Why bourbon hunters exist but vodka collectors don't

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From Green Fairy to Liquid Gold: The Spirits That Ruled Each Decade (And Why Bourbon's Having Its Moment)

Your grandpa's dusty bottles weren't always dusty.

The same bottles collecting cobwebs in his basement once caused fistfights at speakeasies. That "shelf turd" Old Forester? It was the power move in 1910.

Let's break down which spirits owned each decade — and why bourbon's current reign might be the best thing to happen to your collection.

The 1900s: Absinthe — The OG Hype Beast

Before bottle flippers, there were absinthe drinkers.

"The Green Fairy" had everyone from Edgar Allan Poe to Mark Twain losing their minds over it. Imported from Switzerland, this stuff was the Pappy Van Winkle of its era — except it actually made you hallucinate.

The party ended hard in 1912 when Uncle Sam banned it for causing "hyper-excitability." (Translation: People couldn't handle their pour.)

Stayed banned for 95 years. That's a longer drought than Buffalo Trace allocations.

The 1910s: Whiskey Becomes the Boss

The decade that birthed the Old Fashioned deserves respect.

While everyone was perfecting sweetened cocktails (a trend that still annoys purists today), the FDA decided to get serious. By 1915, Scotch had to age at least three years to earn its name.

Meanwhile, American whiskey was flexing hard. Store shelves were stacked. No lottery systems. No camping out.

Your great-grandpa's "normal Tuesday" would make modern bourbon hunters weep.

The 1920s: Bathtub Gin — When Prohibition Made Everyone a Distiller

Prohibition turned America into a nation of amateur bootleggers making sketchy gin in bathtubs.

Not bathtubs because people were actually mixing it in tubs (though some did). The bottles were too tall for sinks, so they filled them in bathtubs. Peak speakeasy efficiency.

The Gin Rickey — featured in The Great Gatsby — was the status pour. Though let's be honest, Gatsby's gin was definitely better than whatever your local bootlegger was cutting with rubbing alcohol.

Pro tip: This is why your bourbon stash matters. When the next shortage hits, you'll be the Gatsby of your group chat.

The 1930s: Vodka Saves Post-Prohibition America

America came out of Prohibition thirsty.

The Bloody Mary perfected its recipe during the Great Depression — vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, and the collective relief of legal drinking.

Named after Queen Mary I of England, who was wildly unpopular in her time but is now a brunch icon.

The irony isn't lost on us.

The 1940s: Rum — The WWII Winner

While whiskey got rationed during WWII, rum flooded in from Latin America and the Caribbean thanks to FDR's Good Neighbor policy.

Soldiers stationed in the Caribbean developed a taste. The Andrews Sisters made "Rum and Coca-Cola" a hit. Suddenly everyone was drinking like they were on vacation instead of rationing butter.

This is what happens when your favorite bottles disappear. You adapt. You find alternatives. You definitely don't pay secondary market prices for them.

The 1950s: Gin's Golden Era

Post-war America wanted sophistication in a glass.

Gin delivered with Martinis, Gin and Tonics, and Tom Collins. Hollywood stars sipped gin cocktails on screen, and suburban dads tried to recreate the magic at home bars.

Gin was the bourbon of its decade — everyone wanted to be seen drinking it.

The 1960s: Vodka Goes Mainstream

Smirnoff dropped the marketing campaign of the century: "It leaves no scent on your breath."

Translation: Drink at lunch and your boss won't know.

The vodka martini became the power move. James Bond made it iconic. Your dad made it at every dinner party.

This decade turned vodka from "Russian thing" to "American essential."

The 1970s: Galliano's Disco Fever

While vodka stayed hot, Italian liqueur Galliano crashed the party with the Harvey Wallbanger — vodka, orange juice, and that sweet vanilla-anise kick.

Served over ice at every disco. Gone by the '80s.

Sound familiar? That's the same trajectory as half the "hot" craft distilleries from five years ago.

The 1980s: Amaretto Gets Sweet

The decade of excess loved Amaretto Sours and neon-colored drinks.

Also the decade that raised the drinking age to 21, which shaped how an entire generation approached alcohol culture.

Sweet drinks dominated. Serious whiskey drinkers went underground.

The 1990s: Vodka's Neon Renaissance

Cosmopolitans. Appletinis. Sex on the Beach.

If it was fruity, neon, and vodka-based, the '90s were all over it.

This decade also gave us Tito's Handmade Vodka in 1997 — now one of America's biggest vodka brands. While everyone was chasing colorful cocktails, Tito's was building an empire in Austin.

Lesson: While everyone's chasing hype, someone's building the next legacy brand.

The 2000s: Midori's Brief Moment

Remember when every party had that one guy making bright green drinks?

Midori — that sickeningly sweet Japanese melon liqueur — owned the early 2000s. Midori Sours and Midori Illusions glowed under blacklights and tasted like liquid Jolly Ranchers.

Then cocktail culture grew up. People started caring about what actually went in their glass. Midori got left behind like a Razor scooter at a Tesla dealership.

The fall was brutal. One year it was everywhere. The next? Bartenders pretended it didn't exist.

This is what happens when your entire identity is "sweet and bright green" in a world that suddenly wants "complex and interesting."

The 2010s: Bourbon's Comeback Story

This is where your current obsession started.

Craft cocktails went mainstream. Small distilleries exploded. The Old Fashioned became cool again. Whiskey Sours returned to menus.

People started actually caring about what went in their glass instead of just ordering "whatever's cheap."

Bourbon went from "grandpa's drink" to status symbol. Buffalo Trace went from shelf staple to allocated unicorn.

You probably started your collection during this decade. Or at least started lying about when you "got into bourbon."

The 2020s: Whiskey's Total Domination

We're three years in and whiskey's already running the show.

Across most states, whiskey leads with vodka trailing. Tequila and rum are fighting for third.

But here's what matters: A new generation is discovering whiskey's complexity. Hozier's singing about taking whiskey neat. The culture's shifting from "shots at the bar" to "what's the story behind this bottle?"

This is bourbon's golden age. Not because of scarcity or hype — though we've got plenty of both — but because more people actually get it now.

What This Means for Your Collection

Every decade's "hot spirit" eventually cooled.

Absinthe got banned. Bathtub gin became legal gin. Galliano's disco party ended. Midori faded into obscurity.

But bourbon? Bourbon's been around since the 1700s and keeps coming back stronger. From the 1910s whiskey boom to the 2010s craft revolution, bourbon survives trends because it's built on something real.

So yeah, that dusty bottle in your grandpa's basement? It wasn't always dusty. It was once the flex. The hunt. The score.

Just like the bottles you're chasing today will be sitting on someone's shelf in 2090, waiting for the next generation to rediscover them.

The cycle continues. The hunt never stops. The pour gets better with age.

That's why you bunker bourbon, not vodka.

🥃 Rick's Final Thought: Your bourbon collection isn't just bottles — it's a piece of a 300-year story that keeps getting better. While other spirits chase trends, bourbon is the trend that never dies.