So, I bought a bottle of Ardbeg 10 today. Gotta say I was surprised at how light the drink is, not only in color but taste. Yea, there is some smokiness to it, but it is sweet, like honeysuckle and the bite doesn't kick in till after you have swallowed. Reminds me of a nice dessert. I got into it thinking it was supposed to be super complex and it just isn't. I still like it, it is affordable enough to be a daily drinker, I think it is better than the lagavulin 16 in taste and price, but the lagavulin offerman 11 year (with the fireworks on the box) is slightly better I think, but also more expensive. Next I will try the Laphroaig.
It's always a good sign when the first remarks after nosing are "Oh Yes" 😆 I agree wholeheartedly. I see that Craft Whiskey brands will have to adapt and build community to succeed. Which many already have. I hear about a "bourbon glut" from time to time, but I think that's just noise. I know Colorado Whiskey will definitely be just fine! Oh I would love to talk more about this, but moving on. Thank you again for such a great conversation 🥃
You said it best at the end Daniel to buy from those you want to support, be it whiskey or whatever. I am fortunate to live in a small town with a craft distillery-Stoll and Wolfe-who produce some really good whiskey. Cheers Daniel.
Hey Daniel, you‘re absolutely right. Especially Scotch is growing. In Corona times the losging for Scotch grew massively and the run on it has not slowed down yet. Bourbon is a different story.
I've certainly glad I stumbled into the whiskey world when I did! It's fantabulious to be able to share new whiskey experiences with others, especially when I can keep things entertaining at the same time. 🖖😎🥃
I appreciate the message of: "Things today are not unique, do what you will with that information." I have found myself sticking to craft brands that I appreciate more these days, especially given the obsessive rush for BT products and allocated bourbon in my area. I appreciate what these craft brands are doing and I enjoy having their bottles on my small shelf.
I think this is great advice. I’m probably 75% purchasing the smaller craft distillery products. I just find them more interesting. I think the only reason why they struggle is because of the three tier system. I’m super grateful for folks like Seelbachs that help craft distillers get known and distributed. Best of luck to you guys!
Daniel, can you please do a deep dive into the Canadian Whisky history and distilling, and process? It's one of the longest and distinct. From the big brands to Shelter Point etc
A very sensible take on an ever changing business market place, irrespective of the industry being discussed. Will the whiskey market change? Yep! Will that make some or many uncomfortable? Yep!
Just a recommendation, but maybe you could give us alternatives to expensive whiskeys that you review. For instance,you are trying an expensive Laphroaig, Highland park,or Red Breast, but it is too expensive for a lot of us to buy,so give us alternatives, whiskeys that are more affordable that smell very close to the more expensive one
I like your ending comments about the sky is falling people. Can relate it to sports, the people that want to fire everyone when their team isn't performing well.
Apparently, there are some signs of softening in the secondary market for allocated bourbon. I wouldn't be too surprised if a collapse of some sort happens there. It has many of the characteristics of a bubble. Hype is building upon hype, and the quality of many of the hyped products isn't noticeably better than others that sit on shelves. A lot of people jumped onto a fad, but what happens when the next fad comes along and people move on? It already seems to be happening - tequila is booming, and some bottles are becoming allocated. My guess is that top of the line products like Pappy Van Winkle will remain in high demand, but that a lot of the lower tier stuff will return to shelves as demand softens and the products of recent expansions come of age and are released. When everybody can just walk into the store and find their Blanton's on any day, it will lose some of its luster. There has always been a lot of churn in the craft booze industry. Craft wine started to become a big deal in the 1970s, craft beer blew up a decade or two later, and then craft spirits followed a decade or two after that. Over the years, I've seen wineries come and go. Some family-owned wineries become popular, and then they get bought up by the big guys when the family gets tired of running it. Some go out of business. Craft beer isn't booming like it once was, but well established breweries seem to be doing just fine. Starting a new brewery now would be a risky proposition. The craft spirit industry is still in an early phase, and I bet we will see a lot of churn before it reaches the sort of equilibrium that we see now in the wine and beer industries. Right now, I'm not as concerned about the whisky industry as I am about wine and beer. Beer, and especially wine, are favored by an aging demographic, and young people aren't getting into these drinks to the extent that they once did. Whenever I go to a wine tasting or a wine dinner, the crowd is geriatric. I'm in my 50s, and it isn't unusual for me to be the youngest person there. Apparently, I'm not the only one who has noticed this, as I have seen news articles expressing concern. Booze has always gone in cycles, as the favored booze of one generation becomes the uncool "dad booze" of the next. Spirits in general seem to be in a favorable part of this cycle at present.
