Norther Border Collection / CC 40yo

@fiddich1980 Agreed. Next year let's vote in a government that will fix the LCBO...

@fiddich1980 Equitable? Equitibility was never anything that ever occurred to any government liquor monopoly.

@Nozinan We have the NDP and Greens running the show here now and nothing has, or is likely to change when it comes to maximizing their piece of the booze action.

@BlueNote Possibly, but just maybe, if the NDP gets it, I can be the insider, and , of course, use my powers for good... like getting the LCBO to stock OGD 114 and Laphroaig 10 CS at a reasonable price.

@Nozinan You’ve got my vote !!! Also, could we get some WL Weller in on a regular basis? I’d love to try it.

@OdysseusUnbound If I become King...you got it!

@Nozinan You'd have my vote, if I had one.

@Nozinan I grew up in Ontario, maybe I still have citizenship.

Anyway, don't make campaign promises your political bosses won't let you keep.

Canadian Whisky???? Is it strictly a mixer or can it be a sipper. Something that can be appreciated on it own neat or with water. Forty Creek starts peaking people's interest a few years. Then the fiasco of Crown Royal. Sure lots of hype with Canada turning 150 years. I did recently purchase and read Davin de Kergommeaux book. Lots of decent general history and so forth. Then for the last year and a half Last Barrel, Union 52, Dissertation, two of which; are still accessible. Now you have whisky society and reviewers raving about Lot 40 CS for the last year and Ricard Pernod/Hiram Walker/Corby/Wiser's, doing a special release in Canada. That is all fine. It could be a good thing to raise the profile of a “Canadian Product”. May be Canadian drinkers can start appreciating what this country has to offer. Instead, it gets sold in exclusive stores as a “Pop Up”. Then there is the issues related to the exclusivity of the seller. Archaic policies based on Canada's temperance movement during the period of prohabition. These are used by all liquor board to control and regulate what we can and can not consume. What about Pot? I'm sure most drinkers purchase for the weekend together or on pay day. Moreover, the majority sure as hell ain't buying booze at lunch time on a work day. While I live in Toronto, I don't consider it the centre of the Canadian Universe. So, why not make things more equitable? How is anyone going to appreciate “decent” stuff when it is inaccessible to them. The Lot 40 CS label -only English- How is the SAQ going to deal with that? A separate sheet with French translation taped onto the bottle. Maybe more collectible? There are gems out there Gilead Crimson and Dillion Small Batch Absinth. This approach does a great dis-service to our farmers, distillers, and consumers. I spent a few weeks traveling along Australia's east coast this past year. Sure, they get screwed on pricing but, at least there seemed to be decent access to products from Cairns to Melbourne. There were bottle shops that were Boutique, down to Drive through pick ups. My recollection of Scotland in the later half of the 2000 were similar. Pick a bottle of Grouse from the corner store or if you wanted something special go to a whisky boutique or Distillery.

@fiddich1980 Nice rant. I agree with you 100%.

@fiddich1980 , nice rant indeed.

But I hope you'll take the following link in the friendly spirit I offer it. :)

theonion.com/nation-shudders-at-large-bloc…

The latest from HELLO_LCBO:

1. Online availability expected in the next few days or weeks.

2. The only way people know about where it's available is online like everybody else.

3. Apparently this is a very popular release.

4. Apparently I'm not the first to lodge a formal complaint about the manner in which this release was rolled out.

I hope you find this update helpful.... because I don't.

@Nozinan I received a similar response just a couple days ago. I'll definitely be submitting a more formal complaint to the company, not that I'm angry or bitter, but to voice my concerns. If we don't speak out we can't expect it to change in the future.

ROTFLMAO

The 8 pages of comments above remind me of my irrational FOMO/endless social media comments/KGBO hate/lining up in the cold for BTAC in 2013-14.

One huge difference, this is Canadian Whisky we're talking about!!! The quantities will NOT be limited like BTAC, or any other Bourbon. My guess is this will be like Crown Royal - huge frenzy, then a seemingly endless supply after Christmas.

The most sought after of the collection will likely be the Lot 40 CS. As far as I can tell its the same whisky as regular Lot 40 with less water added and a bit more age on it. If that's true, there will be plenty to go round, as there has not been any shortage of 43% Lot 40 in the last 4 years.

I'd like to get some Lot 40, W35, and G&W17 ... but I'm not going to get worked up about it if I don't ... I still have 10 bottles of regular Lot 40 I picked up at 30% off a while back, LOL

Gotta hand it to Corby's though ... they've taken a page out of the Scotch/Bourbon MARKETING book. They've been HYPING this release for months - including pre-views at Spirit of Toronto, distillery tours (a new one for Cdn whisky), free sample bottles to media/bloggers/etc, trickling release through new age "pop-up" stores, groupie-like appearances by the blender .... FUN to watch as it develops

and, in the off chance Corby's is following Buffalo Trace example and artificially restricting supply, thus creating further frenzy and shortages, I can live with not getting any. As someone on twitter commented on Lot 40CS a few days ago: "Meh, they had from Lots 1-39 to get me interested... I’m done."

