Buddy sent me this, he's drawing for us while I'm stuck at work. I spy a red bag!

20yr and a 15yr. Fingers crossed

No pappy at mine at all. A couple ORVW10 and one lot b.

Unicorn alert!!

I'm pretty sure Costco had the four dumbest people in Houston running the one at Bunker Hill. I actually left when it hit 6:30, they hadn't drawn a single name, and announced they were going to start at the bottom of the list and your name would be drawn for a specific liquor at which point you decide if you want it or want your name to go back in. I'm pretty sure it's going to take three hours.

Dumbass running one in SA. I swear people were putting their name in a few times.

That's ridiculous. Willowbrook let you pick from what was available. The selection wasn't as impressive, but at least people could leave once it got down to the dregs. A funny thing did happen. A couple that was together both were drawn and picked (Blanton's and EHT). They apparently/allegedly thought that the bottles were free and started to walk out of the store after watching the drawing for a few more minutes. Another customer called them out as they were clearing the door, at which point an employee stopped them and told them that no, getting drawn gave you the privilege of buying, not a free bottle. As they were debating whether or not to buy the bottles, the same guy who called them out for not paying offered the gal $20 to take and subsequently buy her bottle of Blanton's, effectively paying $76 for a bottle of Blanton's. Better than secondary, but so much fail. The guy that was drawn after me (he was #3) was checking out in line behind me with a bottle of Lot B. He congratulated me on the WLW and told me he almost picked EAGLE RARE..... The Handy lasted through several people picking Blanton's.

I did get a handle of W12 at willowbrook. I'll use it as trade bait. I was standing at the door talking to an employee. A couple was walking out when a guy came walking behind them yelling "they didn't pay for those". The couple played dumb (or maybe not) and said they thought if they won the bottles that they were free. He had a EHT SB and she had a Blantons.

People passing over Handy

Reports of a total **** show across DFW. Apparently "1 entry per person" was a total lie, as was the "electronic drawing to prevent duplicate entries"

Same issues at mine. In no particular order:
- calling names for particular bottles going from seller 12 to angels envy rye to hibiki harmony to blantons before hitting handy, stagg, weller, orvw10, and vw lot b. You could pass and put your name back in, which happened a ton obviously.
- letting people enter the drawing over 30 minutes after drawing started
- taking 5 minute breaks between calling names for some ridiculous reason
- eventually throwing in the towel on angels envy rye when nobody wanted it, then not going back to it after the primo picks were gone. No idea what their plan is for it now

The format was beyond goofy, but I landed a GTS and couldn't be happier.

DP

Not sure how I'd take that...

People were pissed. One guy had his name drawn 3 times. He passed on Weller 12 twice and took home something really nice.

One guy walked in right before the pappy drawing and his name was called. Had to be rigged. Only about 15 of us standing around.

I'd be super pissed but I guess it is what it is. Not many stores give people the opportunity to buy BTAC or VW at retail, even if it does mean waiting around with a bunch of idiots. I'm surprised no one offered him $200 for it on his way out of he door. Sounds like Willowbrook had the right idea, they were drawing one after the other and were down to the last few bottles of ER by 6:40.

Really been bummed out the last few years. I travel 48-49 weeks a year for work and these are all during the week.

Not to mention that there isn't a liquor store worth a damn in New Braunfels, my bourbon hunting days are over it seems. Can't wait until the hipsters move on.

I just seem to always buy OF1920, Rowan's Creek, Noah's Mill, standard FRSB, and whatever other run of the mill stuff I find at the local store at retail.

After reading after reading this I am thankful our local store does it right. They have one drawing every Saturday after Thanksgiving until the Saturday before Christmas. First one was good, and I got a Old Fitz BIB 9 decanter and wife won the "surprise" bottle of Elijah Craig SB 18 year.

I made it last weekend and was picked towards the end. I grabbed a 1792 wheat, and after it was over they had a bottle of the Corozon tequila aged in BT barrels left, so I grabbed it. One lady grabbed a $300-400 dollar bottle of gin, and when she realized the price she turned it in after the auction and grabbed something cheaper that was left. She thought she won it for free.

