George T Stagg 2009, 17 years, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, 141.4 proof, 70.7% abv.

The bourbon from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, which is an annual release of 5 specially selected Buffalo Trace products: William Larue Weller, George T. Stagg, Thomas H. Handy, Sazerac 18, and Eagle Rare 17. These GTSs are usually hazmat level and are considered extremely good bourbons by drunks and critics alike.

Nose: honey, bread toast, buttered toast, something akin to hot caramel on vanilla ice cream, alcohol burn.

Palate: super dry, honey, maple syrup, spice hits the tongue on the back end.

Finish: almost non-existent, spice diminishes with time.

Dry glass: wax.

This tasted pretty good, in a short, subtle way, but I suspect because I had several high abv whiskies, that I was more acclimated to that 70% abv. Even so, it's so much better than Jr., the abv doesn't mask as much on GTS and so the flavors come out more distinguishable. It's a very potent bourbon.

Grade: A

Whiskyanalysis.com, 9.18 ± 0.25 on 23 reviews
Whiskyfun.com, Serge Valentin, sgp:730, 86 points
Malt maniacs, Ho-cheng Yao, 90 points
Malt maniacs, Oliver Klimek, 92 points
Whisky advocate, John Hansell, 95 points
Lawhiskeysociety, average, A

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

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