What market is more absurd, Rolex steel or allocated Bourbon?

[Blaner]

Are the market conditions for Batman/Pepsi/Daytona any different than the market for Pappy Van Winkle, BT Antique Collection, and now Blanton's?

[GB-man]

As someone who enjoys both I will keep this short. I think the bourbon market is more absurd when you consider the multiples on resale and the product differentiation.

But and this is a huge but...Bourbon has the advantage of being a drug. The general public is highly unlikely to walk away from alcohol with how engrained it is into our culture. Watches I am not as convinced.

As such I am more confident in the price stability of some of my bourbon bottles than my watches.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by GB-man

As someone who enjoys both I will keep this short. I think the bourbon market is more absurd when you consider the multiples on resale and the product differentiation.

But and this is a huge but...Bourbon has the advantage of being a drug. The general public is highly unlikely to walk away from alcohol with how engrained it is into our culture. Watches I am not as convinced.

As such I am more confident in the price stability of some of my bourbon bottles than my watches.

I agree

In addition, you can only drink the bourbon once. The watch can stay for years through multiple owners.

[bdex75]

Just happy I don’t have a palate for either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[77T]

The supply chain is much different - it takes a decade (or more) for an increase in bourbon production to hit the market by the high-demand distilleries.

They both share an out of whack demand curve - bourbon trumps watches, though.

For example, the price of a 116500 is 2x MSRP in the secondary market.

23 y.o. Pappy’s fetches 8-10x of its MSRP.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[enjoythemusic]

Limited Edition Ferrari cars, Ford F40s...

[brandrea]

I had no idea there was such a thing as allocated bourbon. Learned something new here today.

[Ferdelious]

Originally Posted by GB-man

As someone who enjoys both I will keep this short. I think the bourbon market is more absurd when you consider the multiples on resale and the product differentiation.

But and this is a huge but...Bourbon has the advantage of being a drug. The general public is highly unlikely to walk away from alcohol with how engrained it is into our culture. Watches I am not as convinced.

As such I am more confident in the price stability of some of my bourbon bottles than my watches.

Well said.

[Clinton Ave]

Both are absolutely ridiculous but I'd say watches are worse. At least bourbon there's so many great options.

I grabbed a bottle of Blanton's today for $70. Same store just upped their price on McKenna 10 Yr to $50 from $35. My other two stores are also now at $50 for McKenna. Haven't bought any at that price and passed on the Eagle Rare at $35 at one of my local spots.

When I'm overseas now I specifically look for hard to find US bourbons. Found an Old Rip 10 Yr for $150 US (London), a Weller 12 for $80 US (London), and Blanton's Gold for $90 US (Paris) in the last couple months. Not great, but decent enough prices.

[Blaner]

I think the bourbon market is crazier. I've been lucky enough to come into a few rare bottles - Pappy 23, 20, and 15 to name a few...and even had an outside chance at Pappy 25.

But when something is 10x retail price, that's insane. I guess the one thing that makes more sense is that it's fairly transparent...a store gets an allocation, they sell it in the fall, you don't worry about it again for a year. (At least on Pappy).

The Blanton's thing is almost crazier to me. Pappy is like the Daytona or Nautilus. We understand why those are at a premium. But Blanton's is like Milgauss suddenly selling for 15k on the gray market, at least in my head.

Having said that, I'd gladly trade from my Pappy collection for a slot to buy a Daytona at MSRP.

It's also not really feasible to flip most bourbons. Even if I wanted to sell my Pappy 23, I don't even know how i'd do that legally.

[JasoninDenver]

Here in Denver, people are camping out tonight for the latest release of the Stranahan’s Snowflake Colorado whiskey.

https://www.9news.com/article/life/s...4-f359ef377b88

[mfm22]

Bourbon allocation ? Wow who da thunk ? Glad I'm a beer drinker

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Blaner

I think the bourbon market is crazier. I've been lucky enough to come into a few rare bottles - Pappy 23, 20, and 15 to name a few...and even had an outside chance at Pappy 25.

But when something is 10x retail price, that's insane. I guess the one thing that makes more sense is that it's fairly transparent...a store gets an allocation, they sell it in the fall, you don't worry about it again for a year. (At least on Pappy).

The Blanton's thing is almost crazier to me. Pappy is like the Daytona or Nautilus. We understand why those are at a premium. But Blanton's is like Milgauss suddenly selling for 15k on the gray market, at least in my head.

Having said that, I'd gladly trade from my Pappy collection for a slot to buy a Daytona at MSRP.

It's also not really feasible to flip most bourbons. Even if I wanted to sell my Pappy 23, I don't even know how i'd do that legally.

