The Buffalo Trace Distillery is hallowed ground in the whiskey world. The Frankfort, Kentucky distillery is a National Historic Landmark thanks to a distillery existing on-site since at least 1775. Over the years, that distillery was expanded, rebuilt, and rebranded many times — 249 years is a long time, folks.
Across all those eras, one constant stayed the same — the distillery on the Kentucky River has remained a great spot to make whiskey. And it’s thriving more than ever today.
At the dawn of 2024, the Buffalo Trace Distillery makes just shy of 25 distinct brands of whiskey and spirits at their Frankfort campus. And those brands are iconic. Even if you’re only passively into whiskey, you’ve likely heard of W.L. Weller, Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, Stagg … Pappy Freakin’ Van Winkle. You get the idea.
Since there’s so much product coming out of the almost two dozen brands made at Buffalo Trace Distillery, it’d be easy to get lost in the weeds. Below, I’m going to name the absolute best bottle from every brand and collection made by Buffalo Trace. The vast majority of the brands made by Buffalo Trace focus on straight bourbon and straight rye whiskeys. They also make bourbon cream, vodka, and have an experimental line. So there is a fair bit of variation at play.
The function of this list is to highlight the absolute best bottle under each label/collection so that you can cut straight to the chase when reaching for a bottle at the liquor store. Just to be clear, that means that I’ll be calling out the best E.H. Taylor, Pappy, and so on as well as the best Antique Collection or Experimental Collection bottle (not all of any one line).
Lastly, you cannot talk about Buffalo Trace whiskeys without talking about price. Most Buffalo Trace brands are highly allocated products. That means that a small quantity of bottles is sent to a small list of retailers, bars, and restaurants. Then those establishments set a price based on the recommended MSRP set by Buffalo Trace, demand, and scarcity. This means that a lot of these whiskeys are extremely hard to find at MSRP. For this list, I’ve purposefully set each price link at the real-world retail price and not the MSRP.
If you want to get these bottles are MSRP, you’re simply going to have to work for it. You’ll need to do the following:
- Learn the delivery schedule of Buffalo Trace’s trucks.
- Learn which liquor stores get an allocation in your area.
- Learn which days those liquor stores stock those allocated bottles on their shelf.
- Follow brand and whiskey groups via social media on Facebook, X, Discord, and IG to accomplish all of the above.
- Become a member of a liquor store for special deals and lotteries.
- Join a whiskey group on social media or Discord and slowly become a member in good standing.
- Get lucky on delivery day.
If you can do all of that, then you 100% will be able to find Buffalo Trace whiskeys at MSRP. It’s a lot of work though. Let’s dive in!
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23. Ancient Age — Ancient Age Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $10
The Whiskey:
This bottom-shelf bourbon is functional and cheap. The juice is the same mash bill as Buffalo Trace’s much-lauded and beloved Blanton’s Single Barrel and Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel — or “Mash Bill #2.” Granted this is not a single barrel but it’s the same whiskey that’s then blended with other barrels that weren’t deemed quite good enough to become Blanton’s.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a clear note of corn up top with vanilla, caramel, and a bit of butter.
Palate: The sweetness leans into toffee territory with a mild hint of spice next to a caramel corn feel.
Finish: The end is cut short by a rush of citrus and you’re left with a slight warmth.
Bottom Line:
Every ranking has to start somewhere. This whiskey isn’t bad by any stretch. But it’s cheap and made as a rail whiskey for dive bars. This is a shooter that you chase with beer immediately after throwing it back.
22. Wheatley Vodka Craft Distilled
ABV: 41%
Average Price: $16
The Vodka:
This is Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley’s pet project of sorts. The vodka is made on a special micro-still at Buffalo Trace with wheat at the core of the mash bill. The spirit goes through the still ten times before it’s triple filtered, cut down with soft limestone water, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: You’re drawn in with this essence of vanilla that’s kind of like rainwater that’s been soaking vanilla husks overnight.
Palate: The taste has a very mild greenness (think cut grass and bell peppers) that leads back to a soft rainwater mouthfeel and no rough edges whatsoever.
Finish: The end has this very enticing and almost creamy vanilla vibe.
Bottom Line:
This is a perfectly fine mixing vodka. Use it for making cocktails.
