Buffalo Trace releases 25th anniversary Antique Collection
Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection turns 25 and celebrates in London with the kind of style, craftsmanship and excess only Sazerac can pull off, writes Tom Pattinson
Sometimes we forget how lucky we are being in the UK. Especially when compared to our poor cousins the other side of the pond. Yes, we don’t have to worry about our kids getting shot at school and having to see the great Orange moron on the nightly news. But more importantly we have access to not just every variation, expression, bottle and age of Scotch ever released but we seem to also get first dibs on some of the best stuff from the States too. Before even the Americans themselves.
I understand the whys: regional allocations, supply and demand, brand building in new territories, and ensuring that liquid gets on lips and not just in collectors shelves. But for us as consumers here in the UK – it’s great. An excellent example of this is last year’s launch of Sazerac’s Single Barrel Select Programme in the UK offering enthusiasts the chance to handpick their own cask from the legendary warehouses of Kentucky that create such bourbon gems as Eagle Rare, Pappy Van Winkle and of course, Buffalo Trace.
And now, as Buffalo Trace launch its latest release of the Antique Collection, UK consumers have once again got access to some bottles that are one-in-a-lifetime drams. And the aim is for as many people to get access to them as possible.
“We don’t just want it all to end up in the hands of collectors and never touching lips,” Liam Sparks, Prestige Sales Manager at Sazerac, tells me. “We want these bottles opened, in the right bars, enabling the public to try some of these incredible spirits.” In America demand already outstrips supply. In Europe, the goal is different. He’s building drinkers, not collectors.
Buffalo Trace as a product was only launched in 1999 but it is made in what is claimed to be the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States with spirit making on the site dating back to 1775. The first distillery was constructed in 1812 by Harrison Blanton and in 1870 the distillery was purchased by Edmund H. Taylor before he sold it eight years later to George T. Stagg. It was Stagg who installed steam heating in the storage warehouses in 1886 to create the first climate controlled warehouse for aging whiskey in the US. Ownership may have changed but production never stopped – even during prohibition, the distillery was allowed to continue to make ‘medicinal’ whiskey. The history of the distillery and it’s various owners are from where many of Sazerac’s iconic whiskies in their Antique Collection derive their names.
And that is what this evening is all about. We are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Antique Collection. And where more fitting to host an extravagant celebration of a quarter of a century of premium American spirits than in London’s Savoy Hotel, the unofficial American Embassy, home to the famed American Bar and where you’ll hear the gravelly twang of American accents so much you’ll forget you’re in London.
Tasting and dinner at the Beaufort Bar at the Savoy
This evening however we are in the Beaufort Bar. A never-ending table sprawls across the room and more candles than a Hogwarts dining room illuminate the black draped space. A selection of cocktails awaits; a Sazerac Rye Manhattan, a Buffalo Trace Old Fashioned and an Eagle Rare Kentucky Mule.
But once whistles are whetted we sit down for the main event, a tasting of all six bottles from Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection. Introduced over two decades, the line up comprises George T. Stagg Bourbon, William Larue Weller Bourbon, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye, Eagle Rare 17 year old Bourbon, Sazerac Rye 18 year old and, for the first time in 20 years a new addition joined this esteemed lined up: E.H. Taylor Bottled in Bond. With Sparks guiding us through we dipped into each:
E.H. Taylor Bottled in Bond is the new addition to the collection and pays homage to the distillery’s pioneering founder. Aged 15 years and 4 months, it brings warm vanilla, seasoned oak and maple on the nose, with a clean structure that feels true to the man whose name it carries. The cask was aged in the famed Buffalo Trace Warehouse C – dark and cool, allowing those 15 years in the barrel to age smoothly and bring out all those flavours at a pleasant 50% ABC.
