The Bourbon Shortage Is Here And We Could Be Fucked

Harrison Lee11 years ago

There has been much debate over whether or not we are going to have a shortage. I am here to tell you that we are, in fact, entering the bourbon shortage era. Good news for all you Jack Daniel’s drinkers out there : this does not affect you (at least not yet), because as we all know, bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon.

It looks as if our increasing demand has finally caught up with the supply and then some. Buffalo Trace Distillery sent out this email yesterday, confirming the impending doom of bourbon supply:

Last year we warned consumers that a shortage was looming, but many markets across the nation are just now feeling the full effects. Along with increased production, adding more bottling lines and hiring more people, we have also hired a full-time barrel allocation manager, just as we intended last year. Despite the increase in distillation over the past few years, bourbon demand still outpaces supply. Bourbon must be matured in new oak barrels and we age many of our barrels for eight to ten years, and some over two decades. That’s a long time to wait for a bottle of bourbon. Not to mention, with the amount of bourbon lost to evaporation over time, barrels are half empty after ten years. The increase in sales, coupled with the aging process and evaporation loss, leads to a shortage with no end in sight. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we try to catch up!

Buffalo Trace could always do what Maker’s Mark tried to do by watering down its bourbon, but we all remember how well that went. This is a dark, dark day for bourbon drinkers. I’ll save you the boring economics lesson, but basically, prices will rise and you will feel the brunt of it..

[via Business Insider]

Image via Wikimedia Commons