The Pricey Booze Press Grab Conundrum
Scotch, Bourbon and Cognac Producers Regularly Seek Press on Bottles That Are Both Super-Expensive and Hard to Find. Why?
Several weeks ago, I was invited to sample a new bottling of Scotch in the company of the whiskey’s brand ambassador. The meeting was advertised to me as “an exclusive invitation for a rare and extraordinary experience.”
Rare, indeed. For there were only 71 bottles of the juice in question, a 60-year-old whiskey from Balvenie, a venerable old Speyside distillery. Each bottle was priced at $145,000.
I didn’t consider the invitation seriously, for it had little or no actual news value as far as the average consumer was concerned. But I did have questions. Would any of the bottles actually be available for purchase, or were they all already spoken for by collectors, as is often the case in these situations?
I was told that one bottle would be available by the pour at Nubeluz, a glitzy rooftop bar in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Manhattan that is run by chef José Andrés. It will set you back $12,000 an ounce. Another bottle could be found at the Boston Harbor Hotel, where a room can go for $1,000 a night. There, the Balvenie Sixty is a relative bargain—an ounce and a half for only $12,500. And there would be one bottle available for purchase in Texas. One.
Texans: try and find it.
I get PR pitches on this sort often. Ten or 15 years ago, such opportunities were fairly rare occurrences. And because they were unusual, I’d sometimes sign on back then. Who doesn’t want to experience what a 25-, 30-, 35-, 40- or whatever-year-old spirit actually tastes like?
Today, however, such tastings are a weekly phenomenon, as the liquor business—just like every other aspect of the food and drink world—chases the luxury market with greater avidity.
These invitations are proffered in the hope that I’ll report on the precious nectar. I never ask myself if any of the bottlings are worth the price, because, of course they are not. And, in the end, I almost never write about them, because I do not see the point.
Journalists are conduits between the public and the greater world. And when you’re a journalist in the food and drink world, much of what you write is service journalism. Service journalism is exactly what it sounds like. It provides a service—to the public. “Here’s a new spirit you might like”; “here’s a new bar or restaurant you might want to check out”; “here’s a new trend in eating and drinking that is worth exploring.” That sort of thing.
What sort of service is provided to the public by reporting on a $145,000 bottle of Scotch?
None, quite frankly.
It’s akin to breaking the news that Julia Roberts’ house is on the market for 45 million, or writing about a rare sighting of an albino giraffe on the Serengeti. Interesting, sure, but of no practical worth. You’re not going to buy that house; you’re not going to see that giraffe.
And you’re not going to buy, or get to taste, or even look at a $145,000 bottle of Scotch!
The big question behind these sort of PR fishing expeditions is why do the distilleries and their publicists even do it?
When a product is both exorbitantly priced—meaning 99% of consumers can not afford it—and extremely scarce—meaning even that 1 % who can afford it will likely not be able to locate a bottle—what is the point of press?
“I started calling them ‘clickbait Scotch’ as far back as 2019,” said Aaron Goldfarb, a spirits and cocktail writer who writes about whiskey frequently, “referring to the fact that these ridiculous products—usually Scotch, sometimes Bourbon, occasionally Cognac—seem to only be created to generate lazy headlines and what the brand hopes will be wildly viral content.”
But why create a viral story about a product almost no one will buy? For the novelty of it, Goldfarb argues.
“If you're just making high-quality, affordable alcohol, it's hard to generate stories year after year,” he said. “‘Wild Turkey 101 is Still a Solid Bourbon.’ No, that's a ‘dog bites man’ story. ‘Wild Turkey Just Released The Most Expensive Bourbon in the History of Mankind’—that's a story that can probably seduce some writers and editors. The brand gets coverage. But is it coverage that generates future sales? That's hard to say. Still, the brand can pat themselves on the back, their publicists can pat themselves on the back, the writers and editors can pat themselves on the back—we've got a viral story!—and the luxury booze industrial complex marches on.”
Tony Sachs, a veteran spirits writer who often writes about pricey bottlings, thinks there is a "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" appeal to such stories that justifies their existence. “We want to know what it's like to drive a million-dollar car, or live in an enormous mansion,” he said. “And we also want to know what it's like to drink a bottle of something that costs the equivalent of a year's tuition at Harvard.”
Sachs actually wrote an article about the $145,000 Balvenie. He found an angle, although it probably wasn’t the one that the Balvenie people sought.
“I talked to a few serious whisky collectors and they said, that price is way out of line,” Sachs told me. “And these are people who will spend six figures on a bottle of whisky. So the article was about: why did the Balvenie set that price? What, in the brand's opinion, makes it worth that much money? I personally found it very interesting, and I got more feedback than usual from people who read the article.”
Robert Haynes-Peterson, another veteran liquor journalist who often writes about expensive booze, agrees that such stories do possess a primitive voyeuristic fascination for certain readers. “Is there journalistic value in knowing what a Kardashian had for lunch today?” he asked hypothetically. Probably not. “Yet, those stories are assigned and they perform well, because someone’s clicking on them.”
Still, Haynes-Peterson struggles with the value of such stories for the average reading public.
“I do a seasonal ‘new Scotch round-up,’” he said, “as well as a variety of gift guides, and I’ve been asking myself whether or not to include very expensive bottlings, particularly the show-stopper pieces. On the one hand, conceivably there’s some multi-millionaire or billionaire out there surfing the web for just the right thing who happens on my story. On the other hand, and far more likely, most of the readers are looking at the $50-$500 bottles and finding their thresholds. If most of the bottles on the list fall under, say, $250, what’s the point of throwing a $5,000 bottle in there? Yes it’s a new release, but how is that measuring with the rest of the story?”
