BourbonEnthusiast.com

I have a running list of "Buy these for me if you see them" bourbons that I share with friends and family. It includes currently available bourbons that I like, want to try, or think are worth collecting, but can't find in the Boston area and some classics that you hear about in Bourbon folklore.

I was wondering if anyone else has a similar list? What's on it?

Also, in general, what do you consider to be the hardest to find (but available) bourbons on the market today?

BTAC
Pappy
Weller 12 year
Willett Family Estate
EH Taylor barrel proof
Elijah Craig barrel proof

Thanks! Are any of the other EH Taylors on the list? All of them are virtually impossible to find up here (Boston) and I'm wondering they're worth hunting down.

Hers's my full list. Not everything is necessarily at the top of my list, but these are the bourbons that folks are talking about in my area but are tough to come by in the local stores.

Pappy
BTAC
Elijah Craig 23 and Barrel Proof
Jefferson's Presidential Select
Willett Family Estate
EH Taylor Single Barrel, small batch,and barrel proof
Black Maple Hill (all)
Spring 44 (all)
Stagg Jr.
Elmer T Lee
B&E

eh taylor small batch, single barrel and rye are pretty available by me (northern illinois). their 'special' bottlings (barrel proof, tornado surviving, etc) are hard to find anywhere
elijah craig barrel proof is hard to find in retail. the 23 is still pretty available by me
I can still find JPS 21 and 25 (bourbon and rye) by me also
i haven't seen black maple hill on the shelves for quite a while - but there are so many other good offerings from willett
stagg jr is readily available by me
elmer t lee is gone in il, but i know it is available east coast still (nj, nh, mass)

Unfortunately, Elmer is gone in Mass now too. I'm not able to find it anywhere. On the plus side, the Willett Family Estate 10Yr just released in Eastern Mass and I was able to pick some up. While I was buying it I asked the store owner what bourbons he is having a hard time stocking...or thinks will end up in high demand. He mentioned all the same brands you listed, but added that he thinks Smooth Ambler 10yr will get into that collectable category soon too. He also mentioned that Blanton's is very hard to get now too and is being rationed. He also said the orphan barrel rhetoric is very rare at at a premium too. He still has plenty of the other orphan barrel stuff, but can't get the Rhetoric. He's also getting a lot of requests for BT white dog...supposedly from folks mixing their own bourbons at home. He said he's seeing that hobby growing too.

ehm, what store did you get the willett at? i'd love to call up and see if they ship...
my local store always has smooth ambler, 10 year and 6 or 7 year (can't remember which). i've never seen a shortage of that here
blantons and rhetoric are also readily available here. the costco by my house even had a few cases of rhetoric!!
i tried the 'home aging' thing a couple years ago with white dog. got a 3 liter barrel and aged it for 13 months. trust me, it's not as good as their regular bourbon...

Gordon's Fine Wines in Waltham, MA has 1 bottle left (or did when I left). you might also try Luke's Liquors in Rockland Ma. Both of those stores tend to have a pretty steady supply of the hard to find stuff... good luck!

I'm also amazed about seeing Rhetoric at Costco! The few bottles I've seen around here are always locked up in 'the glass case' and selling for way over retail. Funny how a a few hundred miles can make all the difference!

Pappy for sure.

Yup. Pappy is definitely at the top of the list! I think of it like the Sasquatch...supposedly some people have seen it, but it disappears anytime the rest of us get close enough to see it! I've actually never tasted it...now I worry that when I finally do get my hands on some (this year I hope!), it won't live up to the hype. I pray I'm wrong on that because I've spent the last year networking with every possible retailer in a 50 mile radius to get a bottle!

...

Setting the Pappy and BTAC's aside, because I know I won't see them,
I'd, humbly, take all the ODBB and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof I could find.

Oddly, the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is a little harder for me to find than BTAC. In my area (Massachusetts South Shore/Cape Cod) there aren't a lot of true bourbon enthusiasts, but there is a ton of marketing for the Elijah Craig brand. So when non-bourbon enthusiasts go into a store around here to buy a nice bottle, they'll usually gravitate toward anything with the Elijah Craig name on it. And since the barrel proof has a different bottle label, it usually goes first. It's a bummer because I'd really like to get my hands on some of the barrel proof.

On the plus side, supposedly some is coming soon (next couple days) and I'm hoping I can grab some before it disappears.

Do you think Jefferson's Ocean is on the list too? I've only come across a few bottles of this (and heard it's not very good), but it's up around the $100 retail mark in my area. Is this hard to find because it's popular...or hard to find because it isn't?

EHM wrote:Oddly, the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof is a little harder for me to find than BTAC. In my area (Massachusetts South Shore/Cape Cod) there aren't a lot of true bourbon enthusiasts, but there is a ton of marketing for the Elijah Craig brand. So when non-bourbon enthusiasts go into a store around here to buy a nice bottle, they'll usually gravitate toward anything with the Elijah Craig name on it. And since the barrel proof has a different bottle label, it usually goes first. It's a bummer because I'd really like to get my hands on some of the barrel proof.

On the plus side, supposedly some is coming soon (next couple days) and I'm hoping I can grab some before it disappears.

Do you think Jefferson's Ocean is on the list too? I've only come across a few bottles of this (and heard it's not very good), but it's up around the $100 retail mark in my area. Is this hard to find because it's popular...or hard to find because it isn't?

I love high proof bourbons...Bookers is one of my favorites.....but ECBP I searched and searched for, only to finally get one and think it was the worst thing ever. That was batch 2 / 137 proof, and though alot of people liked that batch, it seems to be the least popular of the now-6 batches. your opinion may vary. I'll give a new batch a try, but Im not spending a year looking for it again.....or any bourbon for that matter.

to the guy wondering if a pappy will live up to the hype if/when he finally finds it.....I doubt it. no bourbon (or any bottle of anything) is worth over $100, and I refuse to spend over $50 a bottle. There are too many good bourbons out there under $50, and many of those are under $35, and easily attainable. One of my favorites, HH6BIB, is $10, and I refuse to believe that some bottle of $1000 bourbon is 100 times better. But, Im a cheapass.

Y'all need to drive down south to RI. Yep. I have a couple of sources for E H Taylor, small batch and single... plenty on the shelves, and was lucky enough to score a bottle of the illusive EH Taylor Barrel Proof for myself, while sending a second bottle to my dear KY cousin in Ashland. No problem with Elmer T. Lee, either. Found some Blanton, nearby too. So much bourbon, so little time! I understand that some Pappy is about to be cut loose to some key stores in the next few weeks so it's time to make nice to your favor Bourbon emporium and hope to hit the lottery.