Buffalo Trace's New Bourbon Is an Affordable Game-Changer, Granted They Make Enough It

Yahoo

18 hours ago

Will the distiller's new 12-year-old Eagle Rare expression be a massive win for affordable bourbon fans? Or just another W.L. Weller 12 in the making.
Buffalo Trace may have just given bourbon fans the best news of the year a little less than halfway through 2025.
The maker of some of the most prestigious bourbons on the planet, including Blantons, W.L. Weller, and Pappy Van Winkle, to name a few, just announced a new 12-year-old version of Eagle Rare Bourbon that's bottled at an even slightly higher 95 proof than its 10-year-old, 90 proof sibling.
Better yet, the new offering will be a permanent part of the Eagle Rare lineup, and its MSRP is just $50.
It's the kind of sign long-standing bourbon drinkers have hoped (and may even prayed) would come for years now, whether or not they loved or hated Eagle Rare's low-rye, low-proof bourbon.
That's because, in many ways, this launch could be the clearest indicator yet that a decades-long expansion effort by Buffalo Trace may finally return the American whiskey market to some semblance of sanity, at least from a consumer's POV.
After nearly two decades of explosive and unprecedented growth helped fuel a maddening spiral of bourbon availability struggles and price hikes, a release of this magnitude suggests the bourbon market might finally return to earth.
In 2015, Buffalo Trace kicked off a 1.2 billion dollar expansion effort.
The timing of the move was interesting.
On one hand, just a year earlier, a bevy of headlines from outlets ranging from Time to Esquire and Business Insider warned of 'the great bourbon shortage.' And they weren't making this up out of thin air.
Maker's Mark stoked alarm and outrage in 2013 when it announced it would reduce the ABV content of its beloved bourbon by 3% to better stretch its existing supplies in the face of massive global demand. But that decision was quickly reversed in the face of immediate fan blowback.
In an email on the topic, company executives Rob Samuels and Bill Samuels Jr. explained that they had investigated 'all possible solutions,' adding, 'fact is, demand for our bourbon is exceeding our ability to make it, which means we're running very low on supply.'
Knob Creek stripped the age statements from some of its popular bottles for several years in a similar strategic move, though they subsequently returned in 2019 and 2021.
Buffalo Trace also made a series of public statements on the topic, starting with a 2013 comment from former marketing director Kris Comstock that 'there could be temporary product shortages, even on favorites like Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare.' He later added that 'this announcement is not meant as some sort of scare tactic to get people hoarding bourbon.'
The message was essentially the same a year later in 2014, when the company stated again that there was 'no end in sight' for its Bourbon shortages in May of 2014.
Other outlets, like The Guardian, however, claimed the fear was grossly exaggerated or at least overblown.
On the other hand, the same year Buffalo Trace announced its expansion plans, Kentucky's bourbon inventory reached a 40-year high. 1.3 million new bourbon barrels were also filled in 2015, achieving a production high not reached since 1970.
As such, it was natural to wonder if Buffalo Trace's big bet was potentially too much, too late.
Five years after a new distribution center and bottling operation came online in 2015, the company's production began to ramp up dramatically.
By 2022, Buffalo Trace had already increased its whiskey-making capacity by 50 percent thanks to '14 new barrel warehouses, 12 additional fermenters, additional cookers, a new cooling system,' according to company press statements.
Within 12 months of that milestone, a new still house—complete with a duplicate of the brand's existing still, capable of producing up to 60,000 gallons a day—and other facilities also came online, effectively doubling Buffalo Trace's production yet again.
'This whiskey represents more than just time in the barrel—it's the result of years of dedication, innovation, and an unwavering commitment from our entire team. The investments we've made – in time, resources and effort – have allowed us to explore new possibilities in aging and flavor, and this release is a proud reflection of that journey.'
– Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley
'We appreciate our fans' patience as we've been laying down the foundation to produce more American Whiskey than we ever have before,' said Sara Saunders, vice president of Buffalo Trace Distillery stated as part of a press release outlining the company's progress.
By 2024, Buffalo Trace brand reps informed our team that 75 percent of the expansion project had been completed by March, and only the third and final phase remained.
Between 2022 and 2024, Buffalo Trace brought another five new aging warehouses online, all of which were already at their full capacity of 58,800 barrels a piece, alongside other key upgrades.
The $1.2 billion 10-year project was finally completed at the beginning of this year, which netted a 150% increase in Buffalo Trace's output capacity.
However, in the decades since construction began, the bourbon market and American whiskey, more broadly, have also downshifted dramatically.
Many legacy media and industry-focused outlets have noted that bourbon demand is slowing down. In 2023, Tequila also officially overtook American whiskey as the second most valuable spirit category in the US, behind vodka.
Many of the industry's leading Master distillers consider somewhere between 8 to 14 years to be the ideal age range for bourbon, which is why it's traditionally one of the market's most competitive and beloved segments. Buffalo Trace-produced bottles have also dominated this space over the last several decades.
