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of 2010 baltimore liquor store my eyes lock on a bottle of old forester bottled in bond distilled 1970 bottled 1975 thirty five years on that shelf i paid fifteen dollars that find wasn t luck it was the result of knowing what to look for before anyone else in the room did i ve written about dusty hunting on this blog going back to the early days the dc mapped hunt the baltimore locked door the bottles that sat on shelves for decades because nobody was buying bourbon in the 1970s and 80s that era created the hunting grounds some of those bottles are still out there but most have been found what s changed is the market 16 1 million barrels aging in kentucky right now production cut 28 in 2025 the last time it looked like this was the glut era that created the dusties in the first place understanding what created those finds the economics the pattern the specific things to look for on every bottle is more valuable now than it s been in years not because you ll find a 1970 old forester for fifteen dollars but because markets have memory and this pattern has a shape i put together a video walking through the system in detail five things i check on every bottle the dc mapped hunt what the bottles from that era were actually telling you that the labels weren t saying directly there are other clues labels bottle style etc knowing the clues is the key to finding those old treasures if you ve been reading this blog since the early days you already know most of this but if you know someone just getting into collecting or someone who thinks dusty hunting is wandering into random liquor stores and hoping something turns up send them the video link to youtube video pour thoughtfully draw slowly and savor the journey posted by greg at 7 54 pm no comments sunday may 31 2026 i paid 5 99 for this bourbon here s why watch the full video here there s a liquor store i won t name it looked like it hadn t been touched since the carter administration i m walking the aisles eyes scanning shelves the way you do when you ve been doing this long enough to know that s where the interesting bottles live i reach up and pull down an old fitzgerald bottled in bond i flip it over to the tax strip i did the math standing right there in the aisle i paid 5 99 for it the guy behind the register was pleased to get rid of it what s happening in kentucky right now before i explain that bottle and i will i want to show you where bourbon stands today right now there are 16 1 million barrels of bourbon aging in kentucky that s an all time record at the same time production has been cut 28 in 2025 the lowest since the pandemic jim beam paused their entire clermont distillery for all of 2026 brown forman laid off 650 people and closed their cooperage 50 craft distilleries went under in 2025 alone used barrels that were selling for 200 eighteen months ago are now going for 50 300 million cases aging 35 million cases sold every year that s nearly nine years of inventory sitting in kentucky rickhouses right now when i first heard that number i just stopped because i d heard something like it before when the industry got weird picture kentucky in the early 1970s distilleries running full tilt stills going day and night warehouses filling up fast bourbon was built on post war optimism demand was strong the future looked good everyone kept distilling then vodka happened clear spirits became fashionable your parents generation decided bourbon was something their grandfather drank demand softened warehouses filled up distilleries running flat out suddenly had more whiskey than they could move you d think the industry would slow down they didn t they got weird when you can t sell bourbon as bourbon you start selling it as a chess set jim beam decanters wild turkey collectibles genie bottles bowling pins train sets the industry was throwing everything at the wall you know what they re doing now to move inventory selling the barrels as garden planters different glut same desperation but the strangest thing wasn t what happened outside the bottle it was what happened inside how to read a bottled in bond tax strip bottled in bond is a government standard going back to 1897 100 proof single distillery single distillation season aged at least four years in a federally bonded warehouse congress s guarantee of what was actually in the bottle part of that system was the tax strip the green stamp over the cap flip the bottle over find the strip read two dates distilled date bottled date right there on every bottle subtract one from the other that s how old the whiskey actually is regardless of what the label says the four bottles i have four bottled in bond bottles from the glut era here s what the tax strips say old fitzgerald bib stitzel weller dsp ky 16 i found this one in a liquor store that looked like it hadn t been touched since the carter administration old fitzgerald bottled in bond distilled at stitzel weller dsp ky 16 one of