DrinkUpNY - any experiences with this store...?
 

Im wondering if anybody here has experience with this Brooklyn based wine & spirits retailer....? They seem to have a "strange" policy regarding the packaging of their products.... kind of makes me wonder.

Here is their website.....
http://www.drinkupny.com/default.asp

Are you referring to this policy?

How did you find this place? I live in New York City, specifically in Brooklyn, and I never heard of them.

It doesn't sound strange to me. I'm guessing they're referring to bottles sold in boxes, bags, or other special packaging, e.g.
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u...pse44974d5.jpg

and that they generally use standard styrofoam bottle inserts to pack their shipments, so they'd take the bottle out of the gift box/original packaging in order to fit into the shipping box.

They do state that you can contact them to make arrangements if you need the original packaging.

Yes.... exactly.

The apparent lack of original external packaging makes me wonder. Are they getting a lower wholesale price because they buy their Single Malts without the standard cardboard box it normally comes in....? That sounds very strange... I didn't know that the distilleries would bother to do that.... or is there a "secondary market" for whisky without original packaging...?

Also, with no original boxes, one can also wonder how well (or not) preserved the labels on these bottles are.... etc. etc.

Im not sure I can agree. They don't mention large format bottles.. the wording they use appears to say that their general rule is that no original external boxes are available... and that they charge extra (???) if you want to get the original boxes, which are not available in all cases.... this, btw, makes it even more strange because if they would always offer the original package for a fee I would get it... but its clear that in most cases, these guys don't even have the original boxes.

I cant understand why they would purposely throw out the original boxes.... unless they have learned to save storage space by discarding the boxes and racking only the bottles....???

Im ITB, just not in the USA... but it was a friend of mine that found it and will be bringing me two bottles of single malts that are impossible to get here in EZE.

DrinkUpNY - any experiences with this store...?
 

I have purchased from them for years and have had orders shipped to me - never had anything but positive experiences. Bottles are shipped in special packaging that protects the bottle, but there isn't a way to send the individual box you may be able to get at a store. I do not find the policy to be strange in the context of their shipping procedures.

It would seem that their own packaging provides for a more reliable break-proof shipping system than padding around the original packaging.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I guess my choice of words was not the best, in my case I have an interest in the original packaging. In an ideal situation I would buy from this store and have them include the original packaging... but I realize that this is a hassle for them.

Yes, good point Trying to get a bottle of Scotch with the original cardboard box into a Styro shipper will be tricky.....

DrinkUpNY - any experiences with this store...?
 

They may be able to fold a box and then include it in their shipment - it's worth asking them if it's important to you, I suspect they accommodate requests like this from collectors when they can. Good luck!

Yes, this is certainly an avenue to explore. Maybe if I order things by the case they can accommodate the special request.