Buffalo Trace 2013 Antique Collection arrives in UK

The UK’s 2013 allocation of Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection has arrived in the UK, although distributor Hi-Spirits warns demand is likely to be “higher than ever”.

The 2013 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection is now available to order in the UK

The five-strong Antique Collection of super-premium American whiskeys, which includes the George T. Stagg and Thomas H. Handy expressions, is produced in batches and given extremely strict allocation every year.

But with the number of regular American whiskey drinkers now exceeding 3.6 million in the UK (according to Nielsen), Hi-Spirits the group has warned its limited supply will sell out quickly.

Dan Bolton, managing director of Hi-Spirits, said: “There is always high demand for our limited UK allocation of the 2013 Antique Collection, and we expect that to be higher than ever this year.”

Mark Brown, president of Buffalo Trace owner Sazerac, added that the high demand was a sign of the category’s future: “We’re very excited about the growth of American whiskey in the UK, and especially the emergence of consumer and trade interest in premium and super premium Kentucky straight Bourbon whiskeys and Kentucky straight rye whiskeys”.

Brown added that one of Sazerac’s primary focuses is building up the Buffalo Trace brand. “We’re getting tourists from the UK making the pilgrimage to Bourbon distilleries and ours is included in that,” he said. “So we are very upbeat and very bullish about what Bourbon can do and so for Sazerac building up the Buffalo Trace distillery and its whiskies would be our primary focus.”