This video is informative on another level. Thank you.

Stumbled across this video and I'm really glad that I did. Very informative and really enjoyed the information you shared. Much of it I already knew but I found some of it very interesting. I look forward to watching more of your content.

I think you brought up some really good points regarding this subject and were able to explain very eloquently. At the end of the day I can understand a bit of a markup from retailers on the hottest items in the market but some of these prices are just insane.

Sir, you are 100% correct about the loved one buying the overpriced bourbon. My wife tends to do that on occasion since shes always seeking something new and popular for me. We stopped by the store that she usually buys from last week. On the shelf were 10 bottles of EHT Small Batch with a price tag of $94.99. WSR was $54.99 ECBP was $95. The owner clearly knows the "popular" stuff and is charging a ridiculous amount for them. However, the standard stuff was normal pricing. After discussions with my wife about how they were charging triple retail price and how outrageous that is, she goes on to say "wow, I would have bought it and not known any better". I can only imagine how much they ripped her off over the years while she thought she was doing me a favor buying hard to find bourbons. Meanwhile the owner was completely taking advantage of her and other wives looking to buy a nice bottle for their significant others.

I’ve watched a handful of your videos now and I like you message. This was a great long for explainer on some of the industry inside baseball. Thanks for the content.

I discovered the channel only a few weeks ago, and this video is one of the best reasons in a long time to subscribe to a channel. Thanks for the history lesson, I enjoyed that. Whether your concrete theory or interpretation is correct or not - for me, it makes sense at least - is not even crucial. Some mentioned infos, I've never heard, and they explain or make comprehensible a lot. That triggers me a bit to inform myself, how things are working on the international level. I'm from Germany, the 3-tier system doesn not exist in Europe as far as I know. Good work man!

Went to Buffalo Trace Distillery last week and purchased Buffalo Trace for $27 and Blantons for $68. Then went to Nashville for a concert and stopped in a liquor store close to the hotel… they were selling BT for $100 and Blantons for $230.

Great video - great point about loved ones…Ive specifically told my wife, Dad and sister not to buy some of these crazy priced bottles for me. My Dad first bought me Blantons several years ago for $50-$60 and Ive told them not to pay the $150+ that many stores try to sell it for.

Just found your channel and I'm hooked! Fantastic content. How do you not have 500k subs? Thank you for this!

I’ve learned so much about Bourbon from your channel. Great job!

Just stumbled on this episode, so on point. Completely agree, BT are solving the secondary with supply and not via pricing, it’s a long game but a great legacy builder. Great video.

This has got to be the best Bourbon information videos I have ever seen. Thank you so much...Cheers

Great info. Made me feel better about not getting anything allocated yesterday when it all dropped. I saw people in a Facebook group getting raked over the coals, and now I have a better u derstanfing of why

Great video. I also ordered your whiskey aroma kit..with standard shipping and was surprised at how fast it arrived. The kit is awesome

Marketing into the retail environment has involved a “buy this from me & I’ll take care of you”-mindset from day one on a distributor level. Stocking requirements & shelf-placement is the backbone driving floorplans across the country. Not just alcohol- Coca Cola Company v. Pepsico is a classic example. Competition on counters & window-display placement of products are all negotiable based on the inherent value of retail visibility. The games played across the board are many & ultimately tiresome.

I'm really enjoying your videos. Every liquor store in Southern California does this. Either it's marked up 300% of MSRP, or they make you buy bottles in a bundle. One of the liquor stores I used to frequent quite often, was supposedly the #1 pusher of all Sazerac products in Southern California, would make you buy bundles to get one allocated bottle. I did get my bottle of Weller's Full Proof for $100, but I had to buy 1 Buffalo Trace, 1 Larceny and 1 Brothers Bond. Or they sell a bottle of Blanton's or Stagg Jr for $200, but if you wanted to get it for MSRP $60, you had to buy 2 bottles of BT and 2 bottles of Sazerac Rye. And the sales clerk told me exactly what you said, if they can push certain products, they will be guarantee more allocated bottles from the distributor because that's where they make their money from.

