I used to work with a company that built stuff we needed for projects. Their constructs were perfect for what we were doing: not too expensive, not too fancy, did just what we wanted. But they were also exactly what we needed, and no more. They had no pretensions of grandeur. Indeed the guys who made the stuff knew all the tricks: cheaper materials, techniques that fooled the eye to make it look better than it was, construction that lasted only as long as it was needed. And that was fine: we all understood the deal, and the price was right. One of my associates coined a tongue-in-cheek slogan for them: "When good enough is our very best."
Buy something and that's often what you get: good enough. Mind you, that's not necessarily a bad thing. You don't always need or want the best that money can buy. Maybe it's a sweater in a particular color for a special outfit, or an ingredient for a recipe that will be mixed in with many others, or a spare power supply to throw in your backpack. A trip to Walmart or Target or a click on some no-name product on Amazon might get you something that's just fine for your purposes, where price and performance combine to hit the value sweet spot you want and need.
Then again, sometimes you want to go to the other extreme. You are willing to spend whatever it costs to get the best even if there are suitable lower priced alternatives. Of course, that beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder. While one person might be happy with a Ford Explorer, for another only a Porsche Cayenne will do. Both get you from place to place so it's not about functionality. It's about style, it's about status, it's about a lot of intangibles.
And so it is with bourbon. There's plenty of variety out there, with price points and tastes for any drinker. Some brands are indeed good enough: they aren't stand-outs, but are enjoyable to drink and don't cost an arm and a leg. Others boast a more sophisticated flavor profile, and come with a commensurate premium price. And then there are some that aficionados hunger for, and are willing to spend a 2500% premium above a bottle of Knob Creek to snag on the secondary market.
That's the case for George T. Stagg Straight Bourbon Whiskey. A product of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, this stuff is put up in barrels for 15 years in limited quantities, then decanted and bottled. It is released just once a year on a strict allocation basis, and has a cult following among enthusiasts. Though it has a suggested retail price of $99, good luck finding some at the that cost: depending on the specific year, the average price for this hooch runs around $1254 per bottle.
At that price "good enough" is simply not. It has to live up the hype, or the whole mystique goes away. You know that routine where you order a bottle of wine, the waiter brings it to your table and gives you a little sip to make sure it hasn't turned? Well, the master distillers at Buffalo Trace do the same thing. Except this year, rather say "fine" and indicate to fill up the glasses around the table, they turned up their noses. "Unfortunately, this crop of barrels earmarked to be Stagg back when it was put in the barrel in 2006 did not meet the Stagg profile today," said master distiller Harlen Wheatley. "We discussed at great length how to proceed, and ultimately decided we did not feel right about lowering our standards or the age, by dipping into next year's supply of barrels." And so they decided to put it aside, and let it mature a bit more. But that also means that this year's drinkers will be Stagless.
Think about it: a company that made a product, brought it to market, and then decided it wasn't right and ate the multiple millions it cost to develop it. They felt that good enough simply wasn't. Perhaps we can all take a lesson. Or as Cher once said, "There are lots of things that I'd like to be, and nice just doesn't seem good enough."
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Marc Wollin of Bedford has been known to sip some bourbon. His column appears regularly in The Record-Review, The Scarsdale Inquirer and online at http://www.glancingaskance.blogspot.com/, as well as via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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