Benchmark Top Floor

Nov 10

Benchmark Top Floor

For this expression, Buffalo trace drew liquid from barrels on the top floor of their warehouses, of which most (but not all) are seven stories high. The top floor of a seven-story rickhouse in Kentucky can reach over 130 degrees in the summer, forcing that liquid to crash in and out of the barrel staves much more than it would at lower tiers. As expected, this expression has a strong oak component to it, but what’s most surprising is that it doesn’t come across as “young” oak, that unpleasant roughness you sometimes get from young bourbons or ones aged in small barrels. Instead, it adds a great oak body that makes this drink more mature than it really is.

Buffalo Trace Mashbill #1 (Low-Rye)

43% ABV/86 Proof

~3Y

Eye: Honey, thick rim and thick droplet legs.

Nose: Some corn, raisin sweetness. Yeast and sweet bread. Oak, slight woodiness. Corn sweetness keeps building.

Palate: Pleasant heat, popcorn, nice oak spice. Drinks very easily and the extra oak influence gives a nice body. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, corn gets in and covers the mouth.

Finish: Finish is medium-length, spicy, and tingle lingers on the tongue.

Overall: For an 86 proofer this is impressively bodied. The oak is the star for sure, and rather than overtaking the sweetness it makes the whiskey smooth and well-boded for a young product.

Rating: 5.6

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)