To Understand Why Some Bourbons Are So Expensive, You Need to Understand Allocated Whiskey

There are whiskeys you can easily find at your local liquor shop, and then there are allocated bottles, those often unicorn liquids whose availability is strictly limited. Of course, you can often acquire allocated whiskey on the secondary or gray markets, but the prices you’ll have to pay are likely to be significantly higher than the official suggested retail.

“Allocations across the liquor industry start from a place of rarity,” says Dean Hakim, bon vivant concierge at Heirloom Kitchen at The St. Laurent in Asbury Park, NJ. “From the production side, there are several factors that lead master distillers to earmark certain whiskey to be allocated. Sometimes, the actual location of a barrel in the rickhouse will differently affect the whiskey aging inside. It could be the exact same as the whiskey and barrels a few floors down, but the conditions in that specific spot will create a more round, flavorful, or smooth final product. Other times the whiskey may have been a small passion project with a different mash bill, or another one-off reason such as two very prestigious distillers working together to make it.”

Buzz doesn’t hurt either. “These days, listing the technical details of a great whiskey simply is not enough,” continues Hakim. “This is more where the marketing and PR departments come in and shine. Of course, these whiskeys are going to be great, but if bourbon influencers start to go nuts over a new product, then true demand does tend to balloon much more. I don't think that the marketing teams for these distilleries are outright creating artificial demand, but they definitely have an easy job when they are told that there is a select amount of a certain kind of whiskey that the distillery doesn't normally produce.”

Common examples of allocated whiskey can include bottles like many of those in the Buffalo Trace portfolio, such as W.L. Weller Special Reserve, E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof, Eagle Rare 10 Year, Blanton’s, and the legendary Pappy Van Winkle, or limited releases like Old Forester’s Birthday Bourbon or Four Roses Limited Edition. These releases may have a reasonable MSRP on paper, but by the time you see them, if you ever do, the secondary markup based on scarcity may have driven the prices into the hundreds or thousands of dollars per bottle.

Acquiring these highly sought whiskeys isn’t always easy, and getting involved in the market isn’t “for the faint of heart or the shallow of pockets,” says Hakim. “Unfortunately, there's really no way of knowing whether a particular allocated bottle or label is going to be 100% worth a consumer’s time to locate and purchase. Additionally, the secondary market for allocated or rare bottles is a cutthroat place, often rife with price gouging.”

Because of that, it’s best to focus on the allocated whiskeys from distilleries and brands that you already have an affinity for. 

“My advice to consumers is that they should build a depth of familiarity with a distillery, their mash bills, yeast, aging techniques, and most importantly, the master distiller that is running the show. If their ‘normal’ products suit a drinker's palate, then a special release is much more likely to hit the mark and avoid buyer's remorse. For example, I know I prefer the mash bills from Heaven Hill or Wild Turkey, so I pay attention to the shelves in my local liquor stores and also perk up when my liquor distributors announce that they have new allocated bottles in stock.”

The big question, however, is whether any particular allocated whiskey is worth it. “[Brands] wouldn't be selling it on its own as an allocated bottle if it wasn't exceptional,” says Hakim. “I think a master distiller would sooner blend the whiskey into another batch or sell off the barrels than put their name on the label if it wasn't a truly special run of product.”

Still, he adds, “Flavor is subjective. Everyone experiences flavor uniquely, so it's ultimately up to the consumer to decide if what they're drinking is better, more interesting, and ultimately worth the price.”