OneCubeOnly wrote:Dave--no need to trek to KY for AAA 10yo--VA ABC's shelves are loaded to the brim with it. It's a complete miscarriage of justice! Nobody buys the stuff because it's placed (and priced) with the bottom-shelf dwellers.
I've got a slightly different take on the AAA 10 year old. In my store it is one shelf off the floor and is priced in the lower end of the pack of big sellers at $9.90 for a 750ml bottle. Beam 'white' is $13.95, and Evan Williams 'Black' is $10.95. Now that's a damn good bourbon for a very (for Virginia) reasonable price. The best AAA 10 y.o. deal is the one liter bottles at $12.90. Even when the 1.75L's are 'on sale' it's still cheaper (by volume) to buy the one liter bottles.
My store manager tells me that the AAA 10 year old sells very well and has it's devoted buyers. I happen to buy quite a bit of it and it has surplanted Old Forester ($13.95 per 750ml) as my everyday pour.
I can get a full liter of damn good tasting 10 year old 86 proof bourbon for less than many younger 750ml bottlings of the same or lower proof.
This does not escape the casual bourbon lover. No they may never have read a book on bourbon; or visited a distillery, or gone online to a bourbon site -
but they know what they like, and
that's why AAA 10 year old is selling well in Virginia.
Or maybe it's just us hillbillys that buy it. Either way if it didn't produce a pretty profit for the Commonwealth they'd pull that puppy right off the shelf.
ima - prices quoted form the VA Dept of ABC pricelist - Vol.3 #3 AUG '04