21. Buffalo Trace White Dog — Mash #1 Corn, Rye, and Malted Barley Recipe
ABV: 62.5%
Average Price: $14 (half-bottle)
The Spirit:
This is the base spirit that eventually becomes Eagle Rare, Stagg, E.H. Taylor, Jr., Benchmark, Old Charter, and Buffalo Trace Bourbon. The mix of corn, rye, and malted barley is bottled clear and unaged right off the stills.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is almost creamy with a sense of sweet creamed corn, a hint of dry grass, and a note of raw leather.
Palate: The taste really leans into that cream corn with a note of almost … cilantro … next to the faintest hint of vanilla next to apple chips.
Finish: The end has a vanilla oil vibe that leads to an orchard alongside corn cobs.
Bottom Line:
This is a fascinating pour of whiskey. It gives you a great insight into the quality of the base spirit of Buffalo Trace’s core whiskey before it touches wood. There’s a lot of vibrance found in this whiskey. That all said, this is more of a learning sip than a practical one. You can also use this for cocktails (but at that point… just use vodka).
20. McAfee Brothers Benchmark — Benchmark Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 47.5%
Average Price: $19
The Whiskey:
This expression is from the single barrels that hit that prime spot/flavor profile to be bottled one at a time. This is the best of the best of the barrels earmarked for Benchmark in the Buffalo Trace warehouses. Those barrels are watered down slightly before bottling at a healthy 95-proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: That orange and caramel really come through on the nose with a thin line of creamy dark chocolate and some nutmeg and cinnamon.
Palate: The palate largely adheres to that flavor profile while adding in layers of dark fruit, old leather, mild oak, and orange cookies.
Finish: The finish arrives with a sense of winter spices and dark chocolate oranges next to a twinge of cherry-kissed spicy tobacco chew and a final note of old porch wicker.
Bottom Line:
Benchmark is another budget bourbon that feels “budget.” There’s nothing off-putting with this whiskey, it simply feels like something that’s made to be mixed with Coke or ginger ale.
19. Bourbon Cream Liqueur
ABV: 15%
Average Price: $20
The Liqueur:
Bourbon Cream is a funny thing. The base is a mix of vanilla-infused cream cut with Buffalo Trace’s signature bourbon. There’s not a lot known about this product besides those few facts.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is kind of like Bailey’s Irish Cream turned up to eleven on the nose.
Palate: It’s thick, very vanilla-forward, and has a minor hint of bourbon in the sense of an almost chocolate-cream spiked eggnog.
Finish: There are holiday spices that pop up nicely next to all that creaminess that helps it not get too heavy (that’s not to say this isn’t very heavy, it is).
Bottom Line:
This is pretty tasty over a single rock as a dessert pour. Outside of that, this has some uses in cocktails, especially with a coffee base.
18. Sazerac Rye — Sazerac Rye Straight Rye Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $35
The Whiskey:
Sazerac Rye is an entry-point whiskey and a throwback to the 1800s. The brand was named after the famed Sazerac Coffee House on Royal Street in New Orleans where the Sazerac cocktail was born.
Today, this expression is a true classic made at Buffalo Trace from their iconic rye mash bill.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a vanilla base that supports anise, sasparilla, clove, cardamom, and a hint of red peppercorn with a very soft minerality.
Palate: The palate has big Christmas-time vibes with candied fruits and nuts with plenty of dark spice alongside more of that red peppercorn with old pine wood paneling lurking in the background.
Finish: The finish is soft with candied fruits creating a spicy cream soda with an old sweetgrass rope drying things out that ultimately leads to a proofed finish.
Bottom Line:
Since the other Sazerac labels fall under the Antique Collection category only, this is the only Sazerac to buy from this label. It’s readily available and priced pretty well.
The gist is this: This is a cocktail whiskey, period. Make Manhattans and Sazeracs with it. It’s great for those.
17. Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $29
The Whiskey:
This is the whiskey that heralded a new era of bourbon in 1999. Famed Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee came out of retirement to create this bourbon to celebrate the renaming of the George T. Stagg distillery to Buffalo Trace when Sazerac bought the joint. The rest, as they say, is history, especially since this has become a touchstone bourbon for the brand.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Classic notes of vanilla come through next to a dark syrup sweetness, a flourish of fresh mint, and raw leather that veers towards raw steak.
Palate: The palate cuts through the sweeter notes with plenty of spices — like clove and star anise — next to a hint of tart berries underneath it all.
