Monday, April 20, 2009

My Whiskey

So I posted this at the beginning of January in my personal blog - but figured I'd post it here as well... A few bottles are gone - and a few new bottles have been added to the collection.

I'm also looking for a few bottles - specifically Pappy Van Winkle 15yr and the Pappy Van Winkle Rye. If anyone happens to have one of these and are willing to part with it - let me know - we can work out a trade or something...

So I decided to take all the whiskey I had and count up the bottles and see how much they are worth... I counted the full retail value, even for open bottles, and and found the prices on http://www.bevmo.com/, http://www.hitimewine.com/ or other retail sites. For the items that are no longer available I used ebay as a guide (those items are marked with an *). Including all of the signed bottles, it is around $4000 worth of whiskey (mostly bourbon).

If anyone is interested in partaking just let me know and come on over!

Here is the list with the pricing.

OPENED BOTTLES

Bourbon
Four Roses 120th Anniversary $80
George T. Stagg 141.2 pf $150*
Makers Mark 1.75-liter $36
Pappy Van Winkle 20yr $100
Very Old Barton 6yr 100 pf $12
Wild Turkey American Spirit $100
Wild Turkey Kentucky Spirit $50
Willett Single Barrel 25yr $200
Willett Single Barrel 28yr $260

Rye
Jim Beam Rye $17
Old Overholt Rye $14
Rittenhouse Rye 23yr $160
Templeton Rye Single Barrel $35

Other American Whiskies
Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Zinfandel Finish $90*
Charbay Series I $300
Charbay Series II 50ml $23
Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey $60

Scotch
Ardbeg Uigeadail $100
Bowmore 18yr $100
Bowmore Darkest $76
Bowmore Legend $30
Compass Box Hedonism $100
Glenrothes Select Reserve $50
Kirkland Macallan 19yr $70

Other Whiskies
Canadian Club Classic 12yr (Canada) $23
Crown Royal Reserve (Canada) $37
Penderyn Single Malt (England) $70
Yamazaki 12yr (Japan) $40

Whiskey Liqueurs
Cutty Black 100pr $??
Makers Mark Mint Julep $35
Wild Turkey American Honey 375-ml $15

SEALED BOTTLES

Bourbon
Ancient Ancient Age 10yr 100pr $15
Eagle Rare 17yr 2006 $100*
Eagle Rare 17yr 2008 $60
Elijah Craig 18yr $44
Four Roses Single Barrel $46
Four Roses Small Batch $40
George T. Stagg 140.6 $170*
George T. Stagg 144.8 $100*
Jim Beam $14
Jim Beam Black $20
Jim Beam Choice 1-liter $21
Makers Mark 1.75-liter $36
Old Grand Dad 100pr $20
Old Rip Van Winkle 10yr 107pr $36
Parker’s Heritage Cask Strength 122.6pr $80
Parker’s Heritage Cask Strength 127.9pr $180
Willett Single Barrel $43
William Larue Weller 2008 $60

Rye
Jim Beam Rye $17
Old Overholt Rye $14
Old Potrero Rye $70
Sazerac Rye $25

Other Whiskies
Michter’s American Whiskey $45
Yamazaki 12yr (Japan) $40

Whiskey Liqueurs
Celtic Crossing $23
Jeremiah Weed $15
Wild Turkey American Honey $23
Yukon Jack 100pr $19

SIGNED / SPECIAL BOTTLES

Evan Williams Master Distiller’s Select 375-ml
(bottled special for Shannon and I @ Heaven Hill)
Maker’s Mark 375-ml
(hand dipped by Shannon at the Maker’s Mark Distillery)
Maker’s Mark 375-ml
(hand dipped by me at the Maker’s Mark Distillery)
Bulliet Bourbon 1.75 signed by Tom Bulliet
Evan Williams Single Barrel 1997 signed by Craig Beam
Glenfarclas 21yr signed by George Grant
Knob Creek signed by Fred Noe
Parker’s Heritage Cask Strength 122.6pr signed by Parker Beam
Wild Turkey Rare Breed signed by Jimmy Russell and Eddie Russell

Campari Buys Wild Turkey

Rumors have been bouncing around since the Nov/Dec timeframe that Pernod Ricard was looking to sell Wild Turkey, when the company announced their "focus" brands and the bourbon was not among them. I put my money on Skyy Spirits as they did not have a bourbon and from talking with the Director of Sales for California, I knew they were in the market for one.

Well as of about a week ago or so those rumors have come to fruition, and my guess was acorrect. Campari aka Skyy Spirits in the U.S., picked up Wild Turkey for about $575 million. Campari controls a number of spirits brands ranging from vodka (Skyy), scotch (Glenrothes), tequlia (Cabo Wabo), liqueurs (Campari, X-Rated) and Wild Turkey will definitely round out their portfolio.

I'm pretty excited about this change. It seems that Pernod never really did much with Wild Turkey, which in my opinion is fantastic bourbon. I think Skyy will change that and put a lot of focus on building the brand.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

We Are Back!!

Hi Everyone!

It has been far too long since we have gotten together!  You can thank my school for that. However, now that I'm finished we will be starting up the Tri-Valley Whiskey Society again!

Mark your calendars - Saturday May 9th at 7pm we will be doing a Rye Whiskey Tasting featuring a number of great products such as:

  • Old Overholt
  • Jim Beam Yellow Label
  • Sazerac
  • Templeton
  • Old Potrero
  • Thomas H. Handy
  • Rittenhouse 23yr.
We will be meeting at Mr. Ronald Gantt's house in Alamo.  The address is:

2845 Litina Ct. 
Alamo, CA 94507

We will be BBQ'ing so please bring $10 to chip in for food & beverages.

Looking forward to seeing you there!