Strayed wrote:...If, in the warehouses of a distillery that doesn't bottle thirteen year old whiskey, there are barrels of 1991 bourbon good enough to be Birthday Bourbon, and Chris chose to use barrels from 1994 instead, what was he planning to do with the 1991 barrels? Or the ones from 1992 or 1993? Were they inferior product? I doubt it. Are they intentionally letting it age even longer? I doubt that, too...
Actually, John, I've heard it IS exactly the latter instance -- they are intentionally letting it age. It's been related to me (in at least one case, the reporter claims to have been repeating Chris Morris' words) that Brown-Forman hopes to put out a 135-proof Birthday Bourbon this year in honor of the company's 135th birthday (it was founded in 1870 as J.T.S. Brown and Bro.). Of course, in order to do that, it has to be assured of having barrels that dump at 135 proof or more. I suspect they're hoping to find them among the 1991-1993 barrels.
At this point, this is rumor -- but it's rumor widely-enough spread that I've heard it.