Jamie Farris might be known as The Store Pick King. Lincoln Road out of Hattiesburg, MS is a hidden gem for those in the know. Depending on the day, Jamie might have 70 or more available store picks at one time. This episode digs into his barrel pick strategies, how distilleries have changed in treating their single barrel customers, and how he handles the “aficionados” that visit his store and leave with nothing.
Show Notes:
- The week’s Above the Char with Fred Minnick talks about influencers.
- Tell us how you got into bourbon and owning a liquor store.
- Talk about dry county Mississippi. Were you trying to get moonshine?
- How many store picks do you have available?
- How do you get so many private barrels?
- Who’s cut you back on getting some barrels?
- Does that upset you a little bit since you sort of started this craze?
- Has the Mississippi allocation decreased or do you have to share the pie with more people?
- What year did you get in the private barrel game?
- What single barrel program does the best job?
- Do you approach this the same as you did 5 years ago when you could reject barrels?
- How often are you rejecting barrel samples?
- Are you blending because single barrels are getting boring?
- The next step is creating your own label, are looking into creating one?
- Do you think you put Hattiesburg on the map?
- Some of the Lincoln Road picks are credited to Misty. Explain who Misty is.
- Do you think there is a market for collaboration picks?
- Is there another category that’s growing with a fan base like bourbon?
- How do you explain the Maker’s Mark 46 barrel program to someone who isn’t a bourbon geek?
- What are most whiskey/bourbon shoppers looking for? The average shopper vs the “bourbon/whiskey aficionado”.
- Why do Mississippi legislatures think tastings once a quarter is a good idea?
- How annoying does it get to have these “aficionados” come in and leave with nothing?
- Do you foresee an end to the craziness?
- What are some current or emerging trends in whiskey/bourbon?
- Do think it will be a problem in the future when these places run out of MGP?
- Do you feel it’s not your obligation to push craft whiskey?
- Do you think stores should price at secondary?