TWiB: TTB Shutdown Plan Details, Kentucky hits 16.1 million Bourbon barrels, Pursuit Spirits releases United Kodama Mizunara

It's This Week in Bourbon for October 17th 2025. TTB Shutdown Plan Details, Kentucky has reached an all-time high of 16.1 million aging barrels of Bourbon, and Pursuit Spirits has released Pursuit United Kodama Mizunara Bourbon.

Show Notes:

• TTB releases shutdown plan, furloughing 398 staff and immediately halting C-label and permit approvals if federal funding lapses
• Casey Jones Distillery launches a "Bottle Your Own Bourbon Experience" featuring a Triple Casked Amburana finish for $89.99
• A federal judge rejected the Kentucky Owl/Stoli Group bankruptcy plan, ruling that the "dismal" bourbon market makes selling barrels to cover their $78 million debt unfeasible
• California has legalized a temporary one-year Direct-to-Consumer (DtC) spirits shipping for craft distilleries (under 150K gallons) starting January 2026
• Jack Daniel's is ending its decades-long free cattle feed program, diverting the byproduct for fertilizer and forcing many local farmers to exit the cattle business
• Buffalo Trace is debuting a new Halloween experience called "Night at the Distillery," featuring a folklore tour and a Private Ghost Hunting giveaway
• Kentucky's aging barrel inventory has reached an all-time high of 16.1 million barrels, leading distillers to pay $75 million in taxes this year
• Sagamore Spirit debuts its first High Rye Straight Bourbon (6-year, 118 proof), blending Kentucky and Maryland styles for $49
• Woodford Reserve releases a limited Barrel Strength Rye at 125.1 proof, using its pre-prohibition style mash bill for $129.99 SRP
• High West releases A Midwinter Night’s Dram Act 13, a limited Rendezvous Rye finished in Ruby and Tawny Port barrels
• Templeton Distillery unveils its highly limited 13-Year-Old Rye (108 proof) as the first in its "Hidden Stash" collection for $169.99
• Smokeye Hill announces its first rye expression, a 5-year Barrel Proof Rye (131+ proof) with blue corn and high-altitude aging for $89.99
• Four Roses and New Belgium Brewing release Oakspire Bourbon Barrel Ale, a limited annual collaboration infused with charred oak and bourbon-soaked spirals
• The Ingram Distillery releases the 2025 Flagship Bourbon, a micro-batch of only eight high-rye barrels aged on the Mississippi River at 116.5 proof
• Russell’s Reserve announces Single Rickhouse Collection Camp Nelson E, a 128-proof bourbon from the fifth floor of the Camp Nelson E rickhouse
• Bluegrass Distillers partners with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses to release a limited 100-proof Toasted Oak Bourbon for $50 MSRP
• Buffalo Trace adds Colonel E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon to the BTAC, the collection's first new expression since 2006
• Heaven Hill launches Grain to Glass Specialty Barrel Series, a $129.99 allocated release of three 6-year whiskies aged in Chinquapin Oak barrels
• Chattanooga Whiskey releases its Bottled in Bond Fall 2021 Vintage, featuring the debut of the new SB104 mash bill in the blend for $52.99
• Pursuit Spirits releases Kodama Mizunara Bourbon (117 Proof), a blend finished in both Japanese Mizunara and Infrared-Toasted American Oak for $89.99
• Penelope Bourbon launches a limited-edition Apple Cinnamon Old Fashioned ready-to-pour cocktail (80 proof) for $29.99 MSRP
• Old Overholt launches a limited, unfiltered 12-Year Extra Aged Cask Strength Rye (53–65% ABV) for $109.99 SRP
• Blue Run Spirits releases a 111-proof Chicago Bears commemorative High Rye Bourbon to honor the 1985 team for $89.99 SRP
• Woodford Reserve unveils its 2025 holiday bottle featuring a sage and berry garland design collaboration with fashion designer Alexandra O’Neill
• Support this podcast on Patreon

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