Page 99 - Microsoft Word - miniz-digest-104-109.docx

Sunday morning is often the time
for real bargains but this time a
number of dealers had already
left, apparently deciding that there
were not enough buyers to justify
staying a second day. Collectors
were openly talking about the
demise of the show but let me put
the numbers in context. In the
1980’s I attended a number of the
California Shows (Los Angeles /
San Francisco). These were very
enjoyable affairs but none of
these had an attendance as large
as St. Louis this year. It is
noticeable that the ‘anniversary’
th
th
th
th
shows (20 , 25 , 30 , 35 ) are
always better attended and this was not one of those. Last year’s show was the 35 and Harry Goetz
th
turned up having just bought (literally on the way to the show) one of the finest collections of
ceramic/fancy glass bottles in the US, so it is not realistic to compare the two years. The main problem
with the show is the same problem with the hobby in general, collectors are simply getting older. Some
have passed away, some are in poor health and some simply are at the stage in life where they do not
want to make the journey every year. On a brighter note, there are an increasing number of (mainly
younger!) collectors in China, S.E. Asia and Eastern Europe. The challenge is to get them to attend the
show.

From St. Louis we headed east to Kentucky for
three days of distillery visits. Most of the
Kentucky distilleries do tours, most are $10 and
most give you the tasting glass after having had
anything from two to eight tastes of different
products. Makers Mark is an exception to this.
The tour is great (I have done it three times but
not on this trip) but they are in a dry (prohibition)
county so they cannot give you a taste of their
highly regarded Bourbon. Avoid Heaven Hill as

they charge $25 for a tour of a barrel warehouse,
you don’t go near the distillery. I don’t know whether
you get the glass following a tasting as, at that
price, we didn’t bother.

We visited, in order, Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve,
Wild Turkey, Barton’s 1792 & Four Roses. There
were plenty of others we could have visited. All had
miniatures for sale, although I did not buy any as I
do not collect Bourbon (unless ceramic).

The first four distillery photos above are all from Jim
Beam. Jim Beam used to conduct a very poor tour
that did not take visitors into the distillery. They built

- 18 -