Randy, truly appreciate the time and effort you and your team put into these videos and all the research that goes into it. Class act. Not to mention the fact you take time to reply to every comment.. even butt heads. Thank you for being you, brother. Look forward to consuming more content and growing my 🥃 knowledge with folks like you 👌🏼 keep it up. Oh and that Goat is amazing as well 🙌🏼 thanks for keeping those prices straight.

My lord this video answered every question I have had about pappi, buffalo trace, allocation and what the future holds. Thanks!

Really enjoying these videos sir. My guess is, as long as the 3 tier system is in place, retailers will continue to price these up high. As you have mentioned in other videos, these stores deal with a lot of stress and hassle over these bottles regardless of whether they price them low or high. Thanks for the information.

Well, I don't say this very often, but I absolutely and completely agree with your very well-reasoned and informed opinion. Thanks for sharing this with those who haven't yet taken the time to research this topic. Cheers!

Good History, good point of view. The same is happening in the luxury watch market right now. limited supply pricing people out. The ADs are now withholding product to certain account managers/vendors. Eventually the market corrects itself as the consumer decides what to do with their hard earned money.

Really enjoying the videos I just subscribed today keep up the good work!

Great analysis... especially on the fact that a distiller has to wait years to take advantage of increasing capacity now in hopes that the demand will still be there.

This is really informative, thanks for putting this together!

Wow! As a noob getting into Bourbon, I'm finding your channel more than informational, which is certainly good. Pointedly, I think you may need to change your channel name to "The Professor of Bourbon". Thanks again for the great info and reviews, and of course the love!

Very well done - thanks for the info and take on this subject!

JUST A FANTASTIC VIDEO. best discussion on Secondary ive seen.

Wow! I am a new whiskey enthusiast. This is such great analysis and information. Thank you so much! I started learning about whiskey about a couple of months ago and already learned so much from people like you. Please keep up the good work. I have not gone over all your videos or podcast, but I have noticed in my experience so far that it is difficult to hunt allocated bottles in my area without knowing the shop owner. I also don't want to buy many unnecessary bottles to make them think I am a valued customer that they should be my friend. But I am sure there are some tips or middle ground to build that relationship. If you haven't made a topic on that, I would love to hear your thoughts.

Wow! I feel like I just took a college level class in whiskey! Excellent content. And this is shameful, but it was Fireball that got me into serious whiskeys. I drank enough of that stuff i should qualify for Pappy at suggested retail!

This is truly a fantastic video, especially for some of us here in Europe who’s into scotch but have just begun getting into the bourbon world. Thanks 🙏

Great job as always. Appreciate your insights. It really is a shame when someone gets “taken” by an unscrupulous retailer. As for me, I will not pay more than double what the Msrp is, and only then, on something very, very allocated! And then, I’m drinking it with some special friends!

We tried to tour Buffalo Trace. Covid restricted the tour sizes. Tickets were online only. We were able to visit the Company Store. There was no Bourbon available for sale. They had even taken all bottles from gift sets to help customers get product. It is a nice place to visit. Bourbon Trail tours are on our to do list this year.

Man this is fascinating.. i realize this exact thing is going on at my local B and M. I feel a certain level of compassion for the guy who has been selling this merchandise a little high up.. he packages the desired bottle with a lesser known as part of deal for buying from him. I figure on a narrow margin. Great vid.

Excellent content and just the information I needed as I'm curious of/about US made whiskies, especially bourbons. As an everyday regular Joe living in Finland, good bourborns are really hard to find.

I have found so many whiekies I like for reasonable prices, I can't force myself to pay more that about $80 for a bottle, usually closer to $50. For single malt, my cutoff price is about $110. For my tasting ability, that's where my ROI starts to drop off pretty fast.

Very well done. With small craft whiskey coming into their own you can find hidden gems from a local distillery. You can follow the growth of a new brand. Visit the distillery and buy direct.

I’m a newbie to bourbon and have enjoyed your videos immensely. I’ve just started my collection with a five bottle line up of Eagle Rare, Calumet 15 year, Blanton’s, Weller Special Reserve, and Four Roses Special Reserve Single Barrel. The Eagle Rare is great for making an old fashion. I don’t think I’m developed enough to appreciate the Calumet. I’ve held off on opening the Blanton’s and Weller so far. The Four Roses is a different story…it has blown me away, and makes a nice sipping, neat of course, spirit after a long day,.

