Sazerac brings Barrel Select programme to UK
Buffalo Trace owner Sazerac Company has expanded its Sazerac Barrel Select (SBS) programme beyond the US, inviting UK consumers to participate in single-barrel selection and tasting experiences for the first time.
The SBS is a premium, membership-based programme that allows individuals and small groups to hand-select and purchase their own single barrel of whiskey from Sazerac’s world-class distilleries, and engage in a personalised tasting experience.
Single-barrel Bourbons are said to be highly coveted for their unique and unrepeatable flavour profiles, drawn from individual casks rather than blended batches. As such, each cask offers a distinct expression that highlights the depth of the ageing process, making single-barrel selections among the most sought-after in the whiskey world.
“We are thrilled to introduce the Sazerac Barrel Select program to the UK, offering a special opportunity to engage with one of our most requested programs that has captivated fans in the United States for years,” said Diego Bianchi, general manager of SBS at Sazerac. “The UK has an incredibly discerning appreciation for quality whiskey, and we hope that they will be just as excited as we are to share in this experience.”
To celebrate SBS’s global expansion, a select number of Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon barrels have been reserved for UK residents who sign up for an SBS membership. These global allocations are in addition to the barrels set aside for the SBS program in the US, where Sazerac is increasing barrel releases substantially compared to 2024 due to ‘overwhelming’ demand.
From 12pm GMT today (19 March) until 12pm 11 June, barrels will be available for purchase to the UK public on a first come, first served basis.
To be selected for purchase of a private barrel, UK residents are required to sign up for a free membership and confirm their readiness to purchase.
Selected members will then be contacted via email to arrange their barrel purchase straight from Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, US.
Members have two options for securing their barrel. The first is to pick their barrel in person at the distillery in Kentucky in an experience that will include a private behind-the-scenes tour of Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky for the purchaser and up to seven guests, offering rare insights into the craftsmanship and heritage of whiskey-making in the US; A personal barrel selection session, where members taste and choose their own unique Bourbon barrel; A private lunch at the distillery; The selected single barrel to be bottled into approximately 250 bottles based on yield, shipped to Sazerac’s UK bonded warehouses.
Travel and accommodation to the distillery are not included.
Alternatively, UK consumers have the option to select their barrel via samples at Buffalo Trace Distillery London’s private tasting room experience in Covent Garden. That experience includes a private barrel tasting session guided by a tasting expert and the opportunity to purchase the selected single barrel and import the final bottled finished goods and empty barrel to the UK.
The cost of the barrel is dependent on the price per bottle and the ultimate yield of the selected barrel, with estimates in the region of £8,500 (US$11,000). The average cost per bottle of Buffalo Trace Bourbon is £34 (US$44) and the average yield is 250 bottles. The cost per bottle will include excise tax and duties, however the cost of delivery will depend on the member’s home address.
Tasting experience
Beyond purchasing an entire barrel, those who would like to explore and discover the artistry of single barrels are also now able to do so at Buffalo Trace Distillery London, Covent Garden through the SBS tasting experience, which brings the tradition of selecting a barrel straight from a Kentucky rickhouse to the heart of London.
The Spirits Business attended a demonstration of this experience prior to the UK SBS launch, at which Liam Sparks, prestige manager for Sazerac UK, led attendees through a tasting that demonstrated the nuances and differences that can be found barrel to barrel and warehouse to warehouse at the Buffalo Trace Distillery.
“Depending on the characteristics that come out of single barrel, you’ll tend to always look for three things: oak, fruit or spice,” Spark notes. “For me, these are the three things that come through on the barrel, and you can almost taste how high a barrel is stored in a warehouse by how spicy and oaky is.”
The tasting started with a ‘standard’ bottle of Buffalo Trace, bottled at 45% ABV – 5% higher than the expression typically available in the UK market. This whiskey, Sparks explains, is aged on a ‘mid floor’ in the distillery’s warehouses.
“For Buffalo Trace, we generally aim for mid floors. So you don’t want something that’s taking lots of heat and lots of colour and lots of flavour – higher floors is where four-year-old Bourbons tend to age – and you don’t want it too low, because it’s probably not going to do enough in that time frame”. That is not to say that the whiskey isn’t sometimes aged on lower or higher floors, but, Sparks says, “it then becomes a blend to find that mid-level of balance. But generally mid floors is what we’re looking for, because it’s balanced, entry level price point whiskey.”
The subsequent samples in the tasting, listed as A, B and C, were presented as examples of how each of the distillery’s warehouses have influenced the whiskeys that are typically offered in the barrel select programme, demonstrating the variation of liquid on offer for customers who choose to purchase a barrel.
Sample A was picked from the top of Warehouse U, which is composed of five floors and boasts a concrete floor, which creates a microclimate, limiting airflow and insulating the space, making for warmer winters and cooler summers. “So on the top floor, that’s going to be the hottest point in that warehouse.” This, for Sparks, results in more oak on the nose. “I can almost smell that it’s sort of drier, more spice on the nose from that oak.”
Meanwhile sample B was sourced from Warehouse K, which has a wooden floor and 219 windows. Sparks explains: “Now, the windows are relevant because not all warehouses have as much sunlight or air flow because of the lack of windows. So that will change and vary the flavour profile.” Furthermore, this whiskey was aged on a lower floor, “so we’ll expect sample B to be slightly more mellow. I would suggest that if this whiskey was left in the warehouse, it could probably age for longer, because it’s low and slow, and it would have that potential to end up becoming an Eagle Rare 17, for example, because it’s that low.”
Finally, sample C came from Warehouse D. This warehouse, Sparks says, is where SBS customers will select their Buffalo Trace single barrel from. “Warehouse D used to have a degauging room at the front, but we’ve converted that into the SBS room.”
He adds: “It’s also the warehouse with the least number of barrels,” boasting a capacity of 19,500. “So the reason why the number of barrels is important is because, as you can imagine, the more barrels, the subtleties and the differences are bigger, and the smaller the warehouse, there’s less fluctuation because the temperature changes less.”
Sparks shares that everything done at Buffalo Trace “technically has an impact on flavour. I think what stands Buffalo Trace out as a distillery is our diversity and our difference and flavour profiles. The reason why we make so many brands out of Buffalo Trace is because we’re so versatile in the amount of flavour profiles we create, and that’s why you get so many brands from one distillery.”
The guided tasting journey that celebrates the history and heritage of single barrels is priced at £60 (US$78) per person.
The tasting experience includes a tasting of three Buffalo Trace single barrel Bourbons before customers select their favourite to take home in a personalised bottle.
For more information on membership and barrel purchasing opportunities, visit SazeracBarrelSelect.com/UK.
To book a tasting experience at Buffalo Trace Distillery London, visit buffalotracedistillery.com/london.
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