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Jimbaround

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How exactly do liquor stores order their inventory? I have a ton of smaller stores around me but most of them are never able to carry the select brands I'm looking for like Woodford Reserve master's collection. Are they required to buy in bulk? Can they not order 1 bottle of time from a wholesaler? Really not sure how it works.

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How exactly do liquor stores order their inventory? I have a ton of smaller stores around me but most of them are never able to carry the select brands I'm looking for like Woodford Reserve master's collection. Are they required to buy in bulk? Can they not order 1 bottle of time from a wholesaler? Really not sure how it works.
Oh boy, from the minuscule amount I know it's a complete shit show....
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8 minutes ago, HRSchenker said:

How exactly do liquor stores order their inventory? I have a ton of smaller stores around me but most of them are never able to carry the select brands I'm looking for like Woodford Reserve master's collection. Are they required to buy in bulk? Can they not order 1 bottle of time from a wholesaler? Really not sure how it works.

Allocated bottles are doled out based on sales volume. So smaller stores may only get a single bottle of something special (like a George T. Stagg or something else on that level). 

Even bigger stores like Total Wine don’t get a huge amount of allocated bottles either. For example, during this summer’s big Weller drop, most Total Wine locations were sent like 3 ETLs, a few Weller Full Proofs and like 1 Weller CYPB. 

The distributors also probably hold back more than what the distilleries have sent in order to gin up demand more than it already is, so there’s that part of the puzzle to consider as well. 

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Allocated bottles are doled out based on sales volume. So smaller stores may only get a single bottle of something special (like a George T. Stagg or something else on that level). 
Even bigger stores like Total Wine don’t get a huge amount of allocated bottles either. For example, during this summer’s big Weller drop, most Total Wine locations were sent like 3 ETLs, a few Weller Full Proofs and like 1 Weller CYPB. 
The distributors also probably hold back more than what the distilleries have sent in order to gin up demand more than it already is, so there’s that part of the puzzle to consider as well. 

Exactly. Lots of back scratching. The bigger stores can absorb a lot more of the Starr Blu vodkas is the world to get a little boost on the hard to find stuff. Some of the smaller stores may gamble on some of those types of items if they feel like they can move them.


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On 9/19/2020 at 12:06 AM, Neonmoon said:

ER is simply delicious. It outclasses many bourbons priced above it easily. 

Never had it but Long Branch is charcoal filtered 8 year old WT. I’m sure it tastes fine, but never heard of any glowing reviews. It was made to compete with 4R small batch, 1792, and Woodford Reserve. Those are mixers in my opinions. 

I don't know of a $35 dollar bottle (retail cost) as tasty as ER.

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re: the eagle rare discussion.  the limited times i've gone to my neighborhood cvs or pavilion's grocery over the past several weeks/months, i've seen eagle rare, always at retail, always around $32.  even after everyone on surly couldn't find it in texas, i could get it here (obviously i can buy booze at grocery stores and pharmacies, so apples and oranges).  i have an unopened bottle on my cabinet that i got in an instacart order several months ago, just in case, when we bought disinfectant and paper towels.  as recently as ~two weeks ago, it was still at cvs.

on friday, i went out to the valley to grab the bt kosher bottles, and got into a conversation with the woman who runs liquor at the grocery store i went to.  we talked about what was coming next to the allocated list, and i mentioned how "my friends in texas can't even get eagle rare, but here it's everywhere."  she said, "i don't know what's going on with eagle rare, but i can tell you this - every week i order 6 bottles, and every week i get 6 bottles.  this week, i ordered 6 bottles and i got 3 bottles.  that's never happened."

take that for whatever it's worth.

Edited by henrygandorf
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1 minute ago, henrygandorf said:

re: the eagle rare discussion.  the limited times i've gone to my neighborhood cvs or pavilion's grocery over the past several weeks/months, i've seen eagle rare, always at retail, always around $32.  even after everyone here couldn't find it in texas, i could get it here (obviously i can buy booze at grocery stores and pharmacies, so apples and oranges).  i have an unopened bottle on my cabinet that i got in an instacart order several months ago, just in case, when we bought disinfectant and paper towels.  as recently as ~two weeks ago, it was still at cvs.

on friday, i went out to the valley to grab the bt kosher bottles, and got into a conversation with the woman who runs liquor at the grocery store i went to.  we talked about what was coming next to the allocated list, and i mentioned how "my friends in texas can't even get eagle rare, but here it's everywhere."  she said, "i don't know what's going on with eagle rare, but i can tell you this - every week i order 6 bottles, and every week i get 6 bottles.  this week, i ordered 6 bottles and i got 3 bottles.  that's never happened."

take that for whatever it's worth.

We can only buy a single bottle at a time now in Va.  That started about 4 months ago.

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and to add - to whomever asked about "how it works and who gets what" when stores order - the people i've spoken to, who work at these places, generally tell me that they don't "order" anymore.  the allocated bottles "come when they come", and they don't know until they get there (or don't).

your best bet is to find a place that knows what you're looking for, and hope to get on some sort of list where they can give you a shout or a text, and then be able to drop what you're doing, because you're likely not the only person on that list.  the ma and pa liquor stores will probably take a $20 and help your cause.  the grocery store chains i've been working on will not take my money.

i would do something nice for them, but typically that means bringing them a bottle of brown.  so i'm kinda stuck on this.

