Every year, Kentucky's Buffalo Trace Distillery drops a range of rare and high-end whiskies. The series is known as Buffalo Trace's annual Antique Collection which features a range of 5 uncut and unfiltered American whiskies that have met the distillery's rigorous quality standards. We won't bore you with what they entail, but they involve a whole lot of liquid density test, chemical analysis – science stuff done in a lab – and then of course a team of taste testers who must be suitably impressed.

In fact, the 2021 Antique Collection did not include the coveted George T. Stagg Bourbon (that's the bottle on the far left featuring a stag's antlers), because 2021's batch did not meet their quality standards. 

“It just didn’t look right,” explained Drew Mayville, the master blender at Buffalo Trace. “It didn’t match the taste profile we expect from Stagg.”

In any case, we have good news because Stagg is back in the 2022 lineup, showing their "classic Stagg presence, full of maturity, balance and flavour". They are also bottled at a hefty, hefty proof of 138.7 (around 69% ABV!), the highest since 6 years ago in 2016. 

This year's Antique Collection consists of five expressions: 

• George T. Stagg Bourbon
• William Larue Weller Bourbon
• Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye Whiskey
• Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon
• Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old Whiskey

Bottles are slated to retail in the US around early-to-mid November at the suggested retail price of US$99 each per bottle.

Let's take a closer look at each bottle.

George T. Stagg Bourbon

This year’s offering was distilled in the spring of 2007, making it 15 years and 5 months old at bottling. The proof is 138.7 (around 69% ABV), the highest proof for this whiskey in the past six years. This year’s barrels were aged in Warehouse K.

William Larue Weller Bourbon

Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye Whiskey

Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Bourbon

Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old Whiskey

@CharsiuCharlie