Release No. 24 in Buffalo Trace's Experimental Collection is not actually a bourbon. It is a baijiu-style spirit, distilled in Kentucky from sorghum and peas, aged 11 years in oak and bottled at 45% ABV in a 375ml bottle.
About This Spirit
Baijiu is China's national spirit and, by volume, the biggest spirit category on the planet. It is usually made from sorghum and rarely sees wood. Buffalo Trace took the traditional grains of sorghum and peas, distilled them the way it would a whiskey, then split the spirit between three new American white oak barrels: one uncharred, one charred and one toasted. After 11 years the three were married, chill filtered and bottled at 90 proof, and the release arrived in spring 2021. Because the recipe is not whiskey, it is labelled in the United States as a distilled specialty spirit.
Tasting Profile
- Nose: Honey, vanilla and butterscotch, with tinned peach, a little lemon peel and a grassy, faintly earthy note.
- Palate: Light bodied and unusual, with toffee and cinnamon sugar from the oak set against green, slightly vegetal flavours, orange and baked apple.
- Finish: Fairly short, sweet then gently sour, with cocoa, pink peppercorn and dry oak.
Serving & Food
Try it slightly cool, around 16 to 18°C, in small measures, either in a tulip glass or a traditional baijiu cup. Taste it neat first; a splash of water brings up the fruit. It sits well beside Sichuan cold dishes such as mouth-watering chicken, salt-baked chicken or a clay pot of lap mei fan.
How to Enjoy
Curious drinkers, fans of Buffalo Trace's experimental releases, and anyone who enjoys comparing Chinese and American spirit traditions side by side.
Product Details
Producer: Buffalo Trace Distillery
Series: Experimental Collection No. 24
Style: Baijiu-style spirit (US distilled specialty spirit, not bourbon)
Grain: Sorghum and peas
Age: 11 years
Cask: Uncharred, charred and toasted new American white oak, married
ABV: 45% / 90 proof
Volume: 375mL
Region: Kentucky, USA
About the Distillery
Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, started experimenting with recipes and barrel treatments more than twenty years ago. Today it has well over 30,000 experimental barrels ageing across its warehouses, each changing one or two things at a time: the grain recipe, the type of wood, the toast or char, the warehouse or simply the length of ageing.
Every so often a set that tells an interesting story is bottled as part of the Experimental Collection, always in half bottles and in small numbers, so drinkers can taste the results for themselves.