What Is Blue Run, and Why Does Their Whiskey Sell Out in Minutes?

Blue Run Spirits is a relatively new whiskey brand that’s already made quite a splash. Even for collectors, their ryes and high-rye bourbons get snatched up rather quickly.

So quickly, in fact, that you may only have minutes to get their latest release: Blue Run Golden Rye Whiskey Batch 2, which goes on sale today at 3 p.m. online and in some select domestic retailers and is expected to sell out in minutes, as the company claims.

Per Beverage Dynamics, this is a contract distilled whiskey (via Kentucky’s Bardstown Bourbon Company) that’s taken from 102 barrels and is 95 proof. And it’ll certainly be worth more than $100 MSRP if you find it on the secondary market (online, it’s $110).

So, who and what is Blue Run? Formed in 2020, the company touts itself as “a new kind of spirits company, creating a unique luxury proposition by tapping into the deep heritage and craft that makes a truly great whiskey, then elevating it through a modern design and marketing lens to reach a younger, broader and more diverse whiskey drinker. The company’s founders include a Nike designer, the first director-level employee at Facebook, a hospitality executive, a political advisor, and a philanthropist.”

They’ve certainly have racked up awards: Blue Run 14-Year-Old Small Batch Bourbon grabbed a Double Gold and Best Small Batch award at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and their spring 2021 release, Blue Run 13.5-Year-Old Single Barrel Bourbon, was awarded Best Single Barrel Bourbon – 11 Years & Older at the SFWSC.

Besides awards and marketing prowess, there’s also a real pedigree here: The company’s Liquid Advisor is Bourbon Hall of Famer Jim Rutledge (formerly of Four Roses). And earlier this year, Blue Run hired Shaylyn Gammon, formerly of Wild Turkey/Campari Group, as its first Whiskey Director.

If you want to try the second batch of Blue Run’s inaugural rye release, it’ll be available online today, July 20, at 3 p.m. here.