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Van Winkle rye left out of annual collection
Buffalo Trace has revealed details of its annual Van Winkle Bourbon collection, which this year will not include the Van Winkle Reserve Rye 13 Year Old due to a “gap in barrel inventory”.
Buffalo Trace will release its annual Van Winkle collection without a rye expression
The producer said this year’s yields were “a bit higher” for the Van Winkle 10-, 15-, and 23-year-old whiskies. The annual collection will also include a 12-year-old and 20-year-old Bourbon.
“We have a one year gap in barrel inventory for the Van Winkle rye,” commented Kris Comstock, senior marketing director for Buffalo Trace. “Our current barrels are 12-years-old. So rather than compromise on quality or remove the age statement, we decided it would be best to hold off this year and bottle them next year as the 13-year-old rye whiskey fans have come to expect.”
Most of this year’s offering will be available exclusively in the US, despite its global popularity.
Julian Van Winkle, president of the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, said retailers have been asked to not mark up the RRPs of the whiskeys. “We have not raised prices and do not intend to do so drastically in the future,” he added. “We are committed to our quality and our pricing and hope retailers will honour what we suggest as retail pricing.”
Buffalo Trace has also warned consumers against buying products listed as Van Winkle whiskeys on Craigslist and private Facebook groups, stressing that it is illegal to buy and sell products if you are not a licensed retailer, and that some bottled may be counterfeit.
Earlier this month, Buffalo Trace revealed that it had invested more than US$500,000 in tackling online sales of counterfeit Van Winkle whiskeys in the last 12 months alone.
This year’s Van Winkle special releases will be available starting next month November and will be “hard to find”.
Details of the whiskeys and their prices are listed below:
US$59.99 – Old Rip Van Winkle Handmade Bourbon 10 Year Old 107 proof
US$69.99 – Van Winkle Special Reserve Bourbon 12 Year Old
US$99.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 15 Year Old
US$169.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 20 Year Old
US$269.99 – Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon 23 Year Old