Experimental Collection

Release 23: 12 Year Bourbon Cut At 4 Years

The first experimental release of 2020, this wheat recipe bourbon aged for four years, was cut with water, then re-barreled and left to age for another eight years. Although unusual to interrupt the aging process, the distilling team at Buffalo Trace is pleased with the results. “We’ve always known water was a necessary component in making whiskey,” stated Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. “This experiment helped us to understand how important a role water actually plays in whiskey production. The result of this experiment led us to a bourbon that is actually one of my favorite experiments.”

• 12 Year Bourbon Cut At 4 Years

  This experimental barrel was filled with Buffalo Trace’s wheat mash recipe and entered into the barrel at 114 proof and put away to age on Dec. 10, 2007. After four years of aging in Warehouse C the barrel was removed, the bourbon was cut with water to lower it down to 100 proof, and then put back into the same barrel and left to age another eight years in the same warehouse. Harlen Wheatley, Master Distiller at Buffalo Trace Distillery, describes this bourbon as having a “nose that is sweet and floral, with notes of oak, vanilla, and a bit of leather. There’s a really smooth creamy mouthfeel here. The taste is a pleasing balance of butterscotch, honey, and wood with a crisp finish.