the most celebrated distilleries in bourbon history label says six years old distilled 1972 bottled 1980 that s eight years not six the whiskey sat because nobody was buying when they finally bottled it they labeled it at the minimum even though what was in the bottle was considerably better i put it on the counter guy rings it up 5 99 i kept my face completely straight he said you sure you want this old whiskey i said yeah i think so he was tickled to get rid of it that was the glut dividend and i got mine for 5 99 and just so you know it s still remarkable eight year old stitzel weller bourbon that nobody wanted old charter bib bernheim dsp ky 2 bottled at buffalo trace dsp ky 113 same era different store different city i m working my way through baltimore store by store i ve got a list old charter bottled in bond distilled at the bernheim distillery in louisville bottled at what is now buffalo trace in frankfort label says four years old distilled 1973 bottled 1981 eight years not four two different distilleries same story this wasn t a coincidence two of the most important names in bourbon today connected to one glut era bottle that sat on a shelf because nobody wanted it i w harper bib bernheim dsp ky 1 old quaker indiana dsp ind 2 i w harper one of america s most celebrated bourbons shipped almost entirely to japan during the glut because americans didn t want it distilled 1976 bottled 1983 seven years four year label stillbrook corn whiskey bib dsp ill 2 rinse and repeat distilled 1971 bottled 1978 not four years seven years the four bottle lineup four bottles kentucky indiana illinois bourbon corn whiskey some of america s most prestigious labels all labeled at the minimum all aged considerably longer all sitting on shelves because nobody was buying i ve shown these to people who ve been collecting for decades and they just shake their heads this wasn t one distillery making one unusual decision this was the industry whiskey aging whether anyone wanted it or not i still get a little i don t know something when i line these up these distilleries are gone these tax strips don t exist anymore this specific window closed that was the glut dividend the distilleries we lost wild turkey four roses buffalo trace the ones you know today they survived by making hard decisions some distilleries didn t make it through stitzel weller the distillery that made the old fitzgerald stopped distilling in the early 1990s sat abandoned for decades old taylor ceased production in the 1980s gone for 40 years old quaker in indiana closed late 1980s never came back the people who made these whiskeys didn t know they were in a glut they just kept doing their jobs making bourbon until the day they couldn t the modern parallel look at the inventory chart from the 1960s to today 1960s optimism expansion running hard the glut hits distilleries slow down close disappear inventory bottoms out around 2000 then the bourbon boom demand surges the industry rebuilds expands again runs hard again and now 300 million cases aging 35 million sold annually they did it again when i started getting into bourbon mid to late 80s bourbon was just bourbon nobody was camping outside liquor stores nobody was flipping bottles i remember thinking btac was expensive at 45 i actually debated it everyday bourbon up 121 roughly keeping pace with inflation btac msrp up 600 pappy on the secondary market up 1 400 median household income up 959 i was buying btac for 45 walking into stores picking it off the shelf no lottery no waitlist no secondary market i remember thinking i should probably buy more of these and then thinking nah there ll always be more there wasn t at some point bourbon stopped being a drink and started behaving like an asset that always ends the same way the glut of the 1970s taught the industry a painful lesson the question is will they slow down soon enough this time what to watch for this is from one trip to dc i m driving down a back street i pull over walk into a liquor store that looks like it hasn t changed since 1975 guy behind the register looks at me like i m lost i start pulling bottles off the shelf he says that stuff s been here since my dad ran this place i said perfect three numbers that tell the whole story 5 99 an eight year old stitzel weller bourbon nobody wanted it 45 btac off the shelf no lottery no waitlist zero people lined up outside liquor stores that window is closed now but another one may be opening here s what to watch for watch for discounting on mid shelf and premium bottles a bottle that s been 60 for three years showing up at 45 that s a signal watch for age statements quietly reappearing on expressions that haven t carried them in years watch for better availability on things that have been allocated forever buffalo trace on the shelf every week pay attention to why watch for the mid tier getting genuinely interesting again that s where the glut dividend shows up first and if you ever find a bottled in bond with a tax