Combined with layoff announcements from major industry forces like Brown-Forman and MGP, Buffalo Trace's leadership has likely lost sleep over how to optimally leverage its newfound production might over the next decade and beyond.
Given the time requirements for bourbon maturation, the company's precise plans, whatever they may be, will take years to realize fully.
While there is technically no minimum age for bourbon, most bottles qualify as straight bourbons, meaning they've aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years.
So-called Bottled-in-Bond bourbons must age for double that time, and many of Buffalo Trace's premium offerings contain whiskey that's aged for far longer than that.
Still, the brand's actions over the last few years hint at Buffalo Trace's long-term aspirations.
One way to quickly bring new surpluses of whiskey to market is to skip the loftier production requirements demanded by legally protected whiskey classes like bourbon.
In 2024, the distillery launched Traveller Whiskey, which was developed in partnership with country music icon Chris Stapleton.
It's a blended whiskey and technically not a bourbon. However, Buffalo Trace produces and distills some portion of the whiskey blend alongside other distillers inside Buffalo Trace's parent company, Sazerac's portfolio.
By introducing Eagle Rare 12 for an MSRP of $50 before local taxes and fees, Buffalo Trace appears to be making its boldest move yet to offer class-leading whiskeys at prices that competitors can't afford to match.
Yet despite its opaque recipe and $40 MSRP, Traveller's is far from a crappy cash grab, at least relative to other whiskeys in its class.
The bottle has scored numerous industry awards. We also named it one of the 100 most important products of 2024.
This year, Buffalo Trace also announced its plans to add a new premium expression of E.H. Taylor bourbon to its ultra-prestigious Antique Collection lineup, which, while not a volume play at all, was one indicator that the distillery's stocks of older, premium bourbon were finally loosening up.
By introducing Eagle Rare 12 for an MSRP of $50 before local taxes and fees, Buffalo Trace appears to be making its boldest move yet to offer class-leading whiskeys at prices that competitors can't afford to match.
Many of the industry's leading Master distillers consider somewhere between 8 to 14 years to be the ideal age range for bourbon, which is why it's traditionally one of the market's most competitive and beloved segments. Buffalo Trace-produced bottles have also dominated this space over the last several decades.
However, very few distillers today offer a 12-year-old bourbon or even Tennesee Whiskeys as part of their permanent core lineup—presumably because of longstanding supply constraints.
And all but one sell a 12-year-old version for an MSRP of just $50 today.
Van Winkle Special Reserve 12-year-old, which Buffalo Trace has also distilled for years, has an MSRP of $150 now, though buying it for less than $800 could still be considered a steal.
Knob Creek 12 has an MSRP of $60.
The price of Jack Daniel's premium 12-year-old bottling has hovered between $85 and $95, depending on the year, though it's part of an annual limited-release series.
1792 Aged Twelve Years Bourbon technically matches Eagle Rare 12's $50 MSRP, but it's also a limited edition, and typically sells for double that cost on secondary markets.
Buffalo Trace's leadership clearly understands the current bourbon market and Eagle Rare 12's unique position within it.
Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley shared in a statement alongside the new release, 'This whiskey represents more than just time in the barrel—it's the result of years of dedication, innovation, and an unwavering commitment from our entire team. The investments we've made – in time, resources and effort – have allowed us to explore new possibilities in aging and flavor, and this release is a proud reflection of that journey.'
Buffalo Trace's leadership clearly understands the current bourbon market and Eagle Rare 12's unique position within it.
Andrew Duncan, Global Brand Director at Buffalo Trace, was even blunter in his assessment in the same statement.
'When it was introduced, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey brought higher quality standards to whiskey around the world; now, Eagle Rare pushes the bounds of age stating excellence in Bourbon.'
But while everything about Eagle Rare 12 sounds great on paper, jaded whiskey fans will likely wait and see before judging the new bourbon's long-term market impact, and for good reason.
After all, even putting Van Winkle Special Reserve 12-year-old aside, Buffalo Trace's history of producing 12-year-old bourbon at a high enough volume to keep price gouging at bay has been rocky, at least over the last 20 years, as evidenced by W.L. Weller 12.
The now cult-favorite wheated bourbon once had an MSRP as low as $20, but it now costs between $60 and $70.
However, due to a loose affiliation with Pappy Van Winkle and a consistently limited supply, it essentially retails for at least double that price.
As such, Eagle Rare 12's reception and legacy will ultimately depend on how much stock Buffalo Trace is capable of and/or willing to bottle to keep supply aligned with demand.
As such, Eagle Rare 12's reception and legacy will ultimately depend on how much stock Buffalo Trace is capable of and/or willing to bottle to keep supply aligned with demand.
That said, even if supplies are limited right out of the gate due to the nature of Buffalo Trace's production ramp-up, there's still hope that further supply increases in the years to come may make Eagle Rare 12 easier to find at your local liquor store in the years ahead.
According to Buffalo Trace, the new expression will be released to select retailers, bars, and restaurants across the United States beginning June 2025.