2022 Price Guide for Rare & Allocated Bourbon
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For our third annual Brown Book (a spoof on Kelley Blue Book, except for bourbon, not cars), I’d like to point out a few trends I’ve been noticing in the secondary market. 2022 saw a lot of fluctuation in prices after the first couple months of the year.
What had once been a steady climb in prices since before the pandemic began, now started to see prices tumble across the board.
I’d like to point out one definitive reason as to why that is, but the truth is that there are multiple issues at play.
Bourbon Secondary Market Trends of 2022
This year, I’ve drawn attention to many bottles listed below that should see a drop in their secondary prices throughout 2023.
The ongoing trend seems to be that as soon as a particular bottle is released, flippers will try and set their own price; and it’s always way too high.
Unfortunately, the first few flippers will find buyers either in people who have “Fear Of Missing Out” (FOMO) syndrome or the superfans who will do whatever it takes to own a bottle.
After those people have bought their bottles and moved on, prices tend to come down. For instance, 2022 has seen the first George T. Stagg release in two years and flippers are already trying to ask $1200 for a bottle.
Do Not Overspend
I expect this price to eventually settle down to the tune of $800 (which is still an absurd price) because the golden rule of the secondary market is that most bottle values are based off other similar bottles.
In the past, George T. Stagg typically went for the same price as 10-year-old bottles of Old Rip Van Winkle (which are still at $800). So please heed my warning; do not overspend and contribute to price inflation when a new release first comes out. Let prices cool off.
We’re also seeing a lot of producers capitalize on the fact that consumers are more willing to buy a shiny new label because they don’t have it in their collection yet.
The downside to this trend (aside from frivolous consumerism) is that everyone who finds a new label thinks that it has a secondary value. This often leads to smashed dreams when your “For Sale/For Trade” post on the secondary gets no hits.
A good example of this are bottles like Dixon Deadman’s new “2XO” release which is a pure cash grab. Barrell has also churned out a ridiculous amount of Gray and Gold Label whiskies which are intended to be sold to people with more money than brains.
They will find their buyers, but those buyers won’t be drinking anything better than a bottle of their standard batches.
Brands to Avoid on the Secondary Market
Finally, I’d like to point out a couple of brands to stay away from if you’re looking at strictly buying them on the secondary market.
These are brands that have limited amounts of bottles per batch (or barrel) but are from undisclosed sources and are usually not age stated.
The people that buy up these bottles regularly and try to flip them are usually part of a tight-knit community.
The problem with really tight-knit brand communities are twofold:
- 1.) They tend to become an echo chamber where valuations for bottles are thrown out and then stick, increasing the problem of over-pricing.
- 2.) The community gives constant reassurance that bottles from that particular brand are really worth that much to new or unsuspecting bourbon drinkers.
It’s hard to be new to the game and ask if a bourbon is really worth the price when you have 25-50 people who all have stake in those bottles (because they own so many and are trying to flip them) telling you “yes, absolutely!” The brands to stay away from are:
- Old Carter
- Preservation Distillery (Rare Perfection and Olde St. Nick)
- Kentucky Owl
- Blue Run
- Down Home
- Good Times
- NULU
- Four Gate
- Short Barrel
With that being said, enjoy this year’s updated price guide to allocated bottles released in 2022! And remember to buy responsibly and within your budget.
The bourbon experience is rarely worth the price you’ll find some of these at and sometimes it’s better to just enjoy what’s in your glass. Cheers!
2022 Bourbon Brown Book Terms
After the bottle name, we have assigned a corresponding tier to each bottle. This is what they mean:
T1 = Tier 1 bottles
- The most highly coveted and hardest to find bottles. Expect these bottles to gain in value in the years to come
T2 = Tier 2 bottles
- These bottles are also highly coveted, but slightly easier to obtain. There is still a good chance their value will raise in the years to come
T3 = Tier 3 bottles
- Although allocated, they can be found if you’re looking hard enough. Typically, there are multiple releases throughout the year or if there is just one release, it has a very high bottle count and is released nationwide.
The Retail Price is the price that stores, on average, are pricing their bottles at. Prices will vary shelf by shelf, but if you see a price that is substantially higher than the price we’ve listed as the retail price, that means that the store is trying to gain more profit from you, usually because they keep track of the secondary market too.
The Secondary Price was based on current bottle valuations as of December 2022. These prices may rise or fall over the next 12 months, but remain somewhat dormant for at least the next 6 months as releases begin to slow down.
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Michael Smith
Sunday 23rd of July 2023
Boy, this is a great read......thank you. I'd love to see an app for mobile devices.
Corey
Friday 21st of April 2023
Curious why they didn't mention previous Jack Daniel's special releases. For instance, the 2020 JD special release barrel proof rye which people really liked.
Mike & Mike
Sunday 14th of May 2023
Our Brown Book only concentrates on bottles released during that calendar year. The 2020 Jack Daniel's Barrel Proof Rye can be found in the 2020 edition of the Bourbon Brown Book though!
Kathy Eisenhour
Wednesday 12th of April 2023
Where can you purchase the Bourbon Brown Book (either the 2022 or preferably the 2023 Edition)?
Paul Graham
Wednesday 8th of February 2023
Retail? I think the small Mom and Pop liquor store owners are on to the game now....Nobody , and I mean NOBODY will see most of these bottles on anybody's shelf. I don't think "retail" prices are realistic to advertise if the bottles are NEVER available at retail. We all did this to ourselves.....but it was worth it.
David
Thursday 5th of January 2023
Thank you, this is a very good resource. Is the "retail" value the same as the msrp? If so I think the msrp of the Midwinter Night's Dram Act 10 should be $150 and the msrp of the Russell's Sigle Rickhouse is about twice what you have listed.
Mike & Mike
Tuesday 28th of March 2023
Thank you for the tips. At the time I was researching these, I did see many people claiming their stores had MWND for $120. Whether or not that was an incorrect price on the stores end or not is unknown, but I made note of it. As for the Russell's Reserve Single Rickhouse, I must have also gotten some bad intel when it came out. Perhaps I saw a scammer site's price listing. At the time of this reply, there is a store online showing the price is $79.99 for it. We all know that's not true, haha. Thanks again for your help!