We’re all adults here (or should be if you’re reading a whiskey/whisky blog).
Should anyone be surprised to start seeing domestic offerings at 700 mL versus 750 mL? No, although I’m sure some will feign shock and awe at the prospect.
Am I crazy about it? No, but I’m not backing down from my elation over the change in the Standards of Fill.
Have the floodgates opened with more independent bottlings here in the United States? Maybe not as much as I’d hoped – although supply chain, tariffs, inflation and other factors are likely contributing to that.
Will we see a price break when folks convert bottles from 750 to 700? I’d bet not. But I still think it is the right move as it makes production more efficient and opens up more markets to producers. A smaller producer who can’t afford to buy inventory of two different sized bottles just to be able to sell in other markets now won’t have to worry about that.
In the case of my recent review, one of the first domestic offerings I’ve seen in 700 mL – I’d note that this is a new offering; not a migration of an existing brand that was sold at 750 mL previously. A 6 year, bottled-in-bond rye, at $50. If they kept the ‘price per ounce’ the same and offered it in a 750 mL, it’d be $53.57. Does that difference impact my desire to buy it? Not a chance. I get that as the prices go up – the difference does as well, that’s just math. Essentially for a brand migrating, the customer is losing 1.7 oz in the bargain (and if you’re talking about a $150 bottle, now that gaps is just over $10).
My guess is that given the current inflationary environment, the big brands will start to make that move and keep prices level (which I get is ‘shrinkflation’). It isn’t that I think the big brands are altruistic or any shit like that, but rather that it’s a convenient excuse to make the cut and explain why they aren’t dropping prices when they do (although if you’re the last one to make that move, it might be shrewd to discount and call out the other greedy bastards).
At the end of the day, your daily drinker of $20-$30, you’re talking about a difference of $1.50-$2. Let’s be honest – if (let’s say Jack Daniels, or Jim Beam, or Evan Williams) is your drink of choice, you’re not switching to one of those others over $1.50 difference. That’s not why you’re with that brand.
I do hope that we will start to see more and more offerings here in the States in the not too distant future. Offerings which we could only have dreamt of before (or paid exorbitant amounts to have shipped from the far side of the pond). Again, not because I think the industry is altruistic – but because there’s a lot of money to be made in doing so. Just wasn’t enough to support bottling at 750 mL just for one goofy market.