Love the advice. Buy the whisky/whiskey you want to see continue. ❤ I have been operating on this theory for a while now. My Australian whisky collection is becoming my dominant category. There is no real tradition to hold distillers back, and consequently, there are so many different expressions of every type. Can't wait for some decent corn mash expressions.
I'm still searching for the whiskeys that are harder to find but my local retailers are so wishy-washy that at this point in time I've pretty much had it with their dishonesty. An average dude like myself has a difficult time trying to purchase allocated bottles since I don't have a bottomless pocketbook and I'm not in the "good ol' boys" club. I started ordering online and maybe it costs a few extra dollars but I can get what I want without having to jump through hoops. One thing that really irritates me is one of the local places told me they want to get the allocations to people that shop there. Well I've been shopping there since 1989 and they just sold an EH Taylor that I had previously asked for to someone else. They told me it's first come first served, but then I found out they actually called and notified someone. It is what it is, but none the less, it's shady in my opinion.
I'm in Germany, and local retail has lost me long time ago. I'm not talking rare bottles, we get only the most pedestrian stuff here (none of that allocated stuff from USA). Trying to get a common bottle in a store is a dice roll, combined with an inflated price. Online shops are the way to go, the only store picks I ever saw in EU were from an online shop. Hell, I had to order the most basic stuff in an online shop, because the local store had empty shelves interspersed with things no one was buying.
The club part bugs me so much. Like because I'm not in the store every week. Refilling I get shafted. A bottle of anything lasts me at least a month. Because it's just me drinking it.
@@kjcorder Yes exactly and I've given the one store almost 35 years of business buying food, wine, beer, and other spirits yet some random guy calls in from out of the city and gets allocations that I previously asked for.
@@aragathor From you're description, I guess I should consider myself lucky. I'm careful not to pay over retail even for allocations. I can always buy something off the shelf, which I do often, but I'm getting picky about what I buy and the actual value and even proof vs price consideration.
I wish I could partake in the craft whiskey world more readily but unfortunately Pennsylvania makes it impossible since the state controls the spirits market.
They are mostly iether chivas or petnod stills that have been..,""rested",n jus reststarted under the old still name .they have been in the blends for years prior to being rested... Just new names sell as brjng vraft ehen they are portfolio stills..speysides full of them .
Random rumor that I was verified...Balcones is not making bourbon anymore? I know they are single malt guys, but their Single Malts are ok, their bourbon for me is incredible.
One of their employees has confirmed to me that they've stopped making bourbon, but will still make corn whisky (which doesn't make any sense to me, since as long as you use at least 80% corn you can make both bourbon and corn whisky from the same mash bill), but they do have a two year supply still on hand. That breaks my heart, because their Texas Pot Still Bourbon is good stuff and only $30 a bottle here.
What I’m seeing acutely is Mom n Pop liquor stores closing that opened right around the end of the pandemic. They thought they could cash like the stores that were open during the pandemic but rent go to much and they couldn’t make $$. Too much supply of the non allocated whiskies on their hands that no one bought.
I think Craft Beer is a pretty good forecast for some of the craft distillers. Brands with a strong local base and good products will be able to navigate any bad times, but there will be casualties for the weaker products. Hopefully the end result is still similar where the overall quality of Beer is WAAY better than what it was 20 years ago, but it can't just grow forever. I think there will be excellent interesting whiskeys coming out for decades to come, maybe the supply will even make things a bit more affordable for the end customers. If the secondary market is in danger....maybe that is for the best as well.
