BroBible
The 2023 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection has arrived and I was able to get advanced samples of the near-impossible-to-find BTAC expressions to see if this year’s lineup lives up to the past.
The Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, better known as just ‘BTAC’, consists of the five expressions that Buffalo Trace Distillery believes best represent their distillery. Most of the bourbon world knows these unicorn bottles but I’ll list them out for folks who might not realize these are part of the same collection. Buffalo Trace’s 5-bottle BTAC portfolio consists of George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller, Thomas H. Handy, Eagle Rare 17 and Sazerac 18.
Buffalo Trace says these five BTAC expressions are “aged and proofed at the pinnacle of their flavor profiles to embody the best possible expression of each whiskey.” And that’s when we begin to dive into how this portfolio changes year over year.
2023 BTAC Collection Features Oldest Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon Release Yet
Buffalo Trace
The biggest news surrounding 2022’s BTAC portfolio was the return of George T. Stagg. Buffalo Trace Distillery opted to not release George T. Stagg in 2021, marking the first time Buffalo Trace opted to not release it. But it came back in 2022 at 138.7 proof, the highest proof of any George T. Stagg since 2016.
In the 2023 BTAC portfolio, the George T. Stagg pictured above is a 135-proof expression that is aged 15 years and 4-months. It was distilled in Spring 2008 and came from barrels housed in Warehouses C, I, K, L, and M.
The 2022 George T. Stagg won the award for Best American Whisky in the 2023 International Whisky Competition so this year’s expression has stiff competition, no pun intended. But it packs sumptuous flavors of chocolate, leather, and vanilla with a finish that lasts longer than sunsets this time of year.
Oldest Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon Yet
Arguably the biggest attention-grabber in the 2023 BTAC portfolio is the Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon. This expression is actually 19 years and 3 months old, making it the oldest Eagle Rare ever released in the 23 year history of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. If that’s confusing, ’17 Year’ is the minimum age of an Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon but for the BTAC they can and obviously do age the barrels longer.
The 2023 BTAC Eagle Rare was distilled in 2004 before being aged in barrels housed in Warehouses C, I, K, M, and Q. As is tradition since Eagle Rare was launched 48 years ago, it is bottled at 101 proof. 2022’s Eagle Rare 17 was the overall winner of the 2023 American Whiskey Masters competition.
2023’s Eagle Rare can certainly compete with that. It is imbued with deep caramel color and it packs flavors full of chocolate cake, cherry pie filling, and has a long/rich finish bringing waves of spice and notes of an “earthy cigar box” according to Buffalo Trace.
This was the first expression of the 5 2023 BTAC portfolio that I sampled and if I had my choice of purchasing any of the five bottles, this is it. Everything about this is balanced and aged to perfection.
2023 BTAC: William Larue Weller Bourbon, Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye Whiskey, and Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old Whiskey
The other three expressions in the 2023 BTAC portfolio are phenomenal. Over the past several years my palate has gravitated towards rye spice so the Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye Whiskey and the Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old Whiskey are two expressions I fall in love with each year.
2023 Thomas H. Handy was aged for 6+ years. It is uncut, unfiltered, barrel-strength, well-aged rye whiskey that measures 124.9 proof. Bursting with rye spice, the nose wafts notes of orange zest, lemon peel, caramel, and pine. On the palate there are flavors of freshly baked rye bread and honey. The smooth, long finish is where we get to some oak and black licorice.
Something about this expression, for lack of a better phrase, just felt rich to me. And I mean that in the ‘wealth’ sense and not like dense chocolate cake. It sipped like I was wearing $10,000 leather boots sitting in front of a roaring fireplace in a luxurious ranch out West. 10 out of 10.
The 2023 Sazerac 18-Year-Old Straight Rye Whiskey consists of Rye Whiskey barrels filled in the Fall of 2004 and Spring of 2005 before they were aged in Warehouses K, L, and M. If you’re a rye drinker then this is where you’re bread is getting buttered.
Classic notes of rye grain, clove, black pepper, vanilla, and oak waft off the pour. Down the gullet you’ll be Kentucky hugged by flavors of honey and tobacco. When I’d finished tasting the provided sample of the 2023 Sazerac 18-Year-Old Straight Rye Whiskey, of all the 2023 BTAC samples, this was the one I missed the most.
Finally we get to the William Larue Weller Bourbon. This is the 2023 BTAC’s uncut, unfiltered, wheated recipe bourbon. It was distilled in Spring 2011 before being aged in Warehouses C, L, M, and N. Then it went into the bottles at a flavorful 133.6 proof.
2022’s William Larue Weller was 124.7 so this year’s 133.6-proof marks a considerable jump up in proof. With that comes a LOT of flavor from this high-end wheated bourbon.
This was the last of the five 2023 BTAC expressions I sampled. Even though the George T. Stagg is higher proofed and I typically like to drink from lowest to highest, I knew this wheated bourbon would be bursting with flavor and I was rewarded for my wait.
The 2023 William Larue Weller Bourbon has rich notes of vanilla bean and candied brown sugar. Across the tongue it hits you with more brown sugar followed by nuanced cherry. The rich/long finish settles with maple syrup and baking spice.
Where To Find The 2023 BTAC Portfolio Bottles
BroBible
Buffalo Trace Distillery began rolling out the 2023 BTAC bottles earlier this month. That’s the good news. The not-so-great news is they are going to be very difficult to find, as is the case every year.
Your best bet in getting a bottle is to find a lottery at one of your local liquor stores. If you win, this will afford you the chance to purchase one of these at SRP. Each of the bottles has a suggested retail price of $124.99.
Additionally, visiting the Buffalo Trace Distillery website may yield additional information on how to find these bottles locally.