A First Taste of Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection

Our drinks columnist samples a stella lineup of American whiskey — and suggests you do the same, quickly. 

And you know what? I regret it, because by the end it was totally shot; its elaborate layers of spice, incense, and fruit had become as woody and lifeless as an antique wardrobe. The moral of the tale is carpe diem. Because, whatever people tell you, spirits do fade. It takes time – often years – but once they’re opened oxygen always gets to them in the end.

That rye was on my mind at the preview of the new Antique Collection from Buffalo Trace, a sought-after capsule of whiskeys that, happily for me, includes a Sazerac 18 year old.

If you’re a US whiskey fan, then Buffalo Trace needs no introduction. The Kentucky operation is America’s oldest continuously operating distillery, and one of only six that were allowed to keep making whiskey during Prohibition (for so-called ‘medical’ purposes). And it’s been a pioneer in both bourbon and rye creation for over 200 years.

The six-bottle Antique Collection represents the pinnacle of what this distillery makes, showcasing its bourbons and ryes matured under different conditions and for an exceptional number of years. Official retail prices are relatively modest – around £150 (approx. $199) per bottle; but competition is fierce. If you look online you’ll find previous editions of Sazerac 18 now changing hands for around $2,000 a throw.

The most sought-after in this year’s collection is likely to be EH Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon (50 percent ABV) – the first new expression to join the range since 2006. Named for Buffalo Trace’s pioneering founder, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor JR, it’s aged for 15 years and four months in the distillery’s Warehouse C, a cool, dark environment that’s particularly suited to extra-long ageing (and which was also Taylor’s favourite). The bourbon is intense but balanced, with notes of marzipan, cherry drops, varnished woods, and sweet spice.

Buffalo Trace’s beloved Eagle Rare bourbon also crops up in the Collection in a maturer guise, as Eagle Rare 17 year old Kentucky Straight Bourbon (50.5 percent ABV) (though the liquid is actually aged for over 18 years). The extra-long maturation gives the bourbon dryer woody tobacco and leather characters, that marry nicely with sweeter notes of fruit coulis and vanilla.

This year’s George T Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon comes in at a whopping 71.4 percent ABV – so it’s best enjoyed with a drop of water. It’s the same mash bill, or recipe, as the EH Taylor and Eagle Rare but none of it is aged in Warehouse C, which gives the 15-year-old bourbon a bolder style – I got ginger, incense-y baking spices, and raisin cookies.

William Larue Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon (64.5 percent ABV) is named for the distiller who pioneered wheated bourbon – a softer, sweeter style of whiskey which uses wheat, rather than rye, as the second most dominant grain in the mash bill, after corn. Aged for 12 years and 7 months, and bottled at 64.5 percent ABV, this whiskey is also best with a drop of water which releases notes of custard, vanilla, pipe tobacco, and nut butter, and loosens up its creamy, elegant texture.

That’s the bourbons. There are also two ryes, starting with Thomas H Handy Sazerac Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (63.9 percent ABV), which is named in honor of the New Orleans businessman who first had the idea, in the 19th century, of using rye whiskey in a Sazerac cocktail. This six-year-old is a young, feisty rye that pops with spice and a mouthwatering, quite tart green apple note. With time and water it mellows into apple pie, vanilla, and an appetising touch of salt.

Finally, the celebrated Sazerac 18 year old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (45 percent ABV). Rye whiskey can be hard to come by at the best of times, but it’s exceptionally rare to find a great one this old. The rye grain gives it a very lifted, herbaceous/floral aroma: dill, violets, caraway. On the palate it offers up linseed oil, fig rolls, supple leather, nutty rye bread, and sweet caraway seed. A really dazzling example of how well American whiskey can age. My advice would be: drink now – don’t wait!

Where to Find the 2025 Collection

US: RPM Seafood, Chicago; Wayfare Tavern, San Francisco; Low Boy, Los Angeles or online at rocospirits.com, hiproof.com, cypresscraft.com

UK: The American Bar at The Savoy, London; Dram, London; The Connaught, London or online at harrods.com, hedonism.com, fortnumandmason.com

Available from mid-December, £150 (approx. $198) per bottle