Tag: Buffalo Trace

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Mash Bill: unpublished, believed to be a low rye mash bill, 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Age: unpublished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.}

Click 85/100 to access other whiskies with this score.

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