Barrel-Strength Bourbon – The Readers’ Point of View

About ten days ago, I posted a poll on the site (and our Facebook page) asking readers’ opinions of barrel-strength bourbon. Below you can see the results of that poll.

70% of our readers were overwhelmingly in favor of barrel-strength bourbon. But 21% of you also expressed concern over the price of bourbon in the raw. While I’m sure that price isn’t getting in the way currently for those looking to buy some barrel-strength bourbon, I think it’s something that the distilleries need to keep their eye on.

As the bourbon category continues to heat up, there’s a good chance that distilleries will continue to increase prices on specialty versions such as barrel-strength and limited releases. Many of these products will be worth the extra cost, but there’s always the potential for products to cost more even when they aren’t worth the extra coin based on their taste.

I hope the brands will remember their faithful regarding future pricing strategies. I would hate to see bourbon traditionalists get penalized by an influx of trend seekers who will be gone from the category in a few years. After all, the traditions associated with bourbon matter most to the faithful. And we all know that tradition is something that you don’t mess with…EVER.