Prime Bourbon Developments and Resolutions for 2025

With the arrival of every new yr comes a slew of resolutions, lots of which will likely be deserted come February. However we at Bourbon & Banter need you to maintain your resolutions! So we requested our neighborhood about their bourbon-related resolutions for 2025, and some clear themes emerged. Learn alongside, and make sure to share your resolutions within the feedback.

Share Extra

I’m declaring 2025 the yr of the Huge Bottle Share. Bottle shares are a cornerstone of the whiskey neighborhood, however with so many of us stocked to the gills with bottles hoarded from the pandemic and subsequent bourbon growth, many people are feeling squeezed out by our collections however, extra importantly, need to lean extra into what makes bourbon enjoyable within the first place: sharing it.

Scott L.: Attend an in-person Bourbon & Banter occasion this yr! I will not let work or medical procedures cease me – I’ll prioritize making a barrel choose or the annual Bourbon & Banter Summit.

Sean: The most vital factor is sharing bourbon with buddies. 

Caleb: Do away with some stuff. I went loopy in the course of the pandemic, and now it’s an excessive amount of. I need to discover new buddies to share with and do away with what I’ve to get my assortment all the way down to a manageable degree.

Matt S.: Host a bottle kill occasion to filter all of the bottles with 6-8 ounces left. Creates extra space in my house bar and lets my buddies strive a bunch of cool stuff on the identical time. And reward extra to charity auctions – a win for everybody.

Erin: Restart my bourbon open homes – each at house and at work. In 2024, I hosted two bourbon open homes the place of us have been invited to come back to my place and, effectively, drink my bourbon! I requested them to not convey any bottles and are available able to drink curiously. I did this to bottle whittle down my assortment and join extra with others within the DC bourbon neighborhood. I additionally began a month-to-month Whiskey Wednesday bottle share at work final yr, which has rapidly grown. I am persistently the one who convey 6 or extra bottles dto share and it has been a good way to satisfy of us from throughout my firm.

Brent: Scale back the variety of bottles I don’t look after on my house bar. I’ve effectively over 100 opened bottles on my house bar. For sure, a few of them haven’t been touched in years. I’ve been making an attempt to work by the stuff that’s lower than uncommon to scale back the litter nevertheless it’s not straightforward. I’ll must host extra bottle shares.

Steve: Give away extra press samples. My rental, the place area is all the time just a little tight, has arguably change into a hearth hazard given all of the alcohol samples inside it. I resolve to create an ersatz reference library of 100-200ml bottles I like, pour some to order, then give the half-full bottles to buddies and neighbors.

Pops: Construct a Bourbon “Third Place.” I’m fortunate to have a bourbon assortment most would envy, however let’s be actual—I’ll by no means drink all of it. Whereas I like internet hosting buddies to assist me make a dent, the bottles multiply like rabbits. This yr, I’m engaged on one thing greater: a standalone HQ for Bourbon & Banter and DrinkCurious. Consider it as a bourbon lover’s “third place.” Not a bar. Not a house. However an area the place of us can collect, get pleasure from nice pours, and share tales with out the pretense. An area constructed for bourbon, banter, and constructing neighborhood—precisely how I feel whiskey was meant to be loved. Right here’s to a bourbon-filled 2025. Let’s make it depend, one sip (and one story) at a time.

Drink Extra, Purchase Much less, Dump Duds

Let’s be trustworthy: a few of us have overdone it on our bourbon shares. Between trustworthy love for the whiskey and the mind-blowing proliferation of jerk-off cabinets (lined with allotted bottles some of us by no means open and simply, effectively, like to take a look at and showcase), we now have amassed too many bottles. Shoppers will likely be choosier with what and the place they purchase bottles. We’re additionally going to be extra ruthless with offloading – and even drain pouring – bottles we do not like. Manufacturers will actually must earn our greenbacks in 2025, and we’ll doubtless see the already began market correction develop as a result of this dip in client spending.

Jim: Drink extra, purchase much less (nevertheless that occurs). After I do purchase, purchase primarily based on dependable data: no extra hypothesis, humorous names, or fairly bottles.

Fred: Be just a little extra selective. Each time I see a very good bottle, I’ve to purchase it, and I have already got a very good quantity.

Tim D.: Give up shopping for as a lot. There are specific issues that I’ll all the time purchase after they come out, however now I will likely be extra selective when they’re obtainable.

The Wellers: Purchase much less whiskey as a result of we’re about out of room in our (1,000+ bottle) whiskey library. We additionally need to do away with some bottles we actually don’t need.

