For sale “open bottle of Pappy 20, I’ll take just $500”

2 oz sample of Hirsch 20 for $300

Pappy 25 for sale for 15k

I could go on but the stupidity of the drink has gotten worse, much much worse. These 3 are just some recent ones.

It used to be an arguable debate to scalp someone for buying secondary but that’s an acceptable solution today or so it seems. Is it trust or stupidity? Could it be both? I don’t think so. In so many cases your dealing with strangers and a large sum of money. This isn’t just online. Some high end retailers in places like DC, LA, NYC are buying highly sought allocated bottles at secondary prices and reselling them for much more. These are being bought by very smart people with expense accounts as gifts often but the valuation on these things is irrelevant.

I’m shocked by the idiocy buying an open bottle. They deserve what they get. It’s like trusting a bar with a sole bottle of something allocated that occasionally mysteriously refills itself.

Old stupidity were things like buying one of the 20 types of Jefferson that will suck that cost $100 or over. Now the same people are like gamblers needing a bigger scratch ticket. When the $20 isn’t enough, come out with the $50 ticket. So the $50 ticket of whiskey is the $500 Whistle Pig Black Prince. Put the stuff against the regular 12 year old, Lot 40 or other decent Rye and you’ll realize you paid $400-$450 too much but it’s being treated like something allocated people are supposed to badly want or need.

The sellers of bottles splits and samples is another one like the open bottle sale-how do you know? You really don’t. Sure there are some bars out there with the bottomless bottle/s of Pappy but you gotta draw the line of trust somewhere and most bars will get the Benefit of the doubt.

Fake reputable auction house items are now becoming common place and the experts are blowing the whistles on them.

I’m finding stupidity of the drink astounding. Awkwardly, it gets me pissed when it’s not me doing the buying or selling. In a vengefulness I want these people to get ripped off but they don’t and won’t learn a lesson I won’t be teaching them. I’m left with sarcasm and laughing at them to often quietly fearing I’ll offend someone and another 100 idiots will come to their defense on social media groups— like they need some sort of protection! So I sit and watch the stupid get one upped and it gets worse. What’s next? Well it’s happening where the underwhelming whiskey gets put in a special looking bottle and sold to the stupid that needs nothing more than a pretty package. Like a baby with a new rattle it works from 6 months to 80 years old. I hope my readers are smarter than the average whiskey buyer.

Since when is $180 bottle not shocking? A while ago I wrote about how it happens. Now it has happened over and over. A brand needs barrels but supply is super tight so if I have a few hundred barrels of Bourbon to sell But I now want $10,000 each not $2000 each like the old days (five years ago). This means a new brand needs to now sell an average 10 or 11 year, like Kentucky Owl, for $180 not the $50 a bottle it should be. To get this I need to spiff up the story, packaging and make it seem like I’m getting something special and rare. It works. This isn’t special at all except in your minds and wallets but someone out the is buying it. Why?

Supply and boredom. Lets face it, a new $180 bottle stands out a lot different than the same juice in an $40 Elijah Craig bottle or Four Roses Small Batch. I suspect in the case of Kentucky Owl, the Rye is a Barton offshoot that was never released. I can’t see people spending $130 on Barton and wouldn’t. Putting this in perspective, Owl is more than twice as expensive as Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, Single Barrel Private Four Roses and Bookers but not better but it’s got the same Mystique as Pappy and treated that way even in the secondary market. Maybe it’s the bragging rights of dickless wannabes to show off this “special” bottle you can’t get. I suspect this is it. I suspect that much of the boom of the special and rare market is a mine’s bigger than yours contest. If people only talked about their Bourbon collections with their shrinks the truth would come out but that’s my theory. Many spouses hate our collections and think we have screws loose and maybe they are right. So next time you’re ready to lay out a couple hundred dollars on something new in a fancy bottle stop and think why.

A lot has changed since my last Bourbon Trail post so it’s time.
http://kybourbontrail.com
What I’ve noticed is people tour under very different time constraints and whom your accompanied by. Solo vs a family trip with the kids and grandparents has much different needs and results.
First off do the trail sober. The Kentucky Bourbon Distillers has been enlisting the help of Uber and Lyft. There are taxis and private and public tour groups. Plan ahead for not driving when you shouldn’t be or have a DD.

