The One-of-a-Kind GBS Blue Run Private Barrel is Here!
Blue Run Spirits Private Barrel Release
As many of you know, we are releasing our Blue Run Spirits Private Barrel this week. This one-of-a kind bottle will commemorate the historic 1984 "Black Magic" Gamecock Football Season, and will only be available for a limited time.
If you are not familiar with Blue Spirits, click here to read “The Time of the Butterfly is Now: My Interview with Blue Run Spirits CEO, Mike Montgomery.”
What Makes this Bottle Special
Blue Run Spirits has never before released private barrels. In 2023, under the guidance of our friend, Trey Wade, they announced the launch of their first single barrel select program, "Chosen". This program offered less than 20 barrels world-wide, and required interested ABC stores, liquor retailers, and bourbon clubs to submit an application and be randomly selected through the random drawing of names. Although there were thousands of applications, we were chosen to select one of these exclusive barrels.
What's even cooler is that due to our close friendship with Blue Run CEO, Mike Montgomery, we were one of only a couple of entities who were "Pre-chosen" and did not have to go through the formal application and random name-drawing process. Mike has made it clear that we, the Gamecock Bourbon Society, make up their biggest supporter base in the south, and as a result he appreciates us, the state of South Carolina, and the Gamecock family overall, immensely.
On top of this, the recent news about Coors officially acquiring Blue Run adds a note of interest to the bottle we are releasing. While we are happy for our friends at Blue Run (Mike will actually be moving into the position of Vice President of Coors with this acquisition), we are unclear of the brand's future from this point. They will continue to make good whiskey, but will the changes affect programs like this year's private barrel program? Maybe. And if that's the case, our GBS Blue Run barrel may truly be the first and the last private barrel from the OG Blue Run brand prior to the major changes. This, among many other factors will make this bottle a true collector's piece for any bourbon fan.
Why We Named it “Black Magic”
First off, no, this not a reference to anything occult. This is a direct historical reference to the record-breaking 1984 Gamecock Football season. Before 1984, the Gamecock did not wear black jerseys. Under Joe Morrison, the team adopted black as their main secondary color, and the team wore, for the very first time, the fan-favorite black jerseys. After the addition of black to the team’s color palette, the 1984 team soared to new heights and found levels of success that were not duplicated until Coach Spurrier’s tenure, leaving fans to refer to this season as “Black Magic”.
We decided to name this bottle “Black Magic” to commemorate that 1984 team, who will be celebrating their 40-year anniversary soon.
To learn more about this incredible team, coach Joe Morrison, and the Black Magic season, read our recent article “Fire Ants and Black Magic: The 1984 Gamecock Season”.
Logitics
We at the Gamecock Bourbon Society work our tails off to ensure we are following all regulations regarding the acquiring and selling of barrel picks. It is why we used Southern Glazer as our wholesaler, and J&F Bar Supplies as our local retailer for our recent Knob Creek Barrel Pick.
Our goal is less about cashing out on projects like this and more about sharing good whiskey with the people who care about our community as much as we do (it is also why we have cool plans to do barrel picks to support charitable organizations like Camp Chemo in the future).
With Blue Run, we are working with Seelbach's to process the online pre-sale and shipping. We have made past statements about our inability to ship, and that is something we will never be allowed to do (nor want to do), but Seelbach's is able to handle things like this directly, which is a great thing for us and our members! Because we will not handle these bottles, and it will go directly through Seelbach's, you will be able to pre-order and have your bottle delivered to you.
Note about Seelbach's: Seelbach's is a reputable online retailer that is used by the biggest and best distilleries in the world. Our friends at Blue Run Spirits set this connection up for us as a way of helping us and our members, and we greatly appreciate them for this.
AGE VERIFICATION
From Seelbachs official policy: "The Website and the Services are intended for the use of persons who are at least twenty-one (21) years of age. Persons under twenty-one (21) years old are prohibited from using the Website or the Services in any way. By placing an order with Suppliers via the Website you are representing that you are twenty-one (21) years of age. Seelbach's reserves the right to ask for proof of identity before allowing you access to the Website or allowing you to offer to purchase a Product(s) from a Supplier."
"By placing an order you verify that you and/ or any order recipients are at least twenty-one (21) years of age. At the time of delivery you and/or the order recipient must sign an age verification receipt stating that they are at least twenty-one (21) years of age and must present a valid driver’s license, military ID, passport or State ID for identification. All shipments must be signed for."
"According to UPS Policy, if there is not an individual at least twenty-one (21) years of age present to sign for the package, and three (3) unsuccessful delivery attempts have been made at the recipient's address, the package will be returned to the shipper. The package can be reshipped with a reshipping fee of $20."
How to Access the Pre-sale
Seelbach's has set us up a storefront that will allow GBS members to have first access to the Blue Run pre-sale before it is released to the public.
To login to the GBS Members-only page here: https://seelbachs.com/products/blue-run-kentucky-straight-chosen-bourbon-whiskey-gamecock-bourbon-society
And use this password code to log in: GCBSVIP
After you are logged in, click the “Coming Soon” tab to pre-order your bottle.
Thank You Again
Thank you again for your support. We are excited to launch this new program, and continue to giving all of ourselves to our great people. You make this worth the effort and you make this a whole mess of fun for all of us on the GBS team!