I will take it off your hands for a handsome profit

[Blaner]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I will take it off your hands for a handsome profit

Hah, 9x? :-)
I think the 20 tastes better anyway, but everyone has a different favorite.

[GB-man]

Originally Posted by Blaner

Hah, 9x? :-)
I think the 20 tastes better anyway, but everyone has a different favorite.

not that handsome haha everyone has their take. I agree 20 over 23.

[Flyinghunter]

Absurd levels: Allocated Whiskey > Rolex

[bdex75]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I will take it off your hands for a handsome profit

This is how. Ran into the same thing with some Budweiser collectible wood crates with beer, glasses etc in it.

And have the same issue with a bottle of Sam Adams Utopias that I have. Will never drink it but bought because I knew I could sell. But how to sell gets tricky as eBay etc pulls the listings down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Blaner]

Part of me thinks I should just drink it all and sell the bottles on ebay empty for more than i paid for them originally, but the problem there is that in 98% of the cases, they're being bought by counterfeiters, which is no bueno.

It's very much the same as the Rolex thing - it costs this much because there's not enough to stock in stores and demand far exceeds supply.

My "AD" (hah) told me he got a shipment of Rock Hill Farms in....I had no idea what it was, but he said I should buy it...so I did...and it's going for something like 3-4x on the secondary market.

[fusionstorm]

An interesting parallel is that finding “dusty” bourbon at current retail (while not easy) is far more likely for the non-professional than finding a vintage Rolex for a reasonable price nowadays. Of course as time passes, it gets more and more difficult as collectors hunt/chase what’s still out there “in the wild”.

If I’d been smart enough to invest in bourbon at the then market prices when I was acquiring my vintage collection, I would have seen a far better ROI on the bourbon than Rolexes.

[encarter13]

I remember when I could walk into any liquor store and buy Blantons. Now, it is impossible to find.

I enjoy bourbon, but I am not the type of guy to get on a waiting list for bourbon nor would I pay secondary market prices.

[Rashid.bk]

Wow, never would have thought but makes sense. Guess I'm happy my wine tastes are simple, don't want to imagine what's going on with that can of worms.

[Brew]

I had no idea this is what has happened to the bourbon market. Interesting. Looks like my efforts to save my liver, may have also saved my wallet.

[DoxaDavid]

It is a crazy market for some bourbons now. Found two bottle of Blanton’s in Georgia at a couple little out of the way liquor stores while visiting friends. Can’t find it anywhere up north.

I think there are very good small batch producers out there which is what I look for now. I won’t pay silly prices for consumable products. Too many alternatives I find just as good.

[Kowaco]

It’s the economy. People have more money. Manufacturers are catering to people with expendable cash.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[akordz]

Haven't really looked or thought about it in such a way

[ashbaug2]

Originally Posted by beshannon

I agree

In addition, you can only drink the bourbon once. The watch can stay for years through multiple owners.

Just like watches, the bourbon craze has been fueled by social media, with people buying "rare" bottles (sound familiar...?) and just putting them on shelves, not to be drank or enjoyed. Then they trade them, sometimes over and over again. Pappy, BTAC, other limited releases... Their secondary market prices are extravagant and make it difficult to justify actually opening the bottle to enjoy because the juice won't be nearly as good as the expectation at the price they paid...

I have a whiskey bar here in my area (actually heading there tonight) that has every limited release bottle you could think of... but they buy it at secondary prices for 8-10x the MSRP so they charge an arm and a leg for a pour. Many of them are sitting on the shelves unopened.

[ashbaug2]

Originally Posted by bdex75

This is how. Ran into the same thing with some Budweiser collectible wood crates with beer, glasses etc in it.

And have the same issue with a bottle of Sam Adams Utopias that I have. Will never drink it but bought because I knew I could sell. But how to sell gets tricky as eBay etc pulls the listings down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

There are sites out there for it, or you can ship it to the UK and have it listed in an online auction (US Laws prohibit such listings on auction sites because of our 21-and-over drinking laws). I've bought several bottles of Blanton's Gold and SFTB, as well as a few "dusty" bottles of various brands, through various auction sites.

[Db7566]

Kowaco is dead on.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Sublovin]

It’s social media. Up until maybe 15 years ago, people would buy rare whiskies to impress friends at dinner parties. Now it’s to impress strangers on the Internet. The social
media craziness has taken everything up a notch....people are buying cars, watches, houses, whiskey, etc in an attempt to impress people they don’t know.
By the way....I do like Bourbon, and some of it has really gotten crazy! I can’t say it is as bad as wine, and wine has been crazy for decades!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wantonebad]

Nothing sells like scarcity...