Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

urbandood t1_j84j40y wrote

Reply to comment by ottomaticg in Love of rare liquor lands Oregon officials in criminal probe by Caratteraccio

I know the answer to this. Store owners will call their “best” accounts and will offer them the product before it comes in. So even though the state website will say it’s available, it will be spoken for and not available to the public.

77

urbandood t1_j84k2sg wrote

Specifically, the manager at Progress Liquor at 8616 SW Hall Blvd, Beaverton, OR 97008 told me this is what he does. So fuck that guy. I was able to score a bottle of Blanton’s in Astoria but the owner would only sell me one, not the two I asked for.

54

derf82 t1_j84ytz7 wrote

> but the owner would only sell me one, not the two I asked for.

Good. There should be limits.

26

urbandood t1_j85j1yy wrote

Limit the amount any single account can buy to 1 per unit of time, and I’m good with that.

5

DuncanIdahoPotatos t1_j84ko78 wrote

Texas, not Oregon, but we can’t keep Wellers on the shelf here either. My local liquor store owner told me when I asked, that they keep it in the back now, and you have to ask for it. You still have to know that’s an option, but at least it IS an option.

25

sowhat4 t1_j85rdhd wrote

What would happen if you went to where it was produced, bought the bottles, and then drove to Oregon with it? Is that against the law? (I'm assuming you don't sell it and just want it for personal use.)

4

Adult_Content t1_j88l9ka wrote

The distillery has buying limits and not all products are available in the gift shop. You have to check their website to see what is available that day.

2

justforthearticles20 t1_j84t10i wrote

I love it. I remember when retailers did the same thing with Cabbage Patch dolls.

13

PuellaBona t1_j8575cy wrote

I have no idea how those things got so big. They're creepy af.

7

HauntedCemetery t1_j85pnuf wrote

People literally got trampled to death in the frenzy to buy tickle me elmos. Zeitgeist makes people stupid sometimes.

7

PuellaBona t1_j862ifo wrote

Ooh, geez. I forgot all about that. Ridiculous times.

1

November19 t1_j84p51n wrote

Isn’t that how all allocated products work? That’s not nefarious.

−2

urbandood t1_j84phiv wrote

I asked if I could get on the list and he said no, so there’s that.

15

November19 t1_j84qtl7 wrote

Yeah it sucks, but generally people aren’t going to sell you rare and desirable stuff unless there’s something in it for them. Giving you the opportunity to buy it is seen as doing you a favor, so it’s generally limited to industry friends and really good customers.

It means everyday schmoes get shut out, but that’s just the way it works with allocated products.

−9

MillyBDilly t1_j84rq3a wrote

In this case, they are selling to people who ill pay more then the store is illegally allowed to charge and the owner is taking the extra money under the table.

26

urbandood t1_j84rstb wrote

I have less of an issue with good customers, huge issue with “friends” getting preferential opportunity to purchase rare goods. I know there’s gray market kickbacks going on. That should be criminal.

13

corn_sugar_isotope t1_j84wajn wrote

Getting back to the story though, these were state officials that have some control of the distribution stream - and used that to profit personally. Have not read this link, but I recall several were fired recently.

8

MillyBDilly t1_j84rke6 wrote

well no. Ideally all the produce goes to the shelf, and it's first come first serve.

Holding aside for their best customer is code for charging more then they are allowed.

9

Boollish t1_j84xgo5 wrote

I mean, there are right and wrong ways to make sure everyone can get a chance at trying a product.

The actual Buffalo Trace distillery puts you in bourbon jail for 60 days when you purchase, so you can get one bottle of any product, the have to wait 60 days to get another. To me, this feels like a very reasonable way (though I've seen some crazy shit people have done to dodge this limit).

At this point, the bourbon retail race is dominated by flippers paying managers under the table and then immediately relisting in Facebook or Discord or any other app. So the "big accounts" are just the resellers.

Sure, flipping alcohol is super illegal, but the liquor industry is very large and is making a killing on the hype, so there is a tremendous incentive to not prosecute.

8