Logistics
As of 2016 there are over a million visits a year visiting Kentucky for “ bourbon tourism” and growing. In 10 years the number has tripled to where it is. That’s a lot. During peak days or times you will NOT be able to get a tour unless you preplan and reserve well in advance. http://kybourbontrail.com/kentucky-bourbon-trail-barrels-past-1-million-visits-2016/

The unofficial and official trail extends well north starting in Newport Kentucky (outside Cincinnati) where New Riff (craft) is to Bowling Green (almost the Tennessee boarder) where Corsair (craft) is over a 3 hour drive so limits are usually present. Most other Distilleries average a 45-60 minute drive apart but Buffalo Trace, Woodford, Wild Turkey, and Four Roses are within half an hour of each other. Regardless of the distance your not getting to them all, possibly not even all the major ones. Secondly, (I’ll say it again) during peak days and times you might not be able to tour at all or need to wait without reservations so make reservations. Another General recommendation is that you and certainly kids have a three distillery attention limit. Things will start blending in and looking the same after that. Pick carefully because if Beam is at the top of your list, do it first. If you put favorite or must see’s at the end you may never make it. If you do more than 3, make that a daily limit.
If you don’t want to drive, Mint Julep Tours has some great private and public options
http://mintjuleptours.com
https://mintjuleptours.com/public-bourbon-tours/

Weather
The summer is hot and steamy, sometimes too hot. Bring lots of water in a cooler if you can. The summer may also have distilleries that are closed or not distilling so if you really want to see a special distillery make sure they are operating the days your planning to be there. Winter has ice and when roads are icy the distilleries have been known to close completely. Pets in the car don’t mix well if hot or cold.

Where to sleep?
The nicest national hotel chain in Bardstown is the Hampton Inn. There are a few bed and breakfasts but if you want central location, choice and some luxury, Louisville is your best bet (about an hour from most things). Use this as your central hub. Places like the Marriott East (Eastern suburb to downtown Louisville) are a bit cheaper than the regular high end places in downtown and a bit closer to Frankfort area Buffalo Trace, Woodford and Lawrenceburg for Wild Turkey and Four Roses. If your going to be further South, besides Bardstown, Elizabethtown is another option.

If you’re a couple or buddies or a couple touring, I’d recommend Louisville for the bars, Resturant’s and Whiskey Row attractions. Night life is practically non existent other than Louisville. I have regretted Lexington stays as its too far from most places. If your willing to switch hotels in/from other cities/towns that’s a different matter.
I personally stay at the Marriott Residence Inn in downtown Louisville when staying downtown. It’s a 50 foot walk/stumble to the best Whiskey bar in Kentucky (Haymarket, a fun dive bar open late). Wandering the streets of Louisville at night, potentially drunk, when not in a group isn’t recommended.

Family trips
You better pick just Three-Four distilleries or your going to hear whining. Mix things in like Mammoth Caves, Underground Zip lines, Lincoln Boyhood home, museums, rides on the river in Louisville etc.. The Beam Urban Stillhouse and Evan Williams Experience http://evanwilliams.com/visit.php in Louisville are good for kids so I don’t count those as part of your 3.
If you only have two days stick to those close to the Bluegrass Parkway. Buffalo Trace to Bardstown.

Solo or Couples
Pick 5 places unless you have more than two days. At five you’ll also start to get the “distillery burnout” and a potentially unhappy spouse. If your going to do more than 5 anyway try to split it up maybe with Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington, Nashville touring. Visit the races, horse farm etc. you’ll need a break.

Smaller Distilleries
Craft and lesser known names I wouldn’t try too hard to get to unless its Willett or on the way with burnout considered.

Cost
Plan on about $5-20 per adult per Distillery. Buffalo Trace has the only free tours that I recall. I’ve even heard that Makers Mark is currently charging to get in even with no tour. Don’t know if this is temporary. Other Visitor Centers/Gift Shops at this point are still free to get in but tours are the extra charge. Some might offer Discounts for DD’s, Military, Seniors, Law Enforcement and First responders so ask. Children are usually free to a certain age.

The Distilleries
By rough geography. If I miss or skip a distillery it’s not necessarily a skip, I personally haven’t been or not enough there to warrant the extra time to get there.
Some distilleries may have a distillery exclusive bottle. I’ll try to note these. Keep in mind that by law any Kentucky retailer can carry these also but they rarely do or can get them before the gift shop gets them all from distribution. They are part of the three tier system so even the distillery exclusives technically need to go through a third party distributer.

