The Sazerac 18 has a fairly interesting background. It is, of course, part of the highly anticipated Buffalo Trace Antique Collection annual release. From our calculations (see our 2013 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection Fact Sheet for some interesting factoids), approximately 4,360 bottles were released in 2013. That’s less than 90 bottles per state before you account for if and how much might be allocated outside of the United States. Even more interesting is that this was put into barrels back in 1985. So it’s really 28 years old if you want to get technical about it. However, it was removed from the barrels in 2003 and put into stainless steel tanks to prevent further aging. Since then, Buffalo Trace has been drawing down from this supply while waiting for more to come of age. I don’t know when the last of this stainless steel supply will be, but I am eagerly awaiting the release poured fresh from the barrel to compare the two. There is quite a bit of debate as to how much impact the stainless steel may or may not have on the flavor, but I can imagine there will be some notable differences once we put some of this old juice side by side with whatever comes directly out of the currently aging barrels.