It's Hunting season! And I don't mean Deer or Pheasants (but that's true too). I have written about this before in a previous post HERE and my take on "hunting highly allocated whiskey". However, several whiskey friends have asked me recently if there is a certain time of year that most allocated whiskey are released? Is there a time of year that they should really keep their eyes open for these bottles?
Short answer...YES!
October, November and December, otherwise known in the spirits circle as OND.
Most of Big Bourbon will schedule a lot of their limited releases in these last three months of the year. And, it only makes sense. The calendar year is ending. It's gift giving time. The holidays are fast approaching.
You may want a gift for your boss, or an employee who has gone above and beyond this year and because of outdated, stupid corporate policy's you can't give her a bonus. Maybe you want something special to take on a camping trip or to a football game or friend gathering or golf outing. Whatever the reason, it boils down to it's gift giving season.
In the alcohol/spirits business, this is one of the busiest times of the year. And when most of the spirits purchases are made. Some estimates put the sales of alcohol / spirits at around 70% of the entire calendar year. That's a lot when you consider it all happens in just three months. More people are in the stores and purchasing alcohol/spirits than any other time of the year.
So, it's no wonder that Big Bourbon schedules their highly anticipated releases around this time of year. That's not to say they don't release allocated whiskeys at other times of the year. They just schedule a large portion of their releases during OND.
If you listen to whiskey podcasts or have some favorite YouTuber's you follow, you may even hear/see some of these doing a tasting of an allocated whiskey that is coming out in OND. These are media samples that are sent to these influencers (lucky stiffs). They get the lucky chance to try these whiskey's ahead of time.
So that begs the next question I usually get from my whiskey friends. "How do you get or find them?"
You can be that person that walks into a liquor store asks the attendant if they have "X" whiskey, and when they say no, you leave and head to the next store. Pretty much guaranteeing that they will always tell you no.
Or, you can frequent a few stores all the time. Buy most of your whiskey there. Along with other spirits if you need them and beer, and some snacks, etc... Get to know the clerks or owners. Join their Facebook group (if they have one), join their loyalty club (if they have one). But get to know them. You may have to do some serious sleuthing to find the one bottle you are looking for. Many of the stores I frequent will post it on Facebook or send out an email blast. But you have to be ready to fly to the store to get it. Or else it's gone. You have to be diligent.
If you get to know the store owners/clerks you can let them know what you are looking for, and if you buy most of your stuff at that store, they may throw you a bone. It's called "hunting season" for a reason. You have to keep at it and keep looking.
I'm not advocating for store owners to play favorites and only sell to those that buy from the store, or give an inside track to their friends, but it does happen that frequent buyers will get special consideration. It's a fact of life.
And I have to put this out there. One thing to not miss here is your local craft distillery or your favorite craft whiskey. They likely will have something special coming out during this time or around the holiday's. Sometimes, it's a distillery only release, and it can be quite special. These can be even harder to get outside of the distillery or state they are distributed in. So don't pass on these. Be on the look out for what the craft distillers are putting out at this time because they are doing some experimenting that Big Bourbon just can't do.
So in short, the hunt is on as we head into OND. Now is the time. Don't forget to look behind all the bottles on the shelves when you are browsing. I have found many bottles that were tucked behind other bottles because it seems that Santa hides them in the back.
And, if you happen to score something special, offer to crack it open at the counter with the owner and share a pour with the person. You have just made a new whiskey friend!
Happy hunting.
p.s. Thanks to Patreon supporter BigHuman73 for all the great questions
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