Kevin: Drink extra than I purchase and be extra selective.

Matt S.: Solely purchase Bourbon & Banter barrel picks in 2025. (Shameless plug, however neighborhood members get first entry to our picks and they’re persistently distinctive.)

Erin: Institute a 2 out, 1 in rule. I can solely purchase a brand new bottle if I both end, giveaway, or dump at the least 2 bottles. I’ve no extra space left and I’ve already achieved a good job of whittling down my assortment. Bourbon is made to be drunk, in any case; no use in it sitting there accumulating mud.

Brent: Discover a new native retail retailer. I reside in Indianapolis and my favourite native chain (Crown Liquors) acquired bought by Huge Purple Liquors. They’re now the most important retail chain within the state and their pricing is egregious. 15%-20% over MSRP is their normal. Good luck getting something allotted except you win their month-to-month “Proper to Purchase” which can be marked up increased than Charlie Sheen in his prime. I walked into my native retailer 2 weeks in the past they usually had the latest Booker’s launch. I requested the supervisor, who I do know effectively, “How a lot for the Booker’s?” It was priced at $140. That’s $40 OVER MSRP! I refuse to buy at Huge Purple Liquors.

Steve: Shortly dump out terrible press samples I do know I will not ever evaluate. Why do I maintain onto any of them? Maybe I am hoping they’re going to “come round with just a little air”? I all the time really feel just a little responsible when somebody spends the cash to ship me a pattern that will not make the reduce. Nevertheless it’s not my fault that these spirits aren’t good. And no distiller’s ever coming to my home and saying, “The place’s that bottle I despatched you?”

Pops: Carry the Banter Again. After I launched Bourbon & Banter in 2011, bourbon followers have been few and much between, and I needed to construct an area for spirited dialog. Quick ahead to in the present day, and bourbon’s gone mainstream—sadly, the banter hasn’t saved up. Too many of us are targeted on accumulating bottles as an alternative of cracking them open and sharing with buddies. This yr, I’m doubling down on the “banter” in Bourbon & Banter. Which means extra social outings, extra tales value sharing, and a stronger deal with digital and in-person occasions for our rising neighborhood. As a result of good bourbon deserves nice firm—and a little bit of irreverent dialog.

Get Extra Curious

As we change into extra selective in regards to the bottles we purchase, we’re additionally going to be doing extra analysis, exploring new producers doing distinctive issues, and increasing our skills to understand good whiskey. 2025 will likely be about digging extra deeply into what makes a bourbon nice, honing our skills to style and discern what’s deserving of our greenbacks, and increasing our data as an alternative of our collections.

Cesar: Cease following the hype. It’s too straightforward to get caught up within the hype. I need to choose up extra on nosing this yr and get a very good nosing equipment to develop my data.

Sean: Focus extra on distilleries and making an attempt new issues. I actually like what Heaven Hill is doing and I like Jim Beam: no matter they do I’ll purchase.

Erin: Learn my bourbon books. I’ve an entire shelf of books that I must learn. I like to learn however have been so caught up in my work, journey, and, effectively, life over the previous few years, I have not had the possibility to learn as a lot as I would like. I have already got a very good data of bourbon historical past however there’s a lot I do not know and may’t wait to be taught.

Brent: Strive new bourbons. This one shouldn’t want a proof.

Steve: Function craft distillers extra often in my evaluations. I do roughly 120 evaluations a yr. Whereas that seems like so much, it isn’t after I survey what’s been despatched to me and when it will get reviewed. I am going to admit that when releases like Russell’s Single Rickhouse or Michter’s 10-year (rye or bourbon) are available, they transfer nearer to the entrance of the road as a result of individuals are itching to learn these. Inevitably, one thing will get bumped backward within the queue. Maybe in my thrice-weekly evaluations I am going to intention to incorporate one from a big distillery, one from a midsize distillery and one other from a craft distillery.    

Pops: Again to Fundamentals (with a Twist). Final yr, I discovered myself swimming within the whirlwind of DrinkCurious, which left valuable little time for writing evaluations. So in 2025, I’m shaking issues up with a renewed deal with sharing my ideas—however this time, extra on digicam. Yep, video evaluations are on the horizon. Now, I’ll admit my face was made for radio, however video is king today, and the children appear to adore it. Fingers crossed this experiment doesn’t tank like a corked bottle. Both means, count on extra candid takes and numerous trustworthy opinions heading your means that will help you make extra knowledgeable bottle purchases.