While that may be generally true... The EC small batch is actually pretty cheap at under 30 and not bad. From reading reviews, you can overpay for some rough stuff or get some very drinkable at a reasonable price. But yes, you will have to pay more for most of the best ones... I guess my area being a bunch of rednecks, does not stock much high end. A lot of the ones TMM puts up are not on our shelves. The small batch was only Elijah C I saw. While I was 'shopping' there were 2 other customers in the aisle very briefly. One grabbed a big bottle of Jim Beam without looking at anything else. Other guy grabs the biggest bottle of Jack. Takes one step and hesitates - grabs a second one and heads for the checkout...