Eagle Rare is aged stated,unlike a lot of Bourbons available now and almost single barrel so there is batch to batch variation. The only reason it isn't single barrel,is because the machinery isn't cleaned between bottlings from every barrel. It's "hyped" because of its age statement which is no different than with Scotch. In the US it's main competitor is Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve 10 Year,which is slightly more expensive. But in the UK it's over £60.
In many states in the US,Eagle Rare costs more than in the UK. The RRP is $30 in the US,so the UK price is more or less an exact conversion if you include VAT. Also it does open up quite a bit if left open for a while. Plus Buffalo Trace in the UK is bottled at only 40% ABV,so is really weak tasting compared to the US bottlings which are at the same strength as Eagle Rare.
Also in general Buffalo Trace products are also quite expensive in Europe. For example,EH Taylor uses the same Mashbill #1 as Eagle Rare,but instead of $40 in the US,it's sold at closer to £100. My bottle of Stagg Jnr,which is a cask strength Mashbill #1 product(although NAS is probably over 12 years old) cost me £80~£90....and that is considered decent for the UK.Buffalo Trace Mashbill #2 products are no where near RRP.
It's even worse with Heaven Hill products. Eagle Rare 12 was replaced by a NAS version at a much higher price in the UK,which is inferior. I had some of the older batches of Eagle Rare 10,which are well over 10 years which definitely had more oakiness than the current ones,so even that is getting younger stuff being used.
Woodford Reserve,etc are NAS and generally younger,which can make them more exciting. You can sort of tell by the taste.
But I found older bottlings of Woodford Reserve and Wild Turkey 101 superior to the newer ones.The latter used to have an 8 year age statement.It seems,as with Scotch,younger spirit is being bottled.
