Top Overhyped and Overpriced Bourbons _ Whiskeys!

What's up everybody? I am Jason C from The Mashin' Drum. If you haven't yet, please hit that subscribe button and also hit that bell notification so you know when I'm putting out a new video. So this video has been a long time coming. My top overhyped and overpriced bourbons and whiskeys, the pricing increases I'm seeing from both liquor stores and on secondary, coupled with my own personal experiences observing consumers has driven me to make this video because frankly I'm tired of bourbon drinkers losing their mind over certain brands and paying exorbitant amounts of money to acquire those brands. So what I'll be doing is breaking down these bourbons into either overhyped, overpriced or both categories. Plus, I'll be telling you the most I paid for each specific bottle. So let's get into it. First up, all the Weller. I get it. It's Pappy Light. But the Special Reserve, Antique and even the Twelve were considered budget bourbons. The Twelve year debuted for about 20 bucks at launch way back when and it's now going for over 200 bucks and sometimes 400 bucks in liquor stores. Yes, these are easy to sip and yes, I know they're smooth sippers. But when you talk about Weller foolproof selling for 400 in some places and don't even get me started on the craft your perfect batch, the CYPB, a crowdsourced Weller that makes no sense at 95 proof, 8 years old. I saw one for 800 bucks in a store. What the f***? Stop it. No way. Now, in most places, these are way overpriced and these are way overhyped. They are good, but there is better stuff on the shelf that you could find. When it comes to Special Reserve, Antique and Twelve, I'm not paying more than retail. CYPB, I would pay up to 100 bucks because maybe it's rare, but even that hurts. Weller foolproof is my favorite in the lineup and would probably pay up to 150 for that. But honestly, it's not worth more than that. Bookers. Okay, so this one hurts my soul a little bit because Bookers is the bourbon that made me love bourbon. One pour of this and I was on a whole other journey way back when. But the recent price increases have made this bourbon a big question mark every time I see it on the shelf. Four batches per year with maybe one or two of those batches being special does not warrant the $90 price tag for a bourbon that's only between six and seven years old. Not sure Bookers is overhyped, but for me, Bookers is now sadly overpriced. Next up is Jefferson's Ocean Age at Sea. This bourbon has matured in American oak for approximately seven, eight years on land before they are placed on a ship and allowed to rest for another five to 10 months at sea, passing over the equator multiple times, stopping off at different continents for a good time. I don't know. It's a nice story. I know it's true. It's great marketing, but the cash strength here is almost a hundred bucks and I've never had a bottle of Jefferson's Ocean that was worth that much. The voyages differ from batch to batch, but I think it's really a $40 to $50 bourbon at best. These are definitely overpriced and bourbons to try before you buy. If this was $40 to $50, I'd buy it hands down. Elmer T. Lee. Now, don't get me wrong. I love Elmer T. Lee single barrel. It's sweet, balanced. It's super delicious, 90 proof, and an absolutely delicious bourbon at 40 to 50 bucks. But I've seen these at stores priced for up to $300 and also on secondary for close to 200 and sometimes even more than that. Now, if you're a bourbon and Buffalo trace fan like I am, owning one of these bottles is definitely a goal when you're starting your collection. But finding this in today's market at a good price has become extremely challenging. Again, it's a really great bourbon at 40 bucks, maybe 50 bucks. A decent pour at a hundred bucks and not worth it anywhere past that price point. To me, this is overhyped and overpriced for what it is. But this is the one selection from the Buffalo trace match bill two series that I would probably pay a little bit more for. Next up, we have Kentucky owl bourbon, and this one is kind of easy to pick out with prices being about 300 bucks and over. Now, these are unique and delicious blends from Dixon Deadman, and I was a huge fan of batch nine as you see here. But not every batch, in my opinion, was that good when you're spending that amount of money on a bourbon. They all need to be that good. Now, again, it's a matter of taste for what you like. But whether you were a fan of batch one, two, three, eight or nine, you paid over 300 bucks for that. What if you got batch one, you loved it so much, then you bought batch two and you're like, oh man, this is a lot different than batch one. You know, you just dropped over 300 for that