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and to add - to whomever asked about "how it works and who gets what" when stores order - the people i've spoken to, who work at these places, generally tell me that they don't "order" anymore.  the allocated bottles "come when they come", and they don't know until they get there (or don't).
your best bet is to find a place that knows what you're looking for, and hope to get on some sort of list where they can give you a shout or a text, and then be able to drop what you're doing, because you're likely not the only person on that list.  the ma and pa liquor stores will probably take a $20 and help your cause.  the grocery store chains i've been working on will not take my money.
i would do something nice for them, but typically that means bringing them a bottle of brown.  so i'm kinda stuck on this.

This seems like a lot of effort. For a lazier and possibly more rare option...

Marry someone who sends a shitload of orders through the retailers.

Everything south of pappy becomes available.
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13 hours ago, H_Boogie said:


Exactly. Lots of back scratching. The bigger stores can absorb a lot more of the Starr Blu vodkas is the world to get a little boost on the hard to find stuff. Some of the smaller stores may gamble on some of those types of items if they feel like they can move them.


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If you find a store with a big display of Wheatley vodka or a bar with it all over their menu, chances are you'll see some Sazerac unicorns or coming thru there.  In many states Sazerac deploys a "point" system, where retailers/bars are given a weighted score (lower popularity/high profit e.g. Wheatley have higher points tied to them) by amounts of certain products they support and their point total dictates how much of the tough to get items they are allocated.  

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20 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

My buddy told me Sam Houston 14 sold out in about 3 hours at his local store. MGP hype isn’t Weller hype, but it’s getting there. 

The whole concept of MGP hype is hilarious to me. It would be like Pabst hype, or International Flavor and Fragrance hype, or Foxconn hype.

Why is this a surprise? It's a high volume contractor with the resources and history to hire whoever they want and produce a variety of product at any scale and enough management discipline to know exactly how to make that scale cost effectively. And people are surprised they can deliver something high quality when the contract calls for it? 
The real kicker here is that the vast majority of the audience for the product really can't tell the difference beyond a few broad strokes, but MGP does well because their real customers, the agers and bottlers and blenders, they know. 

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
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1 hour ago, billfromlaketravis said:

How does Sam Houston 14 compare to 1792 12 year? 

Heard nothing good about 1792 12 yr and passed at retail.  But if you send me a sample I’ll pour it side by side with SH14 and then confirm that it’s better because I want to believe that.

But damn, if W12 is the trade champ then 1792 Sweet Wheat should get honorable mention.  $34.99 and sometimes on the shelf 6 deep at Spec’s but going for $120+ secondary.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
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On 9/20/2020 at 5:33 PM, henrygandorf said:

re: the eagle rare discussion.  the limited times i've gone to my neighborhood cvs or pavilion's grocery over the past several weeks/months, i've seen eagle rare, always at retail, always around $32.  even after everyone on surly couldn't find it in texas, i could get it here (obviously i can buy booze at grocery stores and pharmacies, so apples and oranges).  i have an unopened bottle on my cabinet that i got in an instacart order several months ago, just in case, when we bought disinfectant and paper towels.  as recently as ~two weeks ago, it was still at cvs.

on friday, i went out to the valley to grab the bt kosher bottles, and got into a conversation with the woman who runs liquor at the grocery store i went to.  we talked about what was coming next to the allocated list, and i mentioned how "my friends in texas can't even get eagle rare, but here it's everywhere."  she said, "i don't know what's going on with eagle rare, but i can tell you this - every week i order 6 bottles, and every week i get 6 bottles.  this week, i ordered 6 bottles and i got 3 bottles.  that's never happened."

take that for whatever it's worth.

My local place out here always has plenty of ER, and I actually picked up a bottle recently.  But after reading your post, I might have to go back and snag a couple more.

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What prices do you think these Wellers are actually worth paying for (assuming you will be drinking and not trading)? 
W12
Antique 107
CYPB
Single Barrel
Full Proof
 
 

$50 for w12 and 107

$75-$100 for the rest


Full disclosure I found a w12 for $100 and WFP for $129 the other day in the same shop. Sold the w12 for $200 the same day and kept the FP. $29 for WFP ain’t too shabby
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47 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

What prices do you think these Wellers are actually worth paying for (assuming you will be drinking and not trading)? 

W12

Antique 107

CYPB

Single Barrel

Full Proof

 

 

W12 - $30 (MSRP) - I would pay $80

Antique 107 - $50 (MSRP) - I would pay $60

CYPB - $40 (MSRP) - I've never had this

Single Barrel - $50 (MSRP) - I've never had this

Full Proof - $50 (MSRP) - I would pay $100

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$50 for w12 and 107

$75-$100 for the rest


Full disclosure I found a w12 for $100 and WFP for $129 the other day in the same shop. Sold the w12 for $200 the same day and kept the FP. $29 for WFP ain’t too shabby
Someone paid you 200 for W12? What in the actual fuck. Who are these people who drop that kind of money on W12?
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13 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:
1 hour ago, Herbie Hancock said:

$50 for w12 and 107

$75-$100 for the rest


Full disclosure I found a w12 for $100 and WFP for $129 the other day in the same shop. Sold the w12 for $200 the same day and kept the FP. $29 for WFP ain’t too shabby

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Someone paid you 200 for W12? What in the actual fuck. Who are these people who drop that kind of money on W12?

They’re quite popular in Fireball contests because a spot is usually around $12-$15.  Basically a lottery ticket with 10% chance of cashing, so many feel that’s not too steep an investment in something that’s rarely available on the shelf at MSRP. 

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