This was an amazing video and cleared up so much for me

Very informative....I am now a subscriber!

A lot of great information, thanks for the class!

Great video. Thank you!

Such incredible content. Thank you for sharing your bourbon knowledge.

Excellent information-Thank you for sharing.

Love the pod.. I'm in Australia.. we have no nope.. no stock, no allocations of over priced hooch, no scale or buying power & we have a huge tax on booze to boot.. plus don't forget the cost of transit.. we pay approx. $130 for a bottle of hooch that's probs $50 in US&A.. we sadly probs a 3rd or 4th tier market from an allocation / buying power POV.. not a global centre of Bourbon sales, events or buying power.. 😥

Such an eloquent way of explaining the inflated prices of bourbon in today’s market. I will also add that while it’s true that the distillers aren’t necessarily withholding inventory to limit the supply, I’ve heard that distributors hold on to inventory at warehouses. I think local reps also play the game, and manipulate small retail stores by requiring them to move inventory (like fireball or Wheatley vodka) just to receive a few bottles of Weller or any other Buffalo “Chase” products. So that’s also a big reason why retail shops jack up the prices. Because they have to make up the cost of the 80 cases of Fireball they had to buy just to get the one bottle of George T Stagg.

Really enjoyed this video! Thanks brother 🤠🥃

This video brings back fond memories of having to make the hard decision of Weller S.R for 20, Weller 107 for 30 or Weller 12 for 45. The 107 usually won :)

Great discussion. Thank you.

I work in the liquor industry and skateboard industry that has me laughing when flippers get their greedy hands on stuff then jack the prices up. I work for a large company in TX but have spoken to mom/pop shops who have been strongarmed to carry a ton of Fireball to get a couple bottles of the good stuff, Nike is the same way with their SB shoes for skate shops which is why we do not carry skate shoes in our shop. Great video!

Well done. It was nice to listen to, despite the unpleasant problem. I think you hit the point who buys this expensive whiskey. Greetings from Poland.

My interest in Bourbon is new, and mostly casual. I’m learning about this allocation and gouging stuff. I’ve spent most of my adult life interested in wine, and while you don’t quite see the same thing there, what I did learn over the years is a $45 bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir is just as good as a $1,300 bottle of Grand Cru Burgundy. Essentially what I’m saying is unless you’re extreme into this hobby, I’m guessing that your first sip of a $1,300 bottle of bourbon is going to quickly fade to the disappointment of realizing it’s only marginally better, if at all, than a $45 to $60 bottle of bourbon. Correct me if I’m wrong. I just don’t feel the temptation to chase a bottle of VanWinkle only to learn that lesson again.

Randy this is an excellent video. It should be the de facto video to explain the inflated prices to all whiskey enthusiasts.

Excellent video! Thank you for the information!

Truly enjoyed this explanation of the pricing issue. It affects anyone who enjoys just about any bourbon beyond well drink level. It’s kind of the Wild West here in L.A. While the chain retailers typically charge SRP (Total Wine, BevMo), the supplies disappear almost immediately. Inventory is slim and thinly distributed throughout the system. The big box stores (Costco) graciously offer discounts even on higher demand juice (e.g., Calumet 15 @$98, Barrell Seagrass and Dovetail @ $70 and $65, Knob Creek 12 @$56). Some retailers have websites that offer real time inventory on their stocks and offer at or near SRP (K&L) but the “bots” scoop up all of the precious few allocated bottles before any average customer can. K&L also will set aside super-allocated bottles like BTAC and offer those at SRP only to their frequent customers. The “small business-owned” liquor shops will mark up ~40-50%>SRP (ECBP @$100) or close to or at secondary market prices. EH Taylor Single Barrel ~$250? Old Carter for $300+? Those bottles sit on the shelves collecting dust. I’d think that Inventory that sits and takes up shelf space is not a wise business decision for a retailer but that’s just me. The bourbon supplies in general will eventually reach at or near equilibrium with demand one day - I’m betting within the next four to six years. There’s far too much money being left on the table.

great video man ,, don't know about you but when i see a retail liquor store mark up a bottle like that i just go somewhere else. that is just BS .. some places do a lotto or some other way to get your favorite bottle ,, and that's cool because they still sell it at MSRP. and thank you buffalo trace for not raising prices so everyone can enjoy your great products...!!