and maybe sometimes more. Now, the Kentucky owl rise, on the other hand, I actually really like for the price. Rise is more expensive to make anyway, especially a well-aged one. The 10-year, 11-year, batch one, batch two, batch three, all of them have been really good and I'm glad I picked them up. But the bourbons for me are overpriced. I think the bourbon would be great at somewhere between 150 to 200. So two Michter selections here, both I think are a bit overpriced and a bit overhyped. The Michter's 10-year single barrel. Now this is a delicious 10-year single barrel bourbon, but it's priced at 120 bucks retail, but it's only 94 proof and can be seen for well over 200 bucks in a lot of stores. Listen, it's a great solid bourbon, but at 120, I really feel like it's already over what I think the bourbon is worth. Being a single barrel, I've had some really great ones and ones that were just okay. But with Knob Creek single barrel at nine years old, 120 proof for only 45 bucks, Russell's Reserve single barrel at 110 proof, generally eight to nine years old, non-chill filtered and available for 60 bucks. The Michter's 10-year for me is just a little bit overpriced and overhyped. The other bottle for Michter's that I don't have is the Toasted Bourbon. Now the Toasted Rye is another story. I love the Toasted Rye. I think it's worth every penny, but the Toasted Bourbon I've seen priced at about 400 bucks in some areas, which is just ridiculous. It's good, but it's not nearly $400 good. It retails for about 60, and I think that's what it's worth. For both, I wouldn't pay more than retail, and I still wish the 10 was a little bit cheaper. All right guys, so next up is Angel's Envy, the Bourbon and the Rye. Now I love Angel's Envy for one thing. They are both great intros into whiskey. The Bourbon and Rye are incredibly sweet, and I think can be great intros, but to pay 50 bucks for the Bourbon, which is less than 90 proof and finished in port casks and tastes a little bit like circus peanuts, and the Rye, which is 100 bucks, finished in rum. It is 100 proof though, but it also tastes like marshmallows and maple syrup. I think it's a bit much, and they're just very, very overly sweet. Yeah, it's a beautiful bottle design, and I do realize that using secondary casks to finish up the Bourbon to give it another flavor profile is a little bit more expensive. I mean, I think they're great whiskeys for beginners, but I think they're a bit overpriced for what they are. I would love to see the Bourbon at about 35 and the 60 bucks for the Rye. Elijah Craig 18 single barrel, priced at about 160 to 200 bucks retail, but I've seen it for up to 300 and 350 on secondary. Now at 160, I think the 18 is actually a great value, but at only 90 proof, I think this Bourbon is way too watered down, and the sweet flavors slowly turn into just oak and some bitterness. The balance goes away every time I try this Bourbon, and it leaves me wanting more. I do realize it's a single barrel, and some barrels will be different from bottle to bottle, but I've had more bad than good. That makes sense. I don't think this Bourbon is overpriced because I think it is a good value, but I definitely think it's overhyped. The Woodford Reserve Masters Collection, normally priced anywhere from 120 to 160 bucks, sometimes over 200. These are generally featuring either new mash spills and finishing techniques, but besides the batch proof, which is even still a stretch at 120 bucks, is really the only one I've tried that gets close to its worth, and even that's stretching it. Now most I've had, like the Oat Grain and even the Cherrywood, have just been really strange for me. The 90.4 proof on everything just drives me nuts and really doesn't help either. I think this is definitely overpriced. For 120 to 160 bucks, I feel like this stuff has to be at least 100 proof. The batch proof, like I said, is the closest to being worth it, but with so many great barrel proof Bourbons on the shelf that are way more affordable, this just prices itself out a little bit. Now I do love the bottle design on these. I think the bottles are beautiful and look great on your shelf, but I do think they're overpriced and I would like to see these between 75 and 100 rather than 120 and 160. Alright Whistlepig, pretty much all of it. The 10 year is 90 bucks, the 12 year is 130 bucks, the 15 is $250, the 18 is $400, and the Boss Hogg Special Releases, 500 bucks. Are you kidding me? It's Canadian Whiskey, Alberta Premium Whiskey. Well aside from the 12 year, which I think is MGP, but I'm sorry, no, you can't tell me Canadian Whiskey is worth at it's cheapest almost 100 bucks and up to 500. I don't care what you're finishing it in, there are too many great rides on the