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KindAwareness3073 t1_j8412ao wrote

It was about their love of money, not bourbon.

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marshall18 t1_j857fl7 wrote

Exactly. Their love of flipping a $250 bottle for $2,000 is what got them in trouble.

Too bad this I just a drop in the bucket. This is happening in every town across the county with the people on your local bourbon “enthusiast”Facebook groups buying up all your favorite bourbons and selling them back to you at a 100% mark up. Retailers that hold onto these bottles and sell at huge markups as well as flippers claiming to be bourbon enthusiast, are the ones ruining the bourbon market.

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p001b0y t1_j8624jc wrote

As a former bourbon drinker, I automatically assumed they meant Pappy Van Winkle, which sells for thousands a bottle, is produced in limited quantities, and is basically only available if you are friends with a liquor store owner who sells a lot.

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katarjin t1_j86716v wrote

Never seen a bottle of it in my life. Always sold before it even gets to the store

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IreallEwannasay t1_j868csx wrote

My job has like 15 bottles in the cellar. It's a whiskey bar and the people who come in usually know their shit. They never ever order it.

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p001b0y t1_j86cavk wrote

I’ve heard of $100+ shots of Pappy but never seen it either. I was a fan of Four Roses not a big enough fan I wanted to drop $3,000 on a bottle.

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[deleted] t1_j86do1x wrote

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p001b0y t1_j86ewgn wrote

Yeah. I meant I wasn’t much of a fan of Buffalo Trace. I worded that badly. I was a Four Roses fan so never really had a desire to try Pappy’s.

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Risley t1_j88sq7k wrote

Is buffalo’s trace Good?

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jaxn_slim t1_j89g85r wrote

Buffalo Trace is great. They have a large portfolio of solid bourbons and ryes.

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[deleted] t1_j87sns5 wrote

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Witchgrass t1_j88l1wh wrote

What would you consider really good stuff

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TahiniInMyVeins t1_j89wj7r wrote

Not the person you’re responding to but:

Friend of a friend had a liquor store hookup and got some Pappy. Broke it out for a small circle of friends the last Christmas before he moved to Zurich. While I was touched by the gesture the bourbon was… fine. I liked it but didn’t think it was worth anywhere near the hype or price.

I no longer drink much brown liquor and on the rare occasion I do, it is rum or single malt. But I would pick Blantons or Basil Hayden over Pappy, and pound for pound I’d rank Angels Envy above them all and certainly the best bang for the buck.

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Witchgrass t1_j8cllbs wrote

I never tried it when I did drink and now I don’t so I probably won’t ever. I liked Basil Hayden’s and the price was right though.

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TahiniInMyVeins t1_j8enc1m wrote

I am drinking less and less these days. Honestly if someone put a couple fingers of Pappy in front of me right now I’m not sure if I’d drink it. You’re not really missing out.

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IreallEwannasay t1_j88oq38 wrote

Sp I've learned. We have a thing where the bartender at the various restaurant get to choose a bottle to take for Christmas or New Years and I was so tempted to take one of those which are gathering dust in our wine cellar. I chose Azul mezcal because that's my drink and you see, I am an alcoholic. Pappy reminds me of my old sugar daddy who was an architect from Kentucky. Country as shit but Einstein level genius. He'd fly home anytime they were released and bring back a few bottles.

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ankylosaurus_tail t1_j86hl58 wrote

Yep, that's what it was, and a few other rare bourbons, I think also made by Buffalo Trace. The officials who have given quotes claim that they were drinking it themselves, not reselling--but that's obviously the smart thing to say, since it's a lesser crime.

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sgtpandybear t1_j87pkfy wrote

When I was working at a horse track here in Kentucky they would pay $57 a bottle for 23 year Pappy.

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aboatz2 t1_j8ax7l1 wrote

I'm not seeing anything to indicate they resold the bottles. The accusation is that they acquired limited volume bottles using their connections/position, which they would've otherwise not been able to acquire.

It'd be like officials requiring Ticketmaster to give them first access to all concert tickets. Even if they paid full price & didn't scalp them, they're still abusing their position to obtain something with a limited supply which they may not have been able to acquire had they waited for the general sale, & which denies the public access to those goods & services.

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BigALep5 t1_j8dkcj7 wrote

The liquor stores here in Michigan always get my friend with last bottle of peach crown left can't find it anywhere 55$ and he buys it!!! 😑

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Martholomeow t1_j84sc0e wrote

the article makes it sound like they were just buying it for themselves, not to sell it

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KindAwareness3073 t1_j85vved wrote

Sure, sure they were. I mean why sell it for thousands of dollars when you can just drink i, right?

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Thr0waway3691215 t1_j87bp1u wrote

There's a pretty big ethical problem that comes with diverting valuable and highly limited liquor to yourself when you're the regulatory board for liquor.

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SatanicNotMessianic t1_j873a1v wrote

The article says that that’s what the people being investigated claim. Taking it for themselves is a less serious charge than reselling it for a profit.

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