Finish: The end is long, velvety, and really delivers on the vanilla and spice.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the easiest whiskey to get on the list. It’s also a great cocktail bourbon. It makes a mean old fashioned and whiskey sour.
16. Traveller Whiskey Blend No. 40 Blended Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $39
The Whiskey:
This new whiskey from Buffalo Trace is the summation of years of collaboration between Country icon Chris Stapleton and Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. After testing 50 different blends, this is the one that landed. The whiskey in the bottle is a special blend of Buffalo Trace rye and bourbons that hit just the right note for Stapleton’s whiskey palate.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose leans into rich Buffalo Trace bourbon with a deep vanilla buttercream over soft spiced brandied cherries just kissed with dark chocolate and old oak staves with a whisper of salted caramel.
Palate: That caramel has a hint of sweet corn to it on the palate before the vanilla rushes back in with a creamy lusciousness and layers of winter spices, orchard barks, and musty barrel houses — classic Buffalo Trace.
Finish: The end warms nicely for a moment with plenty of woody winter spice and a touch of grassy rye notes before the lush vanilla, cherry, and oak finish lingers for just the right amount of time.
Bottom Line:
This whiskey was purposefully built to be accessible to a wide array of American whiskey drinkers (and to be widely available at a great price). I guess you could call that pop whiskey.
And look, it’s perfectly good whiskey. It’s just one that works best in cocktails or as an everyday table pour over some rocks, if you’re so inclined.
15. Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection — Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Straight Bourbon Whiskey Made With Peated Malt
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $999
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is made from an experimental mash bill of high-rye bourbon that replaces the classic malted barley with peated malted barley. That’s barley that’s kilned (dried to stop germination) with peat as a heat source, which imbues smoke (phenols if you want to get all sciencey about it) into the barley grains. The whiskey was distilled and barreled back in November 2012 in only six barrels. Those barrels were stored on low floors of warehouses C and D for 10 years.
Over that time, 65% of that whiskey evaporated. Finally, the whiskey was batched and proofed down before bottling before a run through a chill filter.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a mild sense of old cigar smoke in a leathery old library with a layer of vanilla pods, dark chocolate-covered marzipan, and rich and butter toffee next to deeply stewed stone fruits with a dash of woody spice.
Palate: The palate is silken and lush with a sense of gomme syrup (it’s almost velvety) that gives way to brown butter vanilla malt over salted toffee and smoky campfire burnt marshmallow with a faint whisper of smoked prune and cherry.
Finish: The end leans into the campfire smokiness as the vanilla, fruit, and marzipan fade out, leaving you with a sense of burnt sugars and vanilla tobacco pouches next to a lingering sense of burning sage, cinnamon bark, and allspice leaves that just inch into ashy bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the most interesting Experimental Collection releases in a while. It’s a fascinating smashing together of two very distinct whiskey worlds — sweet bourbon and very earthy peated whiskey — that just works. While this is very rare, it’s a great example of something truly unique and palate-expanding.
That said, this is very much an “acquired taste” prospect.
14. Prohibition Collection — Golden Wedding Brand Rye Whiskey
ABV: 54%
Price: $999 (5 bottle set)
The Whiskey:
This brand goes beyond even the old George T. Stagg Distillery to the time Shenley Distilling owned the property and split the brand’s production between the campuses in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Eventually, Shenley moved the brand to Canada and turned it into a Canadian whisky before it was killed off in the late 20th century. Buffalo Trace decided to resurrect this brand with a signature batch of their straight rye whiskey to honor that long and varied history on and in the bottle.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a deep sense of rye bread crust bespeckled with caraway next to dry smudging sage, roasting herbs, and cedar bark that gives way to a soft sense of dark fruity leather, soft vanilla creaminess, and a hint of mulled wine in an oak barrel.
Palate: Those roasting herbs drive the palate back toward the rye and caraway with a fleeting whisper of dried dill before circling the palate back around to dark dried berries, old vanilla pods, and a mild sense of eggnog.
Finish: The woody spice barks spike on the finish with a sense of smoldering smudging sage and old tobacco leaves stacked in an old cedar box and wrapped in worn leather before a sense of an old apple orchard on a rainy and cold fall day sets in.
Bottom Line:
Of the five bottles in the new Prohibition Collection lineup, this is the sweet spot. Buffalo Trace works some real magic with their rye whiskeys and this one is magical. If you can get your hand on a set, pour this neat and then add water slowly to open up all that’s hiding in that profile.