Louisville

Angels Envy
The newest tour in Downtown Louisville across from Slugger Baseball Stadium. A beautiful great tour. If you can’t see the rest of the Bourbon Trail this is a great option. Nothing I could see in the Gift shop different than what you can get at home but I’d go back again. They did have their Rye which is often sold out back home. Note that tours do get sold out on weekdays off peak as they were when I was there.

Bulleit Experience
If your not a Stitzel Weller geek skip it. If you don’t know what Stitzel Weller is, again, skip it. More or less a Diageo ad for Bulleit that has never had or has a current real Distillery there although one is due to open soon in Shelbyville that might have public tours.

Copper and Kings is a Brandy distillery in Louisville if your into that and have time.

Evan Williams Experience
A mini distillery and showcase of distilling and history. A fun time. They have a few exclusives like a 12 year and 23 year Evan Williams.

Frankfort area

Buffalo Trace
http://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/visit-us/our-tours
Not an official part of or member of the Bourbon Trail. Free tours and you should reserve Hard Hat Tours as opposed to the regular hourly tours. They split production and maturation into roughly two tours so you could end up there most of the day to get tour bookend Hard Hat type tours in. This is a whiskey factory. Not much for kids but a not to be missed option. Don’t expect any bottles you can’t get at home of Whiskey, nothing special.

Woodford Reserve
https://www.woodfordreserve.com/distillery/tours/
Very pretty and fairly quick tours. Drive through horse county to the nicest Distillery in Ky. A couple releases you can only find at the distillery. Real nice gift shop packed full. Usually two unique Whiskeys in .375 size avail each only there. A must stop.

Castle and Key
Beginning tours soon. Read up on Old Taylor History (what used to be here) and check it out. Down the street from Woodford. If and when tastings are offered in the near future it will be new booze and young aka not too good. Keep this in mind for any newer distillery only bottling their own make.

Four Roses
http://fourrosesbourbon.com
Another great stop but no bottling or maturation is done here (see below). That is a separate facility near Beam that you can tour. A whiskey factory that’s a great stop for a Four Roses lover. Bottles selected by Brent Elliott the Master Distiller in the nice large gift shop usually.

Wild Turkey
http://wildturkeybourbon.com/visit-us/
New distillery, visitor center and bottling. Feels a bit sterile. Tours stop at lots of windows you can only look through like the distillery. A nice stop and Master Distillers Eddie or Jimmy Russell are often hanging out signing things. Usually no special bottlings are for sale there but a good fun stop.

Bardstown
They are adding lots of distilleries but the ones there are Willett and Barton. Don’t stop at Barton if you’ve been/going to one of the whisky factories. Ugly, nothing you’ll want in the giftshop.

Willett
https://www.kentuckybourbonwhiskey.com/visit-willett-distillery/#
You MUST get a reservation early at Willett to be safe. Its small and very very popular. A recent Saturday out of season had 500 people and they stopped counting. Willett often has private bottling you can’t get elsewhere of advanced age. They are fleeting though. A 14 year old bottling could show up without notice then be sold out within an hour. Don’t expect it will be while you are there but and a big but- If you are on the tour and ask nice you never know. Willett Family Reserve is one of the hardest to get due to the value on the secondary market. They do have their other retail brands and sometimes Rye there regularly.
Great people. Expanding Giftshop about to have a bed and breakfast onsite summer/fall 2017 most likely. Periodically will have things you can’t get elsewhere at random. Still have bottles of allocated things from back home you might not see.

Makers Mark
If you want to make the trip on Loretto Rd that passes Willett, Makers Mark is ½ hour each way. A cool nice Distillery if you have time. Pretty and complete tours. Can get real busy. Usually one or two things in a large gift shop you can’t get back home.

There is practically nothing but windy roads and little or no cellular coverage. It’s worth the trip but consider it’s a half day excursion. Great Giftshop. The most educational tasting of different stages of maturation, big Giftshop with some private things you can’t get elsewhere and chance to wax dip your own bottle.

If your out this way consider stopping at Independent Stave in Lebanon where they make new Whiskey barrels. Two tours a day, reservations a must. Worth a stop if you have time. http://www.iscbarrels.com/tours/

Wilderness Trace also (see below)

Heaven Hill’s maturation and bottling are here in Bardstown. If you’ve seen or will be seeing these at other places no real draw for me to recommend the tour. The Louisville distillery is not open to the public but the Evan Williams Experience fills in with a mini distillery and nice facility.
http://heavenhilldistillery.com/bourbon-heritage-center.php?utm_source=BHC&utm_medium=Redirect&utm_campaign=BHCRedirect&bhc=1

The Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center and Giftshop is a great stop however with frequently special bottlings you can’t get at home or tightly allocated.

