Reddit mentions of Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible 2014 (Jim Murray's Whisky Bible)

http://www.amazon.com/Jim-Murrays-Whisky-Bible-2014/dp/0955472989

Look at the picture though. Old guy wearing fedora = classy and cool. Young guy wearin fedora = Nerdy neckbeard

The Japanese whiskeys are just a weird state now...

It's pretty much a general consensus that the Japanese whiskeys are wonderful and great (I know some people may not agree, but it's extremely hot now...) From a few website I can find like this:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2013/02/20/single-malt-whiskey-from-japan-the-next-big-thing/#7766324a5b15

They were selling at $50-$60 a bottle back in 2013 according to this article.

Years ago before 2013, they were selling for $35-$40 a bottle. I cannot verify that because I only started collecting booze in late 2014. So why are they selling for $100 for the 12 year stuff now when 5+ years, they were supposedly $35-$40? Are they really that scarce?

The answer is no, they aren't that scarce. Suntory is just a smart company and created an increased demand and effectively increased the price of all their whiskeys from around $40 a bottle to $100 and the majority of people discovering this didn't know it. They started winning awards, "getting discovered more" and everyone read that the Japanese whisky/scotch are "beating" the Scottish and that the Scottish need to step up their game, mainly coming from this book from Jim Murray:

> For the first time since the “Whiskey Bible” was first published in 2003, not a single top-five whiskey came from Scotland. Murray called it a “wake-up call” for Scottish distilleries, according to the Independent. Ouch

http://www.amazon.com/Jim-Murrays-Whisky-Bible-2014/dp/0955472989

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/05/japan-beats-scotland-to-win-worlds-best-whiskey-title/

The winner of that year was the Yamazaki Sherry Cask, which is extremely rare and costs thousands of $$$. So everyone is "discovering" japanese whiskey and Suntory knew how to exploit the public. You cannot get the Sherry cask, so everyone is looking for "Yamazaki." They cannot get it, but they can get Hakushu.

Suntory had enough money to buy Jim Beam... Their flagship whiskeys are not scarce if they can buy a major American Distillery.

This year, now Crown Royal won with Northern Harvest Rye... the same award.

http://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/drinks/the-best-whisky-of-the-year-is-crowned-20151120


What does this mean?

It means that award winners get hyped like crazy. It also might mean distilleries could buy awards by paying a guy off like Jim Murray if it means they can sell their product at a higher price. We don't know this, but it's very possible

It means when you win an award, you get a bunch of free press and everyone wants to try your booze. You can create an extra demand by limiting your booze supply and slowly increase the price over time.

Usually the award winners are great, but distilleries exploit this like crazy so they can sell their product at a much higher price if they play their cards correctly. Japanese are the hottest thing in the booze world now and the Japanese know when they have a good thing going, they will exploit it.

As soon as more people figure this out, the hype train will probably end, but it's hard to know if the price will drop back down, or just stay at the higher levels.




So, what I will say to you is just this...

Drink the whiskeys, enjoy them. Know that some distilleries will take advantage of their press and create a fake supply/demand by limiting their release. Don't buy into award winners as much as you should. Find things you like by doing tastings. Gauge how much you enjoy it compared to the price. And really... just enjoy the damn booze, that's what really matters.