Buffalo Trace Single Barrel Select Bourbon Whiskey (750ml) - Nicks Wine Merchants Exclusive

Seven years and seven months old / 45% single barrel pick. 240 bottles for Nicks Wine Merchants Australia.

There's a reason this distillery is called Buffalo Trace: the workhorse and bedrock of the operation rests on one label. At its best, it's a Bourbon of restrained sophistication. So when we were invited to join the Single Barrel Program, the offer proved irresistible. Our shipment has finally arrived, and we have to admit, we honestly were not expecting to enjoy this whiskey so much. It's a style that moves away from macho Bourbon, instead aligning with the feminine elegance of whiskeys like Evan Williams Single Barrel. As an affordable, middle-tier offering, this is also deceptively complex. The rye is evident but balanced by softer, sweeter notes like vanilla wafers, toasted sponge cake, cherry chocolate and just plain old, high quality American oak. It also feels fuller and richer (almost malty) and there's a lick of cherry ripe bar before a zap of spice and peppermint, followed by creamy vanilla and caramel notes that move into second gear, mix with light citrus oils, then push through the aftertaste. An ice cube and a comfortable chair by the barbeque is all you need to complete the picture. What's also enjoyable here is the oak is squeaky clean without encroaching, and a downright moreish mouthfeel makes it a viable 'malternative' for those who normally pass over American whiskey. Ardent value seekers should note the 750ml format, not 700, which adds a little extra sugar to the deal.

If you didn't already know, Buffalo Trace Distillery is home to legendary names such as Pappy Van Winkle as well as gems like Blanton's, Sazerac and Eagle Rare. The longest continuously running distillery in America, and one of the very few that survived Prohibition, it has developed a cult following for more than a few bottlings and is generally recognised as the benchmark for traditional whiskey styles in the USA. Century-old warehouses constructed using massive wooden beams and covered by a brick shell allow the alternating cooling and warming of Kentucky's four distinct seasons to mature the Bourbon by nature's timetable. Steam pumped throughout the warehouses during the extreme cold of winter compensates for the dramatic drops in temperature and gives the whiskey additional cycles in and out of the wood. This is said to make for a more balanced Bourbon as the liquid is able to take additional advantage of the natural sugars occurring in the charred barrels. The distillery was the first to use this method of ageing in 1859 and has done the same for this single cask pick. Matured in Warehouse #1, Barrel 13-K-22-I-7-38-170 was dumped on the 19th of July 2021 at seven years and seven months old. 240 bottles are on offer, bottled exclusively for Nicks Wine Merchants Australia. 45% Alc./Vol.