Four Roses Maturation and Bottling is near Beam and Bardstown. If you’re a fan of Four Roses or want to see these production pieces in depth, stop. It’s 5 minutes from Beam but hours are a bit more limited. Navigation will often send you to the wrong Four Roses address so make sure you enter the address so don’t trust your navigation to suggest an address. Tour cost are Interchangeable so a receipt for the distillery gets you into the other. The last tour of the day departs the Visitor Center at 3:00 p.m.
624 Lotus Road
Cox’s Creek, KY 40013

Beam
http://www.jimbeam.com/en-us/visit-us/book-a-tour
They did a good job here setting up a complete experience. Maybe one of the best. I will say this is the tour from the Barrel picking experience so the regular tour may include other parts of the real distillery operation. You should check. Good for kids and has micro tastes of products and a couple whiskeys unique to the huge American Still House gift shop.

Wilderness Trail
This is another extreme distance but worth the trip if you have lots of time and want to see a nice craft place.

Craft distilleries
Remember burnout. If you want to indulge check out
http://kybourbontrail.com/craft-tour/

I want more
If you want even more or more on-depth experience Moonshine University runs courses from a day to 5 day Distiller classes. Also a Stave and Thief Whisky Society Certification. They are in Louisville. If you arrange your trips around their schedules it gives you this extra option. https://moonshineuniversity.com/courses/

Lastly, in the next couple years many new attractions and distilleries will be opening in downtown Louisville and it’s Whiskey Row so check to see what they have opened.
Here are some suggested driving times and map
http://kybourbontrail.com/map/

Enjoy your trip and be safe.

I don’t care if your grandfather was a bootlegger or made shit.
I don’t care if you bought a overgrown eye sore to fix up.
I don’t care if your whiskey is “going to be” great.
I don’t care if your Sourced booze you pretend is yours won an award.
I don’t care if you use the best or worst grain.
I don’t care if you sprinkle dinosaur piss or ground up rino horn in the barrels.
I don’t care if your out cause your employees stole it from you.
I don’t care if you own the worlds biggest whatever.
I don’t care if wookies fart on the labels to apply them.
I don’t care if your opening in 800 days, 799 days, 798 days, we don’t care!
I don’t care if you shine your still with soft rabbit scrotums.
I don’t care if you’re a small batch or big bitch.
I dont care if your play Elvis music to your barrels.
I don’t care what person that’s never distilled a drop becomes your Master Distiller of what you dont make.
I don’t care if sunlight or tornados made your booze.
I don’t care if buffalos crapped where your office is.
I don’t care if your last name was famous in 1830.
I don’t care if you use aliens to bottle your swill!
I don’t care about a pretty box, shove it up your ass!
I don’t care about your award any idiot with money can get.
I don’t care about your Skunky butterscotch finish!
I don’t care if naked virgins dip your bottles in wax.
I don’t care how much you sold your shitty brand for.
I don’t care if you’re the first or the “best” Distillery in East Bum Fuck.
I don’t care if Sinatra got good and shitfaced on your swill!
I don’t care about your trophy shaped bottle of turd nuggets!
I don’t care if some second rate celebrity visited your place.
I don’t care if three drops from a big batch went to space.
I don’t care if your place had a famous name. It doesn’t now and only idiots care that it did!
I don’t care about your back label story that’s a broken record.
I don’t care that the TTB gave you a free pass to screw a new generation of saps.
I don’t care.

Really, where are they? On one hand I can count the ones I want more of in the last year. Many Craft places have had the time to put something good out but I’m not impressed by the vast majority. The big boys put things out occasionally but they are boring ho-hum. This hasn’t stopped stupid stories and meaningless farm to glass claims. Occasionally a $200 fancy bottle and box comes out that is decent but even then, its few and far between. I’m holding out and sticking to private barrel bottles of picks I’ve been on. As I’ve said before, the true measure of a good bottle is one you will buy another of. The Old Forester 1920 is the last this happened with. Heavan Hill puts out solid things with the Barrel Proof Elijah Craig’s but they aren’t easy to come by.
The Whiskey shortage hasn’t helped. No sense putting out a new label when you can’t meet the demand for the old ones. Marketers have it easy in that way. At the same time the ages get younger and that doesn’t help much.
I was recently on an in-depth tour of Angels Envy and heard that the Louisville Distilling Company (that they bottle the brand under) is going to try some none Barrel finished varieties and they are going to start test distilling some Wheated Bourbon to see how that goes. It’s good to see that some people are putting their brains to use trying new things.
Most “experimental” bottles sit on shelves unless rescued by a consumer that needs something different with usual eventual regret.
There are hidden gems out there that suddenly get discovered with top ratings like Barrell Bourbon and such still. Who wants to go through dozens of purchases to find an eventual good one? Yes, good, not even great. Greatness is a rarity for sure. I’ve heard some “Talk” about a few new releases that are supposed to be great but I’m not talking.

