Buffalo Trace’s new special release bourbon celebrates a historic warehouse
Buffalo Trace is releasing a special bourbon from a warehouse that it says “produces some of our best whiskies.”
Warehouse C, built in 1885, is also “the focal point of tours and advertisements, along with being lovingly featured in many visitor photos,” the Franklin County distillery said in a news release.
The Frankfort distillery said its E.H. Taylor Jr. Warehouse C bourbon has been aged 10 years in the center of the warehouse, which was the pride of distiller and Frankfort mayor Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr., who highlighted it twice in a lithograph book he commissioned.
“We know Col. Taylor had a lot of pride and affection for Warehouse C, as evidenced by his attention for detail, especially on the exterior with the architectural features,” Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley said in the release. “Fortunately, it’s a really good aging warehouse for bourbon too, so not only does the warehouse look good, it produces some of our best whiskies. This year’s release of the Warehouse C bourbon is no exception.”
Half the barrels in the “very limited” Warehouse C release come from the second floor and half from the fifth. The bourbon is part of Buffalo Trace’s E.H. Taylor Jr. Small Batch line.
Bottles of Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Bourbon Whiskey will be available in early June for a suggested retail price of $69.99 per 750 mL bottle.
“The ideal aging locations for these barrels led to a wonderful flavor combination, with a nose of cherry cobbler with rum sauce and a hint of oak; a palate of cherry cola, vanilla bean and toasted oak; and a finish that is long and lingering with a hint of spearmint, coffee, raisin bread and anise,” Buffalo Trace said in the release.
Warehouse C has seen a lot in its 136 years, including flooding and, in 2006, a storm that ripped off the roof with tornado-strength winds.
Six years later, the distillery released bottles of E.H. Taylor Jr. Warehouse C “Tornado Surviving” Bourbon, garnering rave reviews and inspiring the construction of a new warehouse that enables the company to experiment with the effects of light, heat, air flow and humidity.
Buffalo Trace said it has updated Warehouse C to install a barrel elevator that makes moving barrels easier than the ramps that were originally used, and the building has been “re-ricked and re-floored to maximize capacity.”
“The re-design of Warehouse C when the elevator was put in allows for good air flow throughout the floors, making for an excellent all around aging warehouse for new and old barrels,” the release stated.
This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 7:24 PM.
