With all this realignment talk I thought I would change the discussion topic for a second to something that has really been bothering the hell out of me. I always enjoy the boards sipping threads and seeing what everyone is consuming on weekends or for games. I instantly want a beer or whisky to consume while reading them. Years ago, I moved to sipping whiskey. I equate it to getting older. I still enjoy a cold Pabst can or a beam and coke. I just really started getting into sipping and enjoying different types and styles of bourbon and rye whiskey.
I'm sure many of you have noticed already that the prices and availability of American Whiskey has been rising for the last 5 years if not longer. Lately though it seems to be getting completely out of control. Many favorites of mine over the past decade are slowly becoming nearly impossible to find. Or if I do happen to stumble across one the price has been jacked up two , three times if not greater over retail. I'm not talking about Pappy's. I'm talking about staples like Henry McKenna bottled in bond and similar once affordable brands. The first few months of 2019 I picked up two bottles of Henry McKenna BNB on sale for $26.99. Next, think you know it won some award and now if I can even find it its $60 plus. I've seen it as much as $100 in some stores. I can still get Blanton's where I live. The price went up recently $5 so I now pay $59.99. But lately it is getting harder to get. If I don't happen to be in the store the day the delivery comes in, I'm SOL. I've seen in other stores around the DMV selling Blanton's for $125 a bottle. That seems to be the going price in many neighboring counties and states. I've seen on this board posters say they can't find it where they live. The price and availability of special releases is also a problem. I don't even want to know what special bottles are coming out anymore. It just ends in disappointment or disgust when I can't find the special release or see the secondary market price. I won't even go into other Buffalo Trace products like Weller, EH Taylor, Elmer T Lee etc.
Family, friends, and I blame this current whiskey problem on what we like to call the Topknots. We took the term Topknots from the Showtime series Shameless. The two Shameless characters Kevin Ball and Svetlana had young hipster like individuals that started coming into their dive bar. They referred to them as Topknots. The Topknots liked the bar because they felt it was a cool hole in the wall and very retro. They charged the Topknots insane amounts of money for cheap cocktails and the Topknots were happy to overpay. Svetlana treated them like crap which added to the bar's uniqueness in their eyes.. It all crashed one day after the media did a promotion piece on the bar and put it in the local paper. The topknots stopped coming because in their eyes the bar went mainstream..
I don't use Facebook but family and friends have showed me whiskey groups popping up on Facebook. I think the idea is ok. Basically, a message board for whiskey lovers to come and talk about whiskey. However, the groups are taken over by Topknots. Constant posts about what whiskey they were able to score on a particular day. Many times, they include the pics of dozens of allocated bottles they spent all day searching for and gathering. People justifying paying $140 for Elmer T Lee ($40 bottle retail) because they can make way more than that on the secondary market. Trading bottles of Weller Full Proof ($59 retail aged 7 years) for bottles of 18-year-old Eligah Craig (Retail $140 aged 18 years) because in their minds Weller is the same juice as pappy's. But its not the same juice as Pappy. Yes, it's the same recipe but it's not aged as long and it's not the creme de la creme barrels that were hand selected to go into Pappy's. These Topknots share what they find not to let others know it tastes good. I don't think they drink the whiskey. These bottles go in their collection. These aren't bottles of whiskey. These are notches in their belts or trophies for their case.
My whisky rant is over, and I need to go back to work. The biggest point I'm trying to make is Topknots are driving up our whiskey prices . THEY MUST BE STOPPED!!!! The next time you go to your local store looking for that bottle of Four Roses Yellow label and they don't have it. Or instead of costing $20 it now costs $35-$40. Just say to yourself F---ing Topknots!!!
I'm sure many of you have noticed already that the prices and availability of American Whiskey has been rising for the last 5 years if not longer. Lately though it seems to be getting completely out of control. Many favorites of mine over the past decade are slowly becoming nearly impossible to find. Or if I do happen to stumble across one the price has been jacked up two , three times if not greater over retail. I'm not talking about Pappy's. I'm talking about staples like Henry McKenna bottled in bond and similar once affordable brands. The first few months of 2019 I picked up two bottles of Henry McKenna BNB on sale for $26.99. Next, think you know it won some award and now if I can even find it its $60 plus. I've seen it as much as $100 in some stores. I can still get Blanton's where I live. The price went up recently $5 so I now pay $59.99. But lately it is getting harder to get. If I don't happen to be in the store the day the delivery comes in, I'm SOL. I've seen in other stores around the DMV selling Blanton's for $125 a bottle. That seems to be the going price in many neighboring counties and states. I've seen on this board posters say they can't find it where they live. The price and availability of special releases is also a problem. I don't even want to know what special bottles are coming out anymore. It just ends in disappointment or disgust when I can't find the special release or see the secondary market price. I won't even go into other Buffalo Trace products like Weller, EH Taylor, Elmer T Lee etc.
Family, friends, and I blame this current whiskey problem on what we like to call the Topknots. We took the term Topknots from the Showtime series Shameless. The two Shameless characters Kevin Ball and Svetlana had young hipster like individuals that started coming into their dive bar. They referred to them as Topknots. The Topknots liked the bar because they felt it was a cool hole in the wall and very retro. They charged the Topknots insane amounts of money for cheap cocktails and the Topknots were happy to overpay. Svetlana treated them like crap which added to the bar's uniqueness in their eyes.. It all crashed one day after the media did a promotion piece on the bar and put it in the local paper. The topknots stopped coming because in their eyes the bar went mainstream..
I don't use Facebook but family and friends have showed me whiskey groups popping up on Facebook. I think the idea is ok. Basically, a message board for whiskey lovers to come and talk about whiskey. However, the groups are taken over by Topknots. Constant posts about what whiskey they were able to score on a particular day. Many times, they include the pics of dozens of allocated bottles they spent all day searching for and gathering. People justifying paying $140 for Elmer T Lee ($40 bottle retail) because they can make way more than that on the secondary market. Trading bottles of Weller Full Proof ($59 retail aged 7 years) for bottles of 18-year-old Eligah Craig (Retail $140 aged 18 years) because in their minds Weller is the same juice as pappy's. But its not the same juice as Pappy. Yes, it's the same recipe but it's not aged as long and it's not the creme de la creme barrels that were hand selected to go into Pappy's. These Topknots share what they find not to let others know it tastes good. I don't think they drink the whiskey. These bottles go in their collection. These aren't bottles of whiskey. These are notches in their belts or trophies for their case.
My whisky rant is over, and I need to go back to work. The biggest point I'm trying to make is Topknots are driving up our whiskey prices . THEY MUST BE STOPPED!!!! The next time you go to your local store looking for that bottle of Four Roses Yellow label and they don't have it. Or instead of costing $20 it now costs $35-$40. Just say to yourself F---ing Topknots!!!
