What's With Buffalo Trace?

[PaulO]

I keep reading these posts. People in many locations say more or less the same thing. "We have run out of Weller Antique, Weller 12, and Elmer T. Lee. No one knows when we'll see it again." Yes, I realize Mr. Lee recently passed away. That doesn't explain everything else. The BT products I see locally are: Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Weller SR, and some of the Colonel EHTs.

[393foureyedfox]

With the Wellers, I think it is an issue with stocks. With ETL, I think it's an issue of not knowing how, just yet, to keep the brand output going since the guy who selected the barrels for it is no longer with us. I imagine they'll figure out something soon on the ETL, since its now known that they applied for a new label for it.

[jeffrey r]

At least to some extent, they are facing a huge demand. And of course, do not have unlimited supply, and can't just "whip up some more" for the marketplace on demand. Bourbon is booming--it's just the reality.

And BT has some very popular brands--BT, ER 10, ETL, the Wellers, Blanton's, etc. I believe ETL has been even more popular since Mr. Lee's passing. Maybe they've spread themselves too thin--I don't know, but do they really need the EHT Small Batch when they have BT, ER 10 and ETL? Stagg Jr. is clearly taking stocks away from other offerings, but BT is probably smiling all the way to the bank with that release.

Not sure exactly what is going on, but it ain't pretty. I am hedging by keeping a few bottles of each of the BT staples on hand, mostly single barrel selects.

[nd2005]

They announced nearly six months ago that they would be facing major shortages of about all of their core brands. They just have a huge supply/demand mismatch at this time.

[smokinjoe]

I believe Mark Brown says they have 1,000,000 barrels aging, but are 100,000 barrels "short". That's what, something like 5 full rickhouses?

[petrel800]

To some extent, they are feeling the pain of success. They have a lot of labels to fill and in all honesty, in contrast to HH, their pours are probably held in higher regard than all the HH labels. Not saying one is better than the other, but BT doesn't have many bottom shelf brands. That's a lot of "high end" bourbon to churn out.

With the Pappy craze and the secret on Weller is out. Even you're basic liquor stores are steering people towards it not as a replacement, but as a consolation prize.

Like Blantons, try AAA 10.

Want something special, pick your own, BT, Blantons or Eagle Rare.

It won't surprise me to see some more brand consolidation out of BT to keep product on the shelf. I also expect to see higher prices. Whether you agree or not that the juice is high end, their brands are associated with high end.

Hunker down, here comes the eye of the storm.

What really speaks volumes to me is the CEHT line has just stopped. For awhile everyone was saying here is their experimental line to test pricing. We haven't had a new CHET in a long while after being barraged with several releases.

Edited January 11, 2014 by petrel800

[ryanc]

BT 1.75 was 25 bucks 1/2013...it is now 46.

[JPBoston]

BT 1.75 was 25 bucks 1/2013...it is now 46.

[mbroo5880i]

I occasionally see it for $39.99 in the Indy area but typically in the low $40s now.

[smknjoe]

BT 1.75 was 25 bucks 1/2013...it is now 46.

It must have been on sale or they got a deal on it. It's regularly ~$20 for 750 around here.

[flahute]

With Elmer T Lee, I'm guessing that a lot of people who like it as their standard pour stocked up after Elmer's passing on the chance that it would be discontinued or that quality would suffer if he wasn't picking barrels. This on top of the already known shortages across all of their brands.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

With Elmer T Lee, I'm guessing that a lot of people who like it as their standard pour stocked up after Elmer's passing on the chance that it would be discontinued or that quality would suffer if he wasn't picking barrels. This on top of the already known shortages across all of their brands.

This might not be representative of the entire country but my distributor said orders of ETL were up more than 1000% in July of 2013 vs July 2012. He did pass away in that month this year but that is still incredible "growth".

[theglobalguy]

This might not be representative of the entire country but my distributor said orders of ETL were up more than 1000% in July of 2013 vs July 2012. He did pass away in that month this year but that is still incredible "growth".

Stores i would normally see with a single case snagged 5-10 when he passed then promptly put up signage explaining why. Doesn't take much to cause huge spike if the brand was small enough on an aggregate. That being said, with none being available soon after...Quarterly demand will settle back down by the nature of none being available. So was it just a "Maker's Mark Proof change-esque" spike?

[FlounderinDC]

One place I went by tonight was totally out of Eagle Rare, I usually see it everywhere.

[shoshani]

One place I went by tonight was totally out of Eagle Rare, I usually see it everywhere.

I was in a location of a major regional chain last night. Did not see any standard BT, and not a drop of Weller *anything* in sight. Benchmark? Take all you want, there's plenty.

[dmarkle]

This might not be representative of the entire country but my distributor said orders of ETL were up more than 1000% in July of 2013 vs July 2012. He did pass away in that month this year but that is still incredible "growth".

I can't say that I didn't buy a case when after he passed out of sheer paranoia.

[squire]

I can say I didn't. The story about Mr. Elmer helping select the barrels (he actually did I understand) for the label is nice but sorta beside the point. I'm confident the folks showing up for work at BT this morning are fully capable of continuing the brand.

Edited January 13, 2014 by squire

[BourbonGuy]

No shortage of Jack Daniels. The folks at F-B were more proactive. They expanded production capability. So F-B is in a better position to meet demand, BT is playing catch-up.

[callmeox]

JD is the #1 selling whiskey in the world. The current bourbon craze is probably just a blip on their overall numbers.

[dmarkle]

I can say I didn't. The story about Mr. Elmer helping select the barrels (he actually did I understand) for the label is nice but sorta beside the point. I'm confident the folks showing up for work at BT this morning are fully capable of continuing the brand.

OK, to be honest, it's also one of my very favorites, and I had felt that if there ever was a bourbon to get a case of, it's ETL. It was kind of on my radar to do it when my local store's barrel selection emerged -- if you know you're going to be drinking the stuff as long as you can, why not get the case discount?

The man couldn't have possibly been the only selector of the bourbon. He only came in for a couple hours to taste once a week, to my knowledge, and tasted many of the single barrel selections... When I met him, he'd just gotten done tasting ER.

[flahute]

I can say I didn't. The story about Mr. Elmer helping select the barrels (he actually did I understand) for the label is nice but sorta beside the point. I'm confident the folks showing up for work at BT this morning are fully capable of continuing the brand.

Agreed, but sadly, not everyone thinks that logically. I did go out and buy 1 extra when I saw the news in anticipation of a run on the brand, but only 1.

[squire]

That's true, they don't, some folks get downright emotional about the subject.

[Creggor]

Ok I live in S.W Florida.. ABC Wine & Spirits at least the one I stop at most often is very low on anything other them Regular Buffalo Trace.. No Eagle Rare 10 yr. Last week only one bottle of Eh Taylor Small Batch and one bottle of the Single Oak Project. No Stagg JR.. I bought the Eagle Rare, EHT Small Batch, Stagg JR and a Bottle of the Single Oak on December 31 2013 and have stopped back a couple of times and did get a bottle of Weller 12yr along with a Weller Antique.. However no more BT higher end seems to have arrived.. Same for the other decent Store in Port Charlotte.. Demand right now seems to be strong.. I did manage to find 2 bottles of ORVW 10 Yr 107 Proof at a store in North Port.. But no one else had any of the BTAC on hnad..

[squire]

I believe ABC will ship anything they have in inventory directly to your store at no charge, all you have to do is ask.

[jonhalter]

I believe ABC will ship anything they have in inventory directly to your store at no charge, all you have to do is ask.