As usual, I liked the video and the direction that you’re going with the channel. I was hoping to hear about the problem of running out of peat to smoke Scottish whiskey and how distillers there are reacting to this problem, but maybe that will be another video. Or if that’s a complete inaccuracy maybe the video could be on how rumors like that impact the larger picture. But did I miss the short where Daniel said the whiskey he would be reviewing was? Or did he not do it because of how rare the whiskies are?
If memory serves, startup business success rates are only about 20% at best. If you make your whiskey to suit your tastes, yes, there will be those who share your tastes. And maybe you can sell enough to cover your costs and time.
distilleries are just like every other small business, except that there are WAY more rules and regulations to master/overcome. At least that's the way I heard it.
Welcome all Whiskey Vaulters to Story Time with Daniel! From the US BLS data: approx 20% fail in the first two years, 45% in the first five, 65% in the first ten, and around 75% by year 15. With these numbers being fairly stable since March 1994 (source: US BLS - Business Employment Dynamics - Total Private - Table 7. Survival of Private Sector Establishments by Opening Year)
3000-5000 different distilleries in the US?? Seriously there’s that many?? Holy Shit…. Didn’t realise there was that many. I know America is a huge country but wouldn’t have thought there was that many.
I think its gonna change, things will either be more expensive or some businesses will go out of business, couple topics you missed, inflation, I keep up qith farming things like grain, corn prices etc, the prices are going up, and the farmer is getting less for it, this will drive farmers out of farming, around the world, unless they start to make effective change for the farmer and the industry, it will make this business a lot tougher, and it will suffer.
Since "craft" seems to just mean "not as big or old as the big old distilleries," let's drop that term, and just refer to *new(er)* or *small(er)* distilleries. That would be a lot clearer and, it seems to me, more precise and accurate.
I believe the way to go is being a NDP. Get a group of investors together and pick barrels and get a great blender and blend and bottle and serve a certain area. With the amount of barrels available it just makes sense instead of opening a whole distillery.
I'm not hand wringing about its overall survival, but I am annoyed with what has happened to the whiskey market. I just put what I paid for 18 year old Highland Park when I first enjoyed it through a CPI inflation calculator. It ought to be about $82 today. To actually get it now you need to tack a C-note onto that figure. What's worse, it isn't as good as it was either.
I'm handwringing because the good distillers will get bought out and turned to 40% ABV swill to take away our choice, like what happened to beer in the 20th century. Diagio buying Balcones is the beginning of the end for me.
comparison to bands is apt. we all have that craft distiller we love because we discovered them before anyone else. and no one wants to see that band/distiller sell out to the man.
So, I bought a bottle of Ardbeg 10 today. Gotta say I was surprised at how light the drink is, not only in color but taste. Yea, there is some smokiness to it, but it is sweet, like honeysuckle and the bite doesn't kick in till after you have swallowed. Reminds me of a nice dessert. I got into it thinking it was supposed to be super complex and it just isn't. I still like it, it is affordable enough to be a daily drinker, I think it is better than the lagavulin 16 in taste and price, but the lagavulin offerman 11 year (with the fireworks on the box) is slightly better I think, but also more expensive. Next I will try the Laphroaig.
It's always a good sign when the first remarks after nosing are "Oh Yes" 😆
I agree wholeheartedly. I see that Craft Whiskey brands will have to adapt and build community to succeed. Which many already have. I hear about a "bourbon glut" from time to time, but I think that's just noise. I know Colorado Whiskey will definitely be just fine!
Oh I would love to talk more about this, but moving on.
Thank you again for such a great conversation 🥃
Thanks for the video. I am really happy to listen to your stories. 😊
You said it best at the end Daniel to buy from those you want to support, be it whiskey or whatever. I am fortunate to live in a small town with a craft distillery-Stoll and Wolfe-who produce some really good whiskey. Cheers Daniel.