market these days to warrant spending that money on Whistlepig. Love the bottles, love the marketing, first class experience when you go to the distillery, but the prices are just crazy. If I'm paying a lot for a ride, it's Kentucky Owl, Old Carter, Will It, Pikesville, Micter's Bough Strength, all cheaper and more worth it. Whistlepig is overpriced. The 10 year should be 50, the 12 year should be 70, the 15 120, the 18 maybe 200 to 250, and the Boss Hogg, cut that thing in half man, 200 to 250 tops. Ah Basil Hayden. Now this is a $40 80 proof bourbon, well this one isn't 40 because it's the small bottle because I refused to buy the full price one, but the 10 year bourbon and rye that just came out recently is 70 bucks, 75 bucks, and the Caribbean and dark rye, which are actually blends are 45 bucks, all 80 proof, no way. The 10 year bourbon was one of the biggest disappointments I tried. For a 10 year old bourbon to be proofed down to 80, it's just wrong. Now I understand that there are a lot of people that like Basil Hayden because here it comes, it's so smooth. You know why it's smooth? Because it's mostly freaking water in the bottle. Beautiful, classy bottle, but way overpriced for what it is. Get an old granddad bonded which is 100 proof and it's the same stuff. Way more flavorful and half the price. Now the new blended Basil Haydens where you have the dark rye and also the Caribbean cask, those are blends, they're just, they're not finishing it in anything, they're just literally taking port wine and the dark rye, blending it in there with the bourbon, and then they're taking literally rum and throwing it in the blend with their regular Basil Hayden bourbon. It's not finished, it's not anything, it's just a basically a whiskey blend. Yes, they're sweet, they're enjoyable, but still at 45 for 80 proof, no thanks. And if you ever come across the 10 year Basil Hayden bourbon or rye, just turn around and walk away. Overpriced and overhyped. I would pay 20 bucks for the regular and blended Basil Hayden's and maybe 40 tops for the 10 year stuff. Ah, Will It Bourbon, that beautiful purple top, until you look at the price. What? 200 bucks for a four year bourbon? What the actual ... I understand it's non-chill filter, barrel proof with some really great complexity, but the prices are just stupid. I've seen 12 to 14 year old purple top Will It Bourbons selling for over $2,500 or more. That's ridiculous. The fact that an eight year version of this purple top costs about $500 to $600 is even more ridiculous. Will It makes delicious bourbon. I love Johnny Drum, Noah's Mill, some of their other budget offerings, but these purple top bourbons are priced way out of control. Yes, some of them are absolutely fantastic. But if most people can't afford them, then why bother? Overpriced. I would pay 150 for an average for the eight year, and this four year one that I had I paid 200 bucks for. I wouldn't have paid more than 60 for this one. Next up are the Colonel Taylor Special Releases. Now I'm talking about Amaranth of the Gods, this year's 18 year marriage release, the Cured Oak, their Tornado Survivor. I get it. They are rare, hard to get, and Buffalo Trace. But really, when store owners and secondary market flippers are selling this stuff for over $2,000 for a 100 proof bourbon, it's just stupid. Now this is the Colonel Taylor Single Barrel, because I don't have any of those special releases because I refuse to pay that type of money. Now MSRP for these special releases are listed at about 70 to 120 bucks sometimes, and if you're lucky enough to taste them, now that's what they're worth. Paying $2,000 for something experimental or a bourbon that happened to dodge the Wicked Witch and the Tornado is just ridiculous. The one special release I really enjoy is actually the Four Grain. Amazing release, but in stores and on secondary it's priced for about 650 bucks. It's good. It's not that good. Because of the rarity, I would pay no more than $200 for any of these releases, but the valuation for these are just going up and up every single year. Overpriced and over-hyped. MGP, NDPs. These are non-distilling producers sourcing whiskey from Indiana's MGP and bottling it as single barrels for their brand. Now listen, I get it. I respect any brand that's coming out with their own type of whiskey brand, bourbon brand, whatever it may be. You have to source sometimes if you don't have the time to get any whiskey age to put into your own bottles. I get that. And there's some great stuff out there. And that's really the point. I love MGP, but the sheer amount of it from non-distilling producers in the market is crazy. And the fact that prices for these have been in the upwards of $200 or more in the secondary