If there’s one thing we love here at Bourboneur, it’s the thrill of the chase — the moment you spot a bottle you’ve been hunting, the rush of cracking a unicorn you swore you’d keep sealed forever, and the slightly questionable decisions we all make at 1 a.m. in the name of “price research.” But today, we’re taking that excitement and adding something the bourbon world rarely gets: actual data.
Thanks to Bourboneur’s growing community, we see the patterns behind the hype — what’s surging, what’s softening, and what bottles are slipping under the radar but deserve your attention. This month’s Secondary Market Report is your high-end snapshot of where the energy is flowing in the bourbon ecosystem right now.
Grab a Glencairn. Let’s get into it.
— High-demand allocations commanding a premium
Some bottles don’t just heat up — they detonate. Whether it’s a limited release, a surprise award, or that mysterious “everyone suddenly started talking about it” effect, these are the bourbons that have taken a rocket-ship trajectory on the secondary market.
• Buffalo Trace Antique Collection E.H. Taylor Bottled in Bond — Holy hell batman, folks have lost their ever-loving minds over this release. As we wrote in a previous post, this is likely to have some sustained upward pricing pressure, but just like all hype-trains, it will lose momentum and come down – some – but likely will be a high-flyer for some time.
• Russell’s Reserve 15 — The little bottle that could, this release just keeps going and going and going. Just when I thought it couldn’t go higher, it does. Bottles are trading hands this week at around $750 which is insane – who knows what next week holds.
• Bombergers Precision Fine Grain — Another sustained climber, Bomberger’s PFG continues to truck its way north with a steady head of steam pushing it along. I have to think that we’ve reached the top on this one.
General commentary:
This segment of the market is where FOMO does its best work. High-end collectors don’t flinch at premiums when they sense a tightening supply curve — especially if the bottle sits within an established prestige line. These are the bottles pulling in the eyeballs, the cash, and the Instagram flexes.
— The bourbon hangover effect hits even the most hyped labels
Every cycle brings its comedown. Occasionally it’s warranted; sometimes it’s just a temporary pause while the market catches its breath. And every now and then, the softening is exactly when smart collectors quietly step in.
• Parker’s Heritage 11 Year American Whiskey — Although it came out of the gates red hot, Heaven Hill’s annual release of their Parker’s Heritage collection has quickly found its way to nearly a third of the original valuation it traded hands at in a couple months’ time. Time heals all price routs when it comes to Parkers! We’re expecting to see this trend north from here.
• Old Fitzgerald 2025 Spring 9 Year — Surprisingly this just keeps on dropping, and about the time we think we’ve found the floor the price drops again. It’s likely we’ve hit bottom on this one however and could see some upward momentum from here – especially looking at valuations of previous releases.
• Russell’s Reserve 13 Year Batch 6 — The theme song for this years Russell’s 13 release could be Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire…”down, down down…” It looks like it’s leveled out finally just north of the $250 range, but we could see this drop some more before starting a small climb back to the $300 level.
General commentary:
A cooling trend doesn’t always signal true weakness — sometimes it simply corrects the irrational exuberance of the previous quarter. These bottles may reheat quickly once supply normalizes or if a new batch draws rave reviews. For the savvy collector, dips are opportunities.
— The bottles rising steadily, quietly, and smartly
Not every winner is loud. Some bourbons rise in a calm, almost sneaky way — a trend driven by seasoned collectors, not impulse buyers. This category often contains bottles that were undervalued until the market finally caught on.
• Parker’s Heritage Double Barreled Blend — This is one of those bottles that we kick ourselves on, one that could have been picked up for substantially cheaper once upon a time but has month by month continued to creep up in value. For a minute a couple of months back it looked like it was going to back pedal some but was taking a deep breath before making up lost ground and continuing the charge north. If history repeats this bottle will continue to appreciate in the months and years ahead.
