At roughly 9:00 AM on Sunday morning, a line could be seen at Sapulpa’s Liquor Mart (517 South Main) that wrapped around the sidewalk and down the street, before wrapping again down Cleveland Avenue.
People were bundled up for the chilly March morning, wearing hats and jackets, lounging in lawn chairs or standing in groups, talking, and passing time.
You’d think that Apple was launching a new iPhone, or Taylor Swift tickets had just gone on sale. But these folks weren’t here to get the latest iPhone, and they probably weren’t many ‘Swifties,’ either.
Rather, it was the semi-annual “allocation sale” that was drawing in the crowds to Liquor Mart on a Sunday morning.
Put simply, “allocated” means “rare,” or “hard to get.” Spend any time around whiskey superfans, and you’ll likely hear talk about “allocated bottles.” Someone who was able to get one of these usually had to be extremely lucky or put in some effort to acquire one.
According to people at the event that we spoke with, the owner of the store uses the opportunity to support local businesses, inviting out local coffee trailer CTX, who had arrived at 2:00 AM to start serving patrons, some of whom had been there since 10:00 PM the night before. Jacob Birdwell, the owner of CTX, says that they’ve attended a few of these events, and “the owner is super fair—it’s always first-come, first served. And he never prices his stuff for the secondary market.”
The “secondary market” is basically a resellers market for these allocated bottles. The normal suggested retail price would be the “primary market,” and collectors or enthusiasts will purchase these bottles and flip them for way above MSRP. To some, who have the money but not the desire to wait for hours for the chance to gain an especially rare bourbon—often called a “unicorn bottle”—the secondary market is a great chance to gain a bottle of whiskey that’s otherwise extremely hard to come by.
On March 12th, the word started to get out that an allocation sale was coming to Liquor Mart in Sapulpa, and that started something of a frenzy for the bourbon fans in the area. “We talked to someone who said they showed up every Sunday for a month, just because they didn’t want to miss it,” Birdwell said.
Though the store does no advertising for the event and usually holds the announcement until the day of, somehow, word of the coming allocation sale will leak out and begin to draw the hardcore bourbon crowd who are prepared to settle in for a long wait to get a unicorn bottle.
Finally, the formal announcement came on Sunday, March 26th, as people woke up to a list on the store’s Facebook Page that showed bottles for as little as $27.00 to more than $230.00.
It might sound obsessive for a bottle of alcohol, but to serious enthusiasts, events like these are serious opportunities.
“We talked to one guy who drove for ten hours from Kentucky with his grandson to get here,” Birdwell said. “This is just a small portion of the bourbon crowd.” And the hype is real. “He has the greatest selection of bourbon in the Tulsa area,” he said.
Liquor Mart’s allocation sale only happens a couple of times a year. Find out when the next one is by following them on Facebook.
