George T. Stagg 2013 - 128.2-proof; William Larue Weller 2013 - 136.2-proof

[P&MLiquorsEric]

With the apparent flop that is Stagg Jr and the 2012 GTS being a poor showing, I am forecasting that the 2013 Stagg will suck comparatively. The fact is, it doesn't have to be good to sell instantly, Buffalo Trace is arrogant and knows this. The drastically lower proof could be the result of choosing higher quality barrels, but I doubt it. I'm inclined to think the wild proof swing is the side effect of ever increasing dumps and bigger paydays. Call me pessimistic, but ask yourself in which quality direction almost all of the Buffalo Trace products have gone.

Jaded a bit?

Stagg 2012 was quite tasty. And we have exactly 3 reviews on Stagg Jr but it is a failure. To BT, slow selling items are failures. GTS 2012 isnt sitting on the shelf anywhere and neither will Stagg Jr.

[MyOldKyDram]

That fact doesn't reflect the quality of the juice in either case so much as it does the climate we're in.

[Yeti]

That fact doesn't reflect the quality of the juice in either case so much as it does the climate we're in.

That may be, but I certainly enjoyed my bottle of GTS12

[MyOldKyDram]

I did also, but there is a sizable enough group of people that have perceived a drop in quality that I won't write the notion off.

And I'll still grab a 2013 too.

[WAINWRIGHT]

The '12 GTS was a bit off the mark when compared to many of the earlier releases but it wasn't a total slouch either,but when faced with the benchmarks of some of it's past bottlings it is hard to hold a candle if it's quality level drops even the slightest bit.I still have hope for the Baby Stagg and I will add myself to the list of buyers on both releases this fall,you can only ride the "name train"for so long and I feel the quality will come back around.

[joboyd]

We're expecting these to hit retailers in early October, no?

[rjboatwright]

That may be, but I certainly enjoyed my bottle of GTS12

I'm right there with you Yeti. Maybe the quality did drop some with GTS12 but I still thought it was an excellent pour.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

The '12 GTS was a bit off the mark when compared to many of the earlier releases but it wasn't a total slouch either,but when faced with the benchmarks of some of it's past bottlings it is hard to hold a candle if it's quality level drops even the slightest bit.I still have hope for the Baby Stagg and I will add myself to the list of buyers on both releases this fall,you can only ride the "name train"for so long and I feel the quality will come back around.

I'm still skeptical of a huge drop off in quality from 2011 vs 2012.

They can't all be 100s. But it's not to say gts is ever a BBN I would pass on.