Still Austin’s awesome ‘Kentucky Fill Up Day’ campaign

This here, pardner, is some Texas-bold marketing!

In an effort to convince drinkers that good bourbon doesn’t have to come from Kentucky, Austin, Texas-based Still Austin Whiskey Co. has created Kentucky Fill Up Day. On Nov. 20, people who registered ahead of time, came to the distillery with an empty Kentucky bourbon bottle to have it refilled with Still Austin Cask Strength Whiskey for $1.

You read that correctly, cowboy, $1 on one day only. The deal was limited to the first 500 hundred people smart enough to seize that bargain. Click here for full details and to see chuckle-loaded video describing the event. (As a University of Louisville fan, I laughed hard at the invitation to stick around and see how much better Texas football is better than Kentucky football. Those schools played on TV that day.)

Now, if you haven’t looked closely at the picture above these words, look up and notice the empty Maker’s Mark bottle. (I think the other two are Evan Williams and Bulleit.) This may create the only blowback to the campaign if Maker’s lawyers consider its precious and trademark-protected dripping red wax besmirched by the Still Austin label affixed to the front.

And I also wonder how Still Austin can sell its whiskey below cost. Surely that’ll hurt Texas revenuers’ feelings a bit?

But one thing I’m certain of: It’s an unparalleled deal. Not only is Still Austin Cask Strength terrific (read my review here), whiskey from that spot and a growing number of Texas distilleries is really good.

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Is Michter’s 20-year bourbon worthy of its $1,200 SRP?

In this age of high-priced bourbons, drinkers routinely ask, “Is it worth it?” Surely many learned this week about the upcoming release of Michter’s 20-year bourbon and asked that question. Indubitably, others are prepared to pay even more than that $1,200 ask.

Lucky for me and several others at our 2024 Bourbon Banter Summit in Louisville in November, we know this much about this highly anticipated bottle: It’s friggin’ delicious! Michter’s treated our small group to a tour of its Shively distillery, followed by a lengthy tasting of its core lineup, its special release roster and the pièce de résistance, the double decade.

Sipping that created one of those moments when a “We ain’t worthy” glance gets shared around a table. Not only is it fantastic, it’s like no other bourbon out there, except perhaps for the ultra-rare Michter’s 25-year. Nothing with two decades of age on the U.S. market is anywhere near as delightful as the 20, which for me means not an oak bomb.

Which brings us back to the question: Is it worth $1,200? I can answer that two ways. 1. It’s priced so beyond my budget that I’d never spend that much for any spirit. 2. But if money were no object, I likely would and then share it with friends. It would not be a shelf fixture in my home.

Heaven knows there are plenty of people with the mad money to make such a purchase, and they’re who Michter’s is targeting with this release. Of course, it’s likely never to sell at retail for that amount, but that’ll stop no one from buying it. I predict it’ll sell at light speed and super-elevated prices.

Tequila thieves steal truckloads of Santo Tequila

Yes, that headline is true. The appeal of celebrity brand tequila never ceases to amaze me. I can’t think of any which are good, properly priced or remotely worth drinking, much less stealing. And yet, that’s what happened in early November.

According to a story on Brewhound.com, two trucks ferrying 4,040 cases of Santo Tequila were hijacked in Laredo, Texas, just beyond the Mexican border. That’s right, they stole Santo.

Apparently, the black-market value of Santo Tequila, a celebrity spirit backed by rocker Sammy Hagar and TV food personality Guy Fieri, has a far higher value than I’d give it. But to at least someone, it’s worth risking prison time for stealing lots of it. (I gave the anjeo a lackluster review that you can read here.)

According to the story, a “sophisticated criminal enterprise” did the deed, and somewhere along the way to California, they swapped sophistication for stupidity. Los Angeles police spotted one truck in a “known criminal cargo area” being unloaded by the former sophisticates. The article gave no details on the MENSA geniuses arrested in the act.

This isn’t the first time a tequila heist has happened. The story reported that 19,000 bottles of Hacienda Chactun Tequila—a virtually unknown tequila made at a distillery known for bottom shelf stinkers—were ripped off last December. And in the past year, two trucks full of Fortaleza tequila—really, really good stuff—were stolen. Let’s at least credit those thieves for having good taste!

According to a Fortaleza team member, five bottles have been found on retailers’ shelves. Ya think those shops lost their coveted Fortaleza allocation? Bet on it!

Back to the stolen Santo: I understand the calculated risk of stealing Santo to resell at a profit. But buying stolen Santo? That’s a mystery to me. Especially if you consider that buying hot bottles from obvious thieves doesn’t guarantee they’re filled with ordinary Santo—which depending on the palate of a regular Santo buyer, could be a good thing.