Sachs said he generally has license to write about whatever he chooses to for a couple of the publications he regularly writes for. But luxury-bottling burnout—on the part of both his editors and readers—may be around the corner. Back in 2009, Sachs covered the release of a 50-year-old whiskey from Glenfiddich. “It was a big deal at the time,” he recalled. Today, a release like that would still be a fairly big deal, but not as much, given all the competition.
“I have encountered editors who are pretty much done with extremely high-end spirits,” he said. “I suppose because the numbers are proliferating, each article about a new one gets less interest from readers than it would have a few years ago.”
He also added that his reviews of $20,000 whiskies don’t get vastly more attention than his reviews of $60 whiskies.
Haynes-Peterson thinks such articles may not even be of use to the rich collectors who are their sole viable audience. “By the time the story makes it to the page, even the wealthiest reader may not be able to access such one-offs,” he said. “Why write about something with such a limited lifespan if there are dozens of such releases every year?”
Goldfarb contends that, in most cases, the bottles in question are often already spoken for by the time the press releases go out, “making the press releases even more naked viral story grabs,” he said. “I'm told Asia and wealthy Middle Eastern countries are where a lot of these absurd bottles go these days, often to ritzy hotel bars.”
For his part, Goldfarb is largely done with writing about 4, 5, or 6-figure spirits, except, possibly, to mock them.
“They're all pseudo-news, created for the pure reason of being ‘news,’” he said. "‘Macallan Has a New 10-Million-Dollar, 80-Year-Old Scotch.’ That's a pretty good headline, I guess. But, like, who cares?!”
Odds and Ends…
I will be a judge at the first ever Botanical Battle Royale, a Wisconsin-wide cocktail competition sponsored by Bittercube bitters and Heirloom liqueurs. Bartenders from Milwaukee, Madison and Fond du Lac will compete. The event will take place on Sunday, May 5, at The Ivy House, South Barclay Street, Milwaukee, WI. Tickets are $30-$40. Among my fellow judges are esteemed barman Toby Maloney… In conjunction with its current show, “Lost New York,” the New York Historical Society will be open late on Fridays in May and June. From 5:30 p.m to 7:30 p.m. on those Fridays, a cocktail hour will be held, with live music and “Lost New York cocktails” curated by yours truly. Consult the website for reservations… I wrote about the explosive array of Margarita riffs we’re now seeing at bars for Vinepair… A Quick Drink: The Speed Rack Guide to Winning Cocktails for Any Mood, a new book by Ivy Mix and Lynnette Marrero, the duo behind Speed Rack, along with writer Megan Krigbaum, will hit the shelves on April 30… Also on April 30, the James Beard Media Awards will be announced… At the April 30 game between the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs at Citi Field, hot dogs will cost only $1. The promotion is courtesy of Nathan’s Hot Dogs… Bronze Owl, a new cocktail bar from the team behind The Press Club Grill, including beverage director Max Green, will open in the same space, inside the Martinique Hotel off Herald Square in Manhattan… Patriots, the new play by Peter Morgan at the Barrymore Theater on Broadway, is recommended. The historical drama tells the story of the intermingled histories of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky and Vladmir Putin, the ex-KGB “nobody” he helped elevate to the position of Russian President. The play, directed by Rupert Goold, stars Michael Stuhlbarg, in his first stage role in nearly 20 years, and channeling his inner Roy Cohn/Ron Liebman (a la Angels in America), and Will Keen… Isolation Proof’s annual release of Spring Gin, informed by hand-picked ramp leaves and perfect for Gibsons, has hit the New York market. Grab a bottle while you can!… Justin DeWolf will open a new brewery in Victor, New York, near Rochester. DeWolf previously founded brewing clubs in Barcelona and plans to incorporate Spanish flavors in the food served at DeWolf Brewing, which will have dining for 150 people, outdoor seating, and a taproom… Bar Agricole, the celebrated San Francisco cocktail bar, that is currently on the move, set to open in a new home in the Mission District soon, will stage a pop up inside Quince, the three-Michelin-starred fine dining destination from owners Michael and Lindsay Tusk. The bar’s residency will run two or three months… All the Devils Are Here: American Romanticism and Literary Influence, the latest work by prolific literary scholar David Greven, an expert on the works of early American authors like Melville, Cooper and Hawthorne, was released on April 4.
When I used to work for Michael Graves he was always asked what the difference was between designing for Alessi (expensive) and for Target (cheap) — he always said the design process was the same, the difference was the materials used in manufacturing the objects. I guess the quantifier for the expensive booze is time, is it not? This has certainly made me think.
Very well said, Robert (and Aaron and Tony and Robert). As the owner of a PR firm that has worked with spirit brands of all sizes (and budgets), we see a marked difference in the goals and expectations depending on our point of contact. When we are hired by the marketing team of a brand, our conversations are far more geared towards what will generate clicks, what sort of stunt will get press, how can we get people buzzing about us. When we are working directly with a brand founder, the focus is more on how we can tell stories to drive sales and growth.
At the end of the day, mentions in Forbes, Robb Report, Men's Journal and so many other outlets are worth far more than the $145,000 bottle price to many brands. The people reading that coverage likely have the bottle price or more in student debt and most definitely won't be tasting it anytime soon, but they're now learning about your brand, the category, and the industry. The next time they're ordering whiskey at a bar, they might just be a little more curious about how something is made or the aging process. They may simply just add it to their rolodex of things to bring up in an awkward silence on their next date.
From the PR side, I clearly have a lot of thoughts on the topic, but I'll save my ramblings (or I'll have to start my own substack!).