13. Kosher Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Wheat Recipe
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $89
The Whiskey:
Buffalo Trace Kosher provides a truly kosher spirit that also fully delivers on the palate. The juice is made from the same wheated bourbon recipe as Buffalo Trace’s Weller and Pappy lines. The difference is that the mash is loaded from fully cleaned stills and pipes into kosher barrels (that means the barrels were specially made and purchased under the watchful eye of a rabbi from the Chicago Rabbinical Council).
The whiskey then ages for seven years at Buffalo Trace before blending, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s a familiar note of Red Hots and vanilla cream on the nose, with a hint of semi-dried florals.
Palate: The palate mellows out the cinnamon towards a woody and dry bark as the florals deepen towards summer wildflowers right at the moment that a touch of plums and berries arrive, adding sweetness and brightness.
Finish: The end holds onto that dry bark, as a hint of anise pops late with a slight vanilla cream tobacco touching off the medium-length fade.
Bottom Line:
This is just a good wheat whiskey, another thing Buffalo Trace is very good at. Look, this isn’t going to hit the heights of the Wellers or Pappys, but it’s well-rounded, nuanced, and classic. Pour it over ice or into your favorite whiskey-forward cocktail for best results.
12. Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $338
The Whiskey:
Elmer T. Lee is another hugely popular release that’s very limited (and sought after). The mash bill has a higher rye content and the barrels are kept in a special location. It’s said that the barrels for Elmer T. Lee are stored where the master distiller himself used to store the barrels he kept for his own stash.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this is like a decadent breakfast of pancakes smothered in cinnamon butter, dripping with the best maple syrup, and topped with a hand-made scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Palate: The palate holds onto the vanilla and spice but settles into more of a floral honeyed sweetness with touches of cedar, old library book leather, and a hint of tobacco buzz.
Finish: The end lingers for a while and leaves you with a dry pear tobacco warmth next to a cinnamon heat and maple bar sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is the other Blanton’s on the shelf. It’s very close to that standard bottle, especially given the ABV. This is a very easy-drinking and satisfying pour of bourbon. It hits all the classic marks and is approachable with a deep profile. It’s a winner that works best poured neat or into a very subtle whiskey-forward cocktail.
11. Blanton’s — Blanton’s Straight From The Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: Varies
Average Price: $240
The Whiskey:
This expression is the purest form of Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon. The whiskey in these bottles is from the same Blanton’s barrels, but they’re perfect just the way they are. This whiskey goes into the bottle straight from the barrel with no proofing water whatsoever.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose is full of very bespoke dark chocolate-covered salted hard caramel toffees encrusted with almonds and pecans — the kind you get from a chocolate shop that imports their goodies from somewhere like Belgium — next to full fall leaves falling on wet grass outside musty old warehouses with a hint of well-worn boot leather lurking beneath it all.
Palate: The nutty toffee carries through into the taste as oily vanilla pods mingle with cedar boxes of dried tobacco leaves and a touch of floral honey jars with old wooden spoons and more of that old boot leather before sharp winter spices and dried red chili pop on the mid-palate.
Finish: The end is very long and lingers in your senses with a hot buzzing thanks to the barky spices and dry chili that subtly fades through all that sweetness before ending up in an old cedar box full of choco-chili tobacco layered with old dark fruit leather sheets.
Bottom Line:
Blanton’s probably has the second most name recognition on this list (with Pappy at number one, of course). If you want to get into Blanton’s skip the lower proof expressions and go straight to this. This is unequivocally a great whiskey. The cask strength ABVs allow the full breadth of the whiskey’s complexity to shine through — and allow you to proof down as you drink, which gives you a longer and deeper experience overall.
This also makes one hell of an old fashioned.
10. O.F.C. Vintage — Old Fashioned Cooper Vintage Distilled in the Year 1995
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $5,900
The Whiskey:
This label harkens back to Colonel E.H. Taylor’s O.F.C. Distillery in the 1800s. That distillery became what is now Buffalo Trace and the steam-heated warehouses used back then by Taylor are still in use today. These whiskeys are exceedingly rare releases. The whiskey in this bottle went into the barrel back in 1995 and mellowed in an exact spot before it was proofed and bottled in a crystal decanter.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with ripe and sweet cherries soaked in rich brandy with hints of cedar and holiday spices lurking in the background.
