Did Sazerac ever have an age statement?

[Josh]

Isn't Handy also a 6 year old Rye from Buffalo Trace? Is baby Saz a diluted verson of Handy or is it completely different recipes?

Handy's age varies from year to year. Usually it's 6-8 y/o IIRC. It's the same recipe.

[cowdery]

I know you've commented many time that you tend not to believe what producers claim about the ages of NAS products; do you find BT to be more credible than some?

It's not that I don't believe them, it's just that there are different penalties for lying to me (nothing) and lying to the federal government (hefty fines, possible loss of license), so I take that into consideration. Also, they may tell me something that's true when they say it, but when the answer changes they feel no obligation to inform me of the change.

In fact, from my experience the major producers rarely lie, though at times they do mislead and they certainly obfuscate.

As for Handy, BT makes a lot of the fact that it has, in its various domains, many different aging environments, which produce different whiskeys. Handy may be the same recipe as Baby Saz and even similarly aged, but barrels are selected according to a particular profile that may and probably does differ from Baby Saz. Handy, just based on my experience, probably comes from the hotter and higher parts of the warehouses, which produce more intense flavors.

[timd]

I never recall seeing it labeled on the official releases, but for a number of years there were specialty bottlings that did have exact ages on them - usually between 7-8 years for these single barrel offerings.

According to folks at TPS & Binny's, Sazerac no longer offers an SB program for Baby Saz because of its scarcity. But I had an ~8 year from TPS that was stunning. Wish I'd bought more!

With Handy, we always know the exact age, because of the nice detailed fact sheets with the cases, and I do recall them clearly SAYING that Baby Saz was ~6 when I visited the distillery a few years back, and I vaguely remember seeing that age on their website, too, a while back, but never recall seeing it on the label of the bottle.

I'm 100% sure that Handy & Baby Saz are identical mashbills, but as Chuck notes, the aging, barrel location, etc. clearly play as big a part in that relationship as it does between Weller & Old Rip/Pappy selections.

[fussychicken]

Handy, just based on my experience, probably comes from the hotter and higher parts of the warehouses, which produce more intense flavors.

BTAC Analysis:
http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...ad.php?t=15400

It seems like early Handys came from middle and upper floors, but in the last couple of years have been coming from lower floors. They all seem to fit the standard angles share evaporation profile too which suggests lower floors as well.

In either case, I still like it!