Among bourbon fanatics, the annual launch of George T. Stagg, a barrel-proof, unfiltered bourbon produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, is an enormous occasion. Fans usually pay many instances the advised retail value of $99 — if they will discover a bottle.
This yr, they gained’t discover any, regardless of how onerous they appear. The distillery deliberate to announce Wednesday that, for the primary time, it will not launch any George T. Stagg bourbon this yr as a result of the barrels of the 14-year-old whiskey that had been ready in 2006 and earmarked for the annual bottling had been lower than Stagg requirements.
“It just didn’t look right,” Drew Mayville, the grasp blender at Buffalo Trace, mentioned of the uncooperative bourbon. “It didn’t match the taste profile we expect from Stagg.”
Mr. Mayville described that distinct taste as having notes of darkish chocolate, leather-based and darkish cherries, although he added that releases range barely from yr to yr. The 2006 whiskey, he mentioned, was too gentle and undeveloped in character to characterize the Stagg model, which the two-century-old distillery describes as “extremely hearty.” The firm has but to establish a root explanation for the issue.
Every new Stagg launch is in contrast with beforehand launched barrels to make sure consistency, and sampled by a workforce of seasoned style testers. According to Buffalo Trace — which additionally helps produce the extremely coveted whiskey Pappy Van Winkle — if one taster provides a thumbs down, the barrel is distributed again to be aged longer.
The barrels in query will probably be put aside and their future progress monitored, Mr. Mayville mentioned. He mentioned he thought-about utilizing 2007 barrels for this yr’s launch, however determined towards it, as a result of it will disrupt a long-running custom.
A Buffalo Trace spokeswoman mentioned that holding again on the Stagg launch would price the corporate tens of millions of {dollars} in misplaced gross sales.
The Stagg scarcity is definite to make waves amongst bourbon followers, who've been recognized to attend in line at liquor shops for a bottle. “It’s hard to get anyway, but now you can’t get any,” Mr. Mayville mentioned.
George T. Stagg, named for a Nineteenth-century whiskey pioneer, was launched by Buffalo Trace in 2002. The resolution to launch the burly bourbon anticipated a marketplace for heavy-duty overproof bourbons that was solely to develop within the coming years. The authentic launch offered for $40, a excessive value for bourbon on the time.
