When purchasing bourbon, it's critical to know what you're looking for, particularly if you're a collector, to make sure you're receiving the best value. You are more likely to be scammed if you venture outside of the usual avenues for buying liquor, such as trustworthy physical stores and trustworthy internet vendors.
This usually takes the form of putting a subpar knockoff product into the actual (or perhaps even fake) bottle in place of a premium or historically significant bourbon. Robyn Smith, the owner of the NEAT blog, gave Chowhound some tips on how to spot these scammers.
Collectors will examine highly particular details, such as label fonts, seal integrity, tax strips on older bottles, laser codes, cork style, and even the type of glue behind the capsule, in the few instances where fakes appear, which are typically in private deals.
The people who work there are highly detail-oriented and know what to look for," she explains. If you know the brand and the flavor of the dubious bottle doesn't match your memory, Smith says it's best to follow your instincts. After the Civil War, it was customary to sell fake whiskey, but today, buying a fake is considerably less common.
"Fakes are mostly something that show up in the secondary market — think collectors trading rare bottles or vintage 'dusties' through unofficial channels," she continues. "So it's more of a concern for collectors chasing unicorn bottles, not everyday drinkers shopping at the liquor store."
"There's not much reason to doubt bourbon from a legitimate retailer," she tells us. There are numerous state and federal business requirements that physical liquor stores must follow, and nothing would hurt their bottom line more than being known to sell fake alcohol.
One bourbon trend to definitely avoid is buying through the secondary liquor market, which is where things start to get crazy.