LeClaire, Iowa, December 4, 2011 - After its much anticipated release, Mississippi River Distilling Company's Cody Road Bourbon Whiskey was a near sell out within a day of its release on Friday, December 2, 2011.
"We had a line waiting outside the distillery starting at about 9 a.m. before we opened at 10 on Friday," Ryan Burchett, owner and distiller says. "We had a steady line of people until about noon and sold all 120 bottles we had at the distillery in four hours."
As of Sunday afternoon, Rock Island Hy-Vee still had some of the Cody Road Bourbon for sale but was only putting it out one bottle at a time. Hy-Vee's in both Ankeny and Marion, Iowa also still had small quantities left. But most retailers had sold their entire stock by the end of the weekend.
The distillers have been keeping fans and followers updated on where they can find bottles via Facebook and Twitter as they hear updates or are able to call retailers. Many area stores sold out within a day of delivery, some selling as many as 60 bottles. The state of Iowa limited retailers to no more than 60 bottles per store. Within 24 hours, the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division had sold out of all the stock they had.
"We had hoped this would go over well, but we very pleasantly surprised when the state had orders for all the cases we sent them," Garrett Burchett, owner and distiller says. "Unfortunately, it moved so fast that it was gone before some retailers didn't even have the chance to order it from the state."
In total, MRDC made just short of 1,000 bottles of this first batch. The bourbon is made from grains harvested from within 25 miles of the distillery. Corn comes from LeClaire and the wheat and barley come from Reynolds, Illinois. The spirit is aged for nearly a year and distillers only released the first 6 barrels they made.
The Burchett brothers have been busy for the past year planning for the demand and have continued making and barreling their bourbon. The next release of Cody Road Bourbon will be Friday, March 2. Moving through 2012, larger releases of bourbon will become more regular to help catch up to demand.
"We anticipate having more in this next batch. Supplies will be tight through the year, but we hope to have enough for everyone's stockings by next Christmas." Ryan says.
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