Acquiring rare Bourbons - Any tips?

[mosesbotbol]

I would not buy expensive Bourbon on the secondary markets; way too many fake bottles out there. For sure I would not pay for a dram of fancy Bourbon at a restaurant; very high fake rate. Unless you see them crack the bottle open, be very skeptical with the likes of Pappy...

If you get a chance to try an old un-opened bottle of whiskey that you are familiar with, you'll see what time in the bottle does. You'll lose some of the freshness and pop of new bottle, but gain some smoothness that only time can do.

It's not too hard to find a Seagram or Canadian Club bottle that 20-50 years old. Think of your older relatives that do not drink but had that bottle sitting around forever.

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

I would not buy expensive Bourbon on the secondary markets; way too many fake bottles out there.

Bingo.

Esquire had an article yesterday that touched on this very subject. It's interesting that there's a big market for empty Pappy bottles. It talks about how empties of the 20-year old have sold for $200 on E-Bay and how a guy has found serial numbers from used bottles on "new" offerings on some of the secondary market web sites.
It's worth a read if you're a bourbon fan and have seven minutes to spare or so.