What works for me is after a few visits I tell the owner to sell me something allocated at a fair price and I will buy a few bottles of the things that don’t move. End up using them for mixes and cocktails.

Great video! I recently purchased the weller single barrel, weller full proof and George T Stagg for $200 at a local liquor store!

I literally just had a conversation at a store in California yesterday on this exact topic. What happens here is the distributors leverage the store to take on more inventory of other products if they want to get of the allocated bottles. They will add up to an additional 1k of inventory just to get a couple of Weller bottles. The other thing I'm curious about is why the producers send product to distributors in countries that do not typically consume bourbon in any kind of volume. I have friends who travel to Canada and they send me pictures of highly sought after bottles that are on their shelves 10 bottles deep with dust on them. Why don't they send more of that to the states where it is clearly in demand?

What an education. Thanks!

Love the last point you made about a possible none whiskey enthusiast buying a bottle extremely overpriced for someone else as a gift! Never thought of it that way but I can see that happening more than one thinks!

These vids are great info.

Very informative video sir. You have earned a new subscriber in myself! These are sad times in the bourbon industry in my opinion. I'm only 30 but I wish I had bought a lot of this allocated stuff when you could find it in liquor stores for MSRP. 😫

Very good information. Analysis is eye opening

Good overview of a complicated situation. Nice video.

This video is phenomenal. Thank you

Very educational. I don’t agree with everything you said, but where else can you get this much great info in such a well done format? Oh, and I love you too!! 😁

This video should be called "Bourbon School" Great content.

Great analysis. These are things I've never really thought about.

You’re right about Fireball. A store owner told me that he has to have perfect Fireball sales in order to get allocated stuff.

Enjoyed then information! All the info compacted into a quick video. Another thing that may affect some markets. Taxes. Washington State is 20+% + a liter tax. One adjacent state, no tax. Both state run still. 3 wide range of prices... costs. I do like the analysis of the market. Thanks.

Very informative and great analysis!

Great information, the Chicago market is very difficult to find anything Weller, Buffalo Trace itself is getting harder to find.

Thanks Randal! Great content

At some sneaker drops, the retailer is making the buyer put on the shoes and walk out of the store in them. It helps tear down the resale market as it’s now “used” and loses value. If they really wanted to end the bourbon secondary market, they would just make people open the bottle before they walk out of the store. End of the day, it goes both ways and retailers will continue to gouge as long as consumers are willing to pay those prices.

The store I get my buffalo trace, blanton's, and occasionally Taylor and Weller from has been increasing their inventory and one of the first things I noticed before this all happened was a Fireball fridge that was put in next to the checkout

Blew my mind with the power of the influence of the Pappy brand on Fireball and others for Sazerac. I think the price gouging also takes advantage of whiskey novices who don't know about or have access to the secondary market, and have heard of but never seen a bottle of Weller Full Proof, GTS, etc., and freak out and buy it if they can even remotely afford it.

Lots of excellent insights, Randy.

Dude this is the coolest most educational video of whiskey I think I've watched

This is great explanation on how the whiskey/liquor market really works. I honestly think the people at Buffalo Trace/Sazerac talk out of both sides of their mouth. On one side they say, they aren’t raising prices to appease potential buyers, but on the other side they love the secondary market because they love bullying liquor stores into selling their crappy high margin booze (Fireball, etc). I think your ideas about capitalism are a bit pie in the sky. True capitalism is selling your product for whatever the market will tolerate. It doesn’t really care if it’s a sophisticated purchaser or, for lack of better term, a sucker. There is no moral compass for capitalism other than self interest and profit. That’s why there is regulation and over sight.

Great channel. Very informative.

At 16:00, the actual role of the tier system was to control the entire supply chain and ensure excise tax collection. It continues to be sold as a “protection measure” against downward pricing pressure as you say; however, in practice it’s now become protection for the distributors given the large amount of industry consolidation (i.e. Southern Glazers).

I was in the retail biz….starting about 1990, and for the next roughly 20 years, thru that time saw the release of eagle rare and no one wanted it, Forrester was a brand no one really purchased, I’d sell 20 cases JD, to one bottle of forester. Turkey…maybe a case a month, 114 a bottle a month. Point is this has evolved out of nowhere. No one really purchased Evan Williams. I was around for the rollouts of Sky, Amsterdam, etc….. What will be “the category” in another 10 years????

