You can’t buy a little of anything at Costco. Thus I have enough Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce to last me well into the next century. 

But alas, I yearned to return to the flavor of my favorite, Jack Daniel’s No. 7. So last week I just said “no” to the Sunk Cost Fallacy and picked up a bottle of JD despite my ample SBR reserve.

Then I thought, why not conduct my own taste comparison test? I poured like amounts of JD and SBR onto separate spoons. Then the phone rang, which was a good thing, since by the time I returned from the call, I couldn’t remember which spoon was which. 

I tasted one. Then the other. Then the other, then the one. Results? Drum roll, please...

I couldn’t taste a difference. At all. Your palate may be more discerning, but according to mine, JD and SBR might as well be the same product.

But here’s the funny thing: I still like JD better.

There you have an illustration of the power of branding. At least as it applies to a nincompoop like me.

—Steve Cuno