Yes, they exist. Facebook, private blogs and such. Large groups of Whiskey fans congregate to trade storyies, brag, help, educate, boast, tell war stories, spread rumors, confirm truths, expose, target the innocent, trade, buy, sell, etc.

Some great info can come from these things, some bad and some of the most knowledgeable people in this hobby bump words with the most colossal assholes. Some buy barrels together and split up the bottle yields among members. I guess they just want to be among other lovers of the “hobby,” regardless of who they are and the grab bag of personalities.

The most interesting thing is a guy named Penn that just did a great offshoot of a Facebook group that’s sort of an offshoot of a secret one that was an offshoot of the two prominent ones started many years ago as bulletin board systems on the net. I’m not kidding — an offshoot of an offshoot of an offshoot of an offshoot. Why? Well freedom of speech, civility, too much content, too many people, etc.

The most humorous one of late is the sale/trade of Black Maple Hill No Age Statement (NAS). Someone rushes home and posts the five bottles they just “scored” while “dusty hunting.” Well, truth be told, these are very common, just allocated with an implied shortage by the brand owner.

The older versions of Black Maple Hill are very good and collectable/drinkable but the orange/red label is nothing special. Like a legend of an old house with an old lady living up on a hill in a “Psycho” type place supposedly being haunted when its really just a nice old lady that is broke and wants to be left alone. This Black Maple Hill NAS is the little old lady that wants to do a Halloween haunted house at $20 a head, so she scares the hell out of people by spreading the rumors herself to make money from Sept. 15 to Nov. 1. Similarly, Black Maple Hill spreads the 8-12 year rumor, releases a few hundred cases a month of average, 4-6 year stuff with an ever increasing price.

So, the guy with those 5 bottles has nothing and they are about as dusty as the double yellow line on an interstate highway. But he has no clue, and a bunch of people like him have no clue. Bartenders, customers and store owners keep the legend alive while those in the know are really watching the Whiskey equivalent of Rocky 12.

Here’s the thing, do you tell the guy he has 5 bottles of shit? Yes, it’s true, but then you’re mean. But maybe the next guy is smarter or gets smarter first? Also, one man’s treasure is another’s trash.

Let’s take a quick look at the real Michter’s in Pennsylvania. The best coverage of this comes from Chuck Cowdery’s short book, The Best Bourbon You’ll Never Taste.

A distillery had existed in Schafferstown, PA, since the 16th century. When a big Whiskey factory is built it goes by a bunch of names until sold and renamed Michter’s after the bosses sons, names Michael and Peter.

They fall on hard times and a former rich Whiskey executive, Adolph H Hirsch, commissions a special batch with his recipe of bourbon. When it’s matured, the place is about to be seized by the bank and Hirsch doesn’t want the booze. Most of Michter’s barrels are sold off to be converted to ethanol or neutral grain (too tiered to get which one right, but you get the idea).

The Adolph Hirsch Bourbon gets sold off almost like surplus/salvage, to a couple guys in Kentucky. Van Winkle bottles it in his place to be followed by Buffalo Trace then re-bottled by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers. What had initially been stuff people did not want and could not be gotten rid of now is now going for between $400-$3,000, depending on who bottled it and what age it was bottled at. So, again, one man’s trash can become another’s treasure — so who’s to really say?

There are all types of “experts” out there in the Whiskey wilderness. Good luck, Penn, in your new group, and thanks for the mention.