Willett will soon have enough of their own distilled bottles to do wider releases of the Bourbon. Wheated varieties will be out soon (guessing within the year) at the gift shop but in small quantities that won’t last long.
It’s going to take a few more years before stocks are built back up to change this tide but it can’t come soon enough.

Solid Bourbon/Rye Pours you’ll find on most shelves.
In no order
Four Roses Small Batch
Woodford Reserve
Blanton’s
Buffalo Trace
Elijah Craig
Knob Creek
Bookers
Evan Williams
Angels Envy
Noah’s Mill
Wild Turkey 101
Russell’s Reserve

Makers Mark

Pikesville Rye
Rittenhouse Rye
Lot40
Whistle Pig 10
Wild Turkey
Russell’s Reserve Single

It’s been awhile since I covered private barrels so let’s look at the current state.
10 years ago a group, bar or resturant could have Pappy on down as a private barrel. Distilleries were happy to sell them in most cases. Five years ago most programs were fairly open and the lights were on. Today not so much, not so good.
Beam still has a nice program with quality barrels mostly Knob Creek.
Makers Mark the 46 custom stave selection program but a bit limited.
Old Forester a bit more selective to do a Old Forester Barrel or Woodford blend.
Heaven Hill selectively Elijah Craig maybe Bernheim.
Buffalo Trace is a Carnival of Clowns you’ll need to be a Witch Doctor, Fortune teller or just lick someone’s balls (especially Beau Beckman) to figure out what’s going on with the most confusing and limited program that’s out there. The BT situation varies from being done a favor for buying lots of junk from a distributor all the way to convincing somebody within Buffalo Trace to let you do one. It’s about the most unfair system of pecking order, clout, Ass kissing of any program not just in what you pick but the quality and quantity.
The “official” experience at Buffalo Trace might be signing up online then logging on on a very lucky day for a slot to pick. Someone on the inside can whisper the lucky day and minute into your ear as well. It might be knowing someone. It might be having someone from a distributor wave a sample bottle ( or no sample at all) under your nose making it look like they’re doing you the biggest favor in the world letting you have a private barrel regardless if it’s going to suck or not. What’s a person to do, let the salesman go to your competition and give them the same offer if you don’t take it? Do you take forced sales to be offered as a private barrel (often with the stipulation of sales and arm twisting). It’s the dirtiest way to get a private barrel and one should be prepared to beg, borrow, blow and bendover cause that’s the way they run it. I wonder in Sazerac’s case if owners the Goldrings or president Mark Brown have any clue of just how sleazy and disgusting the/these methods have gotten?
Oh, did I mention quality and age statements are crashing too! If you can’t tell the difference you should stick to vodka.

Castle and Key (formally Old Taylor) is the kids Lemonaide stand of barrel programs and they are using the proverbial powdered lemonade to get the drive by business of bread crumbs. I had high hopes for these folks and Maryann but it’s broken somehow. They are selective who can come in such as purchasers doing “tastings” of near new make barrels. If you know what the taste of a new make barrel is like then you’ll get this. Just in case I’ll tell you it tastes like turpentine paint thinner bad medicine and shit 98% of the time. The other 2% it just tastes real bad because there’s nothing to taste or pick unless your name is Jim Rutledge or a Denny Potter type–an incredible expert at what it tastes like off a still spotting flaws and the future. That takes thousands of batches not a couple dozen over a few months or a few during a tasting pick! The property is an Old rundown treasure where most of the money has been put into making it look pretty again with new equipment but needs more. It’s sad that the money has to come from storage of other peoples barrels and selling barrel futures hiding and being disguised as barrel picks. Even if I was broke, I wouldn’t be calling my distiller MASTER nor giving people a false impression they’re actually picking anything but couple month old white dog.
There is a breaking-in as you learn as a distiller. Insisting your ‘beginner distiller’ goes by “Kentucky’s first and only Master Distiller” isn’t true and was marketer anointed. I believe that Chatham (new Michters) Pamela Heilmann has been distilling there and Beam a hell of a long time before in any case so credibility is also a factor. They have none of the old barrels that the bugs are not nearly shaken from to have fancy tastings to suckers prebuying the erector set of whisky hoping it won’t suck in a few years. This one scares me and if this is what they need to do to keep the lights on and fill the warehouse for rented barrel space good luck. Your doing it chinczy and look like children handing out participation Medals to the gullible lemonade lover that doesn’t care. I’ve got no issue with someone buying a barrel of new make or even doing a taste of it for curiosity’s sake but not buying it as if you’re actually picking the best of a batch which is what they promote.