I’m really glad you’re with us, Daniel 🥂
Hey Daniel, you‘re absolutely right. Especially Scotch is growing. In Corona times the losging for Scotch grew massively and the run on it has not slowed down yet. Bourbon is a different story.
I've certainly glad I stumbled into the whiskey world when I did! It's fantabulious to be able to share new whiskey experiences with others, especially when I can keep things entertaining at the same time. 🖖😎🥃
I appreciate the message of: "Things today are not unique, do what you will with that information."
I have found myself sticking to craft brands that I appreciate more these days, especially given the obsessive rush for BT products and allocated bourbon in my area. I appreciate what these craft brands are doing and I enjoy having their bottles on my small shelf.
I think this is great advice. I’m probably 75% purchasing the smaller craft distillery products. I just find them more interesting. I think the only reason why they struggle is because of the three tier system. I’m super grateful for folks like Seelbachs that help craft distillers get known and distributed. Best of luck to you guys!
Recently found the Glenglassough peated -- it is GREAT 🎉
Fantastic wisdom here, Daniel. Thanks for sharing!
Huge wisdom Daniel, as always. Thank you. I appreciate that you always have a sense of being positive!
Excellent video buddy. Cheers from Cyprus 🇨🇾
All three are owned by Brown Forman btw - Glendronach, Glenglassaugh and Benriach. Also my favourite distilleries :)
What amazes me is that i tried to source from MGP and im in the other side of the world and they actually answered me.
Love this bottle and the format
Is there a whiskey that uses a barrel aged True Ale's, (no hop's) and if so how does that affect the whiskey if at all???
I’m happy this Benriach rates so well as this exact bottling is $76.99 at my local total wine. They dropped it down from $119.99.
Daniel, can you please do a deep dive into the Canadian Whisky history and distilling, and process? It's one of the longest and distinct. From the big brands to Shelter Point etc
A very sensible take on an ever changing business market place, irrespective of the industry being discussed. Will the whiskey market change? Yep! Will that make some or many uncomfortable? Yep!
Just a recommendation, but maybe you could give us alternatives to expensive whiskeys that you review.
For instance,you are trying an expensive Laphroaig, Highland park,or Red Breast, but it is too expensive for a lot of us to buy,so give us alternatives, whiskeys that are more affordable that smell very close to the more expensive one
I like your ending comments about the sky is falling people. Can relate it to sports, the people that want to fire everyone when their team isn't performing well.
Apparently, there are some signs of softening in the secondary market for allocated bourbon. I wouldn't be too surprised if a collapse of some sort happens there. It has many of the characteristics of a bubble. Hype is building upon hype, and the quality of many of the hyped products isn't noticeably better than others that sit on shelves. A lot of people jumped onto a fad, but what happens when the next fad comes along and people move on? It already seems to be happening - tequila is booming, and some bottles are becoming allocated. My guess is that top of the line products like Pappy Van Winkle will remain in high demand, but that a lot of the lower tier stuff will return to shelves as demand softens and the products of recent expansions come of age and are released. When everybody can just walk into the store and find their Blanton's on any day, it will lose some of its luster.
There has always been a lot of churn in the craft booze industry. Craft wine started to become a big deal in the 1970s, craft beer blew up a decade or two later, and then craft spirits followed a decade or two after that. Over the years, I've seen wineries come and go. Some family-owned wineries become popular, and then they get bought up by the big guys when the family gets tired of running it. Some go out of business. Craft beer isn't booming like it once was, but well established breweries seem to be doing just fine. Starting a new brewery now would be a risky proposition. The craft spirit industry is still in an early phase, and I bet we will see a lot of churn before it reaches the sort of equilibrium that we see now in the wine and beer industries.
Right now, I'm not as concerned about the whisky industry as I am about wine and beer. Beer, and especially wine, are favored by an aging demographic, and young people aren't getting into these drinks to the extent that they once did. Whenever I go to a wine tasting or a wine dinner, the crowd is geriatric. I'm in my 50s, and it isn't unusual for me to be the youngest person there. Apparently, I'm not the only one who has noticed this, as I have seen news articles expressing concern. Booze has always gone in cycles, as the favored booze of one generation becomes the uncool "dad booze" of the next. Spirits in general seem to be in a favorable part of this cycle at present.
