Eagle Rare 12yr

[flahute]

Hmmmmmm. No idea if regular or limited release. 

 

[Richnimrod]

Hmmm.   Probably be an interesting whiskey; but, I assume difficult to source and overpriced... both by design.   Maybe I'll be proved wrong.   If so, it won't be the first time.   I hope it turns out to be a widely available, reasonably priced extension of this revered brand.

[LW25]

2 extra years and 5 proof points higher...curious to see where this will fall price-wise. 

[ebo]

I can't find the 10 year. I can only imagine what a unicorn this will be..... and the price will be more than I'm willing to spend, I'm sure.

[Kepler]

More BT bullshit. 

They could have chosen to just release more ER10.  Which would sell out, no problem.

 

Instead they hold the barrels to reach the 12 years old, and then release them as yet another allocated release.

 

I do enjoy the taste of most of their whiskey (nothing special but tasty)... BUT I admit that their business practices sometimes rub me the wrong way.

[fishnbowljoe]

1 hour ago, Kepler said:

More BT bullshit. 

They could have chosen to just release more ER10.  Which would sell out, no problem.

 

Instead they hold the barrels to reach the 12 years old, and then release them as yet another allocated release.

 

I do enjoy the taste of most of their whiskey (nothing special but tasty)... BUT I admit that their business practices sometimes rub me the wrong way.

Not really more BT bullshit. In case you didn’t know, BT started a 1.2 billion dollar expansion 10 years ago. That expansion is nearing its completion. From a January 15th news article, and I quote:

Sazerac, the distillery's parent company, said the $1.2 billion expansion has added 19 more barrel warehouses, a new distribution center, new bottling center, additional fermenters and steam boilers, among other additions. 

The new warehouses each hold 58,000 barrels IIRC. This equates to over 1 million barrels currently aging in their new warehouses alone. I’m willing to venture a guess that BT might be dumping barrels from their newer warehouses for their lesser aged products. FWIW, I was at BT in 2018. I was there as part of a group doing a barrel pick for BT. All of the group got to go on a special tour which included the new warehouses. A few of the new warehouses were already full back then. Anyway, this means the older warehouses have longer aged distillate in them. Win-win huh? I was in contact not long ago with Mark Brown, the CEO of Sazerac. I told him I was seeing allocated items showing up more frequently. I tasked him if supply was getting better. His answer: “Yes, supply is beginning to catch up with demand.” Also, what’s wrong with BT offering a 12 year old ER?  Other distilleries are offering older and different products. Look at Beam and all the different age KC’s they offer. A while back I was gifted a KC 18. How about Brown-Forman and all the different OF’s they have? I recently passed on a 1924 for $124.99. Rant over. Time for a pour of an ER 10 I bought not long ago for $38.99, which is basically msrp in my area.

 

 

 

[Double C's]

This is BT's way of keeping their products in FOMO mode. With a slow down in bourbon sales happening and BT products still allocated and lottery items/and or markup up in lots of places I am not a fan of this. If they can keep ER10 readily available on the shelf everywhere like KC9 or RR10, then I would see this as a welcomed product line extension, but since that is not the case I would just rather see them get more ER10 out in the market first.

[fishnbowljoe]

1 hour ago, Double C's said:

This is BT's way of keeping their products in FOMO mode. With a slow down in bourbon sales happening and BT products still allocated and lottery items/and or markup up in lots of places I am not a fan of this. If they can keep ER10 readily available on the shelf everywhere like KC9 or RR10, then I would see this as a welcomed product line extension, but since that is not the case I would just rather see them get more ER10 out in the market first.

There’s plenty of stores in my area that have ER10. Four stores have it for $89.99. Two stores are charging $99.99. Binny’s charges $39.99, and the price at my go to store is $38.99. BT’s fault? FOMO? I think not. As I’ve alluded to before, I believe the problem lies with how some distributors do business, and tater stores that want to perpetuate things (the bourbon boom) so they can keep putting more money in their pockets. 

[Richnimrod]

3 minutes ago, fishnbowljoe said:

There’s plenty of stores in my area that have ER10. Four stores have it for $89.99. Two stores are charging $99.99. Binny’s charges $39.99, and the price at my go to store is $38.99. BT’s fault? FOMO? I think not. As I’ve alluded to before, I believe the problem lies with how some distributors do business, and tater stores that want to perpetuate things (the bourbon boom) so they can keep putting more money in their pockets. 

