Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Sazerac Company · Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (National Historic Landmark)
Buffalo Trace is the bourbon that proves you don’t need to spend $60 to drink well. The limestone-filtered Kentucky River water gives it a mineral backbone that more expensive bourbons often lack — a subtle sweetness and body that comes from the geology, not from added sugar. At around $27, this is arguably the best value in American whiskey. The fact that they’ve been distilling on this site since before the American Revolution, including one of the only operations to legally produce whiskey through Prohibition as “medicinal spirits,” only adds to the legend.
Nose
Honey, vanilla, toffee, orange zest, caramel, hints of oak
Palate
Brown sugar, vanilla, leather, summer fruit, gentle smoke, tobacco leaf, spice
Finish
Dry and oak-forward with lingering licorice, rye spice, and caramel sweetness
- Mash Bill
- Undisclosed (estimated ~87.5% Corn, ~9% Rye, ~3.5% Malted Barley)
Cocktail Suggestion
Cocktail — The Limestone Smash: 2 oz Buffalo Trace · 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice · 1/2 oz honey syrup (1:1) · 4 fresh mint leaves. Muddle mint gently, shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Food Pairing
Pair with: Smoked brisket with a brown sugar rub — the caramel and smoke in both reinforce each other beautifully.
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