A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to receive and try my first bourbon samples from a fellow bourbon lover (thanks again Jason)!

And imagine what I did. I shared with my friends.

I’ll be honest – I was surprised that this actually happened. I was in a Facebook group and they had a thread about trading bourbons. I put my name on the list and a week later I had some tracking information on my samples. I waited around until they showed up (because I was worried it wouldn’t come – I imagine this is a common fear) and then I packed up the samples for Jason and sent them back his way.

Things I Learned

Since it was my first time trading samples, I learned a few things:

1. You need some Boston Rounds to send samples. I realized this as I started thinking about what I was going to send. I quickly realized I needed some sort of vessel to ship my samples in. And I had to quickly order some. This was part of the reason my shipment was a little slower than normal.
2. You need to read the rules of the trade. I had never done this before, so I was just excited to receive a few samples. I didn’t realize (my bad) that this trade was a bottled-in-bond special. I sent over the four bottles from my house and none were bottled-in-bond. That was 100% my bad. Always read the rules if you are making a trade.
3. It’s not that hard. You have a some great people out there that are willing to trade and most people have no idea where to make that happen. I had some amazing samples and I sent some great pours along. And I made a friend.

And I’ll learn more the next time I trade bourbon. And I’ll learn more after that.

Want To Trade?

That all being said, I want to connect and trade some more bourbon samples!

My bourbon collection (or lack there of) is constantly changing and I’ll always have some store picks with some of my favorite liquor stores. And I want to share that experience with you.

If you are interested, send me an email at chriswilkey@gmail.com – I would love to send a few samples in return for a few samples. We can set the terms of the trade via email, but I would love to chat.

It’s a simple post, but one that I needed to get onto the blog. I want to start to build a network of bourbon lovers and I know that this is a great way to do it.

I look forward to your emails and our conversations.

Cheers!