By Chris Perugini,Contributor
Copyright forbes
The 2025 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection
Buffalo Trace Distillery
The 2025 edition of The Buffalo Trace Antique Collection is here, now with 20% more whiskey.
For the first time in almost two decades, the Antique Collection is expanding with the addition of an E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond bourbon. With six bottles in the range, all eyes will be on the new expression and where it fits in with the rest of the series.
I sat down with Buffalo Trace Master Distillery Harlan Wheatley and Andrew Duncan, Global Brand Director for Sazerac’s American whiskey portfolio, to discuss the 2025 Antique Collection and got an early taste of the entire range. My first impression tasting notes1 are below.
The New Colonel On The Block
The E.H. Taylor brand is named after Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr., who ran the O.F.C. distillery in the late 1800s and left a transformative imprint on the American whiskey world through various technical innovations and advocacy (including the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897).
In 1885, Col. Taylor commissioned the construction of Warehouse C, the barrel warehouse he was most proud of and the final piece of what he called his “model distillery.” Warehouse C would later become the aging location for two highly collectible E.H. Taylor expressions—“Warehouse C Tornado Surviving” and the aptly-named “Warehouse C.”
Buffalo Trace Warehouse C was built during Taylor’s operation of the distillery and is still used today.
Buffalo Trace Distillery
The addition of this new expression adds a permanent bottled-in-bond product to the Antique Collection lineup, honoring the man who was instrumental in the passing of its legislation.
“The Antique Collection is meant to celebrate the visionaries that have come through Buffalo Trace Distillery. We want to honor those visionaries, “said Duncan. “It seemed fitting that the father of modern bourbon and the father of the Bottled-in-Bond Act should have a place in the Antique Collection.”
“We’ve been looking for a whiskey that was worthy of putting in the Antique Collection for several years and we found it for this year. It has taken quite a long time to find the right one,” added Duncan.
Looking at the people already represented in the collection, “The gap that we saw was Taylor, so it was an obvious add for us,” said Wheatley.
More Mashbill No. 1
The addition of E.H. Taylor to the BTAC lineup means that half of the series is comprised of bourbon made with Buffalo Trace’s low-rye “Mashbill No. 1.” This recipe is used in the creation of many of Buffalo Trace’s most popular product lines, including their namesake Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Benchmark, Eagle Rare and Stagg.
Those familiar with Buffalo Trace’s products may be wondering why the distillery doesn’t add a Blanton’s product to the BTAC lineup.
Sazerac (Buffalo Trace’s parent company) doesn’t own the trademark to Blanton’s—Age International, Inc. (a subsidiary of Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd) does. Age International has a long-standing production agreement with Sazerac in which Buffalo Trace Mashbill No. 2 products (like Blanton’s) are distilled and aged at Buffalo Trace, but Buffalo Trace has limited control over what happens with those brands after production.
With so many products in the Antique Collection made from the same recipe, Buffalo Trace uses a variety of production techniques to create divergent flavor profiles across their brand portfolio, including barrel selection from various warehouses and barrel locations inside those warehouses, which can vary from floor to floor. Some warehouses can even produce differences in flavor depending on where the barrel sits on a particular floor.
“It comes down to individual barrel selection. Barrels can come from similar locations and exhibit very different flavor profiles. Our team selects on taste and flavor profile,” said Duncan.
“We’ve added 19 more warehouses to our distillery and as we do that, we purposely diversify the whiskey so we can get a good cross-section and consistent flavors” added Wheatley.
Buffalo Trace’s new warehouses are part of an expansion project that began in 2018. They were strictly designed with consistency in flavor as the final goal in an attempt to control as much of the “uncontrollables” as possible when it comes to aging whiskey.
With an established massive inventory of well-aged whiskey and an expansion product that allows those efforts to scale well into the future, Buffalo Trace has already laid the groundwork to ensure consistency in the Antique Collection for many years to come.
