Same Old Season, Changing Times. . . .

Joined Sep 2003
9K Posts | 0+
Puerto Rico/NYC
Y'know, . . .

it REALLY should be Changing Season, Changing Times. What does The Boob of Bloofingtonia mean "Same Old Season?" Isn't it, . . .

like, . . .

June, like?

Well, it's not very June-like here yet, and I'll thank you to keep your summer to yourself. I know it's a tall order, but please try, hee, hee, heee!!!

Ah yes, Ye Olde Shipe. Me ship is in, and Ah dun shivered me timbers a few times. I went to Warehouse Wines on Wednesday for a bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon, No. 14. Then on Thursday, I went to Warehouse Wines for Vintage 21 year old (No. 6) and a new one, the aforementioned (no, not here) Old Fitzgerald 1849. Then yesterday, I went to Astor Wines to look around, but Warehouse Wines kicks their ass across the board these days, so it was back to Warehouse Wines for a bottle of Vintage 23 year old, my No. 2.

HOW 'BOUT DEM BOURBONS!?!!??! HOW 'BOUT DEM BOURBONS!??!!

Some tips fer sum yall folks.

Pappy's 20 has obviously now standardized at $89.99+(shipping or tax). Yeah, yeah, yeah, tell me Shopper's Vineyard still lists it at $74.99. They've also been listing it at "out of stock" for a long time. Wait'll you see what it costs the next time they get some in. Parker's Heritage Collection is standard at $79.99+.

Don't expect too much imagination or surprise products over the next few years at least. Corporatization, mergers, foreign bigwigs plying their trade as overseers of vast American holdings, including famous distilleries, don't want to see accidents like all the overpriced 21 and 23 year old ryes and bourbons around these days. While some of them have hit it big, others have massive price tags that will leave these whiskeys sitting on the shelf until some CEO comes along to buy it, then goes and complains about how the 23 year old, $180 rye wasn't any better than the stuff he used to drink as a kid.

Expect to see stuff not overly aged, either. Some accidents may still be on the block for release, but my guess is it'll be after 2020 that we start to see any sort of return to grass roots American creativity. Hopefully by then, some of these distilleries will have had the misfortune to not sell enough of certain whiskeys to provide us with some more accidents, but priced like the regular stuff, the way Hirsch and some others used to be priced.

In the meantime, reach deeper in to your pockets, and know there's still a lot of great whiskey out there. There's also an awful lot of over hyped, over priced whiskey, and old accidents that some people are trying to get over with and make some money on, before a lot of people discover that these 21 and 23 year old whiskeys with the fabled stories of glory days gone by are nothing but pretty bottles and fancy tales.

In the meantime, as long as I get to drink bourbon, which may be all summer after I get like, . . .

an air conditioner, . . .

like, . . .

I'll keep filling you in and adding to the Top 25 or Top 10 of Rye if anything worthwhile comes along. In the meantime, forget the glory days of great prices, or a steal of a deal on a product like Hirsch 16. When I look at the price now, and think I never paid more than $44.04 for a bottle of that stuff, and noticeably less most of the time, I just shake my head.

Time Marches On - Tracy Lawrence, 1996.