Palate: The taste is almost unbelievably soft with notes of dark chocolate tobacco leaves mingling with well-spiced sticky toffee pudding, a touch of black tea bitterness, and a drop of salted caramel.
Finish: The end has a soft cedar vibe as the fade slowly offers up warm peppery spice with a cinnamon edge and a final note of an old leather tobacco pouch drifts on by.
Bottom Line:
These super rare releases are pretty freaking amazing. But they’re so fleeting that it feels like a tease to even mention them. That all said, this is all about the year the whiskey was made and a time machine of sorts to go back to that era. It’s insanely high-quality whiskey that feels almost too special to actually drink, which defeats the whole purpose, I think.
9. Single Oak Project Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Barrel #192
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $249 (half-bottle)
The Whiskey:
This was a fascinating set of whiskeys. The project started with finding the exact right barrel to age the best whiskey. That meant forest stewardship and sourcing specific oak from the Ozarks to build 192 unique barrels with varying levels of toasting and charring or some combination of the two. The whiskeys were then aged for various times and all were eventually released and tasted by 5,645 people (and their lucky friends).
Turns out Barrel #80 was the prime spot. That’s what’s being replicated for a 2025 release.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There are classic Buffalo Trace notes of salted caramel, Cherry Coke, deep vanilla, and distinct soft woods — think orchard woods and cedar.
Palate: The overall taste is a balancing act between the orchard fruit and sweeter caramel/vanilla notes with the mild woody spices and rich tobacco with a vanilla backbone.
Finish: That spicy tobacco note drives the finish toward cinnamon bark, clove buds, and whole nutmeg with a cherry/apple soda sweetness.
Bottom Line:
This is another very rare whiskey. It’s fascinating in that it allows the drinker to truly feel the difference a single tree can have on the aging process. But wow, you have to be so deep in whiskey to actually get to any of that.
For the consumer, this is a trophy bottle.
However, it tastes amazing… if you dare open it.
8. Rock Hill Farms Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $483
The Whiskey:
This is Buffalo Trace’s other other single barrel brand (Blanton’s and Elmer T. Lee being the two icons). The whiskey is made from the same mash bill as those two, which is Buffalo Trace’s Mash Bill No. 2 (they’re higher rye recipe). Basically, this is a higher ABV version of Blanton’s with a slightly varied flavor profile from that brand.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Bright apple and cherry burst on the nose with a sense of almost tart red berries swimming in cream just kissed with vanilla and salted caramel next to a hint of cinnamon bark and allspice.
Palate: The palate is lush and moves from creamy cherry/vanilla toward winter spice barks, burnt orange, marzipan, and maybe even a hint of black licorice.
Finish: The woodiness of those winter spices kicks up on the finish before softening into a silken end of vanilla creamy, cherry syrup, and a very faint hint of mint chocolate chip.
Bottom Line:
Of the single barrels that Buffalo Trace puts out, this is close to the top thanks to a bold ABV. This whiskey just works, carries a deep profile that goes beyond the classic, and leaves you feeling fulfilled after a sip or two.
7. W.L. Weller — Weller The Original Wheated Bourbon Full Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 57%
Average Price: $295
The Whiskey:
This expression is a marriage of some serious barrels of unknown age. That vatted whiskey goes into the bottle at “full proof” which is not “barrel proof.” The “full proof” this refers to is the proof of the hot juice when it goes into the barrel for aging. That whiskey will come out of the barrel somewhere around 57% but not right at it. So there may be a little proofing water involved. Hence, it is always 114 proof and not 114.7 one year and 113.1 the next year or 115.9 the year after that.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Ripe and sour cherries lead the way with a thick vanilla underbelly, a hint of salted caramel, and woody cinnamon next to whole nutmeg bulbs on the nose with this slight echo of almost singed cherry bark.
Palate: The palate leans into the sharpness of the cinnamon and the lushness of the vanilla as a foundation as layers of buttery caramel cake frosting with a hint of sassafras and licorice next to dry cedar bark braids with a thin line of sweet grass and a whisper of sourdough fritters.
Finish: The end leans into creamy brandy butter cut with dark-chocolate-covered dried sour cherries sprinkled with salt and rolled in fresh tobacco leaves and stacked next to orange-laced marzipan in an old and slightly sweet cedar box.
