I'm not an expert. Certainly others on here know better. My experience - following this hobby for ~4 years - I see the 3yr often, the 4yr every 4-5 months at various Specs / Goody Goody / Premier in central Houston. And I've never seen older than 4yr on the shelf. Bottle-spot is my usual go-to for valuation nowadays but it's currently down, so I can't do a sanity check.

Premier (Yale & I-10) is actually a decent bet to find a bottle, but expect them to be a tad higher than Specs / Total Wine on prices across the board.

Quick check on some value FB groups shows 275-300 for pretty much anything over the 4 year rye. The WFE bourbons even more.

I saw a 4 year Rye in a shop for $59 last month and bought it. First I'd seen one on a shelf.

MW03 said:

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I don't know if I just happened to get a particularly good bottle, but I'm nearly to the point where I'd put Noah's Mill up against anything at this price point. It's delicious.

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It's damned good stuff.

Have you tried Rowans Creek?

Both are excellent.

Both are Willett products.

mazag08 said:

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MW03 said:

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I don't know if I just happened to get a particularly good bottle, but I'm nearly to the point where I'd put Noah's Mill up against anything at this price point. It's delicious.

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It's damned good stuff.

Have you tried Rowans Creek?

Both are excellent.

Both are Willett products.

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Well, I guess I know what my next buy is!

Anyone here used https://www.delmesaliquor.com/ before? Looks like its based out of California and ships to Texas. Some of it is pretty dang reasonable. For example, they have Eagle Rare for $34 and Angel's Envy for $50 in stock, and I have a hard time finding those on the shelves. Then, they have some stuff priced high compared to MSRP (i.e., Weller SR for $80, Midwinter Night's Dram for $180, etc). But they do have a lot in stock.

Haven't used it but noticed OF 1910 on there for $59 which isn't too terrible. When I find it (getting harder and harder) it's about $55 in store so as long as they don't charge crazy amount for shipping it might be great place to pick up certain bourbons that are getting harder to find.

Houston either doesn't get enough supply, or gets picked over quickly. Most stores are on allocation even for things like Buffalo Trace.

Yeah Houston is strange. I'm seeing Buffalo Trace more than in the past, but have only spotted eagle rare once in the past year

the dude10 said:

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IBMs_Watson said:

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The good news is that Willett 3yr is not too hard to find. Willett 4yr is a good deal tougher but you will see it on shelves if you're persistent (MRSP ~$50, Secondary ~$85). Willet 5yr+ will never see a store shelf and secondary prices range quite a bit, but expect to pay ~$300.

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There is no way this is accurate right? I still have a few bottles of 8 year I haven't opened up yet, and though I really like it you could usually find a bottle a few times a year. No way it sells for that much.

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The younger stuff is their juice.

The older stuff is mostly MGP.

They're starting to get 6 or so year bourbon and rye now though, but if it's that old and not from the last year it's MGP.

Which is driving the cost.

Ya, I knew they used to be MGP and we're transitioning to their own. They did a great job of staying with the MGP flavor profile on their younger ryes I think. I am interested to see how it goes as it keeps getting older.

So is the MGP more sought after now? Just last year it was pretty easy to find the 3-4 year. I haven't done very much hunting at all this year but I didn't realize willet rye was getting hard to find. It would always come out a few times each year and with no allocations I would grab a couple bottles when I saw it to hold me over a few months until the shelves were loaded with it again

The four year should be easily to find.

The older batches of MGP and the single barrels starting around 6 years for bourbon are the ones getting big money right now. Supposedly they're starting a rye pick program this year

Mmm rye pick program sounds awesome!

We were up in Breckenridge for Christmas and went to the Breckenridge Distillery tasting room while in town one evening. Pretty solid line up; I really liked their Single Barrel bourbon so bought a bottle to bring home. It's probably a little overpriced, but I enjoyed it and kind of liked the novelty of it.

Their distillery is supposed to have a really good set up and some great cocktails, but didn't make it there.

Colorado is doing some serious work. My prediction is that it becomes the "capital" for the fiercely growing "American Single Malt" category.

htxag09 said:

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We were up in Breckenridge for Christmas and went to the Breckenridge Distillery tasting room while in town one evening. Pretty solid line up; I really liked their Single Barrel bourbon so bought a bottle to bring home. It's probably a little overpriced, but I enjoyed it and kind of liked the novelty of it.

