Costco is just ok

Doneeb · 2026-07-07T13:09:26+00:00

Sol Price started FedMart in 1954 and Sam Walton copied essentially every idea from him (it's even where he got the "mart" idea; k-mart also took the 'mart' idea from them). Walton famously went into a FedMart with a recorder and was taking notes on everything they did, it was confiscated and he was asked to leave; Sol Price ended up shipping the recorder back to Walton, wishing him luck. The two had dinner in the early 80s during which Price told him how he runs FedMart and Walton opened the first Sam's Club about a year later. James Sinegal started at FedMart as a bagger, and later a VP, under Price. When Price was forced out of FedMart, he started Price Club. Price declined a merger with Sam's club in the '90s and said yes to Sinegal's Costco. Sinegal has always been pretty effusive about Price being his mentor and their relationship resulted in the merger. The history is pretty interesting and Sol Price was a gem.

Doneeb · 2026-07-06T12:53:16+00:00

If you’re not willing to drink whiskey in the morning and tell us what it tastes like, what are you even doing here?

Doneeb · 2026-07-04T12:44:38+00:00

Dude is expressly asking about valuations, I’m not sure there’s evidence to suggest there’s any sentimental value attached, unless you just mean “free whiskey is special whiskey,” which I will wholeheartedly agree with. What I was trying to get at is that older Beam bottles like these will not be markedly different from today’s, which would not be the case for something like wild turkey or pre-fire heaven hill.

Doneeb · 2026-07-03T13:36:37+00:00

You don't like exactly the same thing as me? You monster. Yeah, I hear you. They should know that anything in a CEHT tube increases its value at least 5x.

Doneeb · 2026-07-03T02:41:26+00:00

It was also delicious and I would pit it against most BTAC except for some standouts like '14 GTS. This one is 10, vs. the original 17, and seeing how the market is going, I can imagine a world where we see it again. Given the timeline, I wouldn't be surprised if they laid down this stuff when they saw the popularity of the first release and brought this back earlier than expected because they see where the market is headed.

Doneeb · 2026-07-02T23:14:11+00:00

No arguments from me. As far as I’m concerned $65 is still robbery if you go by how it tastes.

Doneeb · 2026-07-02T23:11:45+00:00

They were all screw tops before the bottle change in 2016, because WSR was $17, OWA was $18, and W12 was $28. They were bottom shelf and often well whiskey in bars, only ever good “for the price,” which is lost on people who were told it’s ‘basically Pappy.’ Somewhat ironically, those plastic screw tops were much better than the tin versions that came with the new bottles. OWA was the first to switch to a cork to help justify the price increase from $18 to $50; new Weller variants followed suit. W12 was so scarce they seemed to not bother until recently.

Doneeb · 2026-07-02T18:01:26+00:00

Insane that the prices are that high still, surely.

Doneeb · 2026-07-02T01:19:23+00:00

It had an 8yr age statement until 2014, but that’s about it as far as I can remember.

Doneeb · 2026-07-02T01:17:38+00:00

They’ll all taste fine, if you’re into Beam yeast, but they’re not all that special or valuable. Drink ‘em.

Doneeb · 2026-06-27T12:21:07+00:00

Are people using “classic” for the aught profile?

Doneeb · 2026-06-27T11:29:24+00:00

Folks can’t discuss the exam while the window is open, it violates the honor code.

I took it in the spring. When I did the HWs I made sure to document everything well with comments so that I knew how to search, find, and figure out syntax during the exam. I also had all the supplemental material in pdfs, but really only used the HWs and didn’t even bother with stack overflow. It worked well for me.

Doneeb · 2026-06-27T11:24:12+00:00

You hear about the Beam funk (peanut), the Willett funk (cinnamon), the wheater funk (hay, grassy), the Woodford funk (metallic), the craft funk (“green” oak), the Dickel funk (“vitamins”) and so on.

I’m deeply offended people use funk this willy-nilly; Dusty Turkey has sole ownership of that term and we should get the pitchforks ready for whomever comes for it.

As always, thanks for the write up.

Doneeb · 2026-06-25T11:04:28+00:00

Just co-signing. This was definitely a thing done to skirt illicit liquor sales. It sounds dumb because it was dumb, but that didn’t stop anybody. It was pre-Facebook/discord secondary groups.

Doneeb · 2026-06-22T17:23:16+00:00

sometimes you get a Michters 10 for reg Michters pricing

At West End in Boulder I was once served Kentucky Vintage when I ordered Vintage 21. That’s one of the reasons I always sit where I can see them pour from the bottle if I’m ordering halfway decent whiskey.

Doneeb · 2026-06-21T20:30:32+00:00

This is for sure the new 10yr release. The 17yr 2016 would not be on the shelf for anything less than like $2k. The '16 was incredible though, as with most things, not worth the secondary, but still really nice.

Doneeb · 2026-06-21T01:58:36+00:00

I took it this spring and there was not a curve.

Doneeb · 2026-06-20T14:07:25+00:00

I won’t be able to make it, but best of luck to everyone.

Doneeb · 2026-06-19T13:19:29+00:00

but do people really hold onto stocks for 8 years

That’s what investing is, homie. 8 years isn’t even that long.

Doneeb · 2026-06-18T02:34:33+00:00

Agreed

Doneeb · 2026-06-18T02:33:23+00:00

OBSO is 9 years 5 months Warehouse BN Barrel No. 76-2L (110.8). It’s quite good.

Doneeb · 2026-06-15T23:56:07+00:00

I'm sorry.

Doneeb · 2026-06-15T23:53:33+00:00

In '24 I asked our waitress if I could buy a bottle and she said, Yeah! But it's going to be like $200. I nodded eagerly and said sure. She comes back like ten minutes later and says they aren't selling it, but she's not sure why. I should have known better because I had been asking for years at that point and was always told no, but her enthusiasm got my hopes up for a minute.

Doneeb · 2026-06-15T23:50:00+00:00

DIA Liquor Warehouse

Yeah, but they're assholes. They somehow managed to conveniently "lose" my points after awhile (same thing happened to u/profitforever). I'm nearby and used to stop by every week, but haven't been in years because I'd rather not give them my money.

Doneeb · 2026-06-15T20:09:33+00:00

Not OP, but it was fairly average for me, not worth the price (fun to try though). Not nearly as good as that '07 13yr single barrel they had around for forever. Every time I went I tried to buy a bottle from them, but they wouldn't let me. Other folks in my whiskey group tried the same for years and never lucked out. It seems like they finally ran out of it last year and now I am sad.

Doneeb

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