Ever regret buying a bottle of alcohol? Don't feel bad, the reaction is so common it has a name: Buyer's Remorse. The term is not specific to alcohol, and really is more frequently associated to big ticket electronics or cars. But its root causes have some interesting characteristics when applied to alcohol.
The most common example of this is the feeling you paid too much for a bottle of alcohol. This tends to happen when you're buying something that's either new to the marketplace or just new to you. They both rely on what we perceive to be the fair market value of a purchase; A personal sense of our collective buying experiences. When something enters the market and is new to everyone, the price is set by the producer. If a brand doesn't get repeat customers because they regret paying so much for that bottle, the price eventually fixes at a normal price near the fair market value. The best example of this would be Trump Vodka, which was introduced at around $70 a bottle. Last time I saw it, it clocked in at $28 a bottle... which is still overpriced.
If something has been around a while and you see a consistent price, you might be lulled into thinking this is its fair market value and decide to try it. But if you try it and regret it, it's probably because it didn't live up to its price. If you are a regular consumer of alcohol, you tend to lump similar alcohols into categories based on price. If you pay $20 for a bottle of Bourbon, you have some expectation that it'll be about as good as the $20 bottles of Bourbon you've had in the past. But not every established brand fits into its price point, especially when you factor in reputation and scarcity. If a brand has a regular customer base, they will pay above fair market value for their favorite drink. And if you're not part of that customer base, you might feel like a sucker when the bottle doesn't live up to the hype. This form of remorse even has its own alcohol-influenced name: The Chivas Regal Effect.
If you're one of those people who's always trying new things, you might have felt the regret of buying something twice. This isn't the end of the world by any means, but you feel pretty stupid if you bought something new, forgot you bought it, and buy a second bottle. These tend to be middling purchases because people are more likely to remember purchases that result in more extreme reactions. It also doesn't apply to personal favorites, since liquor doesn't go bad and you'll probably drink it eventually.
To quote Gibby Haynes, "[I]t's better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done." And while not buying something isn't technically buyer's remorse, the regret for not buying something when you have the chance is closely related to the regret of buying something you're not happy with. At its core, this regret is fueled by scarcity and squandered opportunity. Limited edition bottlings, defunct brands, and bootlegging all have scarcity at their core. When debating the decision on buying something, a bottle in your hand is better than two at the liquor store. Again, because liquor does not go bad, having it unopened in your home assures you will have it in the future. Leaving the store without that bottle means there's a good chance someone else will seize your missed opportunity.
Buying alcohol while traveling (I call it 'bootlegging' which gives it a little more charm) might mean forgetting to buy something that's impossible to get at home. The easiest way to avoid this remorse is to plan ahead. Many large liquor stores and progressive liquor control boards will have their stock and prices on a website. Making a shopping list for a liquor store isn't an indication of a problem, it's the best way to avoid that regret of not picking something up when you know you won't see a bottle of it back home anytime soon.
So while I regret not making a list and thus forgetting to pick up a bottle of Los Danzantes during my trip to Chicago; I do not regret seizing the opportunity to pick up a bottle of the Signatory's Laphroaig bottling I raved about months ago and is no longer available in Minnesota.