I'll leave the 'Official Report' on the National Show to our Blog Master....But here's a quick rundown and analysis from a dealer/buyer in the field....There were some great displays at the show: George Washington Historical flasks, unembossed colored Western bottles, hutch sodas from the various U.S. States, Demijohns and Carboys, Indian wicker-wrapped bottles, and a "crier" display that I took part in (along with some key pieces of glass from Super-digger/collectors, Lawson & Quinn).
Here's a quick rundown of just a handful of the whiskies I saw offered up for sale. I am going to do my best to indicate what the following bottles were listed for, and if I happened to notice them sell, what they sold for. I will ask you all to not take the following information as 100% fact, but simply one man's account of just some of the whiskey offerings at the Pomona Show:
(9) J.F. Cutter Star-Shield Fifths:
$2,250 -- Green-yellow, Variant 3 or 4, flash in top, smoothed-out open bubble on front
$450 -- Olive, excellent charcter and large top, Variant 3, (SOLD for $450)
$375 -- Olive-amber, Variant 3, (SOLD for $350)
$375 -- Apricot-red-amber, Variant 3, (SOLD for $350)
$350 -- Olive-amber, Variant 3, (SOLD for $350)
$350 -- Light Old-amber, Variant 4, TRADED for a medium-amber J. Moore w/ a repaired top.
$275 -- Variant 4, amber, no sale data
$250 -- Variant 4, amber, no sale data
$235 -- Variant 4, amber, no slae data
(4) Aqua Gold Dust Fifths:
$2,250
$2,000
$1850
$1,775
All appeared to be damage free, fairly decent to good examples, but I didn't notice any of them actually selling.
(3) Choice Old Cabinet Fifths:
$2,750 (dark amber)
$2,200 (light amber)
$2,200 (killer yellow one with minor flash in base)
I did not see any of them sell.
(3) Tea Kettle Ffiths:
$2,100 (Killer example with solid strike in yellow coloration)
$1,600 (nice dark-amber example with excellent strike and huge top) -- ended up selling/part of a multi-bottle trade.
$1,250 (dark-amber example with average strike)
(4) AAA Old Valley Flasks:
$2,500: Light orange-yellow, typical weak strike for such a light color
$1,800: Medium old-amber, good character, mint
$1,600: Medium old-amber, good character, near mint, ice-pick crush on inside of lip
$12,50: amber with suspicious indentation on base
(2) Renz's Blackberry Brandy Fifths:
$4,000 (Yellow)
$3,000 (amber)
(1) Lilienthal Banded Distillers: $375 (1/2 Pint flask, light orange colroation, crude tooled-top)
(1) Lilienthal Banded: $1,400 (amber w/ flake, smooth chip on base)
(1) Lilienthal Coffin Distillers: $3,500 (Pint, amber, sparkle-matic glass)
(1) Durham Whiskey: $825 (Eastern variant w/ foot, whittle w/ typical scratching and wear)
(1) J.H. Cutter Mid-Crown E. Martin Fifth: $850 (Medium-amber, good whittle)
(1) J.H. Cutter Shoulder Crown E. Martin Fifth: $1,600 (amber)
(1) J.H. Cutter Shoulder Crown E. Martin Fifth (no embossing on reverse): $3,500 (amber)
(1) J.H. Cutter Shoulder Crown Hotaling Fifth: $2,200 (amber, very minor inside lip bruise)
(1) J.H. Cutter Shoulder Crown Hotaling Flask: $7,000 (light amber, good strike)]
(1) O.K. Old Castle Fifth: $900 (Medium amber, crisp strike, good character)
(1) OPS: $1450 (light orange-amber, crude transitional tooled-top, unimproveable strike)
Once again, these are just a few of my simple observations from the show. I can think of about two to three times this many whiskies that I saw for sale, but I am not going to beat a dead horse here. To be honest, I can't really remember what they were all priced for, what the full damage-inspection report is, and which ones traveled back home with the dealer or with a proud new owner. To put it simply, it seemd that about upwards of 85% or more of the whiskies did not sell. Many of these were familiar bottles with the same price tags, with a few fresh ones still managing to surface.
I did see two J.F. Star Shield flasks and a Miller's flask....all three had damage or repairs...so I really don't care to go into detail on what they were priced for or what the degree of damage(s) were....
If you didn't go, I believe you certainly missed out! I can understand the Early Bird fee seemed a bit steep to some (plus travel & lodging arrangements)....but this kind of show only comes around every two years....and who knows when the next one will be staged in SoCal?? I hope to see those of you who didn't attend the Pomona show at the Downieville, Santa Rosa, or the Auburn show(s)!