Bottom Line:
This expression from Weller has become one of the most beloved over the last couple of years. The ABV is perfect for this wheated bourbon, allowing the deepest of flavors to shine through.
Pour this over a rock or with a drop of water and enjoy the ride.
6. George T. Stagg — Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof Batch #22A
ABV: 66.1%
Average Price: $399
The Whiskey:
Stagg is Buffalo Trace’s Mash Bill no. 1 (a low-rye mash) turned up to MAX volume. The whiskey spends about a decade resting in the old Buffalo Trace warehouses before it’s batched and bottled (in this case in Spring 2023) 100% as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is rich on the nose with deep senses of dark chocolate brownies just kissed with stewed black cherry and old vanilla pods before a soft sense of red chili tobacco and wet brown sugar tobacco lead to a whisper of smoldering fall leaves.
Palate: That dark chocolate and chili-laced tobacco drives the taste toward a Christmas cake brimming with candied cherry, orange rind, rum raisin, clove, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and creamy vanilla icing with a dash of salt, marzipan, and brandy-soaked apple and pear orchards.
Finish: The rich and boozy holiday cake fades on the finish as deep earthiness — think firewood bark and smudging sage — drives the end toward a big Kentucky hug of warmth that’s just right.
Bottom Line:
2023’s Stagg release was a killer bottle of whiskey. Arguably, this is one of the best Staggs of the last decade. It’s hot, sure. So pour this over a single rock and dive into the wonderful profile of essential Kentucky bourbon notes.
5. Van Winkle — Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 15 Years Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $2,179
The Whiskey:
This is where the “Pappy Van Winkle” line truly shines. The whiskey in this expression is pulled from wheated bourbon barrels that are at least 15 years old. Once batched, the whiskey is just touched with water to bring it down to a sturdy 107-proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with freshly fried sourdough fritters dusted with ground almonds, sharp cinnamon, cloves, orange zest, burnt sugars, and maple frosting with a hint of old vanilla pods next to soft figs.
Palate: The palate leans into rich toffee with a sense of minced meat pies covered in powdered sugar frosting right next to sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel, orange zest, and tons of brown wintry spice countered by a moment of sour mulled red wine cut with dark maple syrup.
Finish: The end has a soft cedar vibe that leads to vanilla and dark cherry tobacco leaves and a hint of pine next to old white moss.
Bottom Line:
If you’re going to get into Pappy, this is where to start and end. This is the best expression right now. It has everything you’ll want from a deep and beautiful flavor profile to just the right kick to that feeling of elegance that elite whiskey should have. Pour this over a big rock and enjoy the ride.
4. Old Charter — Old Charter Oak Spanish Oak Barrel Aged Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $595
The Whiskey:
Buffalo Trace’s Old Charter Oak series is expanding with a Spanish Oak edition this month. The whiskey in the bottle is from the famed Mash Bill No. 1, which forms the base spirit for Old Charter, Eagle Rare, Stagg, Benchmark, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and Taylor expressions. In this case, the whiskey in the bottle is completely aged in new Spanish oak barrels (bourbon laws only require “new oak” aging and do not specify an oak species) for around nine years before batching, proofing, and bottling completely as-is.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a deep sense of dates, plums, and mild winter spice barks and berries next to rich bourbon vanilla buttercream, soft chewy tobacco, and a hint of tart cherry.
Palate: That tart cherry darkens on the palate toward a honeyed sweet biscuit with marmalade and leathery dried prunes next to a murky dark chocolate with salt and some dried lavender underneath it all.
Finish: The end softly lands on dark yet tart cherry chewing tobacco next to gentle woody spices, floral black tea leaves, and a moist sticky toffee pudding with a touch more of that honey sweetness.
Bottom Line:
The Old Charter special oak program has been so varied — and a little hit and miss from time to time. Well, this is such a bullseye win that it pretty much blows all the other expressions out of the water.
This is just delicious whiskey. The sherry (Spanish oak) works so well with the Buffalo Trace bourbon. Every single moment is just right, so deep, and freaking fun.
This also makes a crazy good Manhattan… an expensive one, but a great one nonetheless.