Dang, i always though the atore owner was just happy to have the bottle sitting on the shelf. I've never even thought about the intended buyer for a whiskey marked up 1,600% being a loved one.

Thank you great video. I've not seen this kind of economic content.

A local retailer in my area does this same mark up game. Funny thing is, all those bottles don’t sell. We call them a whiskey museum. There they are, 3 or more year old releases, dusty, just sitting. What aggravates me, is when a customer comes in, finds a not so well known whiskey and buys it. Only to find that the next time he goes to purchase another one, the retailer has marked it up another $10-$20. And will continue to do so, until you just walk. What kind of business model is that ? I no longer purchase high end product from that store. So basically the greedy store lost a good customer. Something else I noticed about this same retailer, he will actually buy high end product at a local grocery store ( which sells it at MSRP ) and sell it at his liquor store at double the price or more. I actually saw him do it with a rare Japanese whisky, bought every damn bottle. It’s insanity. Thanks for the great content !

One correction I would make is that Sazerac (who owns Buffalo Trace) is not a publicly traded company as you mentioned. They are a privately owned corporation.

Thanks for these dearly needed explanations and perspectives about the bourbon market. I’ve been an enthusiast for a long time and was already aware of most of the facts you shared. But some of your ideas and theories were new and interesting. Some of your assertions are more broadly focused and forthcoming than one can typically expect from whiskeytubers in general and it was refreshing to hear them. I don’t agree with every interpretation and definition of economic theory and moral philosophy, but I’m not educated in those areas to make concise arguments to counter your claims in a readable KZfaq comment. Suffice to say that this video made me think more about the whiskey business and the experience of being an enthusiast more than anything I’ve seen on KZfaq, perhaps ever. And I’ve seen a lot of KZfaq whiskey content. So... great job! And thanks for all the food for thought.

Very informative keep up the good work

Great video! The stores that don't do this are few and far between. Luckily, I found one when vacationing in FL, bottle of weller special reserve for 21.99! In MI that bottle ranges from 50-100

I have pretty much stopped drinking/purchasing bourbon because of the wacked out pricing. My tastes now seem to run towards several scotch distillers. The nice thing about it is these are not price gouged and are easily purchased. So, I have been able to move on and enjoy the choices I have.

Excellent video. You speak a lot of sense my friend.

There is a store near me in Las Vegas as of Friday April 2 2021, had that Full Proof Weller for that Exact same price.

My path has been just being a friendly customer to many of the local liquor stores buying store picked bottles and asking about allocations when you get to the register. I'm equally happy with most of my single barrel store picks as I am with the allocations bought as well.

My retail theory is as follows; the stores that get there 3-6 bottles of GTS or pappy, or whatever, don’t really want to sell them. It’s not like those bottles are lots of overhead so they can sit around for when the taters call up asking for pappy, the shop owner can say “yup I have a bottle”. Tater runs down there sees price and balks, but does he leave empty handed? Nope, shop owner “suggests” his high margin spirit and if super tater comes in has to have that pappy juice to impress is bros, then shop guy is happy to sell him that bottle for $2k. Good vid, thanks for laying it out there for the noobs to understand why we’re all being jacked around. There’s plenty of good bourbon out there at retail folks, don’t pay 10x for those unicorn bottles.

Good video, I have seen alot of markups in my local shops. I was lucky enough to find two bottles of Stagg Jr for MSRP before it went up to $299.99 and then to $399.99.

Fantastic, absolutely fantastic video.

good channel bud. keep it up.

Totally agree with everything. I have noticed Weller mostly go through the roof. It's funny the big stores can't even get any Weller cause they raised the price so much but I found a small store who gets 2 bottles a month and sells for MSRP! Yeah, I became good friends with that store :-)

The Balvenie 30 spoken about was up the street from where I live in Plano TX at Total Wine that has a lot of bottles that has some of us wondering where they get those prices. Then again, the area where I live has a Tesla/McLaren/911/etc where no one cares what they spend in order to impress others...not me.

Great info, couldn't agree more. Left out one other factor, kinda influential but not if that makes any sense at all, counterfeiting.