For many whiskey fans, the name Buffalo Trace evokes unicorn bottles that are extremely difficult to get ahold of (and expensive if you do), like the Antique Collection, Pappy Van Winkle, and Eagle Rare 25. But the distillery also produces other limited-editions as part of its extensive experimental lineup, and the two new releases that were announced this week are actually pretty affordable—and hopefully will stay that way once they hit the secondary market.
The first whiskey is part of Buffalo Trace’s Single Oak Project, a series that launched in 1999, the same year that the Sazerac Company completed its renovation of the former Ancient Age Distillery and renamed it. The point of this series was to explore the effects of variable conditions on the flavor of bourbon when it’s aged in the same type of oak. The initial run consisted of 192 different barrels, each of which was made from wood from one of 96 Ozark oak trees and was filled with either wheated or rye bourbon. Other variables in the collection included entry proof, char level, stave seasoning, and warehouse style.
In 2011, according to the distillery, barrel #80 was selected as a highlight. This was a rye bourbon entered at 125 proof into a level-four charred cask made from the bottom half of a tree from staves that were seasoned for 12 months. This bourbon was aged for eight years and bottled at 90 proof. Single Oak Rye Bourbon is not the whiskey that was in that barrel, but rather an attempt to recreate it (as closely as possible) and release it as a permanent expression. We did not get to sample this bourbon yet, but the official tasting notes describe caramel and vanilla on the nose, followed by notes of toffee, vanilla cream, seasoned oak, and baking spices on the palate.
The next whiskey is the 28th entry in the Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection, which launched in 2006, called Low Entry Proof Wheated Bourbon Whiskey. And the name pretty much says it all: This is Buffalo Trace‘s wheated bourbon mashbill that went into barrels at 105 proof instead of the usual 114 proof to see how that would affect flavor. The bourbon was bottled at 107 proof (as opposed to the 90 proof of past releases), and has notes of oak, earth, dried fig, and leather on the palate.
The best thing about these two whiskeys might be the prices. Single Oak Rye Bourbon is listed at $75 for a 375 ml bottle (available at the distillery and retailers around the country), while Low Entry Proof Wheated Bourbon beats that at just $47 for a 375 ml bottle (available only at the distillery shop). Of course, it remains to be seen if you can actually find these bottles for reasonable prices like these, so your best bet might be to visit the distillery to get your hands on one.
Authors
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Jonah Flicker
Flicker is currently Robb Report’s whiskey critic, writing a weekly review of the most newsworthy releases around. He is a freelance writer covering the spirits industry whose work has appeared in…


