Nothing in this life stays the same, and bourbon hunting, just like everything else in this world, is changing. In 2025 bourbon hunting is less about sheer luck and more about strategy, community, technology, and adaptability. In today’s post we’ll explore how the bourbon hunting game is changing, share tips to help you make the most of your efforts, and provide some insights into what’s hot and not right now on the market.
The bourbon boom shows no signs of slowing down, and as we’ve recently written, the demand for premium bottles (especially those with premium age statements) remains at an all-time high. Although pricing on the secondary market slid just a little over 11 percent in 2024, it’s starting to make up some lost ground in 2025 holding steady through the first bit of the year and ticking up a bit over one percent in the past few weeks according to the Bourboneur Secondary Market Index – a statistic which is updated daily within the Bourboneur app. Here’s some of the ways in which the bourbon hunting scene has shifted in 2025:
Increased Competition: There are more and more people finding their way into bourbon and whether you’re a collector, an enthusiast, or just your run of the mill casual drinker there’s still a lot of folks vying for the same scant few coveted bottles of allocated brownwater.
Retailer Allocations: Fewer and fewer bottles find their way to the shelves with many liquor stores moving towards loyalty programs, raffles, or other special events to distribute bottles to a narrow band of folks, who, based on their spending would be by most considered full blown alcoholics…but, many are just “taters” who hoard away unopened bottles.
Secondary Market: Pricing may be dropping on some bottles, but the overall market for bourbon remains robust and unicorns still command outlandish prices. What’s new is the ability to pull open an app and quickly ascertain if the price is right #BourbonBlueBook.
Online Opportunities: Many of the bottles I’ve bought recently have come from being quick on the gun relating to purchases through online platforms. Thanks to companies like BRBNFNDR, immediate notifications for bottles I’m searching for come straight to my phone and although the drop might sell out in mere minutes, I was on the in quick enough to grab something special.
Bourbon’s Global Reach: The popularity of bourbon isn’t just a thing here in the United States, the bourbon bug has spread, and the globalization of the hunt adds a new dimension to tracking down bottles that are in vogue.
Here are practical tips to maximizing your chances:
Relationships: Everyone likes to say this is where it’s at – top of their list. I’m not going to tell you that building a good rapport with your local liquor store isn’t valuable, but I can tell you that the time, energy and capital involved may be more than you bargain for to have them pull out a bottle of Blanton’s as a thanks for seeing your face every week for the past year and spending thousands of dollars when you could just nab that bottle for $100 on the secondary market and forgo the time, energy and expense and get something you really want with nearly immediate gratification. What you really need is a buddy who manages or owns a liquor store…good luck finding one of those.
Persistence: You’re going to have a lot of days where you see nothing that you want to buy. Nothing – zip – zero – notta. Then you’re going to have days where it all comes together and like me this past week, walked into a store and was just looking at what was on the shelf and the owner asked if I would have any interest in an E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof. Why, yes, yes, I would.
Calendars: At the bottom of this post, you’ll see a “Subscribe to Bourboneur Email List!” box, put your email in and join our mailing list where we send out a weekly email that includes what bottles are dropping each month, updated as we hear about new ones. If you know what’s coming, you’ll know what to be on the lookout for!
Technology: In 2025 you must leverage technology if you’re going to be successful. Let’s be clear, success isn’t just landing a bottle that you’re after – it’s also about not paying 5x what everyone else is. The trademarked Bourbon Blue Book® available on the subscription-based Bourboneur app for iOS and Android helps thousands of users every single day ensure that what they’re paying for a bottle isn’t highway robbery. With over 6,500 bottles tracked and near real-time pricing updates it’s the gold standard for pricing and comes with a slew of other features to boot.
Join Bourbon Communities: Venues such as regional or local Facebook groups, Reddit threads, etc. can be hugely valuable regarding bottle releases, store allocations, and “insider” information for your area.
Setting aside the hype train that comes along with any new release on the secondary market, there’s a few things going on right now that the bourbon buying public should be aware of.
Trending Down: Yesterday’s mainstays of the secondary from Buffalo Trace have been trending south and keep dropping. Every week I feel like the E.H. Taylor Single Barrels, Weller 12’s, and Elmer T Lee’s of this world get a smidge cheaper. As an example, in the past few days in two different sales, E.H. Taylor Single Barrels went for $125 – a drop below their current average selling price of $140, and well below what that bottle was trading just a year ago.
Trending Up: Anything that even hints at being a Buff Turkey is being snatched up just about as quickly as it’s posted on secondary sites – take four minutes and get the full meal deal on everything Buff Turkey in our recent post. Similarly, some labels are disappearing quickly as well, those being Rare Character, River Roots and Thirteenth Colony.
Data matters and having up-to-date and reliable information to make informed decisions about buying, selling or trading coveted bottles of brownwater is critical. The secondary market doesn’t stand still and neither do we in cataloguing and providing the web’s most accurate, reliable and up-to-date pricing around. As new bottles hit the market, their pricing changes daily…finding a ceiling, and eventually a floor. The market shifts up and down, commensurate with the economy – with the bourbon secondary market down just over eleven percent last year, and making up a small amount of ground with a one percent climb over the past few weeks. If you’re looking for a resource that’s based on real data, grounded in actual verified sales on the secondary market, is updated regularly, and has values for over 6,500 bottles and growing at your fingertips, you need to look no further than the Bourboneur App for iOS and Android. The app does require a paid subscription, only $3 per month or $25 a year, which easily pays for itself!
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