Can you smell the change in the air? It’s nearly Halloween, so if you thought it was the odor of candy corns being melted down into election effigies, that’s understandable. No, that’s the smell of a fresh batch of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection being released into the wild, where it will immediately soar well above its laughably reasonable suggested retail prices. All five of the expressions are included this year, which was not the case a few years ago, and this year also marks the 25th anniversary of Sazerac acquiring the Weller brand. We have the details about this year’s collection, and it sounds like a good one.
According to Buffalo Trace master distiller Harlen Wheatley, this year’s William Larue Weller bourbon stands out in particular. “William Larue Weller Bourbon shines with its caramel notes and long, creamy finish,” he said in a statement. The 2024 William Larue Weller, of which Harlen speaks so highly, is a bourbon aged for at least 12 years on the lower floor of one of Buffalo Trace’s rickhouses. It’s made from the distillery’s wheated bourbon mashbill, went into the barrel at 114 proof, and came out at 125.8 proof. Official tasting notes say the nose has aromas of new leather, pipe tobacco, and caramel, followed by caramel, toffee, oak, and fruit on the palate. This year’s Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon was distilled in the spring of 2017, and is actually 17 years and four months old to be precise (remember, the age statement indicates the youngest liquid in the bottle). It’s bottled at 101 proof, and has notes of caramel, pepper, leather, oak, roasted tobacco, and dried fruit on the palate. George T. Stagg Bourbon, which was absent from the lineup in 2021, is back at 15 years and two months old and a hefty 136.1 proof, typical for this uncut and unfiltered beast of bourbon. Look for notes of aged wood, oak, dark cherry, caramel, and cinnamon on the palate.
The last two bottles in the BTAC are both rye whiskeys. First up is Sazerac 18-Year-Old, aged for 18 years and five months and bottled at 90 proof, with notes of rye spice, smoke, dark cherry, and a bit of licorice on the palate. The other rye is Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Straight Rye, a younger but higher proof version of the distillery’s rye whiskey. This was bottled at more than six years old and at 127.2 proof, with a spice-rich palate full of fresh black pepper, cinnamon, clove, and oak on the palate.
As mentioned earlier, you can expect to pay much more than the suggested retail price of $150 per bottle, and I mean much more—the 2020 George T. Stagg release, for example, is going for about $1,500 at Flaviar now. If you are committed to the hunt and ready to drop some cash, these bottles rarely disappoint, so good luck to you.
