Buffalo Trace Distillery brings O.F.C. Bourbon Whiskey

The 234-year-old Buffalo Trace Distillery has announced a major milestone with the release of O.F.C. Bourbon Whiskey, distilled in 1982. The ultra-rare whiskey is the distillery’s only vintage-dated bourbon and will be the first bourbon released in a colossal six-liter sized bottle and sold as a non-fungible token (NFT) on BlockBar.com - the world’s first DTC NFT marketplace for luxury wines and spirits.

The five bottles of this highly limited release are part of the 2,022 bottles that Buffalo Trace Distillery has pledged to give away in the year 2022 and will be auctioned off during a five-day event starting 14th March, in collaboration with NFT platform BlockBar. It marks BlockBar’s first-ever auction and the first bourbon sold on its platform.

The five bottles of O.F.C. Vintage 1982 will each be auctioned off with a starting bid of approximately $25,000 USD (8.83 ETH). Bids can be placed via BlockBar.com and can be made via Ethereum or Fiat starting at 10 a.m. EST on 14th March to10 am EST on 18th March. Proceeds from each of the winning, final bids will benefit some specific charities.

Each of the five NFTs will represent an authentic six-liter sized bottle of O.F.C Vintage1982, available to be redeemed by 31stDecember 2022. When redeemed,

the NFT holder will also unlock a personal invitation to Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, KY for a private VIP tour experience that includes exclusive tastings of whiskeys from its rarest and most sought-after private collection, including some previous vintages from the O.F.C. collection.

When an inventory of all barrels was taken in 1998, these barrels were noted and left to age until 2001, when at that time the 19-year-old bourbon was vatted into stainless steel tanks, which is a very common process distillers use to halt the aging effects of the barrel on the whiskey.

The Buffalo Trace tasting panel is excited by how the whiskey developed. Harlen Wheatley, Master Distiller at Buffalo Trace Distillery, details the taste as sophisticated, with an extraordinary richness and butteriness with layers of apple, pecans, ripened pear,dark Belgian chocolate, caramel and a kiss of black cherries.

Like its predecessors in the O.F.C. line, the 1982 Vintage will be in an elegant, hand-cut crystal bottle with inlaid copper lettering custom created for the brand, but “supersized” in a six-liter bottle.

At six-liters, this bottle is nine times the size of a usual whiskey bottle and holds over a gallon of whiskey; standing at 2 feet tall and weighing 22.5 pounds with liquid inside. The cap itself weighs in at a hefty six pounds.

Glass artisans cut the shoulder facets of the bottle using equipment created exclusively for Buffalo Trace Distillery. Each bottle was manually polished to achieve maximum glass brilliance before in-laying cut copper lettering to spell out “O.F.C.” on the front. The bottle is housed inside a wooden display case, along with a provenance card that notes the milestones of the year 1982, including iconic moments like the launch of the first CD player and Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ being named the #1 album seller of all time.