Old Bourbon New World
When customers ask me about the state of the American whiskey market, it’s hard to avoid being a bit dramatic. There's still a ton of great whisky out there, but K&L is one of the last stores that's offering anything rare or special at even close to a reasonable prices. The result is a scrum to grab what few bottles we might have to offer.
At the same time, several great customers still remember a time when you could walk in and buy old Pappy, Willett Estate or Parker Heritage off the shelf for $100-150. Maybe they left one on the shelf to be polite. The new generation of bourbon lovers can't fathom a world where people passed those up, and god knows many of us did, so now it’s normal to see those sorts of prices all over the country on things we sell for $25-30. For nearly a decade now, there haven't been many truly surprising opportunities in American whiskey.
Yes we get amazing single casks from Willett, Four Roses, Buffalo Trace etc. There have been several fun, surprisingly available line extensions, like Wild Turkey Master’s Keep and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. Small ultra limited older releases from upstarts like Barrell Bourbon, James E Pepper, Mic Drop and others. But the bourbon world is so clued into each release. Add their limited nature, simple economics and you’ve got a recipe for massive price inflation or complete scarcity.
So beyond these big brand line extension and the great new distilleries we’ve found, only tiny bits of the rarest stocks are available. And that’s just the way it’s been for the last half decade. So I’m very skeptical of the market in general and the ability for someone to do something exciting and special at a reasonable price. We’re regularly offered mediocre stocks at outrageous prices. Usually they’re accompanied by an ugly bottle and an excited brand owner.
I’m pre-programed to assume new stuff is going to be terrible. But one whiff of this stuff and I knew immediately that we’d stumbled upon something different. Some cynical people might write this off as hype and to all of those people I beg you, please don't buy a bottle. This whiskey should be reserved for the hopeful. This isn’t a marketing exercise, but an invitation. I honestly feel very lucky to have gained access these special stocks and even more honored to be able to share them with my customers.
In nearly any other context, a brand having acquired these barrels would have turned them into some ultra rare super exclusive offering in a fancy decanter and pretty box. There would have been some story about how it was lost in the flooding after and earthqucl caused by a landslide. Or how they'd finally reacquired stocks that their 32 year old "Master Distiller" had made during his apprenticeship at some unnamed non-existent distillery. No one bothered to do the math. To be perfectly frank, we have even less information than even that made up crap. All I know is that this excellent whisky at a really solid price.
No, it’s not cheap by anyone’s measure. It's also true that you might find the odd single barrel of Knob Creek at 14-15 Years Old for $50, but honestly we just had three of those and they sold out in a week. If you’re lucky enough to have one of those, savor it. We don't expect the anomaly of old KC barrels to continue, especially when accounts on the east coast are already receiving younger stocks.
IW Harper 15 Year Old sells at a perfectly reasonable for $90. It's fine. Also not cask strength or non-chillfiltered and with equally obfuscated origins. But the 18 barrels that went into this batch of old Bourbon were a cut above. While I can only speculate at their origin, I can say with total certainty that they’re delicious. Just under 2700 bottles of this wonderful whiskey were created and we’re lucky to have snagged the exclusive for California.
You’ll have to drive to Texas if you miss it here, but then again I bought as much as I could possibly afford, so even with our very engage customer base, we might be able to hang on to this for a little while. Bottles should be available for pick up in April. Be sure to find and adjust your pre-arrival shipway settings or your bottles will be held in the warehouse when they arrive.