Last year marked a new high for bourbon pricing. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been purchasing bourbon over the last few years, as brands have been consistently increasing the prices of most of their annual limited and allocated whiskeys. And then 2024 marked the year that the average broke $200 when it came to limited releases. The result has been a growing and more vocal backlash on pricing than usual. With signs pointing to a possible bourbon glut, has bourbon pricing been put on notice by their consumers?

Limited edition whiskey pricing is a good barometer of the state of bourbon pricing as a whole, as a rising tide lifts all boats. In 2024, of the major Kentucky brands, King of Kentucky was $350, Wild Turkey Master’s Keep Triumph $275, Russells Reserve 15 Year $250, Four Roses 2024 Small Batch Limited Edition $220, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon $200, Little Book The Infinite $180, Maker’s Mark Celler Aged 2024 Release $175, Parker’s Heritage Collection $170, and Buffalo Trace Antique Collection $150.

Yes, price increases are nothing new, and bourbon is an expensive hobby. People also like to complain about prices no matter what they are and what they are for (America's true pastime, perhaps). But with recent reports suggesting the bourbon bubble is about to pop, how much of that is due to consumers being fed up with high prices, who feel dejected, are sick of the hunt, and are beginning to look elsewhere?

The truth of the matter is, if you can’t afford a particular bottle of bourbon, there are plenty of others that can accommodate your budget with plenty of brands facilitating anyone’s budget. But why does that never feel satisfying?

How did it get to this point? Is there simply not enough of the “good stuff” to go around, so pricing simply reflects that reality? Or is there more good stuff than ever, and as a result, the gap in quality between more readily available bottles and high priced limited releases is much smaller than it once was? Are we nearing the limit on how many high priced bottles the market can sustain?

When we posted a poll on our social media channels asking, “What is the #1 issue plaguing bourbon right now?” 46% of people said “Cost,” followed by “Availability” at 40%. No one ever claimed the bourbon was cheap, but with such a large segment of engaged, bourbon-loving folks expressing similar sentiments, potential rough roads lie ahead, and maybe whiskey makers need to start listening to the customers they currently have. If the younger drinking generation are turning to pre-mixed cocktails (RTD), seltzers, cannabis, or alcohol-free lifestyles, whiskeymakers should invest in the customers they currently have and that includes a realistic pricing model and not trying to maximize profits on a micro level.

A lot of recent vocal outcry came with the release of Old Grand-Dad 16 Year and the announcement of Woodford Double Double Oaked. Both priced at or near $200, the common complaint of both of them was their price, but even more specifically, their price and their proof. To many, it felt like a double slap to the face. The sentiment, “Fine if you’re going to charge $200, but if you don’t up the proof, you can keep it.” And that’s not even taking into account the 700mL bottle argument.

It seems more than ever, a bourbon’s credentials (i.e. age, proof, mashbill, finishing type) need to be impressive if hopes of commanding top dollar for a release are to be realized. Whiskey drinkers are more informed than ever, they are likely to have more bourbon than they’ll ever drink, and future fears of a slowing economy isn’t helping. Basically, if you aren’t offering extra perceived value with your $200 bourbon, it might be a harder sell than it once was. The days of the automatic sale are seemingly over.  

Yet, there are plenty of customers that will shell out $200+ for a release if the whiskey warrants it. Russell Reserve 15 Year was a recent example of whiskey justifying its $250 price tag because it was a great whiskey it also happened to be one of the best whiskeys of 2024. But when everyone wants $200+ for their “special” whiskey and the quality just isn’t there, that is when distrust is born.

It wasn’t very long ago that many bourbon producers were exploring the upper threshold of what bourbon consumers were willing to spend. It made sense as the bourbon market continued to mature, beancounters started to look at how much they could charge for a bottle of bourbon before flat-out rejection occurred. But over the 2 years since we wrote “The Birth of the $500 Bourbon” many of those bottles pushing pricing boundaries at that time have since retreated down to $300 and below.

Before the bourbon collective pats themselves on their backs as a sign of producers waving their white flags of surrender, a new batch of contenders are trying their hand. Many established craft distilleries are now pushing $300 limited releases, and the sudden rise of 15-20 year old bourbons are now commanding $500-$900. Of course, there are a few outliers like Michter’s 20 and 25 year old bourbon and Weller Millennium, which are so expensive, their prices are more comical than maddening.

The easy solution to high prices is always, “if you don’t like it, don’t buy it.” But the problem is that while consumers certainly don’t like the pricing, they sure like the bourbon. For too long, consumers collectively were all in the slow boiling pot of water and didn’t find the small incremental price increases reason for concern. But over the past 6 months it seems like these increases are catching up, and bourbon lovers are expressing their concerns with it more than ever.

As one social media reader expressed, “you fix cost by fixing availability,” and that’s either going to benefit bourbon producers or hurt them. With around 13 million barrels of aging bourbon in Kentucky alone, there is A LOT of bourbon coming down the pipeline. One option is simply waiting it out until the surplus arrives with hopes of price drops. Or if the bourbon bubble is really about to burst in a spectacular way, availability will be coming much sooner, and with it, lower prices. But that will come with potential damage to producers.

However, a bourbon bust isn’t all roses as it may seem before it actually happens. People will lose jobs. There will be less excitement surrounding bourbon, and with a bust, losing some of that hot air ends up killing some of the excitement of being a bourbon drinker and everything that comes with it. A downturn may also kill the innovation put behind future releases, fueled in part by forward-thinking investors who have been pouring resources into building distilleries and brands over the past decade and not seeing a profitable return.

Bourbon pricing isn’t going to change overnight. But in the years ahead, signals suggest bourbon drinkers are going to be much more diligent with their spending, demanding more for their money in the form of age statements and proof, which is just the beginning. FOMO will cool, budgets will tighten, and everyone’s shelf space is running out. A reckoning may very well be coming: are producers ready?