish. They have over 1,000 bottles, so everyone should be able to get one. Some people will get back in line and be able to get 2. The allocations by bottle vary widely. They have many cases of some items, and only a couple items for others. The bourbon guy agreed with me that the Russell’s Reserve 15 will be one of the most sought after items. He confirmed it and others are selling for MSRP, which in that case is among the priciest bottles at $250.
Probably no shot at the Russell’s Reserve without getting there earlier than I am willing, as I think he said he had something like 15-20 bottles or so. Probably no shot at Bookers the Reserves, as he only got a couple of bottles. He said only a handful of bottles of that got allocated to my state, so he was glad to get his hands on some.
I’m lowering my expectations a bit on what I might be able to get.
I figured parking would be nuts (it was), so I walked to the bourbon drop. I arrived about 6:45am and there were hundreds of people waiting already. It was clear that quite a few of them had been there all night based on pizza boxes, sleeping bags, heaters… It looked like there were at least a couple of large crews doing this together. Doors opened at 8am, and the store was organized super efficiently with people grabbing bottles and out of there in no time. After people at the front of the line made their purchase, many of them were sprinting to the back of the line to go again.
I was far back enough that all of the very rare ones were long gone, but there were still quite a few nice options available. I grabbed a Blanton’s Gold for $129 and headed home. I was out of there by 8:30.
If I do this again, I’d say either get there a lot earlier or sleep in a little more. I’ll probably sleep in, but if I had friends wanting to get there earlier with me I might do it.
I’d guess there were about 50 people behind me when the line started moving initially. Didn’t pay attention to how much it might have grown when I left, largely due to folks making a second pass.
Another complication: I walked, and they wouldn’t let anyone back into the store with a bottle. I might have been able to leave my bag with the security guard had I tried to go back.
I did notice they had many cases of Eagle Rare 10 available on the shelves. It was not part of this drop. I think it was $45, limit one per person. That was a tough bottle to find a couple of years ago, but apparently they got a lot.
The duty free in my work trip this week always has tons of blantons and other stuff that i never see regularly. Maybe i buy something (other than Toblerone)
Used to be you could only get Blanton’s Gold overseas or at duty free. This is the first time I’ve seen a bottle at a regular US liquor store. Not sure when that changed.
I remember being in a Duty Free and a whole pallet of Blantons was being delivered - talk about ZOMBIES!
It was in St Thomas, V.I.'s and they weren’t limiting the # you could buy. $55 a bottle (I got the last letter to spell out BLANTONS too!! Viola!
