Happy hunting season. I wanted to start this out by a story that just happened to me last week. I am constantly looking for special and unique Whiskeys. Last week I stumbled on to some special bottles. While on a trip to see some family we had a day to go through a small town and view some of the local shops. There was not much to look at for the guys in the group so we started at a brewery. The Women of the group got to shopping and still were able to out last the guys at the bar. As we were meeting up again I saw a little antique shop and decided to meander around. There was a lot of stuff in this shop, but as I shop in places like this I am looking for something that might be resold for a profit. This was the goal of the day for myself. As I was looking around I saw some old Jim Beam Decanters. I had seen these in the past and have even bought a few as gifts for some friends. Some of the decanters are worth decent money but at this shop this did not appear to the the case. The lady that was working was chit chatting with me as I looked around, and as I was getting ready to leave I told her that some of the decanters are cool. Her response was what caught me by surprise, she said "Some of them are full too!" At this point my ears perked up. I have tried some OLD whiskey in the past, and the juice can be very good. As she showed me the unopened bottles I started to get even more excited. I was looking for signs of evaporation or leakage but was not finding those signs. This means that there is a chance that the Bourbon inside was still good. Check out these bottles!
These bottles date back to 1984 and were basically stored sense then. I want to comment on just a few things when stumbling upon these. Earlier bottles had a cork cap and have a chance to disintegrate, that is why you want to shake and see if you can hear a lot of sloshing around, or worst yet see if there is any leaking. These can be signs that the alcohol has evaporated and the bourbon inside is no longer any good. The bottles that are pictured are all screw caps and this means that there is more likelihood the bourbon is still good. When making the purchase I understood there was a high chance that 2 or more of the bottles would contain whiskey that was no longer good. Think of bourbon flavored water, it wont make you sick just what is the point of drinking? This was a great find for me personally because I like the history and randomness of the find. It was very cool to me.
Now on to the true bourbons people are hunting.
Each year starting in September the annual releases of special bourbons hit the markets. These hard to obtain bottles are considers whales (or very hard to get). Still, each year the hunt begins. The most notorious bottles are Pappy Van Winkle, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC), and Old Forester Birthday Bourbon.
I will say in the past I have spent much time chasing these bottles. To be fair I have tried many of these special bottles and can see why they are so special. With the bourbon market shifting and prices soaring I have to say that I will not chase these bottles any longer, this does not mean that if I stumble upon one that I would not buy. The reason I have such a hard time hunting these bottles is because when you find one the asking price is often 10x the suggested retail price. I drink bourbon, collect bourbon but when things get that high in price, its hard to say that the juice is that great. If you are willing to spend $1500 USD on a bourbon more power to you, but for me to do this, I want true unicorn tears.
Some Bourbon/ Whiskeys that are part of the annual release that are more attainable are Jim Beams Bookers line Little book, this is a blended whiskey that is more on the experimental side. This year they blended some very young whiskeys that they distilled at a lower temp to bring out different flavors from the still. Others to be on the look out for are Midnight Winters Dram and Parker's Heritage Collection. These whiskeys are not as in demand and still fit the profile of something that would be a special pour for the right occasion.
Happy hunting season, out of curiosity what is your special pours? What bottle would do you think looks the most special? Are their any Whiskey that you think should have been included? Let me know down below.