3. Eagle Rare Bourbon — Eagle Rare 25 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 50.5%
Average Price: $15,999
The Whiskey:
Eagle Rare Straight Bourbon is made from Mash Bill #1 at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. That’s their low-rye mash bill, and that’s all that’s known about the juice. That whiskey was then left to rest for nearly two decades in a warehouse before being moved into Buffalo Trace’s new state-of-the-art Warehouse P facility. When the whiskey hit 25 years old, something magical happened to the barrel and it was ready for bottling.
The single barrel was proofed down to Eagle Rare’s 101-proof and otherwise bottled as-is, yielding only 200 bottles. The bottle is also a collectible with a hand-hammered sterling silver eagle wing wrapped around a hand-blown crystal decanter. That striking bottle comes in a custom display box that opens like an eagle’s wings.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose hints at old oak staves resting in a musty warehouse before veering toward stewed cherries with hints of clove and nutmeg next to salted dark chocolate shavings and rich powdered sugar icing cut with bourbon vanilla and light pipe tobacco essences with a whisper of fall leaves and orchard barks.
Palate: The rich vanilla gets buttery and creamy with an almost eggnog vibe thanks to the spice on the lush palate has dried cranberry, brandy-soaked cherry, and dried figs lead to rich toffee rolled in dark chocolate and anise before getting cut with a touch of earthy tobacco pulled from fresh black dirt.
Finish: The finish hugs you gently with warmth tied to winter spice barks soaked in apple cider cut with black cherry as the dirt takes on a warehouse must with gently sweet oak staves mingle with a whisper of whole black pepper and clove buds over creamy dark orange spice cake.
Bottom Line:
While everyone should have an Eagel Rare 10 on their shelf, this whiskey is in another dimension. This whiskey is the kind that changes you when you drink it. You feel the importance and the work of the people who created it in the sip.
That said, this is so fleeting that you’ll probably only see it at really high-end whiskey bars.
2. E.H. Taylor, Jr. — E. H. Taylor, Jr. Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Bottled In Bond
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $279
The Whiskey:
This whiskey is aged in the famed Warehouse C at Buffalo Trace from their Mash Bill No. 1. In this case, single barrels are picked for their perfect Taylor flavor profile and bottled one at a time with a slight touch of water to bring them down to bottled-in-bond proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Dried dark fruits and a hint of vanilla wafers mingle with fig fruit leather, a touch of orchard wood, and a deep caramel on the nose.
Palate: The palate holds onto those notes while layering in dark berry tobacco with sharp winter spices, new leather, and a singed cotton candy next to a cedar box filled with that tobacco.
Finish: The finish lingers on your senses for a while and leaves the spice behind for that dark, almost savory fruit note with an echo of blackberry Hostess pies next to soft leather pouches that have held chewy tobacco for decades and a final hint of old porch wicker in the middle of summer.
Bottom Line:
I know everyone chases Blanton’s Single Barrel. But this is the Single Barrel from Buffalo Trace that they should be chasing. This whiskey is f*cking perfect while offering a beautiful profile that’s quintessential Kentucky and Buffalo Trace. Also… a great value, all things considered.
1. Antique Collection — William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Barrel Proof (BTAC 2023)
ABV: 66.8%
Average Price: $1,975
The Whiskey:
This is Buffalo Trace’s classic wheated bourbon. 2023’s Weller BTAC was distilled back in the spring of 2011 and left to rest in warehouses C, L, M, and N for 12 long years. Those barrels were batched and this whiskey was bottled 100% as-is at cask strength.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Deep and dark candied black cherry mingles with dry cedar bark, molasses, real vanilla beans, nutty brown butter, and old leather rolled in pipe tobacco and just kissed with smoldering sage and dry chili pepper flakes.
Palate: The palate opens with a full blast of ABVs, making the front of your tongue tingle, as floral honey, cherry cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream, and brown butter streusel cut with nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove lead to a hint of dry orange tobacco.
Finish: Cinnamon sticks and clove buds floating in maple syrup arrive on the finish with a sense of old leather boots, the oak in an old rickhouse, orchard barks, and soft notes of vanilla and cherry cake.
Bottom Line:
This is probably the best example of Buffalo Trace whiskey right now. It’s certainly the best example of what they do best — wheated bourbon with a deeply special vibe. Yes, this whiskey is delicious AF. It’s also amazingly approachable while offering so much soft nuance and warming Kentucky bourbon vibes.
Everything just works. Pour it over a single large ice cube, take a sip, and exhale all your worries away. This one has that effect.