Spirits · Red Meat & Cigar Club editorial
Bourbon Bottles Worth Knowing
Blanton's, Pappy Van Winkle, Buffalo Trace and Woodford Reserve.
Four bottles that every bourbon conversation eventually reaches. These are editorial profiles based on producer information and our own tasting impressions. We don't assign scores, and since prices vary widely by state and retailer, we don't quote them.
Blanton's Single Barrel
In 1984, master distiller Elmer T. Lee introduced Blanton's, the first single-barrel bourbon sold commercially. It's named for Col. Albert B. Blanton, who ran the Frankfort distillery for decades. It's made at the distillery now called Buffalo Trace, and the original bottling is 93 proof. Each round, faceted bottle carries a hand-written barrel and dump date and a stopper topped by a racehorse and jockey. There are eight stopper designs, each marked with one letter of B-L-A-N-T-O-N-S, and collectors try to get the full set.
In the glass: honey and orange peel on the nose, then caramel, vanilla, and a gentle rye spice. Medium body, warm finish. Because every barrel is different, no two bottles are identical. It's hard to find in many markets, so pour it for friends rather than locking it away.
Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve
Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle Sr. opened the Stitzel-Weller distillery in Louisville in 1935, known for wheated bourbon, which uses wheat in place of rye as the secondary grain. Today the Van Winkle bourbons are produced at Buffalo Trace through a partnership with the Van Winkle family that began in 2002. The Family Reserve line includes 15-, 20- and 23-year-old expressions. The 15-year-old is bottled at 107 proof.
In the glass: wheated softness despite the age: deep caramel, dark cherry, toffee and polished old oak, with a long, round finish. The releases are small, allocated, and arrive once a year, so the secondary market runs far above suggested retail. If you see one priced reasonably at a bar, try it. Just don't build your bourbon life around the hunt.
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon
The distillery on the Kentucky River in Frankfort has been called O.F.C. and George T. Stagg over its long history. It took the Buffalo Trace name in 1999, operated through Prohibition under a medicinal permit, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 2013. The flagship bourbon is 90 proof and made from the distillery's low-rye mash bill, the same family as Eagle Rare and E.H. Taylor.
In the glass: brown sugar, vanilla, a little mint and toffee. Easy-going and balanced, it's the definition of a daily pour that holds up neat, on a rock, or in an Old Fashioned.
Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select
Brown-Forman launched Woodford Reserve in 1996 at the restored Labrot & Graham distillery near Versailles, Kentucky, the historic Oscar Pepper site where James Crow refined sour-mash whiskey making. The site is a National Historic Landmark. Distiller's Select is bottled at 90.4 proof and blends whiskey from the distillery's copper pot stills with column-still bourbon. Woodford is also the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby.
In the glass: dried fruit, vanilla, toasted oak and cocoa, with a fuller, slightly oily texture from the pot still. A polished, steakhouse-friendly bourbon.
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