Ancient Ancient Age and Charter 10 to be discontinued.

[Sasquatch]

This morning on another forum I saw an email to Buffalo Trace inquiring about AAA 10 year in which their rep confirmed that the most recent bottling "will be the last for some time". A few minutes ago I was discussing it with a liquor store clerk and was informed that Charter 10 year is on the chopping block also. That's two reasonably priced aged stated expressions disappearing at the same time BT announced a shortage. Has anyone heard any other rumors about either?

[Grain Belt]

That would be sad. Neither are distributed where Ilive but I really enjoyed both when I had the rare chance to try them, especially the OC 10.

[mosugoji64]

Let's call in Chuck (or someone else with real contacts) for confirmation before anyone flies off the handle.

[MyOldKyDram]

Or flies off and buys some handles

[sku]

I heard this rumor a while ago and recently put the question to BT's PR person. I was told that AAA 10 year was not going away, only that they were going to discontinue some sizes of it (they hadn't decided which).

Edited May 23, 2013 by sku

[Sasquatch]

The information about AAA was confirmed by Nan Harnice, Consumer Affairs Associate, Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Is that real enough?

[mosugoji64]

The information about AAA was confirmed by Nan Harnice, Consumer Affairs Associate, Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Is that real enough?

[MyOldKyDram]

Yeah it's not like conflicting info has ever come out of there before.

[SWC]

The information about AAA was confirmed by Nan Harnice, Consumer Affairs Associate, Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Is that real enough?

[Sasquatch]

I apologize if you picked up a different tone from my comment than I intended. I didn't take anyone's input as a slight, and I agree that there can always be a bit of misinformation when it comes to these situations.

That said, the chain of events of the last few days is starting to paint an unfortunate picture. First I saw an article on Spirits Insider announcing a shortage at BT. This morning I read a copy/paste of an email to BT about AAA that vaguely stated it had ceased production. Then while discussing it with a liquor store owner I was told that the only Charter 10 available from this point on would be plastic travellers. I think that with all of this combined it's pretty likely there will be a big change coming, an unfortunate one for most of us.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[jburlowski]

FWIW, OC 10 no longer appears on the BT web site.

[callmeox]

I also heard the "last for some time" information from two store owners about AAA 10 year while in Bardstown for the Sampler.

I grabbed a Liter to help bridge the gap. :grin:

FWIW, there is a big difference between discontinued and on hiatus and the latter is how the AAA 10 year situation was described to me.

[squire]

Plastic travelers huh, maybe that's the next new thing.

[cowdery]

If, in fact, the statement was "last for some time," that's not the same as "discontinued." Even though AAA isn't an annual release, per se, it's a small brand that isn't bottled very often. Is that what Nan confirmed? It's helpful if you're precise about the information you're passing along.

It should be noted that the continuation/discontinuing of Ancient Age isn't really BT's call. They make and distribute the brand but they don't make those decisions. That's up to Age International, a separate company, which owns the brand. I can imagine them pulling back on some of AAA's 'informal' distribution outside of Kentucky, which would be a shame, but discontinuing the expression seems unlikely. Some people here are much to quick to jump to the conclusion that a brand or expression is being discontinued, when in fact that's something a producer is very loath to do, unless the brand is dying on its own.

greatbourbon.com is a very useful web site for this sort of inquiry. It's clear from there that the Charter line has been reduced to two expressions, the 80 proof 8-year-old and the NAS 101 proof. Charter 10 is now officially a dusty, along with the other Charters that are no more like the 'Classic 12.' A tip on Old Charter, the epicenter of its sales is Little Rock, Arkansas, so that and nearby markets will always get the best Old Charter support. Plan your summer travels accordingly.

Buffalo Trace has gone through a long process of 'rationalizing' its mammoth portfolio. Although that task will never be completed I think it's largely done for now. Their effort earlier this week to handle some of these persistent rumors with that press release was probably futile. I think we know the general outline of what's happening and what might happen in the future. If that's not good enough for you, that's your problem (not aiming that at any particular 'you').

It also helps to remember that despite making a gazillion brands, the Buffalo Trace Distillery only makes three different bourbons, so if you're having trouble finding X you can probably get virtually the same whiskey from Y. There is no parallel to Weller except Van Winkle, which doesn't help much, but both of their rye-recipe bourbons have plenty of parallels.

Edited May 24, 2013 by cowdery

[Meruck]

(not aiming that at any particular 'you').

[squire]

Only my ex-wives address me as 'you' followed by a range of words none of which I'll repeat.

[Meruck]

Only my ex-wives address me as 'you' followed by a range of words none of which I'll repeat.

[squire]

Yes, yes, quite so.

[Josh]

I apologize if you picked up a different tone from my comment than I intended. I didn't take anyone's input as a slight, and I agree that there can always be a bit of misinformation when it comes to these situations.

That said, the chain of events of the last few days is starting to paint an unfortunate picture. First I saw an article on Spirits Insider announcing a shortage at BT. This morning I read a copy/paste of an email to BT about AAA that vaguely stated it had ceased production. Then while discussing it with a liquor store owner I was told that the only Charter 10 available from this point on would be plastic travellers. I think that with all of this combined it's pretty likely there will be a big change coming, an unfortunate one for most of us.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

[mosugoji64]

You know he's talking about "you". Don't you..........?

Dammit! Why is it always me they're pointing at?!?!

[BigBoldBully]

Son of a ... these are two I thought I'd finally get to pick up while traveling this summer!

[squire]

I will miss Charter 10, I rarely bought it but will miss not being able to buy it.

[cowdery]

Remember, if something is discontinued, it will still be around at retail as a dusty. People will be finding them for the next 30 years.

[petrel800]

Not to pile on here, but in my travels through KY, I was told the going away for awhile story on the AAA, not the discontinued one. Heard it at 2 liquor barns and at TPS. All did say that 750mls were being discontinued and the AAA in its next releases it will only be available in a L and a 1.75. I guess time will tell, but it doesn't surprise me that this expression is going through some growing pains, it's been on a hundred blogs as the best value in bourbon. Add in that BT cut TPS off from their private selections and this isn't much of a surprise.

[Sasquatch]

Copy and paste it here, or get the person who received the email to do so, so we can all see it and parse the words!

Hello

Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding our Ancient Ancient Age 10 year product. I have checked with our brand manager and sales team there and they let me know we recently completed a bottling of Ancient Ancient Age 10 year that will likely be the last for some time. We will keep RNDC apprised of our future plans.

Sincerely,

Nan Harnice

Consumer Affairs Associate

Buffalo Trace Distillery

113 Great Buffalo Trace

Frankfort, KY 40601

nharnice@buffalotrace.com