is just crazy. I understand the want of single barrels, especially from MGP, but folks charging over $200 and sometimes up to $400 for stuff at 10 to 12 years old is just crazy. Now if it was super rare, maybe, but MGP juice is everywhere, including actual juice from MGP. 12-year-old bourbon for $80 to $90 like this Remus Repeal Reserve. With that said, some of my favorite non-distilling producers are using MGP but doing different finishing or selecting unique match bills like Smoke Wagon, Fourgate, Joseph Magnus, Old Carter, and Bartstown Bourbon Company. So please do your homework before spending $200 or more on a bottle of high-aged MGP. It's everywhere and I don't think you should pay any more than retail for a bottle of something from a non-distilling producer using MGP unless you know for a fact that the single barrel is epic. Otherwise, there are way too many options like these out there to spend that type of money. If you see it for about $350 to $400 for those special single barrels, definitely overpriced. Alright, so I don't have any of these bottles but you know it was coming, Pappy Van Winkle. And I'm also including the Old Rip 10 and 12-year-old Lot B. Obviously, these are very rare and hard to get and the prices, as everyone knows, are just crazy and insane. The 15, 20, and 23 are the ultimate unicorns for most bourbon collectors and I see why people buy it for crazy amounts. But if people keep buying it for those crazy amounts, the prices will never come down. Now if you have it, go for it, but you will never convince me that they are worth $1,500 or more. My real beef is with the non-Pappy selections, the Old Rip 10 and Lot B. The Old Rip Van Winkle is a 10-year, 107-proof bourbon for usually about $450. It's not worth that much. It's a solid bourbon but not $450 good. It retails for $70 and that's the most I would pay. Van Winkle 12-year retails for $80 and it's only 90-proof but usually priced for about $600 to $800. Again, no way. I have blinded it against stuff available on the shelf and it never does well. Give me a Lodge Clinic barrel-proof, Bellmead Cask Reserve, Russell Reserve single barrel, Old Forrester 1920 all day long over those two. Lot B, not worth more than $80. Old Rip 10, not worth more than $70. Anyone who pays more than that can convince themselves that they are drinking unicorn tears and it's the best thing that they've ever had but that's only because you just dropped about $1,200 to get those two bottles. So you gotta think it's that good. Way over-hyped and way over-priced. Ugh, I'm getting heated here. Okay, lastly, the bottle that made me want to make this video, Blanton's. Now first and foremost, I like Blanton's. It's a solid $60 bourbon and I wouldn't pay any more than that for it. Honestly, I think you're mostly paying for the bottle. It's a really unique shape, that hand grenade style, beautiful hand-wrapped label with all the details on it, the collectible horses, and of course, I concede, the bourbon is so smooth. That's because it's watered down to 93 proof. But that doesn't make it worth more than $60. But the real thing that pissed me off is the grown men that throw temper tantrums when they can't get their Blantons each week. I've seen it here in Ohio and it's just ridiculous. Stop treating store clerks, stop treating store owners, whatever it may be, stop treating them like shit because you can't get your pretty horsey every week. If you're new to bourbon and Blanton's is your new pinnacle of collecting, get a new pinnacle. Having a bottle is nice, spelling the word Blanton's with the fun horseys is even nicer, but other than that, the juice in the bottle isn't worth throwing a damn tantrum over or paying more than $60 a bottle for one. Blanton's is the ultimate over-hyped and over-priced bourbon right now in my opinion. It's making adults throw tantrums and new bourbon drinkers with their pop collars and vintage jeans look cool enough to say, this bourbon is so smooth. And man, I can't wait to get all these horseys. Alright, I think I'm done now. I gotta relax. Alright guys, well I hope you enjoyed the video for my top over-hyped and over-priced bourbons here on the Mashin' Drum. Hope you liked it. If you did, hit that subscribe button below. Please hit that like button. If you haven't yet, find me on Instagram and find me on Twitter. Let me know what you think of my list. If you disagree, if you agree, if you're a Blanton's lover, if you want to throw a bottle of Blanton's at me, go right ahead. Let me know down in the comments what you think and as I always say, it's not about the whiskey, it's the people you share it with. So cheers and I'll see you next time on the Mashin' Drum. I definitely need a drink after this one. Take care.