Hello Free Rangers,
Sometimes, when one makes their own deadlines, one slips away. Hence the MIA e-mail last week. Sorry about that. Also, I was applying for a job at the Chronicle for which at least 3 or 4 dozen of you are far more qualified than I. There’s a great scene in Joe Vs. The Volcano (my dark horse pick for best Hanks/Ryan flick) in which Dan Hedaya is on a call, repeating in varying degrees of exasperation, “I know he can get the job, but can he do the job?!” I’ve never been the guy who can get the job- hence the working for myself (I used to get fired a lot)- but man, I could do the hell out of that job. Though I’m certain they’re looking for somebody 20 years younger; a real pavement pounding news breaker. And I’ve been told that I have a problem with authority. I’m not expecting to to hear back; may or may not follow-up this week. Ah, reality can be humbling. Regardless, much respect to the Chronicle for being the first paper in the country with 2 full-time wine writers, including Esther Mobley, one of very few wine writers whose work I actively follow. Well, it was fun to think about for a few days anyway.
Where were we?
Ah, yes… the Whiskey Wars continue, and recently readily available bottles continue to slip away to the distant caverns of highly allocated oblivion. Example: this month we received 0 bottles of Eagle Rare (in any size), as well as the same for Weller, EH Taylor, and Buffalo Trace half bottles, even though all of these items were released, and I lost more than 2 hours of my life trying to acquire them. If you know anybody at Empire who has the power to make this process less absurd, please tell them I hope they’re having a bad day.
While the market is flooded with new labels containing the under-aged and/or over-priced juice of bought barrels, many of the best long time staples around here have become coveted allocated items. Remember the 5+ years we were selling the delicious and plentiful Henry McKenna 10 year Bourbon for under $40? Good times. The latest note of major concern is that Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (which still has its 12 year age statement) is a little more limited each release, and in total we’ve received about 1/4 the amount of two most recent releases as the the two before that. It really is happening that quickly.
This newest development is particularly troublesome as I am of the belief that Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is consistently among the top ten Bourbon(s) of the year, and represents the highest possible quality per dollar available in classic Kentucky Bourbon. On top of this, there’s a new breed of brown bottle collector who believes that higher proof is inherently better (this is not a reasonable correlation), and anything over 120 proof has become difficult to keep on the shelf. Sure, we still have a couple of bottles of the lauded Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B517, which some fancy magazine said was the best whiskey in the world that year, but the B519 and B520 are equally enjoyable, at 1/3rd the price. Full disclosure: in many warehouse/discount type booze mega-stores, especially in locales outside of NYC, one can still find EC Barrel Proof under $100, and even occasionally closer to $80. If you see such stocks elsewhere, I highly recommend grabbing a few bottles and hiding them on the back of your bar, or wherever you might stash your back-ups. They are becoming extinct, and prices continue to climb. Otherwise, below is very likely the last time we’ll be able to sell these at under $100, and some of the older releases are down to just a couple of bottles remaining.
So, without further ado, here are sale prices on the very limited Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Bourbon as well as on our back log of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof releases, and as an added bonus, please enjoy our lowest prices of the year on Hibiki Harmony and Nikka Coffey Grain Whisky.
(!) Click here for hidden sale page (!)
Nikka Coffey Grain $75 $89
** limit 2 per customer**
Hibiki Harmony $79 $99
** limit 2 per customer**
Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel $89 $129
** limit 1 per customer**
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof A121 $95 $109
** limit 1 per customer**
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B520 $95 $129
** limit 1 per customer**
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B519 $95 $139
** limit 1 per customer**
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 $125 $155
** limit 1 per customer**
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B517 $225 $325
** limit 1 per customer**
*** This week only, as supplies last! ***
*** No other discounts apply! ***
Happy Hunting,
Jack
Proprietor
Free Range Wine & Spirits
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