2025 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection First Impression Tasting Notes1
E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond
Made from Buffalo Trace’s very low rye “Mash Bill No. 1,” E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond was distilled in the Spring of 2010 and bottled in the Fall of 2025 at 100 proof. The barrels used to create 2025 E.H. Taylor came from floors 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of Warehouses K, L, P, N, U, I and C. The barrels from Warehouse C were a nod to the man who created that historic warehouse.
E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond
Buffalo Trace Distillery
This whiskey appears amber and clear in the glass.
On the nose, this is the most oak-forward E.H. Taylor product I’ve ever tried. My notes include apple crisp with extra cinnamon, soft vanilla, bramble fruit, clove and a hint of dates.
On the palate, I find spicy oak first, then vanilla wafers, a hint of baked apple, cherry reds hots, ripe raspberry, and some mocha. The finish is warming and subtle. After a while, some wood tannins finally show up, along with a bit of pepper and a restrained layer of dried berries.
2025’s BTAC E.H. Taylor is has all the qualities one looks for in a well-aged bourbon. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the flavor profile, but of the six whiskies in the lineup, this was the most difficult for me to articlate. The oak is there, and there is a supporting cast of flavors, but many of them were a bit too muted, leaving things unbalanced for me, especially on the palate.
Sazerac 18 Year
Made from Buffalo Trace’s “low rye” rye mash bill, Sazerac 18 Year was distilled in the Spring of 2006 and 2007 and bottled in the Fall of 2025 at 90 proof. The barrels used to create 2025 Sazerac 18 Year came from the 2nd and 3rd floors of Warehouses O, K and L.
2025 Sazerac 18 Year
Buffalo Trace Distillery
This whiskey appears light amber and a bit thin in the glass, which is to be expected as the lowest proof whiskey in the lineup.
The nose starts off sweet and inviting, with hard candy sweetness and hints of leafy herbs, followed by a distinct strawberry Fruit by the Foot note. Shy oak only makes a brief appearance at the end.
On the palate, this is fruit salad in a glass interlaced with a surprisingly sweet oak, followed by a hint of ginger and mint. There’s also a deep, citrusy juiciness that’s not expected in a whiskey of this age.
The finish starts with more herbs, more sweet oak, and a tart cranberry note.
From nose to palate to finish, Sazerac 18 has an eclectic combination of flavors this year that aren’t entirely in harmony with each other. The tartness and mintiness clashed at times and the oak was way sweeter than in previous years.
Thomas H. Handy
Made from Buffalo Trace’s “low rye” rye mash bill (assumed to be around 51% rye), Thomas H. Handy was distilled in the Spring of 2018 and 2019 and bottled in Fall of 2025 at 129.8 proof. The barrels used to create 2025 Thomas H. Handy came from floors 4, 5, 6 and 7 of Warehouses N, L, AA and DD. This is the second year in a row that whiskey from Buffalo Trace’s new warehouses have been used in Thomas H. Handy.
2024 Thomas H. Handy
Buffalo Trace Distillery
This whiskey appears dark amber and viscous in the glass.
On the nose, every chocolate covered fruit imaginable. Chocolate covered cherry, blueberry, orange, strawberry, apple, and more. There was also a hint of toasted coconut that added an unexpected, but totally welcome tropical vibe to the nose. The oak was present but in-check and the rye spice added some nice zip to round things out.
On the palate, apricot, pink bubblegum, baked apple, a more forward rye spice, more well-integrated oak, earthiness and marshmallow.
The finish starts with more ripe fruit, mulling spice, and oak in all the right ways. Salted caramel and crème brûlée round out a fun finish.
Thomas H. Handy is a polarizing expression in the Antique Collection and I think part of the hesitation with consumers is that rye whiskey’s spice notes can get intense when bottled at barrel proof. If there’s enough fruitiness to balance it out, as is the case this year, it works beautifully. If there isn’t, the spice can completely take over. If you’ve been on the fence about trying THH, this is the year to take the leap and dive in.
