Top Shelf Fakes

[rotuts]

I found this article quite interesting :

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/dining/drinks/fake-bourbon.html?searchResultPosition=1

 

fake high end bourbon

 

probably behind a pay-way.  that's unfortunate

 

for review purposes :

 

"" 

To the casual eye, there was nothing amiss about the bottle of whiskey sitting on a shelf at Acker, a wine store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But for anyone who knew what to look for, the warning signs were clear.

The whiskey, a bourbon called Col. E.H. Taylor Four Grain that Acker was selling for about $1,000, normally came packaged in a special cardboard tube; this one sat there tubeless. Its strip stamp, attached over the top of the cork, was on backward.

Still, when a producer from the TV news program “Inside Edition” asked in April about the bottle’s authenticity, the store assured him it was legitimate.

The producer bought the whiskey, then took it to Buffalo Trace, the Kentucky distillery that makes the Col. E.H. Taylor line of bourbon, for chemical analysis. The bottle, it turned out, was fake: It had been refilled with cheap whiskey and resealed, then sold to Acker as part of a private collection.

 

The store said it had already pulled several bottles from the collection off the shelf, and offered refunds on bottles it had already sold. But that didn’t stop “Inside Edition” from featuring the incident in an eye-opening news report a few weeks later.""

 

the article gets more interesting as it chugs along

 

however , its not mentioned how or why Acker got itself duped

Edited January 12, 2022 by rotuts (log)

[weinoo]

When I was catering, I did a lot of business with Acker, mostly wines by the case.  Well known and respected, actually, so this was kind of interesting.

 

Counterfeiters are always looking to up their game; some of my buddies have bottles of Stagg, Pappy, Red Hook (try to find that), et al. bourbons that are worth well into the thousands; all of those bottles were direct from the distillers and/or origjnal sellers.

[rotuts]

I wonder what Acker's explanation is for this .

 

and Im not singling out Acker in any way what soever.

 

or implying anything 

[weinoo]

2 minutes ago, rotuts said:

I wonder what Acker's explanation is for this .

 

and Im not singling out Acker in any way what soever.

 

or implying anything 

 

I think they simply got duped, didn't do enough research, etc. etc. Once those bottle prices started to approach the stratosphere, counterfeiting was assured.

 

I think we'll eventually (hopefully) see is all distilleries coming up with seals and labels and other identifying features which make their high end stock near impossible to fake. 

[paulraphael]

The distillers will probably start verifying their bottles with NFTs.

 

And when this takes off, they'll start selling the NFTs without the bottles. Everybody wins! 

 

Who wants to buy my authentic digital Pappy?

[weinoo]

52 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

The distillers will probably start verifying their bottles with NFTs.

 

And when this takes off, they'll start selling the NFTs without the bottles. Everybody wins! 

 

Who wants to buy my authentic digital Pappy?

 

Hmmm...what have you been reading, @paulraphael?

 

How the NFT phenomenon works in the world of high-end spirits.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

It's interesting that when status for owning something is worth more the intrinsic value, fakes enter the market.   19th C wines; antiques (particularly collectables), art.    "Stuff" that is not meant to be consumed or used but simply owned for show or bragging rights.   

 

Fools are born every day.

[paulraphael]

4 hours ago, weinoo said:

 

Hmmm...what have you been reading, @paulraphael?

 

How the NFT phenomenon works in the world of high-end spirits.

 

I had no idea. Reality these days is making it very hard to do satire.

[scubadoo97]

My bourbon group’s selections are sought after and can bring BIG dollars on the resale market.   I break all my empties so the bottle can not be salvaged and reused and counterfeited 

[scubadoo97]

 

Ran across this post on FB.  
 

Had to look at my spreadsheet and I have one in inventory.   Not like I have a desire to crack it open given its value 🤣

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by scubadoo97 (log)

[scubadoo97]

Remember when Drew at Willett use to let us loose in the rickhouse with a drill to tap barrels when we were barrel picking.   Stopped buying from him quite a few years ago when the prices went up and it didn’t make sense any more 

[TicTac]

I would be shocked if that brought even a fraction of that 'estimated' value.  Willett is not that high up there on the sought after bottles, either.

 

It's stupid what some people are spending on hooch, especially when such good stuff is available at msrp.

 

 

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, scubadoo97 said:

Remember when Drew at Willett use to let us loose in the rickhouse with a drill to tap barrels when we were barrel picking.   Stopped buying from him quite a few years ago when the prices went up and it didn’t make sense any more 

 

I used to go to this bar in DC, when we had our apartment down there...now closed, it was called Bourbon.

 

They had an estimable collection of Willet's product, probably from before they became collectible items.

 

 

[rotuts]

this might have been mentioned elsewhere :

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/06/28/a-billionaires-sweet-purchase-turns-to-vinegar/2468717/

 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/03/the-jefferson-bottles

 

 

[pastrygirl]

"Heist" on netflix covers some bourbon scandal you might enjoy - at Buffalo Trace IIRC.

 

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81153328?trackId=255824129

[scubadoo97]

Still have good relationships with other distilleries.   Was at Wilderness Trail recently  with a small group  picking barrels for my bourbon group.   Smart people there that have no legacy but are business people who know how to make a profit.   Beautiful Rick houses and they are turning out very good whiskey utilizing high technology.  Pick up a bottle if you see it in the shelf.  We buy barrels but I’m inclined to buy off the shelf products as well.   I have too many bottles that are worth too much for me to want to open.   It’s down right stupid.   I own this bottle but would never want to open it based on its value.   Not like I’m selling it as long as Involved with my bourbon group which is big NoNo 
 

example 

[weinoo]

Can you sell NFTs of it?