Buffalo Trace Straight Bourbon Review and Tasting Notes

The Story

The Buffalo Trace Distillery is classic American distiller.  It claims that it is the oldest continuously operating distillery in the US, with production dating back to 1775; to be entirely fair, this claim gets a little fuzzy in terms of how you define distillery, but either way, they've been around a long damn time.

The thing is, they've clearly learned something somewhere in those 200+ years, because they produce some damn good bourbon.  They've received a lengthy list of awards over the years, not least of which is the title of "Whisky Distiller of the Year 2014" by Whisky Magazine.

The Buffalo Trace Bourbon is the distiller's entry level bourbon.  It is batched from no more than 40 barrels at a time, and the distiller reports that it is aged on the middle floor of the warehouse where the whisky will experience the greatest possible temperature fluctuation.

It also happens to be among my father's favorite (affordable) bourbons.

I was at his house last night when he exclaimed that I wouldn't believe what he'd found.  Some Buffalo Trace Bourbon.  Apparently, between shortages and demand, it's been tough to find locally.  He set the bottle on the counter, and I knew exactly where we were headed.

I consider myself to be a scotch guy first and foremost.  While my friends always point to the price disparity as a reason to shift my tastes towards bourbon, my tastes push right back and say that they won't stand for it.  There is a reason that scotch costs more!

That said, with such a review from my father and the opportunity to try a well regarded bourbon, the bottle in my hands didn't stand a chance.


Tasting Notes

Nose: Smooth oak forms the base and leads the nose.  Floral bouquet surrounded by vanilla and caramel.  Green apples are the strongest of light but present fruits.  Water calms the oak while enhancing the vanilla and caramel malt.  Suddenly I can find cinnamon toasted almonds.

Palate: Cherries lead, followed by caramel and vanilla and toasted brown sugar with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.  Sweet.  The malty taste is very pleasant.  Light alcohol burn.  Nice oily mouth feel.  Nothing speaks too strongly.  Water brings the fruit out even more.  I taste bright candied cherries; not the gross fake kind.

Finish: Toasted brown sugary sweetness that lingers and is mingled with oak.  The green apples from the nose find their way into the mid-late piece of the finish.  Water makes me lose the green apples but changes little else.


Review

This is a good bourbon.  It's one of those drinks that you can tell you're going to enjoy with that very first sip.  It is tremendously drinkable, being both very smooth and well balanced.

There are lots of classic bourbon flavors here, oak, caramel, vanilla, malt, and sweetness.  Even if the flavors are classic, I feel like Buffalo Trace does it a little better than most of the rest, particularly at this price point.  I can't say that it has any profound degree of complexity, but it is highly enjoyable.

Overall, I preferred this whisky with a few drops of chilled water.  I thought it took very little away while bringing out the fruit and enhancing the smoothness.  That said, it's good in either form, and I anticipate drinking it both ways in the future.

At about $22 for a bottle, you're getting a good deal.  This one is worth giving a shot.  It's worth noting that although $22 is the number often quoted online, I've never actually seen it sold that low in real life.


Scotch Dreams Score: 90

*Scotch Dreams Value Adjustment: +4

*The Scotch Dreams Value Adjustment attempts to account for the price/quality balance in some of the world's cheaper or overpriced drams.  Cheap scotch that is good enough to earn a decent rating will typically see a positive adjustment, while overpriced scotch that is mediocre will see a negative adjustment.  Adjustments are on a scale of -5 to +5 and may be added directly to the Scotch Dreams Score - which addresses ONLY the dram's quality - to achieve a price weighted scoring.  Check the Scotch Dreams Scoring System page if you're interested in learning more.