And, maybe some distribution issues that are nationwide?   Who can say, right?   Maybe the distillery; but, I'm not even certain they could explain the strange "BT-deserts" and regional plethora(s) of their products. 

 

[PaulO]

ER 12 is interesting as a concept, but I'll never see one except photos eventually here on SB.com.  I bet I can name the usual suspects that will post them too- a guy from KY, another guy from Boston.  

 

If I ever did see one on the shelf, I know it would be way more than I'm willing to spend (me a cheapskate and not a huge ER fan).

 

There used to be a mash bill #1 aged 12 years in the line up, but it got discontinued - Old Charter Classic 12.

[fosmith]

Maybe they're just raising the age statement on regular ER and keeping msrp the same.  Could happen...  

[flahute]

27 minutes ago, fosmith said:

Maybe they're just raising the age statement on regular ER and keeping msrp the same.  Could happen...  

lol!

[FacePlant]

Well I guess I need to jump right in the middle of this soon to become pissing match. Years back I found my taste buds favored BT and they still do. I live in an area where most of the line up is fairly easy to find and if I want to play the games the BTAC and Pappy's can be had. 

This subject is ER12 and I gravitate towards Kepler's opinion. If ER is not lining the shelves in most areas of the US at retail this is just another attempt to bring on a LE or difficult/impossible bottle to find at what we'd expect to be a big price increase over the legendary 10. BT has already cornered the market on this concept of "allocated bottles". As a big BT appreciator I'm getting to point I'd be glad to see em choke on a few million barrels. 

And yes, I get the distributor problem...maybe even pushing the retail to buy what they're told and yada yada. When the distiller is forced to sell barrels to make room for more, or just to make payroll we'll see where the chips fall. Probably not a good time to be F__k'n with the bourbon buying regulars.

[mbroo5880i]

On 2/4/2025 at 2:14 AM, fishnbowljoe said:

Not really more BT bullshit. In case you didn’t know, BT started a 1.2 billion dollar expansion 10 years ago. That expansion is nearing its completion. From a January 15th news article, and I quote:

Sazerac, the distillery's parent company, said the $1.2 billion expansion has added 19 more barrel warehouses, a new distribution center, new bottling center, additional fermenters and steam boilers, among other additions. 

The new warehouses each hold 58,000 barrels IIRC. This equates to over 1 million barrels currently aging in their new warehouses alone. I’m willing to venture a guess that BT might be dumping barrels from their newer warehouses for their lesser aged products. FWIW, I was at BT in 2018. I was there as part of a group doing a barrel pick for BT. All of the group got to go on a special tour which included the new warehouses. A few of the new warehouses were already full back then. Anyway, this means the older warehouses have longer aged distillate in them. Win-win huh? I was in contact not long ago with Mark Brown, the CEO of Sazerac. I told him I was seeing allocated items showing up more frequently. I tasked him if supply was getting better. His answer: “Yes, supply is beginning to catch up with demand.” Also, what’s wrong with BT offering a 12 year old ER?  Other distilleries are offering older and different products. Look at Beam and all the different age KC’s they offer. A while back I was gifted a KC 18. How about Brown-Forman and all the different OF’s they have? I recently passed on a 1924 for $124.99. Rant over. Time for a pour of an ER 10 I bought not long ago for $38.99, which is basically msrp in my area.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing your insight.  I say anything different than the current ER10 will be an improvement.  Proof is a good start.  But BT just seems to be missing the mark.  I may be wrong but I bet more bourbon afficiandos would prefer ER10 at 101 proof over ER12 and 95 proof. 

 

IMHO, BT has been one of the more disappointing major distillers over the past few years. I can find BT and ER10 but little else.  All of their brands that I like, I can't find.  I used to love ER10.  Now it is a pass for me.  I saw a drop of BT this week.  Fanboys grabbed it up.  I am glad.  It cleared shelf space for something else.

[Kepler]

A 12 year old version of this mashbill just doesn't sound that appealing to me unless the barrels are highly curated from the best stocks.

I personally find many ER10 single barrel picks to be on the verge of being too oak-forward or suffering from a "musty" note that I assume comes from the barrel. 

 

If the ER12 comes from curated barrels, fine, I'm sure it will taste great.  But if that's the case, then it surely means the bottle count will be very low,.. in that case, we all know what that means.

 

 

[PaulO]

Kepler - hit the nail on the head.