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Josh A

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Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Josh A » Tue Sep 20, 2011 11:08 am

A friend of mine is getting married up in Cinci in just over a month, and he's trying to find a bottle of the Van Winkle Rye as a present for one of the groomsmen, and has asked me for help.

Anyone happen to have any ideas off the top of their head for where to get a bottle before he starts hitting the phones and I start poking around some of the little liquor stores around Louisville?
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Steve P

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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Steve P » Wed Sep 21, 2011 2:27 am

Good fricking luck...Ever since JVW won the James Beard award (actually prior to that if you want to get right down to it) that huge sucking sound you hear is Kentucky's premium/seasonal Bourbon being exported into the hands of left/right coast dickweeds who wouldn't know good Bourbon if it came up an bit them on their Jack and Coke stained hands. As I understand it from folks "ITB" (and PLEASE, someone correct me if I'm wrong) in a normal year it's about a 70/30 spilt with 70 percent of the premium/seasonal Bourbons staying in KY. THIS year it was (apparently) the exact opposite with 70% of the product leaving the state. Personally, if it means anything, about April of this year I observed the "asking price" for premium Bourbons (Rye's, etc) on EBay (etc) almost double within a two week period.
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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Leann C » Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:43 pm

Have you checked with Old Town Liquors?
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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Robin Garr » Tue Sep 27, 2011 9:29 am

Leann C wrote:Have you checked with Old Town Liquors?

Good idea. Westport Liquors (Westport Village) and Prospect Party Mart also serve upscale audiences and pride themselves on being able to fill special requests.
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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Brad Keeton » Tue Sep 27, 2011 12:14 pm

This is a bit late, but the Van Winkle Rye generally isn't hard to fine at all. My go-to, Hometown Liquors at Bardstown and Bonnycastle always has it.

Pappy 15, and to some extent, Pappy 20, are the two that are getting very difficult (impossible regarding Pappy 15) to find. Pappy 23 can be found - because of the price point it doesn't sell like crazy.
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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Pete O » Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:35 pm

Robin Garr wrote:
Leann C wrote:Have you checked with Old Town Liquors?

Good idea. Westport Liquors (Westport Village) and Prospect Party Mart also serve upscale audiences and pride themselves on being able to fill special requests.


Actually Robin, these are the last places I would check ... they are popular stores with lots of regulars that like good whiskey. It gets snapped up quick in these shops. I would try the out of the way package shops that specialize in cheap beer and plastic traveler bottles of cheap bourbon. These are the places that are less likely to move higher end bourbons.

My 2 cents,
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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Robin Garr » Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:47 pm

Pete O wrote: I would try the out of the way package shops that specialize in cheap beer and plastic traveler bottles of cheap bourbon. These are the places that are less likely to move higher end bourbons.

My 2 cents,
-Pete

Two cents well spent, Pete! You make a good point, but I wonder whether your average liquor store/bottle shop even gets these high-end booze items. My thinking was that Charlie at Westport and Jamie at Prospect are in the business of customer service and seem to be savvy about digging up rarities on request from the distributors - even if there's none on the shelf.

Maybe a desperate seeker might try BOTH approaches, high and low? 8)
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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Steve P » Wed Sep 28, 2011 12:37 pm

Robin Garr wrote: Two cents well spent, Pete! You make a good point, but I wonder whether your average liquor store/bottle shop even gets these high-end booze items. My thinking was that Charlie at Westport and Jamie at Prospect are in the business of customer service and seem to be savvy about digging up rarities on request from the distributors - even if there's none on the shelf.

Maybe a desperate seeker might try BOTH approaches, high and low? 8)


Robin, etc.

The problem is really two fold. (A) Availability and (B) Greed. Every indication is that, as a result of increased popularity, local availability of premium and/or seasonally released products is down. In short more of it is going elsewhere. I'm good with that...it means our products are getting the worldwide attention they deserve. Where I get a little heartburn is with this cottage industry-like secondary market (online auctions, etc) that has (seemingly) sprung up over night. Again in short...Upon learning of a limited release (Pappy is a perfect example)...People are driving door to door buying up EVERYTHING they can. THEN they put the stuff up on Ebay (or market it directly to out of market bars/restaurants and retailers) for phenomenal markups. (Note: not sure what people are actually GETTING on the secondary market but if it's half of what they are asking, it's an arm and a leg).

Here's a link or two that may help illustrate what I'm talking about:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... Categories

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=Buf ... m270.l1313
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Re: Trying to find a bottle of Van Winkle Rye

by Todd Antz » Sat Oct 01, 2011 4:14 pm

Steve P wrote:Good fricking luck...Ever since JVW won the James Beard award (actually prior to that if you want to get right down to it) that huge sucking sound you hear is Kentucky's premium/seasonal Bourbon being exported into the hands of left/right coast dickweeds who wouldn't know good Bourbon if it came up an bit them on their Jack and Coke stained hands. As I understand it from folks "ITB" (and PLEASE, someone correct me if I'm wrong) in a normal year it's about a 70/30 spilt with 70 percent of the premium/seasonal Bourbons staying in KY. THIS year it was (apparently) the exact opposite with 70% of the product leaving the state. Personally, if it means anything, about April of this year I observed the "asking price" for premium Bourbons (Rye's, etc) on EBay (etc) almost double within a two week period.


Great points Steve. I had a customer stop in the store the other day talking about all the Van Winkle products he found up in Chicago. Imagine 10, 12, 15 and 20 Year Old just sitting on the shelves collecting dust because the customer base does not drink bourbon? We used to be able to purchase Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year by the case (12 bottles), and I got a total of 4 bottles last year. Ever since the Sazarac company got hold of the brand, they've sent the bourbon to markets that simply don't deserve it. The still would sell as much of it as they currently do, but without having to bother shipping all over the country, or even to Japan, which strangely gets more of the product than neighboring Indiana!
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