Single Barrel of Buffalo Trace

[Brewer]

A number of months ago, I spoke to Mark about an idea that I'd been kicking around, which was to get a group of bourbon aficionados together to buy our very own barrel of bourbon from Buffalo Trace. After some initial inquiries with BT, we opted for their namesake brand. We rounded up a group that wanted "in" on this endeavor and we began planning. Mark & I made numerous contacts to BT to see what they could do for us to differentiate our barrel from the "regular" Buffalo Trace. We were able to get a medallion that says "Bottled for Bourbon Enthusiasts" as well as get each bottle numbered. We arranged to do a tasting during the Bourbon Festival. Our group sampled from 5 different barrels, eliminated 3 from contention, and then made our choice. That was a LOT of fun. The folks at BT are terrific and showed us a wonderful time that day. Our group was very lucky to have LeNell on board with us, not only as a member of our group, but also since she has the wonderful "LeNell's" liquor store, through which we would receive our bottles.

Well the big day arrived this past week when LeNell informed me that the Buffalo had arrived at her store. I took a rare lunch break on Friday afternoon, and paid her a visit to pick up my share. I must say, we got a damn good barrel. I've been enjoying it since Friday. It is SOOOO smooth, with a creamy mouthfeel. It's got good "legs" and to me has a nice degree of candy corn taste that mingles nicely with some oak, leather flavors. I think I detect a smaller degree of spiciness than others have said that they perceive, but there is a nice amount there to play off of the sweetness. The finish lingers and lingers in the back of my throat, again with the candy corn taste along with some sweet orange flavor. I hope that other members of the group will share their impressions as they get their bottles. This bourbon is so dangerously drinkable that I may need to go back to Kentucky soon to get another!

Bob

[OneCubeOnly]

I got my share of the barrel today, thanks to a fellow poster here for doing a relay trip from NYC to MD.

I haven't studied it enough yet to post serious notes, but I'll just add a confirmation to Bob's impressions. This is great stuff--and definitely different from the standard bottling. I've said it before (and even recently elsewhere) that single-barrel bottlings are like the "soloists" to the standard-batch "orchestra"...and in this case I believe the soloist is a musical genius.

It's SO good in fact, that I'm going to have a dilemma on whether to make it special-occasion-only or go ahead and enjoy. I guess it depends on the chances of a repeat.

What a great experience this has been! BT was very professional and accomodating, and we got a spectacular result!

[Brewer]

Gary,

Glad you got yours today and that you enjoy the results. It is great stuff, and as you say regarding single barrels, this is a genius. There should be no dilemma though. Drink up & enjoy!

[dgonano]

Just enjoying a taste at this moment. I concur with Bob about the candy corn ( more of a caramel corn ) aroma and taste.The orange fruit comes through also. The finish is excellent . No woody taste here . Just a mouthfull of flavors.

[parshooter]

Wow. that sounds great. Are there any bottles from that barrel available for purchase, either through LeNell's or an individual?

[OneCubeOnly]

This is fun--have any of you guys done a side-by-side of our single-barrel vs. the standard bottling!? They seem like totally different products! Actually, in the "orchestra vs. soloist" analogy I like to use, if I dig deep enough I think I hear this instrument play in the big song, but I like it on its own even more.

[dgonano]

Are there any bottles from that barrel available for purchase, either through LeNell's or an individual?

Parshooter,

LeNell has some bottles for sale but she doesn't ship to an illegal state.

All of the purchasers received 20 bottles, so there is plenty to go around.

[Chris]

I finally picked my share up tonight... It was well worth the wait... I agree with Cliff's email tho, it does look 'lighter' in color than i remember it looking when we tasted it... There is also definitely much more going on with this bourbon than i remember while tasting it in the warehouse... I guess that's because i hadn't sampled 5 bourbons at barrel proof previous to tasting it tonight, so my mouth isn't shot aleready ...

[OneCubeOnly]

The other thing to note was that our pick was easily the darkest of the five! But it also tasted like it had the highest barrel proof. I wonder if the color intensity was disproportionate to the proof change!? Ie. when diluted to the appropriate 90 proof it actually ended up lighter than the others might have?

[Chris]

But it also tasted like it had the highest barrel proof. I wonder if the color intensity was disproportionate to the proof change!? Ie. when diluted to the appropriate 90 proof it actually ended up lighter than the others might have?

that could definitely be it... i didn't think of that...

-Chris

[Mark]

I have been meaning to post pictures of the bottle for some time now and just kept putting it off. Well I finally got a few... It's of an open one but isn't that how it should be?!

I have to once again say that everyone who was at The Trace in Sept did a great job picking out a fantastic barrel and one that is not your typical bottle of Buffalo Trace. Here's to hoping that we can all do this again sometime in the future for a different product; and this time maybe we'll have even more people involved from the site.

[parshooter]

Here's to hoping that we can all do this again sometime in the future for a different product; and this time maybe we'll have even more people involved from the site.

Did you do this during Bourbon Festival week? If so, DAMN, I was right there. That would have been great to get in on this with you guys. Definitly count me in next time, when we do Eagle Rare 8)

[The Whiskey Viking]

Here's to hoping that we can all do this again sometime in the future for a different product; and this time maybe we'll have even more people involved from the site.

Did you do this during Bourbon Festival week? If so, DAMN, I was right there. That would have been great to get in on this with you guys. Definitly count me in next time, when we do Eagle Rare 8)

How about Pappy 20 at Cask Strength Not Chill filtered - now that would be an interesting thing to try.

[Brewer]

Here's to hoping that we can all do this again sometime in the future for a different product; and this time maybe we'll have even more people involved from the site.

Did you do this during Bourbon Festival week? If so, DAMN, I was right there. That would have been great to get in on this with you guys. Definitly count me in next time, when we do Eagle Rare 8)

How about Pappy 20 at Cask Strength Not Chill filtered - now that would be an interesting thing to try.

Yes Parshooter, this was accomplished during the Bourbon Festival. Had Mark had this site up and running prior to the Festival and we had known you, you could have joined us. Next time, though, I like the idea of a Barrel Proof, unchill filtered Pappy 20 as WV suggests. Eagle Rare ain't a bad alternative either. To some degree, its also a matter of price and the number of "investors". Thus far, everybody is happy with how this went, so maybe we can give it a go again. Keep tuned!

[TNbourbon]

...To some degree, its also a matter of price and the number of "investors"...

Well, I hate to put a damper on big dreams, but I think it's also a matter of what the distiller/distillery is willing to sell. Keeping in mind that BT only managed to find enough profile-matching bourbon to bottle 1,050 Eagle Rare 17s this year, I doubt they'd EVER sell a barrel privately. Same goes for Julian and his stock of available whiskey to become Pappy 23. Pretty to think so, though.