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I've read a lot of good things about the Sazerac 18 year old and have been looking for a bottle for many months without success. Then this past Monday I find a bottle that indicates it was bottled Fall 2006. I purchased it and it is great! Well, yesterday, I go into a small, out of the way liquor store and find not one, but two, bottles of Sazerac 18 year old which were bottled Summer 2000 and they are cheaper than the one I bought! I was wondering, from those who have much more experience than I, how does the 2000 bottling compare to the 2006 and is it, in your opinion, worth buying the 2000 bottled Sazerac 18?

Thank you for your help.

Burke

The Sazerac 18-year-old seems to be universally regarded as excellent and unlike some of the other products in the Buffalo Trace Antiques Collection, of which it is a part, it doesn't change much from bottling to bottling. Likely the older bottles you found are less expensive because they are old stock that has been on the shelf since then and still bears its original price. Later bottlings were more expensive at wholesale so they're higher at retailer. If you like it, grab them. They aren't that easy to find.

I agree with Chuck for the most part. I thought the earlier, 2000 bottlings were a little less woody and in my opinion slightly better. They are all a little too woody for my taste and I prefer the 7yo Sazerac to the 18yo Sazerac.

2000 was the first year for "the Saz" and it won the Whiskey of the Year award from Malt Advocate. It is an absolutely stellar rye. You have made a great find. Enjoy!

ima

Thanks everyone for your responses. I went out today and bought both bottles of Saz 18 2000. I plan on drinking one and saving the other. Of course, I first need to finish the original 2006 bottling I opened