Love the advice. Buy the whisky/whiskey you want to see continue. ❤ I have been operating on this theory for a while now. My Australian whisky collection is becoming my dominant category. There is no real tradition to hold distillers back, and consequently, there are so many different expressions of every type. Can't wait for some decent corn mash expressions.
I'd also like to let you know that I am really glad you are here, too!
Sound advice, thanks for sharing.... and yes, drink the whiskey enjoy!
I'm still searching for the whiskeys that are harder to find but my local retailers are so wishy-washy that at this point in time I've pretty much had it with their dishonesty. An average dude like myself has a difficult time trying to purchase allocated bottles since I don't have a bottomless pocketbook and I'm not in the "good ol' boys" club. I started ordering online and maybe it costs a few extra dollars but I can get what I want without having to jump through hoops. One thing that really irritates me is one of the local places told me they want to get the allocations to people that shop there. Well I've been shopping there since 1989 and they just sold an EH Taylor that I had previously asked for to someone else. They told me it's first come first served, but then I found out they actually called and notified someone. It is what it is, but none the less, it's shady in my opinion.
I'm in Germany, and local retail has lost me long time ago. I'm not talking rare bottles, we get only the most pedestrian stuff here (none of that allocated stuff from USA).
Trying to get a common bottle in a store is a dice roll, combined with an inflated price. Online shops are the way to go, the only store picks I ever saw in EU were from an online shop. Hell, I had to order the most basic stuff in an online shop, because the local store had empty shelves interspersed with things no one was buying.
The club part bugs me so much. Like because I'm not in the store every week. Refilling I get shafted. A bottle of anything lasts me at least a month. Because it's just me drinking it.
@@kjcorder Yes exactly and I've given the one store almost 35 years of business buying food, wine, beer, and other spirits yet some random guy calls in from out of the city and gets allocations that I previously asked for.
@@aragathor From you're description, I guess I should consider myself lucky. I'm careful not to pay over retail even for allocations. I can always buy something off the shelf, which I do often, but I'm getting picky about what I buy and the actual value and even proof vs price consideration.
Thank you! The hand wringing and sour grapes is exhausting. Thank you for staking you claim on a different outlook
I wish I could partake in the craft whiskey world more readily but unfortunately Pennsylvania makes it impossible since the state controls the spirits market.
You have to have huge stones, either in your head or in your loins, to open a business today. I wish you luck, you're going to need it.
They are mostly iether chivas or petnod stills that have been..,""rested",n jus reststarted under the old still name .they have been in the blends for years prior to being rested... Just new names sell as brjng vraft ehen they are portfolio stills..speysides full of them .
Whiskey history is my favorite kind of history
Good advice 👍
Another great video. appreciate the insight and making sense of changing phases of business!
Random rumor that I was verified...Balcones is not making bourbon anymore? I know they are single malt guys, but their Single Malts are ok, their bourbon for me is incredible.
One of their employees has confirmed to me that they've stopped making bourbon, but will still make corn whisky (which doesn't make any sense to me, since as long as you use at least 80% corn you can make both bourbon and corn whisky from the same mash bill), but they do have a two year supply still on hand. That breaks my heart, because their Texas Pot Still Bourbon is good stuff and only $30 a bottle here.
Great advice "Drink Great Whiskey" Thanks
What I’m seeing acutely is Mom n Pop liquor stores closing that opened right around the end of the pandemic. They thought they could cash like the stores that were open during the pandemic but rent go to much and they couldn’t make $$. Too much supply of the non allocated whiskies on their hands that no one bought.
I think Craft Beer is a pretty good forecast for some of the craft distillers. Brands with a strong local base and good products will be able to navigate any bad times, but there will be casualties for the weaker products. Hopefully the end result is still similar where the overall quality of Beer is WAAY better than what it was 20 years ago, but it can't just grow forever. I think there will be excellent interesting whiskeys coming out for decades to come, maybe the supply will even make things a bit more affordable for the end customers. If the secondary market is in danger....maybe that is for the best as well.
