Tag: Buffalo Trace Bourbon

Brian’s Buffalo Trace Bourbon Review

27-December-2019

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

Buffalo Trace is a decent standby bourbon and due to its fair price and availability, is a “go to” for many when others are unavailable on the shelf.  I would suggest however, spend a bit more and opt for other readily available bourbons: Elijah Craig Small Batch, Maker’s Mark or Eagle Rare (which is also a Buffalo Trace offering).  Even so, this is a memory invoking juice; it takes me back to my early whiskey roots: business trips to Kentucky and wilderness camping in Idaho’s upper Boise River. Read on for my Buffalo Trace Bourbon Review here!

BUFFALO TRACE VITAL STATS:

Category: Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Region: Frankfort, KY, USA
Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Company: Sazerac Company Inc.
Mash Bill: unpublished, believed to be a low rye mash bill, <10% rye
Barrel Char: #4
Barrel entry proof: 124
Age: unpublished
ABV: 45% (90 Proof)
Price: $25.95 USD in Idaho

https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

For the evaluation, I shared the juice neat from Glencairn glasses with my daughter and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer Hannah.

Check out her review for this bourbon here!

This review is an update to an early offering posted in December 2017.

NOSE:

Upon pulling the cork, fresh apples greet the nose even before the whiskey is poured into the Glencairn.  When brought to the nose, the juice’s pleasant and clean, crisp bourbon aroma offers no burn to the nose whatsoever.  Extended nosing brings out a potpourri of fruit blossoms, roasted corn and fresh apples coupled with red ripe raspberry syrup and gourmet raisins.  Subtle allspice mixes well with apple pastry and light vanilla, bringing in a subtle sweetness of honeycomb infused simple syrup and an unusual pinenut toffee.  Continued inhaling brings sensations of light apple pipe tobacco, leather and light oak aromas.

PALATE:

Upon taking in the first sip there is quite a bite; and a burn which initially feels hotter than a 90 proof dram should provide.  Subsequent sips bring tastes of bitter apple cores and dark fruit leather and spices of allspice, cinnamon, black pepper and rye.  Buffalo Trace’s sweetness is of simple syrup and dark molasses.  It is leathery and there are hints of bitter raw walnuts, and toasted dry seasoned oak.

Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Buffalo Trace is rough and gritty, which gives the mouth and throat quite a tickle.  At the same time it has a watery mouth feel.  When swished in the glass, medium thick legs fall in curtains back into the auburn and polished mahogany colored reservoir.

FINISH:

Buffalo Trace finishes with a tingling burn of black pepper and acidic fruit leather.  As it is sipped, it invokes past memories and experiences.  As the liquid dissipates, rye, leather, and a pleasant smokiness of seasoned spicy oak fades away. The empty Glencairn is full of nice aromas of sweet and spicy oak.

MY RATING: 85/100

Will I seek out this whiskey in the future? Yes
But it won’t be a must have in the bunker.
_{Click to read Brian’s scoring process.}

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Hannah’s Buffalo Trace Review

Original review written on December 27, 2019

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

Give this one a try when you’re still new to bourbon/whiskey. But even at the inexpensive price, there’s no need to backtrack unless you’re curious. Unless you like spicy flavors, spend the additional $8 to buy Eagle Rare from the same Buffalo Trace Distillery. Read on for my full Buffalo Trace Review here! 81/100

VITALS:

– Made In: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
– Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery
– Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
– Age: undisclosed
– Mash Bill: undisclosed; believed to be a low rye (<10%)
– Casks: Barrel Char #4
– Barrel Entry Proof: 124
– ABV: 45% (90 proof)
– Price: $25.95 USD in Idaho

Visit buffalotracedistillery.com for more information

ENJOYMENT METHOD:

I enjoyed the juice neat from a Glencairn glass with father and fellow Whiskey for the Ages reviewer, Brian.

Check out his review for this bourbon here!

SETTING:

Bring the wild of the outside to an indoor pool where the air is sticky and full of humidity and chlorine. Buffalo Trace will ground you back to reality and give you the perfect change of pace as you sit comfortably in the bleachers, warm and content in your personal silence of distant whistles and filtered water lapping at the tiled edges of the pool.

Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash

NOSE:

Even with the cork freshly removed, apples bloom from the bottle; however I will wait for the glass to further warm before firmly assigning the scent …

The apples do linger, but in a subtle capacity. They are dominated by a dark toffee/molasses and a pinch of white pepper, cloves, and nutmeg. I find a bitterness here too, not like a nut, almost more like a spicy raisin or a plum that has been canned and stored for a while. There’s a hint of dark licorice to accompany cedar notes and roasted corn.

There’s a lot going on here, most of which is dark in tone.

PALATE:

– Mouth Feel: Not the most impressive. A smidge watery, but it pops.
– Balance: Flavors are easy to identify, but it’s still an unusual blend.
– Visual: Crown weakens and begins to strengthen again with many legs dropping down.

– Taste: The first sip provides a fruit leather of either plum or blueberry before switching back to the spicy raisin from the nose. I also find maraschino cherries drenched in a fruit syrup which goes to dominate the palate in such a way that it is almost reminiscent of bubblegum – a flavor I don’t recall ever tasting in a bourbon before.

The nutmeg from the nose remains; it’s not bad, but it does make for a confused palate. I find a black pepper at the back of the throat which makes it even more interesting in contrast to these forward sweet flavors.

There is the smallest of alcohol tickles, but it could very well be confused for the spice.

A Kentucky chew brings the alcohol out and clears the sinuses, making other flavors actually appear weakened. Only the black pepper shows up here.

FINISH:

– Lasting Power: Short. There’s a bit of warmth in the mouth , but it doesn’t go beyond that. Maybe a roughness in the throat, but that’s it.
– Between Sips: A mix of black pepper, weak bubblegum and the essence of an apple. But overall, very weak.

– No More: The black pepper continues to grow the further in the glass I get, so much so that other flavors all but disappear. I think the pepper is very easy to confuse with an alcohol burn (or vice versa – maybe I’m the one who’s confused). But at 90 proof, it seems unlikely that the cheese-grater effect I feel in my throat is due to alcohol. But I could see the black pepper creating that sensation.

The empty Glencairn is a mellow oak – a little old and already shaped into its finish product but still teaming with bourbon warmth.

WORTH THE PRICE?

You owe it to yourself to try it, especially at how it is priced. It isn’t my favorite from this price bracket (Eagle Rare), but a bourbon drinker should be aware of one of the biggest bourbon distillery’s self-titled offering.

RATING: 81/100

Click to see Hannah’s rating process

Click 81/100 to access other whiskies with this rating.

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