A National Shortage

From Smithsonian comes news of [this tragic shortage](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/were-drinking-through-whiskey-supplies-faster-distillers-can-make-more-180951390/?no-ist): > **We’re Drinking Whiskey Faster Than Distillers Can Make More** > > Bourbon lovers, you'd better stock up. A day of reckoning is quickly approaching, warns Buffalo Trace, one of the oldest distilleries in the country. A whiskey shortage may soon be upon us. > > While bourbon producers have seen this problem coming for more than a year, its impacts are just now beginning to hit the market and will likely only worsen. [Here's Buffalo Trace](https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/sites/default/files/Buffalo%20Trace%20Updates%20Bourbon%20Inventory%20Shortages%205-8-14%20FINAL.pdf) with more on the problem: > > >> Despite the increase in distillation over the past few years, bourbon demand still outpaces supply. The overall bourbon category is experiencing 5% growth, but premium brands are up nearly 20% from last year. Bourbon must be matured in new oak barrels and Buffalo Trace ages many of its barrels for eight to ten years, and some over two decades. That’s a long time to wait for a bottle of bourbon. Not to mention, with the amount of bourbon lost to evaporation over time, barrels are half empty after ten years. The increase in sales, coupled with the aging process and evaporation loss, leads to a shortage with no end in sight. > > A shortage of wood necessary to create whiskey barrels, the Spirits Business adds, also seems to be exacerbating the problem. Yikes -- I love a good single malt. Don't drink it very often but when the time is right, nothing else comes close.