Barrell Bourbon is doing it right, no BS, WildTurkey does it right. The Russell’s pick with customers and are proud to. They and Beam currently have the best quality barrels to be picked. Good people and they’ll even pull barrels you’ll want or ask for by type. Classy operation and great Aged value.

Four Roses now blocks whomever is new. Existing people to pick are seeing less options, choices and age. Very likely you’ll be tasting many already rejected barrels. I fear for them. They use to be the best but younger less special picks are not complementary and it’s being noticed.

Angels Envy stopped a good program for the time being.

Willett has stopped for a while to build stocks but I’d say 2018 we might see the private barrels return selectively.

A few others exist that are on and off. I’ve heard good things at Wilderness Trail. Smooth Ambler has stopped for awhile. As has New Riff and others.

Until supply is rebuilt I would expect the good to continue to shrink before they bounce back when a good Supply returns.

I’m a casual whiskey geek - and love your blog (also great tip on the OF 1920 - stuff’s terrific).

I’m wondering why more distillers don’t sell limited things in 375/200 sizes?  Probably doesn’t matter for the truly insane stuff each year - but for other limited editions I’d be much more likely to take a flyer on a $40 200ml bottle than I would $100 on a 750ml.

Basically, I like the fun part of trying the limited releases but waver on the stress of picking them up (kicking myself for not taking a flyer on the Bookers Rye at $300, thrilled I didn’t pick up the 4 roses 2016 for the same amount). For what it’s worth, i live in DC and I feel like we are pretty lucky with regular selection (buffalo trace, blantons, eagle 10, smooth ambler, are all readily available) but it’s a disaster for the limited stuff.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

PS - any retailers in DC you think do a great job with their store picks?  I’ve been disappointed in the ones near me - some are no different and others I’ve actively disliked.

Best,

John

John I saw that HH did that at the Visitor Center with the .200 of Elijah Craig 125 Proof which is interesting. A larger national rollout of a .375 like HH did with the $300 John Fitz 20. If the price is worth it to a retailer we will see many more of these as shelf size isn’t relevant never making a shelf. We have been seeing this size from the BT Experimental and Single Oak Projects. If it weren’t for on premise bars and restaurants I think Van Winkle would have been .375 long ago. As for D.C. I’m more of a Jack Rose drinker rather than bottle Buyer BUT if you get out in the weeds in MD you can find some gems.

From my messages–

There is a LeNell’s at auction now going for over 10K. Rathskeller recently went for 8,500. AH Hirsch blue wax 7,500. The fun continues.

Yes. Those two are the true Holy Grails of modern to collect if you got the $$

Finally Kentucky is one of the first states trying to get a law passed in order to permit the purchase and resale of vintage spirits. If passed it will essentially permit a person to sell their vintage bottle that is sealed and no longer available to a bar or restaurant for it to be resold. This would be really great and so many ways. Below are the proposed law changes.

KRS 241.010 (63) proposed.–

“Vintage distilled spirit” means a package or packages of distilled spirits that:

(a) Are in their original manufacturer’s unopened container;

(b) Are not owned by a distillery; and

© Are not otherwise available for purchase from a licensed wholesaler within the Commonwealth;

KRS CHAPTER 243 IS CREATED TO READ AS FOLLOWS:

(A person holding a license to sell distilled spirits by the drink or by the package at retail may sell vintage distilled spirits purchased from a nonlicensed person upon written notice to the department in accordance with administrative regulations promulgated by the department.

Vintage distilled spirits may be resold only:

(a) By the drink by a person holding a license to sell distilled spirits by the drink; and

(b) By the package by a person holding a license to sell distilled spirits by the package.

If you live and vote in Kentucky support this bill and the other portions of it by letting your representatives know.