Should I snatch up 6 bottles of Ardbeg Dark Cove?

[rkny]

Hi all,

New here from NYC.

As a massive Ardbeg fan, I wander into every shop I see here in Manhattan, to see if I can find any rare or interesting bargains. In the past, this has yielded me a long gone Ardbog and a Blasda.

Today I walked into a store that had 6 bottles of Dark Cove Committee release, for $130 each, tax included.

If you can find a bottle at all online, it seems to average about double that price, and higher.

My question is, should I grab all 6 (this would not be chump change for me) with the hopes of selling them off? If I were to sell them, what would be the best way?

Ultimately I would like to be able to put one bottle away in storage, drink one, and sell the rest without paying a dime out of pocket. If I could sell 4 for $200 each, this would achieve that goal.

What would you do?

[Whisky Dog]

Welcome to the SMW Forum rkny

I believe Bonhams auctioneers reintroduced their whisky auction in New York at the end of last year, you could contact them to confirm this, that is the only whisky auction I know of on your side of the water.

If indeed you do have somewhere to sell them your plan to buy all 6 and sell 4 on to cover costs could work especially as this is the Ardbeg Dark Cove Committee release. Remember there will auction costs and taxes to take into consideration if selling at auction.

[James T]

I would certainly go for it if given the chance. It is all really dependent on whether you have somewhere to sell them. I would contact Bonhams New York as Whisky Dog suggests, you should be able to do this via Bonhams website.

If you were able to buy them and tuck them away in a cupboard for a year or two they would probably fetch more at auction.

[opelfruit]

*sigh*

This is exactly the sort of thing I hate. Of course you're looking out for yourself and getting free whisky funded by the auction craze, each to their own. The problem is you're taking 4 bottles of limited whisky, that actually seems to be selling at a drinkable price, off the market. That's 4 bottles that 4 people who want to buy the whisky to drink won't be able to get and the person/people who will buy it will be long term investors who are counting on rising prices to get a return.

Doing this years ago is what has resulted in these committee bottles (and other limited bottles) being released at higher and higher prices thus impacting us who actually want to buy the stuff to drink. Committee releases used to go for around £50 not too many years ago.


All us genuine whisky drinkers complain about prices and don't think there is anything we can do as an individual, but if every individual who flips bottles stopped doing just this then we wouldn't have nearly half the problem.


Rant over.
_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[Diademo]

Seeking advice on flipping rare bottles is not always appreciated in whisky forums…

[sorren]

I'm sure you have realised that this is a sore subject on here, don't take it to heart. When any one asks about the buying of bottles to sell we get a similar result, pretty much split straight down the middle with yes and that the devils work lol. My opinion is yes get them, sell some in order to make the bottles you keep for yourself either free or very cheap. We all want a bargain in one way or another, some might do it through whisky and others in other ways. We just have to learn to live together in harmony. The price of whisky is not driven by collectors and flippers alone, there is also a greed aspect involved. Good luck and please don't be afraid to ask again, just wear a tin hat ðŸ˜"?ðŸ˜"?

[McKay]

I would say go for it if you are able to sell on the whisky.

[rkny]

Thanks for the replies. I realize that flipping is controversial, and I apologize if I have offended anyone, especially this being my first post on the forum.

I would like to challenge the concept that flipping drives retail prices up. Ardbeg doesn't appear to care if their committee releases get resold at a profit, as long as their initial asking prices are met. If they did care, this release would be more expensive than the last committee release. It's cheaper by nearly half. And if they did price their next release higher to "cash in" on the secondary market, this would not stop the secondary market from existing. There will always be flippers and people who buy from them.

Furthermore, I submit that the 6 bottles I discovered have been sitting on a shelf for 2 weeks...this shop is clearly not on Ardbeg fans' radar. To take them from this sleepy shop and get them into the hands of appreciative drinkers, who would have otherwise been completely unable to find a bottle, seems reasonable to me.

I don't think I'll be going the auction route. That does seem to be pushing the boundaries of decency. I'm actually talking to my regular shop, which has a waiting list for this particular release. To keep the price reasonable, I'm in negotiations to deliver 5 bottles to the owner of my shop, while keeping one for my efforts.

[sorren]

Rkny.. My philosophy is .. Never think you have to justify your actions ( unles its to the wife ) what you do with your money is totally up to you.. I'm sure my name is regularly cursed lol, I bug many multiples of bottles and most are still sealed, although not exactly for resale I am the dreaded " collector" or " hoarder" and in years to come when I open my bottles I will be rather happy .. And so will any one who is my friend lol

[5-12-1908]

Flip them......it makes your 2 bottles affordable for YOU.
Everyone else would do the same if they couldnt afford it.

[Genuine Risk]

[James T]

Why leave them for someone else to buy, I would buy them all given the chance, but I would keep them for myself but have no problem with someone selling them on to cover the cost of a couple of bottles. To me that is a fellow whisky drinker finding a way to enjoy these overpriced whiskies, rkny if you go for it I hope it works out for you.

[eelbrook]

I'd add to the list of people advocating "buying" them. Then, what you do with them is your and no-one else's business. It isn't about morality. It is about a free market.

[Quaich1]

Reminds me of the famous quote published in 1516 by the philosopher Thomas Moore and still relevant today:

“It is only natural, of course, that each man should think his own opinions best: the crow loves his fledgling, and the ape his cub.”
†Thomas More, Utopia

Free will should rule the day. Do what you want. However, you did ask the question so obviously you have to expect the answers will vary on this somewhat controversial issue among Forum members.Personally, I would say go for it.

Cheers.

_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[Naibed01]

Wire in mate.