Their distillery is supposed to have a really good set up and some great cocktails, but didn't make it there.

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I was Breck last week. The pour of the SB I had sucked IMO.

MW03 said:

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Anyone here used https://www.delmesaliquor.com/ before? Looks like its based out of California and ships to Texas. Some of it is pretty dang reasonable. For example, they have Eagle Rare for $34 and Angel's Envy for $50 in stock, and I have a hard time finding those on the shelves. Then, they have some stuff priced high compared to MSRP (i.e., Weller SR for $80, Midwinter Night's Dram for $180, etc). But they do have a lot in stock.

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Def some reasonable pricing on a few offerings. $4000 for Mitcher's 20 seems a bit overpriced ...

I'd pay $99/bottle for a case of Stagg Jr. delivered to the house.

AG 2000' said:

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Where are you guys at that you can't find the mainline Old Forester stuff, Eagle Rare, etc.?

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I don't stop at every liquor store I pass by in D/FW but the ones that used to have ER and OF 1910 very rarely have them any more...at least when I'm there. My brother bought some land about 50 miles south of Fort Worth and the local crap liquor store has ER but that's about it. See all sorts of OF stuff just not the 1910 anymore.

agcrock2005 said:

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AG 2000' said:

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Where are you guys at that you can't find the mainline Old Forester stuff, Eagle Rare, etc.?

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I don't stop at every liquor store I pass by in D/FW but the ones that used to have ER and OF 1910 very rarely have them any more...at least when I'm there. My brother bought some land about 50 miles south of Fort Worth and the local crap liquor store has ER but that's about it. See all sorts of OF stuff just not the 1910 anymore.

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Agreed with ER but I see 1910 everywhere I go in Houston. Odd how two relatively close markets can be so different.

Saw a couple cases of ER (bottle at $27.99 per) and 3 bottles of ER 1.75 L today. It really stinks that y'all in Texas have to hunt and overpay as much as y'all do.

I will say there are some bottles and brands that are tough to score no matter the market it seems. But ER is not one of them.

Quote:

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But ER is not one of them FOR ME.

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FIFY

Chipotlemonger said:

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Did you see the sentence before that?

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Yes I did. You mentioned how some bottles are hard to find no matter where you are..."but ER is not one of them"..for you.

GarlandAg2012 said:

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agcrock2005 said:

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Chipotlemonger said:

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Did you see the sentence before that?

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Yes I did. You mentioned how some bottles are hard to find no matter where you are..."but ER is not one of them"..for you.

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Uh, reading comprehension? If he can easily find it at MSRP then that means it isn't in the club of bottles that are hard to find no matter where you are. Pappy 23 is hard to find everywhere. ER is regionally dependent.

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Thank you.

TamuKid said:

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Found an Elijiah Craig Barrel Proof B519 today for 69. I hadn't seen one, so bought! Excited to try it. Heard good things.

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You'll be pleased.

I'm kind of obsessed with trying Blackened Whiskey, the collaboration between Metallica and Dave Pickerell. Wondering if anyone has tried it and whether it's worth the effort/expense to get.

Txmoe said:

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I'm kind of obsessed with trying Blackened Whiskey, the collaboration between Metallica and Dave Pickerell. Wondering if anyone has tried it and whether it's worth the effort/expense to get.

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I met the dude running that operation for them in a bar one night. Interesting dude. Never tried their whiskey.

GarlandAg2012 said:

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agcrock2005 said:

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Chipotlemonger said:

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Did you see the sentence before that?

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Yes I did. You mentioned how some bottles are hard to find no matter where you are..."but ER is not one of them"..for you.

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Uh, reading comprehension? If he can easily find it at MSRP then that means it isn't in the club of bottles that are hard to find no matter where you are. Pappy 23 is hard to find everywhere. ER is regionally dependent.

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Comprehension not so great these days...I'll blame that one on the brain cancer. Lol. Sorry chipotle. I've had that crap for 13 years now and it's a really good excuse for anything dumb I ever do.

No worries!

Would love to see what older Willlett offerings you have and possibly do some trading. My email is in my profile if you are interested.