Eagle Rare 17 Year
Made from Buffalo Trace’s very low rye “Mash Bill No. 1,” Eagle Rare 17 Year was distilled in the Spring of 2007 and bottled in the Fall of 2025 at 101 proof. The barrels used to create 2025 Eagle Rare 17 Year came from the first three floors of Warehouses L, Q, K and P.
2024 Eagle Rare 17 Year
Buffalo Trace Distillery
This whiskey appears light amber.
On the nose, notes of clove, graham cracker, syrup-drizzled oak, poached pears, flaky pastry and kettle corn.
Caramel is front and center on the palate, followed by cinnamon sugar toast, lots of oak, bing cherries, leather, peanut brittle and a hint of ripe raspberry.
On the finish, the sweetness shifts to burnt sugar and honey and the oak is sharper, but not astringent at all. The fruitiness also shifts completely to a dried/dehydrated fruit profile. It’s a really fun evolution from nose to finish.
This Eagle Rare 17 Year takes everything I love about the standard Eagle Rare 10 Year profile and adds layers of oak and deep caramel sweetness that take the flavor profile to new heights. The oak influence has no business being this present without being tannic and the evolution of this bourbon over time makes me wish I could have spent another hour letting it develop.
George T. Stagg
Made from Buffalo Trace’s very low rye “Mash Bill No. 1,” George T Stagg was distilled in the Spring of 2010 and bottled in the Fall of 2025 at a whopping 142.8 proof. The barrels used to create 2025 George T. Stagg came from floors 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 of Warehouses K, L, P, N, U and I.
2024 George T. Stagg
Buffalo Trace Distillery
This whiskey appears amber with a reddish hue.
On the palate, classic GTS black cherry, chocolate covered coffee beans, instant vanilla pudding, and a restrained layer of oak. For a whiskey of this proof, the spiciness is astonishingly tempered as well.
On the palate, drying oak paves the way for more cherry, clove, caramel drizzle, white pepper, old leather, and aromatic tobacco leaves.
I expected a hard-fitting finish, but was instead greeted with a gentle arrival of assorted pastries, dark dried fruits, and a note somewhere between cola and root beer.
Only George T. Stagg could hit you with all of its might year after year and still leave you wanting more. 2025 brings the highest proof George T. Stagg since 2016, but you wouldn’t know it if you sipped it blind. There’s something about the confluence of so many big flavors that always seems to fit together perfectly. This whiskey is a fan favorite for a reason, and 2025 will be no exception.
William Larue Weller
Made from Buffalo Trace’s wheated mash bill, William Larue Weller was distilled in December 2010, January 2011 and January 2013, and bottled in the Fall of 2025 at 129 proof. The barrels used to create 2024 William Larue Weller came from the 3rd and 4th floors of Warehouses D, Q, N, P and I.
2024 William Larue Weller
Buffalo Trace Distillery
This whiskey appears amber in the glass.
On the nose, I find notes of cherry cobbler, vanilla ice cream, Apple Jacks, rich caramel, dark chocolate, and a really fun sugar plum note.
On the palate, toasted oak appears first, then mixed berry pie (with slightly overcooked crust), clove, allspice, a whisper of spearmint, raisin bread, almond, and butterscotch.
The finish opens with a short blast of spice that quickly gives way to more creamy vanilla, brandied cherries, wild blueberries, assorted baking spice, hints of citrus peel and what can only be described as sweet wheat.
For the second year in a row, William Larue Weller is my favorite whiskey of the Antique Collection. For the second year in a row, it wasn’t even close. From the very first sip, I knew that this whiskey was special. The perfect balance of berries, rich sweetness, oak, and spice is everything I want in a bourbon, and I have no doubt that the 2025 edition will continue to uphold the reputation William Larue Weller has rightfully earned over the years.
Follow me on Instagram at @singlemaltsavvy
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1. My tasting notes are typically collected in a controlled setting over the course of three separate tasting sessions across multiple days. These tasting notes are based on a single tasting experience in less structured setting.
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