• Still Austin Tanager — This initially felt like it was going to be a flash in the pan, but with the right amunt of hype and capturing a unique pour in this bottle, it’s continued to appreciate over the last year albeit more slowly since summer hit.
• Bookers The Reserves 2024 — This release just seemed to go and go and go. It’s a great pour, for sure, and benefitted from being a bit out of the norm from the usual “insert hokey name here” batch from Bookers yearly series.
General commentary:
These are the bottles that when you put off buying, feel like they drift off out of reach, forever — the ones people say, “I remember when that was easy to get.” Slow burns are a hallmark of sustainable demand, and this segment is where collectors looking for value and growth should keep their eyes.
— Three upcoming releases you have to be a subscriber to get hands on.
Below is where you can lean into the Bourboneur voice — we know good whiskey. We have three picks in the works with our friends at BRBNFNDR and Brooks Raley from the Mets. These are an added member benefit for our subscribers (also available to BRBNFNDR subscribers) – and, if you’re not one of them, tuff luck chuck.
1. New Era — “Cherry Cola Catastrophe” set to release on Black Friday, a hazmat 141 proof 12-year Barton – literally the best Barton barrel we’ve ever tasted. Expecting this to disappear in minutes when we drop it. Anticipated cost of $250.
Nose: toasted oak with layers of syrupy dark cherry cola, vanilla, and a touch of tobacco and malt. Cherry that is the opposite of "medicinal" Cherry sometimes found in Barton Distillate.
Palate: black cherry candy, cherry Coke, light spice, and old drying oak, caramel and molasses/toffee notes. Darkness.
Finish is long and sweet, with nearly all aforementioned mid-palate notes carrying deep into the finish. Drinks well under proof and is exceptionally better than previous 13+ yr barton barrels that did not make the cut.
2. Whiskey Thief — “Mad Hatter” a 7-year 90/10 ~130+ proof rye is set to release before the end of the year, with bottling happening this week. This is 100 percent a bourbon drinkers rye. Anticipated cost of $99.
Nose: Vanilla, rose petal, luxardo syrup. Orange peel and musty oak.
Palate: butterscotch, cocoa, coffee, black pepper and toasty oak. Light rye spice and a medium-oily mouthfeel. Absolutely no heat on this 130+ proofer, and tastes well older than a 7-year yye, which is typically young, ethanol and spice, forward.
3. Old Commonwealth – “Barrel #145” — An exclusive first ever bottling of a soon-to-be revived Julian Van Winkle brand, under the label “Old Hoffman Rare Select” this double oaked Kentucky straight bourbon has a 78c/10r/12mb mash bill and was a stunner. We’re anticipating this out in early 2026 and will be providing more details as they become available.
This month’s movements reflect a simple truth:
The secondary bourbon market isn’t random — it’s a living, breathing, swirling ecosystem shaped by scarcity, gossip, flavor mastery, collector psychology, and the relentless pursuit of whatever bottle suddenly feels just out of reach.
With more data flowing in, Bourboneur is the most accurate barometer of these trends. The more we grow, the sharper these insights become.
Until next month, stay whiskey wise™ — and may your next unicorn come not from luck, but from strategy.
Drop season is here—and with it comes chaos. Bottles hit shelves, secondary prices spike (or dip), and more than a few wallets get burned. To navigate the madness, you need more than hype. You need real data.
That’s exactly what the Bourbon Blue Book® delivers: over 8,000 bottles tracked, live market values, and constant updates—all inside the Bourboneur app. No noise. No guesswork. Just clarity.
👉 For $3/month or $25/year, the Blue Book pays for itself the moment you avoid one bad buy—or spot the right deal.
And bourbon isn’t just about bottles - it’s community—join 26,000+ enthusiasts who live this passion every week. From bottle drops and market insights to reviews and flavor debates, you’ll be first in line for what’s happening next.
📲 Download the app on iOS or Android.
📩 Subscribe below for our weekly insider email.
📷 Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
That’s Bourboneur.
.png)
0 Comments