Buffalo Trace has a large number of brands and every one of them has several expressions. It proves the industry obsession with individuality, small batch releases and nice labeling. A virtually unlimited pool of flavour profiles and marketing opportunities.
Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. is widely considered one of the founding fathers of the bourbon industry, fighting for the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, nearly three decades after he purchased what is now called Buffalo Trace Distillery.
The E.H. Taylor, Jr. collection contains a Small Batch version, this Single Barrel release, a Barrel Proof expression, Straight Rye, Old Fashioned Sour Mash and a Warehouse C Tornado Surviving limited release. The Single Barrel is aged in warehouse C, which was built by Taylor in 1881.
This low-rye bourbon is 11-12 years old and bottled at 100 proof. It earned the award for best bourbon whiskey in the 2014 World Whiskies Awards. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a specific barrel indication.
Colonel E.H. Taylor, JR. ‘single barrel’ (50%, OB 2014)
Colonel E.H. Taylor, JR. ‘single barrel’ (50%, OB 2014)Nose: a big, fruity sweetness, with plenty of figs and plums, dried banana and honey. A bit of popcorn and butter pastry. Beeswax and vanilla. Rummy molasses. There’s a lot of toasted oak as well, and cinnamon, which give it a solid dry side. I like the combination of oak spices and a slightly exotic sweetness.
Mouth: starts sweet and round, but quickly evolves towards drier, oaky spices. Banana, figs and sweet berries. Bright top notes of orange peel. Then lots of leather, tobacco leafs, charred oak and roasted nuts. Nutmeg. A slightly tannic oaky touch, but not out of place for me.
Finish: long, oaky, with a faint smoky touch and tobacco.
I really dig this bourbon whiskey. It unites big spicy notes with an underlying buttery sweetness. I do like my bourbons oaky, as long as there’s enough to balance it. There is. Around € 110.
Score: 88/100