More Dalwhinnie n' Stuff

If you're familiar with the vulgar terminologies of frathouse lore (or "locker room talk," as our president would say), you're probably familiar with the term "cock block." It's when a guy who's jealous of another guy's success with the ladies tries to sabotage that success out of bitterness and spite. It generally happens when a guy attempts to talk to a girl in a bar, gets rejected, then in anger attempts to prevent the next guy from any potential progress. I bring up that terrible term because a similar phenomenon is starting to occur in the booze retail world, especially lately with the advancement of sites like Wine Searcher that allow consumers to check pricing of a number of retailers nationwide. There's a relatively new practice of listing bottles that actually don't exist or that only exist in incredibly small quantities (like 1 or 2) at impossible prices in order to prevent any other retailer from having success with them. It's an asinine strategy that absolutely infuriates producers and distributors alike because it destroys their brand's market value, but they're often powerless to stop it because there's a law in the booze world that forbids their involvement even in discussing a retailer's pricing decisions. They're also powerless to say no to the sale because there's another fair practice law that forbids them from playing favorites with retailers of choice. Therefore, I've seen prices online for bottles of whisky that look great on paper, but when I actually call the store and attempt to purchase the bottle they can't seem to locate it. 

Funny, right? You've got this great deal for a whisky that doesn't seem to actually exist. Hmmmm....could that be what we call in the industry: bait and switch?

Well, I'm back today to talk about whisky deals that do exist (because like I said yesterday, I'm here to do business, not ruin businesses). My Dalwhinnie post from last week seemed to have struck a chord with some, especially when they went online and realized our price was pretty outstanding (that may or may not have been my intention). I got a number of subsequent emails from people who were thrilled with their purchase and others asking for similar values. I thought: why not try and work out a deal for some of the Dalwhinnie Distiller's Edition? That's pretty much just Dalwhinnie 15 put into Oloroso sherry casks. I went online and saw that some of my retail friends were selling the Distiller's Edition at $89.99, but is that really a deal? No. A deal would be $59.99, especially if I could hit that price by using my relationships, do a favor for a supplier, and actually purchase some volume, rather than simply trying to block other business out of spite or jealousy by purchasing two bottles and blowing it out to appear lower on paper. 

That's thirty bucks under the cheapest price on Wine Searcher and there's plenty for everyone. And I got that price by playing ball, not by blocking the plate. Just some friendly advice.

-David Driscoll