They run the names quick, and you pick or pass. They keep you to the end with a surprise bottle. So far two PVW have gone in the ones I have missed.

Right Rigger said:

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Sounds like the WB raffles were rigged. Being reported 5 or 6 Qui tequila reps won. And one rep was draw 3 times.

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Yep, tequila rep won at the store I was at, along with 2 people that showed up very late, dropped their name in while grabbing something else real quick, and then didn't really even know what they won as they walked out with WLW and GTS. They actually almost passed when they saw the price tag but ended up getting them

Hearing about how these raffles went makes me glad I skipped. I'll just stick to paying $18 for a pour of THH whenever I decide I want one.

Wow

It was quite a show at WB last night. The worst part was waiting through 20-30 names being drawn just to get 11 people to purchase a Blanton's and then another 11 to grab an Elmer T Lee. The manager thought is was better to decide which bottle she wanted to raffle instead of just letting the first person drawn have their choice. We would of been done 30 minutes quicker.

She mentioned that other stores she talked to were just going to draw a name every ten minutes starting at 6:30 until everything was sold. That would of been great because at 6:30 there were on 10 people in the drawing. Until they started texting family and friends, then between 7-7:30 another 50 showed up who had no clue.

The painful part was watching someone pass on WLW so they could go back into the drawing and be redrawn for a Van Winkle 10. Doesn't help that the manager kept referring to the Van Winkles as Pappy all night.

The smartest person in attendance saw the Orphan Barrel Rhetoric 25 on the shelf for $150, bought it and skipped the cluster. Kicking myself because it should of been me but I had my eye on the BTAC (WLW, STAGG or HANDY).

Two Positives:
The store I went to had bottles of Eagle Rare ($29) on the shelf and the manager mentioned twice she had another case in the back. I am so glad they did not raffle those off as well as the Angel's Envy, Whistle Pig and the 6 bottles of Johnny Walker Game of Thrones.

Second, the manager refused to let the people that showed up at 7:30 in the drawing. She told them they should of come in earlier to get in before the 7:30 deadline.

It was interesting to see 75 people standing around for 28 bottles of alcohol but I not sure I would do it again unless there was actual Pappy Van Winkle up for grabs. Then, those are a lot better odds than hoping you have enough points at Specs or that you have given enough business to the local liquor store for them to grant you a hard to find at a little over cost and not 200-400 over because that is what they see it going for on the internet.

I thought the one in Bryan went fairly well. The only thing I would have changed was to let the person drawn select their pick like they did last year. There were several that declined and had their name put back in and came away with a better selection than Blantons. I was drawn for a bottle of ETL. Yeah, I kept it. Five out of our group from Brazos Valley Bourbon Society came away winners. Great night.

Right Rigger said:

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Manager at Pearland says:

"I'm going to pull the first name, then my associate will pull all the others."

Manager pulls Qui tequila rep for a Pappy 23!

Things that make you say hummmmmmmm.

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HBS talking about shenanigans in Arlington with Qui to.

Wow. Based on my Bunker Hill experience I just assumed they were incompetent. Didn't realize they were also crooked. Honestly, I don't know if the Bunker Hill team could even pull of a scam.

bonfiresmoke said:

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I thought the one in Bryan went fairly well. The only thing I would have changed was to let the person drawn select their pick like they did last year. There were several that declined and had their name put back in and came away with a better selection than Blantons. I was drawn for a bottle of ETL. Yeah, I kept it. Five out of our group from Brazos Valley Bourbon Society came away winners. Great night.

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Agreed. I was there and thought the process would have been better if we could have chosen instead of the pass-pass-pass until we got to the good stuff.

Tell me more about this Bourbon Society....

I need a bourbon recommendation. Long story short, our son's nanny is pregnant and my father in law is doing us a huge favor by coming down for a month to watch our son during the day. I want to buy him a nice bourbon as a thank you gift that he can drink while he's at our place. I would like to spend in the 75-100 dollar range and for reference, his bourbon of choice is Woodford Reserve. I was thinking Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, Old Forester 1920 or Barrell Bourbon 14, but I'm open to other recs. Thanks.