Buffalo Trace: Brands must remain on allocation

Buffalo Trace has said while it is “making more whiskey than ever”, demand continues to outstrip supply and some of its most sought after brands will be “hard to find for the foreseeable future”.

Buffalo Trace has said demand for its American whiskey brands continues to outstrip available supply

In its Third Annual Supply Update, the distillery said supplies of its full-aged whiskey continues to increase, but all of its brands will remain on allocation.

Buffalo Trace’s namesake expression, as well as Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, Weller, Sazerac Rye, Stagg Jr., and E. H. Taylor are still in “short supply”, while Elmer T. Lee, Rock Hill Farms, Van Winkle, and the Antique Collection will continue to be strictly allocated.

“This annual update relates to Buffalo Trace Distillery specifically, and is not intended to speak for the Bourbon industry as a whole, or other distillers,” said Kris Comstock, Bourbon marketing director for Buffalo Trace.

“Not a day goes by that we don’t hear from fans asking why they can’t find their favourite whiskey at the local liquor store, so we are offering an annual update to inform people where we stand, and ensure fans we are distilling more whiskey and planning for the future.”

In a supply update last year, the distillery said there was “no way to predict” when supply would catch up with booming demand.

However, its latest report stressed the distillery would not lower the abv of its whiskey in order to stretch supplies, not will it raise its retail prices to “take advantage of high demand”

Planning for the future

Furthermore, Buffalo Trace confirmed that its brands would not be discontinued and that it is adding more bottling lines and hiring more people to “prepare for future growth”.

This year, the Sazerac-owned group acquired almost 300 acres of land next to its distillery in order to produce a new single estate Bourbon brand. However, Buffalo Trace also states the land will also be used to build more maturation warehouses.

Repurchased barrel warehouses based on the main campus of the distillery will also be re-ricked and used as additional storage.

Meanwhile, its experimental Warehouse X, which was first unveiled to the public at the end of 2013, is “yielding very interesting results” with research on DNA fingerprinting currently taking place.

The entire Bourbon industry has experienced momentous growth in recent years. According to Nielsen, Bourbon and American whiskey grew 6% in the 52 weeks to the end of March 2015, with premium volumes up 6.2% and ultra volumes up 19%.

“Although we can’t guarantee that every fan will find Buffalo Trace or Blanton’s every time they visit the liquor store, things are starting to look up, and overall our inventory is in a better place than it was a year ago,” Comstock added.

“We are very appreciative that fans like our whiskey and thankful for all of their continued patience.”