Review #124 - Buffalo Trace Bourbon
One of the most sought after distilleries - Buffalo Trace - which has made many of their products very difficult to find. This ranges from the BTAC released each year, which is extremely allocated and can fetch thousands per bottle on the secondary market, down to products like Eagle Rare, a $30, 10 year age-stated bourbon. In some places, it's even gone down to their entry level product - Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
This is a $25 bourbon bottled at 45% ABV (90 Proof) with no stated age... or really much other information of any sort. Research online will reveal that this product is made using BT's mashbill #1, a low-rye recipe, so we might be looking for a sweeter sipper today.
Buffalo Trace Bourbon
USA - Bourbon
Price Paid: USD 30 (2021)
Current Locally Available Price: USD 25 (2023)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 45% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 2 times over 8 months; bottles at 80% and 60% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Lots of sweeter notes - cherries definitely stands out, along with some brown sugar, but we're also finding strawberries, vanilla, maybe a hint of molasses as well. With more time, that cherry note turns almost medicinal; there's leathery wood smoke and a whiff of barbecue at times, with just the faintest alcohol note.
Palate: Balanced between sweet and dry, maybe leaning a little sweet; it's sweet and sour cherries, a nice mild kick, leather and cough syrup, some molasses, too. The mouthfeel is medium, and there's some light oak in here, still not too dry, with mild baking spices. On subsequent sips, a little bit of dusty grain character peaks through.
Finish: Medium length with a slight acidity but lots of sweetness - cherry again, orange rind, it's rounded and soft. Somewhat mellow overall, but we do find a tickle of anise spice on the back end.
Final Note: A pretty good sipper - above average, surely, and well above average for its price point, making this a good value pick if you can find it around $25 to $30. There's nothing really exceptional here, but it's quite solid, and we recommend it - both for a casual neat sip, but also to make a nice, sweet cocktail. It does lean to the sweet side of things (have we mentioned that enough?), though, so if you're looking for a spicy or oaky bourbon, you might need to keep looking.
Our Average Rating: 5.8 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 7.61
