Posted on 06/09/2026 3:07:16 AM PDT by dennisw
Nearly half a million dollars' worth of bourbon was handed over to thieves who fooled employees of a Philadelphia liquor store into loading up their getaway truck.
A total of 1,800 cases of Noble Oak Bourbon were stolen from A21 Wine & Spirits on Friday in what company officials told NBC10 was a 'coordinated cargo theft operation.'
Officials said the cases contained six bottles of bourbon, which sell for roughly $40 each, meaning the thieves made off with more than $430,000 worth of product.
Rob Koch, chief operating officer of the bourbon company, told NBC10 that the suspects convinced warehouse workers to believe they were supposed to load their truck with the bourbon bottles.
Koch added that the employees did not follow standard security procedures and allowed them to enter to 'move forward with the heist.'
'This is one of the largest thefts of bourbon that we've seen, especially this year in the region,' Koch told NBC10.
A spokesperson for A21 Wine & Spirits told the outlet that they are treating the theft as a very serious criminal matter.
'The theft involved a significant quantity of premium bourbon from our newly acquired brand, Noble Oak, and appears to have been executed with knowledge of logistics operations and product movement schedules,' said the spokesperson.
A21 Wine & Spirits in Philadelphia had a total of 1,800 cases of Noble Oak Bourbon stolen on Friday
Officials said the cases contained six bottles of bourbon, which sell for roughly $40 each, meaning the thieves made off with more than $430,000 worth of product
The COO said that the stolen bourbon may be resold through illegal distribution networks.
Company officials are asking distributors, operators, and consumers to remain on alert for suspicious quantities of Noble Oak outside established channels.
'It's been very stressful. It's been a huge emotional rollercoaster, but every bottle for us plants a tree, so even though these thieves heisted 10,800 bottles from our company, we're still planting those trees,' Koch said.
The company also had a moment to make light of the situation, calling itself 'The hottest bottle in Philly' in a Facebook post after the incident.
Every bottle sold of Noble Oak plants a tree through their partnerships with Giving and The Common Orchard Project.
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One bourbon, one shot and a beer — George Thorogood.
This one store sells enough to have 1800 cases on hand?
Convinced—or was it “them”?
Every bottle sold of Noble Oak plants a tree through their partnerships with Giving and The Common Orchard Project.
___________
Good news!
I am sure, the thieves will plant those 10,000 trees!
:-)
I also found that odd. Most retailers only have limited space to store perishable merchandise in. Seems like a vendor with that much liquor on hand would do more to verify the customer. A customer you never dealt with before wants an enormous amount of liquor? Then he should be able to identify himself quite fully, and one would expect him to bring his own men to help load the large order. That doesn’t sound like a spontaneous purchase. Maybe the cashier was your classic rookie, naive and unsuspecting.
An entire new forest will spring up somewhere.
How do you say “inside job” in ebonics?
Obviously not a store.
Another glaring error that would have been caught by a copy editor if that noble profession still existed in the real world.
https://www.apogee21holdings.com/our-brands
Some pretty dumb ass employees and thieves laughing their asses off.
Later traced to a spree of “gun violence” but no report linking the two was issued, news huh what is it? Absolutely NOTHING.
Koch added that the employees did not follow standard security procedures and allowed them to enter
Security, Mr. Koch, you had none.
“Every bottle sold of Noble Oak plants a tree through their partnerships with Giving and The Common Orchard Project”
…cheezum crow I despise this kind of useless virtue signaling.
1,800 cases?
Big darned getaway truck.
Should be easy to find it.
Ping.
Whatever else, bourbon is not that.
It bes an inside job?
It was a distributor's warehouse.
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