@65glenfarclas Everyone is entitled to react to this release rhe way they want.

The fact is, unlike the tens of thousands of bottles produced of CRNHR, there are only 2000 bottles of each expression available in all of Canada. There will be no glut.

What this ridiculous release is doing is getting people to grab what they can get even if it's not the expression they want, in the hopes of trading later on or reducing FOMO.

Many people are completely left out.

On the one had, sure it's just whisky. On the other, it shows either unethical or incompetent behaviour.

@Nozinan "...there are only 2000 bottles of each expression available in all of Canada. There will be no glut."

If that's true, I'll say Corby's is just playing it safe, for now. Given this type of release has only been done twice before - both by Corby's: the first was the original failed release of lot 40/pike creek/? in the 1990's(?), the 2nd was the successful re-release of Lot 40 et al in 2012, I can't blame them if they are being careful with the #s this time. Its not like there's a long history of people willing to pay >$50 for Canadian whisky.

I find it hard to believe they would put so much effort/expense into the marketing of 6000 bottles (2000 x 3 expressions) unless this is a longer term play and they have plans of ramping up the bottling line if their efforts prove successful. I can see the supply of 35 year old whisky being fairly small, but there should be plenty more casks of 12 and 17 year old whisky in the warehouses.

Either way, plenty of great whisky available outside LCBO borders for one to spend one's money on. I don't lose sleep over not "winning" BTAC "lotteries" (I stopped entering 2 years ago), so I'm not going to loose sleep over missing out on surging demand for drinkable Canadian Whisky.

Adding fuel to the LCBO-hate fire: this is the kind of access you get if you live in the centre-of-the-universe www.instagram.com/p/BazUgeJHxHF/

pop-up stores operated by the government monopoly, accessible only to a tiny percentage of the taxpayers that own said agency. You want to taste an expensive product before you buy? Move to Toronto (or Oakville), LOL

This kind of shyte used to bother me - and I worked across the street from the Summerhill location. Now that I'm the 'burbs 100% of the time my sanity can't afford to worry about this stuff.

@65glenfarclas In fairness, I hate all of Toronto (the Leafs, the Raptors, the Torontonians ) not just the KGBO. I’ve lodged a complaint with helloLCBO, but I doubt it’s worth the 3 minutes it took me to email them. I’ll likely get a “blah blah blah, province-wide availability later, yadda yadda yadda, many issues to consider, and go fuck yourself, we’re the LCBO, what are you gonna do about it?” kind of response. Oh well.

@OdysseusUnbound "...what are you gonna do about it?” kind of response. Oh well." ...find other ways of buying what isn't available locally ... where there's a will, there's a way

@65glenfarclas and if I drink too much of what I buy elsewhere:

Where there's a will... ...there's a beneficiary!

(Sylvester McCoy, first episode as Dr. Who)

@65glenfarclas_ your rant is totally depressing....you should get together with @MadSingleMalt...and start a group.

So... any predictions as to when this will be online, or where the bottles will pop up next?

@Nozinan Probably more in Toronto. Then some more in Toronto. Then about 3 bottles available online, then more in Toronto.

@OdysseusUnbound Sounds much like the annual premium spirits release in BC. If you happen to live in Vancouver and want to camp out the night before the big opening you will probably get something. If you live in the outlands you are basically SOL. They say nothing is sold before the day of the release, but somehow or another there is a lot missing by opening time. I suspect some high end restaurants and bars and the obscenely rich get some priority.

I finally left the house and went to pick up the bottle of CC40 that I ordered for my father-in-law. The store clerk told me that a woman had reserved 6 bottles last week. The clerk along with another worker there wanted a bottle so they bought 1 each leaving the woman with 4.

@Mancub Did you get one?

@Mancub I'm not sure which makes me more frustrated, that one person was allowed to "reserve" 6 when other people are going without, or that 2 employees were taking first dibs...

@Nozinan I would be very annoyed if I had ordered 1 or 2 and these guys decided they would grab them.

@BlueNote I just got the one bottle which is for my father-in-law. He will covet the bottle for a short while and no doubt we'll crack it together.

@Nozinan I must say the exact same thoughts crossed my mind. I've heard of people reserving multiple bottles of something and the store relinquishing one of those bottles to another customer before. I think in certain circumstances I'm OK with it actually, and this is one of them. It's a high-prized, hard to get bottle, and some greedy person wants 6 all to themselves? Please..

@Mancub @Nozinan It's such a total sham. I'm hoping to talk to the Canadian Club Brand Ambassador this week and I'll let her know some of these stories.