Michter’s will release a new batch of their 20-Year Bourbon for 2018, after two years of torturous absence for drinkers the world over.

“We’re really proud of our 20 year and older offerings,” Michter’s President Joseph J. Magliocco said in a statement this morning. “They come from stocks that we purchased years ago, and we feel that the barrels have developed really well.”

The last time we saw this whiskey was November 2016. Twenty. Sixteen.

Two years is a long time to wait for a favorite, but there’s method to what causes bourbon lovers madness. The thing about Michter’s releases that we need to all accept: they’re like the wizards of The Lord of the Rings: they arrive precisely when they mean to.

Here’s why we already know it’ll be great: Master Distiller Pamela Heilmann and Master of Maturation Andrea Wilson have spent the last few years setting a precedent that, when there’s a batch that meets their standards, you’ll see the bottles, and when they’re not ready yet, you’ll get nothing and like it.

And like it you should. These rarer, more complex whiskeys are hard to perfectly batch, and when the talent doesn’t have what it needs to do something perfectly, they shouldn’t be forced to do it.

But production frequency could be ramping up. Though we’ve heard nothing official, this year we’ve been fortunate to see the return of Toasted Barrel Bourbon. And last year saw both Toasted Barrel Rye and, around this time of the year, 25-Year Bourbon. They were both definitely worth the wait. Other distilleries could take a page out of this book.

But back to the 20-Year Bourbon bottle at hand. The 2018 release will be proofed to 114.2, and the suggested MSRP for a 750 ml. bottle is a staggering $700 we’ll be setting aside this afternoon. Michter’s 20-Year Bourbon will be on shelves in the next few weeks.