Bottle Hunt
Sometimes you know a special bottle will hit the market.
You just know it is a whisky you want to add to your collection and start searching for a seller that can provide it for you.
This is my adventure, my hunt for a bottle, me against the flippers.
About the bottle
Wolfburn Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. I guess that's the name.
It is an edition bottled by Wolfburn, of which the proceeds will go towards Solidarity Fund Ukraine 12-12.
Now if I'm correct, there are two editions. One with a silver capsule on the bottle that was bottled for the Belgian market, with 112 bottles.
And Wolfburn bottled another version with a black capsule, of which I believe were bottled 1500+.
When I discovered the news about this bottle, I decided then and there I wanted one. A small way for me to add a little support towards a humanitarian goal and a special bottle for my collection.
My race against time
And once more story starts with me browsing on my phone to see if this whisky had been released yet. I know, most of my reviews or stories have this part, me on the couch, lazily browsing. But that is because by daytime, I actually have a job!
Back to the couch:
I was on a website of a company I knew would have it and was waiting for the drop.
Now, on an earlier occasion, I noticed this webshop was refreshed around 23:50 at night (One of the perks of working with online content is that it will make you aware of these kinds of patterns.), and I guessed the new stock would show.
And I was right. At 23:51 I had 1 bottle in my basket and went to the checkout to buy this bottle. And then my phone rang.
I was called and decided to answer. I made a mistake by doing that, because when I hung up on the call, I went back to the basket and noticed it was emptied during my absence. PANIC!
I went back to the store, noticed the product was still in the menu, clicked on it and... Out of stock.
Within 10 minutes after launch, the bottles they had were gone. And I had missed out.
Because it was late, I went to bed disappointed and decided to search for it later.
The next day I googled the bottle and found 3 more stores where they already sold out. And I found the bottle on Whiskybase.com. Thats were I halted.
Now at the time of writing, only two offers were still visible, but that morning, 4 offers stood on that page. All far above the purchase price of around € 65.
Some even as far as triple the price. I was raging. Flippers! Scalpers!
Those almost evil types that buy all they can get and sell it within hours after purchase for double or triple the price. It is something I just don't get, sucking all the joy out of a great hobby and product. They are not the same as investors.
I have no problem with investors. More often than not, I read the advise that you should buy two bottles: One to drink and one to sell later. Or to drink if you really liked the first one. I get that this is a great way to maintain your hobby and let it invest in itself. No problem at all. But scalping...
I just like to enjoy and drink whisky, because that's what it is meant for.
As John Lamond wrote in his book "Le Snob - Whisky":
"But whisky is meant to be drunk and enjoyed. It is a gregarious spirit meant for sharing in good company. It is not meant to sit in a bottle and be looked at. If that were the case, the spirit-making expertise of all those distillery employees would be unnecessary."
And I couldn't agree more.
Screenshot of whiskybase.com
But what about my bottle? Did I get it?
Yes. And in the way it should have been from the start I guess: I just walked past a small local liquor store specialized in whisky and simply asked if he had it. And he did. Three bottles. Just arrived. How many did I want?
"I'll take one please."