strip intact flip it over find the distilled date find the bottled date do the math you might be holding something considerably older than the label suggests and if the price is right you ll know exactly what to do that s not a trick that s history in summary i ve stood in these rickhouses walked these floors poured from barrels that have been aging longer than some of you have been alive and there s something about this hobby something i find hard to put into words that keeps pulling me back the last bourbon glut was painful for the industry distilleries closed brands disappeared decades of history went quiet but every time i walk past those old buildings i think about the people who worked there and i think about the bottles they left behind for the drinker who was paying attention and patient it was one of the best times in bourbon history to just go buy something good i don t know if we re heading into another one but if we are you ll recognize it now and you ll know what to do i pick up that bottle of old fitz sometimes just to remind myself the next bourbon cycle may not be about scarcity it may be about patience and patience may bring back something else collectors lost during the boom but that s a conversation for another video pour thoughtfully draw slowly and savor the journey greg posted by greg at 8 22 pm no comments sunday may 24 2026 what stood out this week pours and smokes watch the full video here this week i took some time to enjoy a few selections from the collection that really stood out instead of chasing new releases i focused on what i actually reached for and a few of them delivered excellent experiences i paired my personal barrel pick the altschuler 17 year french oak finished bourbon at 104 proof with a joya de honduras cabinet selection ligero aged 17 years a luxury cigar club exclusive the bourbon brought rich oak brown sugar vanilla cedar baking spice and dark fruit with zero heat paired with the joya s aged cedar dry cocoa leather roasted nuts and mature tobacco it was the perfect pairing i also paired the wild turkey 12 year 101 japanese release with the el mago solstice sumatra 6x48 from mardo cigars the wild turkey showed nice extra maturity with brown sugar caramel vanilla crème brûlée charred oak and leather undertones the el mago delivered cream breadiness cedar and restrained spice with a perfect draw and razor sharp burn they complemented each other beautifully finally i enjoyed the por larranaga picadores hermosos no 4 5x48 from 2017 paired with foursquare dominus this mature barbados rum aged 3 years in ex bourbon and 7 years in ex cognac casks at 112 proof brought rich caramel demerara sugar vanilla toffee dark fruit oak tannins and warm spices the cigar offered salted caramel floral honey cream soft wood and tea spice with a refined medium body rum and cuban cigars continue to be one of my favorite approachable combinations after more than 20 years of collecting these quiet satisfying moments of discovering great pairings from my own basement are what i enjoy most have you had any standout pours or smokes lately let me know in the comments i read every one if you enjoy relaxed experience based content about aged spirits and cigars i d appreciate it if you subscribed to the channel and joined the journey as always pour thoughtfully draw slowly and savor the journey greg posted by greg at 4 06 pm no comments monday may 18 2026 3 bourbons and 3 cigars that over deliver watch the full video here i ve been collecting aged spirits and cigars for over 20 years and one thing i ve learned is that you don t always need the newest or most expensive releases to enjoy great drinks and smokes sometimes the best options are the ones that quietly deliver time after time in my latest video i share three bourbons and three cigars that i actually reach for on a regular basis these aren t the rarest bottles or sticks in my collection they re the reliable everyday choices that consistently punch above their weight old grand dad 114 one of my go to high proof bourbon is old grand dad 114 proof with a high rye mashbill 63 corn 27 rye 10 malted barley the recipe traces back to the old national distillers days before jim beam acquired it in 1987 they not only purchased the brand and recipe but a good supply of aged barrels the profile is bold spice and caramel sweetness which makes it a great all rounder with cigars if the 114 proof is a little too punchy you can scale down to the old grand dad bottled in bond at 100 proof or the 86 proof which cost slightly less than the 114 evan williams bottled in bond simple honest and one of the best values in bourbon and uses the heaven hill mashbill 78 corn 10 rye 12 malted barley it s straightforward well balanced and always delivers more than you expect at this price point which is less than 20 in my area if you want to scale up you can go with henry mckenna bottled in bond which uses the same mashbill but is 10 years old and a single barrel price point is higher a...