When I started Bourboneur about a year ago I wanted to find a way to be a contributor to the bourbon community, to develop something that would add value and be a resource for folks like me who enjoyed brownwater. The Bourbon Blue Book ended up being that thing and has now been accessed thousands of times over, attesting to the value that it clearly brings.
The Bourbon Blue Book has two things going for it that other sites claiming to help you value your bourbon don't have...one, it's updated on the weekly meaning that it's accurate and moves with the markets. Pricing goes up and down and the Bourbon Blue Book tracks thousands of actual sales on the secondary market each month continually adjusting. Secondly it offers a level of granularity that other sites do not. If you're looking for a particular Act and Scene of Midwinters Nights Dram, if it's sold in the past year, we have a record of it. Looking for a 2010 William LaRue Weller? If so, five have sold in the past year and we make the average, low and high price available, for free, to y'all.
I've found a lot of utility in the site for myself, as I've grown into my bourbon collection. As one bottle turned into two, and two bottles into five, and five bottles into 160 (I'm assuming that's the same growth model you all have experienced as well), I found that more and more there were bottles that I wanted to try, but never ever saw at any of my local liquor stores or, high-end bars even for that matter. Not only did I never see them, but I never heard of anyone of my friends ever seeing them either.
Being someone who likes to try new things in the bourbon department, I'd be lying to suggest I'd never bought a bottle from someone off the secondary market and whether folks like it or not, that market is a thing and isn't going away anytime soon absent some precipitous drop in the average American's love of bourbon. I don't know why a person would have a falling out with bourbon, but I suppose it does happen...but...not at a scale large enough to matter, so keep calm and drink on.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to understanding what is and is not within reason to spend on a bottle of bourbon that you simply can't live without, or whether you have some morbid curiosity about what the pricing difference is between different vintages of Eagle Rare 17, I think you'll find that the Bourbon Blue Book is a site you should plan to bookmark for future use. If you so endeavor, please join us on Instagram, Facebook, and yes, even TikTok for great bourbon posts, garage bar resources, giveaways, laughs, and more. Cheers!
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