Quote Originally Posted by kevin7 View Post
Honestly I think Bourbon is getting out of hand as of late with all the special edition ,rare ,single barrel,38 year old stuff. I watched the same stupidity during the 90's cigar boom and honestly a lot of boom era cigars were standard -to sub par .
I agree to certain extent. However, I think the bourbon scenario has a much more legit storyline (than vodka & gars). There's a lot I find casual & serious enthusiasts don't realize or take into account.

Consider:

Whiskies older than maybe 10 or 12 years were typically ignored until the end of the 90s or around the millennium. Demand has since skyrocketed.

Since there was 0 or very limited demand (domestically) for 15+ year old whiskey, most (more like all) of what survived to that age was whiskey distillers & bottlers simply could not sell & were forced to let continue to sit in barrels = gain age.

Since there was 0 or very limited demand domestically for 15+ year old whiskey, it isn't like many (if any) distillers actually started out from day 1 with a plan to yield whiskey in that age range. And in short what that means is there never was any contingency plan to replace or keep up stocks in that range. Therefore there's gaping holes in the upcoming supply. This means distillers are rationing what they have = less supply = costs more - trying to spread what remains to hold over til they have large enough stocks of newer make to meet the sudden interest in old(er) whiskey.

Not to lecture, but another consideration is because there was a glut = flat(ter) sales 80s - 90s, many of the original makers are long, long gone, have changed multiple hands, locations etc. This means most of the new make will not be the same as the old. Which, essentially, a lot of people are betting & convinced the new won't be nearly as good as the old stuff.

For example, current Pappy Van Winkle 15 years or younger now = Buffalo Trace distilled wheat recipe bourbon - the original Stitzel-Weller supply beneath about 19 or so years of age is almost completely exhausted. The BT stuff is decent-good by most accounts, but the S-W juice is the stuff legends are created upon. The window of opportunity is being slammed shut as we speak.