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Gen Z is coming for your allocations

Gen Z is coming for your allocations

Danny Bauer
November 30, 2025

Hey Barrelhead 🥃

You’ve seen the change in the parking lot: fewer retirees, more vintage hoodies, and way more competition for that 5 AM drop.

While we were busy debating mash bills, a new generation quietly hijacked the market (and your allocations).

Everyone says the bourbon bubble is about to pop, but the data tells a much different story.

Here is the brutal truth about who is actually driving up those secondary prices.

PROOF OF GENIUS

According to federal regulations (TTB), what is the strict legal limit on the number of barrels allowed in a "Small Batch" bourbon?

THE WEEKLY POUR

Buffalo Trace Woodshop Goes Live Online: Barrel-stave muddlers, custom heads, and bourbon-soaked coasters — all handmade and selling out faster than a Stagg Jr. drop.
Forbes Drops a “Bourbons Under $100 That Actually Slap” List: Frank August, ECBP, Four Roses Small Batch, Rare Breed … competition-proven hitters you can still find if you move.
Indiana Just Stole the Crown: Mizunara-finished and damn near perfect — Starlight’s $150 bottle just punked half of Kentucky on the big stage.
Copper & Kings Goes Full Chaos Mode with Brandy-Bourbon Mashups:
A newly overhauled lineup mixing brandy heritage with bourbon swagger — and a 17-year blend lurking inside.

TOP SHELF

Gen Z is Coming for Your Allocations (And They Might Save the Industry)

Bourbon used to be your grandpa’s cough medicine. It gathered dust on the back bar while everyone drank clear spirits.

Now?

You’re fighting a 23-year-old in a vintage hoodie for the last bottle of Stagg at 10 AM on a Tuesday.

The game has changed. The "Southern Gentleman" stereotype is dead, and a new generation of drinkers is rewriting the rules of the secondary market.

Here is the brutal truth about the youth movement hitting the whiskey aisle.

The "Craft" Explosion (Or: Why Small Batch is King)

The big boys are panicking, and the craft guys are cashing in.

Small-batch offerings have surged by 45%.

Why? Because the new generation of drinkers is obsessed with "authenticity." They don't want the same bottle their dad drank.

They want the weird stuff.

They want the story.

They want the bottle that looks good on Instagram.

The Gateway Drug: We have to talk about the elephant in the rickhouse — flavored whiskey.

Sales are up 30%
Yes, it tastes like pancake syrup and bad decisions
But: It’s bringing new blood into the category

Think of that cinnamon-flavored nonsense as the minor leagues. Eventually, they graduate to the majors (barrel proof).

The Global Tater Invasion

If you think finding allocated bottles is hard in Kentucky, try finding them globally.

We used to keep the good stuff at home. Now, exports have rocketed from $96 million to $381 million.

That Blanton's you can't find on the shelf? It’s currently sitting in a bar in Tokyo or London.

Bourbon has become a global status symbol — a "flex asset" recognizable anywhere in the world.

The New Face of the Hunt

The demographic shift isn't just a marketing buzzword — it’s changing the line at Buffalo Trace.

The crowd is younger, more diverse, and statistically has a higher income.

The Budget: They have a whiskey budget that would shock their spouse (sound familiar?).
The Trip: Distillery tourism is the new Disney World. They’re drinking and studying the mash bills.

These aren't casual drinkers. They are educated consumers who check the secondary price before they even crack the seal.

Rick's Bottom Line

Don't roll your eyes at the kid taking a selfie with a bottle of Weller.

This demand is what keeps the distilleries expanding and the new barrels rolling in. The market is evolving from "old man's drink" to "liquid gold."

Prediction: The next "unicorn" bottle won't come from a heritage brand — it’ll come from a craft distillery that Gen Z hypes to the moon on TikTok. Stay sharp.

POUR DECISIONS

LAST CALL

Last week we asked:

According to US Federal Law (27 CFR), what is the absolute minimum amount of time a spirit must be aged to legally be labeled "Straight Bourbon Whiskey"?

1 Year
2 Years
3 Years
4 Years

The Answer: 2 Years If you guessed 4 years, you fell for the most common myth in the game.

Here is the breakdown so you can win your next bar bet:

Bourbon (No "Straight"): Legally, there is no minimum time limit. It just has to touch the wood (though practically, it's usually more).
Straight Bourbon: Must be aged a minimum of 2 years.
The 4-Year Confusion: If a Straight Bourbon is aged less than 4 years, the bottle must state the age on the label. Once it hits 4 years, the distillery is allowed to remove the age statement. That's why people assume 4 years is the rule—it's just the threshold for hiding the number.