William Larue Weller is named after W.L. Weller, the pioneering distiller who first introduced wheat into the mash bill of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Its wheated mash bill, offers soft sweetness layered with tobacco, maple and toasted oak. With 51% corn and wheat instead of rye, there are no hard spices that rye can sometimes produce, instead the mild toasted spices that come through and only from the barrel.
Eagle Rare 17 year old Bottled 50.5% ABV, in recognition of the original Eagle Rare brand launched in 1975, the Buffalo Trace distillers’ hand-selected their finest barrels to craft this exceptional whiskey. Aged beyond its 17-year statement – maturing 18 years and 4 months – the 2025 Eagle Rare 17 year old opens on the nose with dark tobacco and well-worn leather, accented by ripe cherry and a lively peppery edge and tasting exactly like a bourbon that has spent more than 18 years working out what it wants to be.
Kentucky whiskey does very different things in the barrel to Scotch whisky. In Scotland the cool, damp environment means that alcohol slowly evaporates from the barrel, reducing the alcohol content (ABV) of the liquid. A 12 year old Scotch might come out of the barrel at 61% whereas a 25 year old might have reduced down to 53%. In the dry hot climate of Kentucky the opposite happens, and the water evaporates faster than the alcohol meaning that the longer it is in the barrel the stronger it becomes.
And The George T. Stagg (named in honour of the whiskey pioneer and super salesman George T. Stagg, who acquired the historic distillery from Colonel E.H. Taylor in 1878) is a case in point. It arrives at full volume and full strength, a barrel proof brute at a whopping 71.4% with deep oak, dark tobacco and a long earthy finish. It did benefit from a generous pour of water but the quality stood up incredibly well and was my stand out winner of the night.
Sazerac 18 Year Old was next up and derives its name from the historic Sazerac House in New Orleans, birthplace of the iconic Sazerac cocktail (widely regarded as America’s first cocktail) in the mid-1800s. Bottled at 18 years and 5 months and 45% ABV, this year’s release opens with that bright rye spice on the nose, layered with seasoned oak and a subtle herbaceous lift. The palate delivers a mature balance of spice and oak, accented by woody richness and supple leather, leading to a lingering finish of rye spice.
And Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey provides the contrast, younger, punchier and full of bright fruit, spice and unapologetic heat. Thomas H. Handy was the New Orleans businessman and owner of the legendary Sazerac Coffee House, who first used rye whiskey in the classic Sazerac cocktail. Prior to Handy’s intervention, the cocktail was traditionally made with cognac (and in some bars in the American south people may still ask whether you want your Sazerac with Cognac, rye or half and half. This relatively young whiskey is crafted from barrels aged over six years and bottled at 64.9% ABV. On the nose of this year’s Handy, lively oak and spice are lifted by bright fruit and a light apple scent. The palate delivers bold spice and oak balanced with gentle fruit notes, leading to a long, warming finish of oak, vanilla and spice.
Each expression is presented in a crystal-clear glass bottle accompanied by a letter detailing the whiskey’s intricate production and aging journey
After the tasting comes a six course dinner that shows the Savoy is as serious about food as Sazerac is about whiskey. Plates of Aged Rhug Estate Venison Carpaccio, Cornish Lobster and the Savoy Signature Mini Beef Wellington make their way across the room, each course matched to the kind of glass that makes you start planning which bottle you’re going to hunt down the moment you get home.
It’s all delivered with the ease of a brand that knows its history and knows how to host. Sazerac, like the Americans themselves, knows how to throw a party and do it well. The style and quality of their events match perfectly the style and quality of their products. No corners cut, plenty of great stories and a refined elegance that most of their Scottish cousins could only dream of.
And if you have read this far and are feeling rather envious, Buffalo Trace will host an exclusive consumer tasting this December at Buffalo Trace Distillery London, in the heart of Covent Garden. Whisky lovers will have the rare opportunity to experience the full Antique Collection in an intimate guided setting, with complimentary tickets available through an Instagram competition launching later this month. Follow along via @buffalotracedistillery_uk_eu to be in the know and participate.
