The bourbon craze in America has been both a blessing and a curse for distilleries. On one hand, they’re experiencing a massive demand from loyal bourbon drinkers. However, it’s a demand they can not always fulfill.
Despite increasing Kentucky’s Bourbon production by over 315% between 1999 and 2015, the Kentucky Distillers Association’s 1.9 million barrels of bourbon per year are often not enough to satisfy the growing demand.
There are several factors that have lead to the high demand and slow production of bourbon in America. From the rarity of household names like Pappy Van Winkle to the overarching forces that contribute to a larger shortage, our bourbon craze is as complex as the liquors themselves.
Pappy Van Winkle
Perhaps one of the most well-known instances of scarcity and rarity in the bourbon world is Pappy Van Winkle. Bourbon lovers will tell you the frustration of tracking down their favorite drink in the liquor store, especially if it’s a bottle of this particular cherished liquor. On October 1st every year, the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery tells their distributors how many bottles they will receive, and the distributors then dole out the inventory to the retailers. Although they can’t know for certain who will receive the bottles, the finder on their website can be a good starting point.
The whiskeys they sell include:
- Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year
- Van Winkle Special Reserve
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 15 Year
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year
- Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 23 Year
- Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye
Pappy Van Winkle’s Large Secondary Market
Like most collector’s items, bourbon’s secondary market has experienced a significant boom in recent years. A quick Google search will tell you a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve costs around $2,900. In actuality, this bottle costs anywhere from $200-$300 in stores. Although a few hundred dollars for a bottle of bourbon isn’t exactly cheap, it’s a lot cheaper than bourbon that costs $2,900. Once customers realized they can resell the same bottle of bourbon for over 5x its original price tag, the bourbon scarcity worsened. Now, people will seek a certain bottle of bourbon with the intent of reselling it.
What is Causing the Larger Bourbon Shortage?
Tourism
One of the biggest factors contributing to the bourbon shortage is an increase in tourism to bourbon’s own stomping grounds, Kentucky. According to Louisville Tourism, the city’s total revenue from travelers rose from 2.1 billion in 2007 to 3.4 billion in 2019. However, if you take a trip to Kentucky anytime soon you won’t have much luck. Since the tourism explosion in the later 2010s, it’s hard to get choice bourbon anywhere — even Kentucky.
The Process
Most bourbon brands, if not all, swear by a slow and steady process. These recipes have been tried and tested hundreds if not thousands of times. Every step in the bourbon-making process matters, so much so that it takes around 5-10 or sometimes even 15 years to make a barrel of bourbon. Since production takes nearly a decade, it’s almost impossible to cater to an influx in the market. In order to meet the current demand, distilleries would have had to predict a spike over a decade ago. No matter how much they try to speed production, distilleries can not possibly speed up their coveted process that takes years to perfect.
State Allocation
Despite manufacturing most of the world’s supply of bourbon, Kentucky does not have a say in where its bottles are distributed. The distribution process is based purely on sales. Meaning, if the state of Montana sells 50,000 bottles of bourbon in one month but the state of Colorado sells 70,000 bottles, more bottles will be allocated for the state of Colorado. Similarly, larger retailers receive more bottles of bourbon because they produce higher sales. This not only puts smaller or less populated states at a disadvantage, but it also puts small business owners at risk, too.
Finding Your Favorite Bourbon at Grizzly Liquor
At Grizzly Liquor, we offer a wide selection of small batch and highly-rated bourbons. Come in our store to browse in person or shop online and get your favorite bourbon delivered to your home.
