re: Does this really happen with thinking about good booze?

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And what's $110 or $115 if I've come this far? Why deny myself the peers of this exquisite specimen? If this cognac is this good, what might I be missing if I don't try others at this level? Shouldn't... shouldn't I try them all? Now $150, that's a bit much. That's kind of asking a lot. But I can explore this level, this price range. I can do that. Not a big deal. Gotta spend your money on something, right? I'll just cut back on other things. Some people buy a lot of video games. Others go to a lot of shows. Others collect things. It's a hobby, that's all. People have hobbies and they spend money on them and this is my hobby.

But where can I find them, these other XOs? The local store only has one or two XOs in that locked glass cabinet with the other fancy scotches and gold-laced fancy tequila bottles. Where can I find others? I'll travel. I'll travel anywhere within a few hours. Let me ask. I'll ask on the internet. Someone will know. I must find more XO cognac and I must find it now. WHY DON'T THESE IDIOTS STOCK MORE XO COGNAC? Have they not tried XO cognac? Are they delusional? Look, I've been doing my reading and I know that the XOs from the major four makers aren't even the best ones, not by a long shot. Why don't they carry others here? I want interesting XOs from the minor houses. I have to find them. Anything, I'll try anything. Somebody in this town has to have some goddamn XO cognac!

And then you find some others. One or two here or there in dusty corners of liquor stores all across town. Another on a business trip. Hey now! These are great! And so different. What interestingly different flavor profiles. I need to keep buying XO congac. This is fun! I'm going to take down all my tasting notes and research other people's tasting notes online. I need to see what else is out there. Hey... I can order cognac online and have it shipped right here to my door! All these brands I've read about but can't find in stores. I can get them! New York. California. Hmm, shipping is going to be a lot. Might as well get a couple of other bottles to be efficient about this rather than pay shipping three times. But I'll keep it to three. That's reasonable. Won't be more that $350 or so total. $365. Not a big deal. Look, if I was ever going to try that $160 one it might as well be now. I'll just buy it once. Just the once, just to see. Otherwise I'll just stick to stuff down in the $100-$120 range. That's reasonable.

Oh my, these are fantastic. So good. Wow, each is better than the last, and then they switch places. Let me read some more about the good stuff. Hold on now... hold on... what's that you say? There... there are cognacs beyond the XO level? Oh no. Oh no. $300? Good lord! $600?! $2,400?! $6,000?! Good God! That's it. I have to stop. I'm never paying those prices. I don't care how good it is. I mean, how good could it possibly be... right? Okay maybe the $300 one. I mean, I'd just get it the once. Just to see. It's Delamain after all - you know it would be worth it. I could ask for it for Christmas. I could show them that French site that will ship transatlantic. That makes sense...

So you see, grasshopper, there is no middle price range. It all depends on where you are on the cognac price distortion continuum. My best advice to anyone is to drop what they're doing right now and go buy some good cognac. And my other best advice is don't ever buy that first bottle of cognac. It will own you. You will lose perspective. Then one day you'll come home from the store, eager to liberate your latest find from its elegant box, and a group of seven of your friends and family members will be sitting uncomfortably in your living room for some reason, and some unfamiliar balding guy with a mustache and a clipboard will be in there with them. "Turkeypants, we're all here today because we love you. And we're concerned about you. We don't want to see you throw away your life savings like this anymore. You have to come up for air. You have to see what this is doing to you. It's just cognac. Why are you doing this? There are no fewer than 18 bottles of open cognac in your cabinet right now, and that's not counting the mini bottles or the 20cl promotional varietal bottles you special ordered. Please stop doing this to yourself!"

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