Buffalo Trace Barrel Pick Update and Information
If you’re reading this, you’re the first wave of people who will know when and how to reserve your Buffalo Trace bottle! I’m not posting this anywhere, and it will only be sent to those that subscribe to my substack.
Timing/When: I learned the hard way that these distilleries don’t always communicate very well with retailers, and even worse with the group selecting it. I hope Buffalo Trace will be different, and so far they have been. If you’re the type of person who won’t hold a simple guess against me, then I would guess sometime in April. Tina at Clyde’s Spirits called her representative for Buffalo Trace and they said that it should be bottled and palleted in April. Speaking of Clyde’s…
These bottles will arrive at Cylde’s Spirits and Fine Wines and they are located at 4360 Augusta Rd in Lexington, SC. For those coming from out of town, they are relatively close to I-20; much more convenient than downtown Columbia with plenty of parking and a friendly staff. If you purchased our last barrel pick, Maker’s Mark “Sweet Carolina”, then you know that Clyde’s not only has a friendly staff, but a healthy selection of other whiskies for a store that size. Make sure you shop around, and make sure you look in the glass case near the registers. They always have something hard to find, and it’s always right at MSRP or $5-$10 above for highly allocated stuff.
Buffalo Trace barrels can average 222 bottles, but that number can vary. There is no question that these bottles will sell out, so if you don’t get one, my sincere apologies.
The Process in Detail:
1. Reserve your bottle by visiting Gamecockbourbon.com as soon as you get the email notification that the reservations are LIVE. I will only send one more email about the Buffalo Trace Barrel (unless something drastic happens) …it will be short and sweet and say “LIVE” with a link to my website so that you can get there faster. It will be at a random time during the day, on a random day. It’s the only fair way I know how to do this with over 750 subscribers and less than 225 bottles.
2. I will not post on social media, or anywhere, for 24 hours. That gives my substack readers a full day to check their emails before “the general population of Gamecocks” can get their hands on one.
3. The reservations will be 1 bottle per person, not per household. If you have a husband or wife that also was lucky enough to reserve one, you may pick them both up with a picture ID of both winners. You need to be at least 21 years old with your ID anyway, might as well let them confirm the name on the list that way too. If you simply can’t get there in time to pick up your bottle, or it’s just too inconvenient, send a picture of your ID to someone that you trust who can then pick it up for you. The goal is to be fair, not make it difficult, so hopefully this way works smoothly for everyone from Charleston to Greenville, Aiken to Myrtle Beach, and even out of staters.
4. In the event that all of the bottles are NOT reserved after a full week of reservations, I will open it up to 3 bottles per person total, so 2 more for those that already reserved one.
5. When you arrive at Clyde’s, simply have your ID ready when you go in and tell them you are there for the Gamecock Bourbon Society Buffalo Trace pick, and they’ll have your name on the list. It’s that easy.
If there is a problem and you think you had a bottle reserved and aren’t on the list, call me at (803)270-6517. I’ll do the best I can to make it right, right then. If I don’t answer, text me. If you’re driving a long distance to get your bottle, it may be wise to call ahead to confirm you’re on the list just to be safe.
6. When you reserve the bottle on my website, there will be a $10 donation (no tax) and every red cent will go to The Garnet Trust.
Using 150 as hypothetical/easy number: With 150 bottles sold, that will be $1500 we will be able to donate to the Garnet Trust. There is a cool catch though!
That donation will be (2) $50 per month memberships for 1 year to (2) winners and (1) $25 per month membership to (1) winner selected from the pool of names on the reservation list. If we have more bottles or more money collected, we will just raise the number of winners. Any leftover dollars will have already been donated to the Garnet Trust. They will be the ones sending the email directly to the winners rather than me giving the cash to the winners; eliminating someone taking advantage of their win and keeping the cash. My hope is that we have 200+ bottles and can offer more Garnet Trust Memberships to Gamecock Bourbon Members. The $50 per month winners will have family (4) access to 1 meet the team event, as well as access to autographed items. Throw in Gamecocks+ membership and that’s a huge value just for buying one of our bottles of highly allocated Buffalo Trace.
7. I will post a video of a live randomized selection of the winners of the Garnet Trust memberships. Every bottle will have a name, so if you end up getting 3 bottles, you’ll be in there 3 times. Once the winners are randomly chosen, I will send your email address (already collected with the $10 donation on my website) to the Garnet Trust, and they will send you a link to set up your yearly membership. If you wanted to donate more or make the next leap from Black Magic to Next Level, I’m sure that would be an option to even more increase your value.
Hopefully this clears some things up on the process, and gets you excited about one of the coolest bottles we’ve been able to bring the society. The last time I wrote about this barrel, I hinted at what the name is going to be called by saying it had something to do with the Clemson win and LaNorris Sellers. Let me start by saying that “Weller” and “Buffalo Trace” are both distilled at Buffalo Trace. Although different mash bills, I thought it was close enough to name our barrel “Seller’s Special Reserve” after the green label of Weller Special Reserve. We are designing a sticker where instead of the Alcohol By Volume, it reflects 3rd and 16 and the final score against Clemson. We are still designing it, so if you are into design and want to help, send me an email of what you come up with. If I use your design for our sticker, then you guarantee a reserved bottle. If you do, send them to PaulMiles@GamecockBourbon.com.
**Expect the email alerting you of the bottle reservation sometime in late March or early April**
Cheers and Good Luck!
Paul Miles