Please make a review about Arran remnant renegade 🙏
As usual, I liked the video and the direction that you’re going with the channel. I was hoping to hear about the problem of running out of peat to smoke Scottish whiskey and how distillers there are reacting to this problem, but maybe that will be another video. Or if that’s a complete inaccuracy maybe the video could be on how rumors like that impact the larger picture. But did I miss the short where Daniel said the whiskey he would be reviewing was? Or did he not do it because of how rare the whiskies are?
You didn't miss it! I had class this week and completely forgot to post it. Sorry :-)
@@WhiskeyVault no worries! Happens to all of us
Keep up the good work 🥃
0:49 -- for some reason at this moment I was expecting Rex to show up in the background with his hair on fire :))))
This is one of the situations where the American Can-Do-Attitude seems to me a healthier approach than the handwringing you described.
Im glad I lived in the hey day of the small stills
love micro that pursue those that love whiskey for teh community around.
If memory serves, startup business success rates are only about 20% at best. If you make your whiskey to suit your tastes, yes, there will be those who share your tastes. And maybe you can sell enough to cover your costs and time.
1:04 the most perfect cork pop ever? Almost sounded fake!
🎯👍 Respect-Love-Support
distilleries are just like every other small business, except that there are WAY more rules and regulations to master/overcome. At least that's the way I heard it.
its okay whiskey i'll give you a big hug, you'll be safe with me
Welcome all Whiskey Vaulters to Story Time with Daniel!
From the US BLS data: approx 20% fail in the first two years, 45% in the first five, 65% in the first ten, and around 75% by year 15. With these numbers being fairly stable since March 1994 (source: US BLS - Business Employment Dynamics - Total Private - Table 7. Survival of Private Sector Establishments by Opening Year)
3000-5000 different distilleries in the US?? Seriously there’s that many?? Holy Shit…. Didn’t realise there was that many. I know America is a huge country but wouldn’t have thought there was that many.
I think its gonna change, things will either be more expensive or some businesses will go out of business, couple topics you missed, inflation, I keep up qith farming things like grain, corn prices etc, the prices are going up, and the farmer is getting less for it, this will drive farmers out of farming, around the world, unless they start to make effective change for the farmer and the industry, it will make this business a lot tougher, and it will suffer.
I need to post that ending statement, “never take advice from people who are scared.”
We've never been alive at a better time, period!
Since "craft" seems to just mean "not as big or old as the big old distilleries," let's drop that term, and just refer to *new(er)* or *small(er)* distilleries. That would be a lot clearer and, it seems to me, more precise and accurate.
I believe the way to go is being a NDP. Get a group of investors together and pick barrels and get a great blender and blend and bottle and serve a certain area. With the amount of barrels available it just makes sense instead of opening a whole distillery.
I'm not hand wringing about its overall survival, but I am annoyed with what has happened to the whiskey market. I just put what I paid for 18 year old Highland Park when I first enjoyed it through a CPI inflation calculator. It ought to be about $82 today. To actually get it now you need to tack a C-note onto that figure. What's worse, it isn't as good as it was either.
❤❤VIDEO ❤❤stories ❤❤
I'm handwringing because the good distillers will get bought out and turned to 40% ABV swill to take away our choice, like what happened to beer in the 20th century. Diagio buying Balcones is the beginning of the end for me.
Yeah but 6 years ago we could still buy allocated. Now you have to hunt them down. All your fault Daniel 😝🤣
comparison to bands is apt. we all have that craft distiller we love because we discovered them before anyone else. and no one wants to see that band/distiller sell out to the man.
Whisky is danger if you leave it alone with me.
そもそも蒸留酒というジャンルがトンいくらの麦から一本数百ドルにする錬金術であり
購入者の目が問われる時期に来ている。
Its whisky
Hey dont need to have a tone in your voice when you home distillers like we're the ugly step child. Good Morning captain Dan