There’s an oft-used aphorism that I strongly dislike, and it seems to rear its ugly head just about every single day in my line of work (that’s probably why I hate it):

It never hurts to ask!

Bullshit.

It absolutely DOES hurt to ask sometimes; especially if you’re after rare bottles of allocated whiskey.

If you call my store continually and harass our staff members about when the new Russell’s Reserve 13 year old is going to hit the shelf, we’re going to remember that.

If you send me an email asking for not one, but 2-3 bottles of something that I’ve already put a one bottle allocation on, I’m going to remember that.

If you’re continually asking us for arrival dates on allocated whiskies, but you never seem to care about anything else in the store, believe me: we already know who you are.

So if you truly think “it never hurts to ask,” please know that this general tidbit of common wisdom is grossly inaccurate. You’re only setting yourself up for further disappointment.

-David Driscoll