Colonel E. H. Taylor Small Batch bourbon is produced by the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Of the four regularly produced whiskeys in the Taylor product line, the Small Batch is the easiest* to find at retail. Those familiar with Buffalo Trace products immediately understand the meaning of the asterisk as virtually every product from that fabled distillery typically lingers for less than a day upon delivery to retail shelves. That being said, each year for the past three years, I have been able to purchase at least one bottle of E. H. Taylor Small Batch at retail, so there is hope.
Late last year, I had Matic ... err Robin Masters present to me four identical glasses, each containing a half-ounce of a different Buffalo Trace product. Each glass was labeled with only a single letter such that Robin knew what was in each glass, but I had no clue. After working through the lineup, I offered up my ranking as well as a guess as to what bourbon was in which glass. I ranked the samples in the following order, favorite to least-favorite: #1) E. H. Taylor Small Batch, #2) Blanton's, #3) Eagle Rare, and #4) Buffalo Trace. Embarrassingly, I did not correctly identify any of the individual samples. Going into the blind tasting, I was convinced that I would put Eagle Rare at #1 and Blanton's at #4. This goes to show why blind tasting is such a powerful tool - it forces you to experience a whiskey in a totally honest way, void of all preconception and bias.
Bottled at 50% ABV, the inviting copper color is only the beginning of this whiskey's enjoyment for me. The nose is interesting - seductively, there is more to smell here than bourbon's hallmark notes of vanilla and caramel. There is actual fruit for me, cherries come to mind, as has apricot in some tastings. Very odd because Buffalo Trace's Eagle Rare bourbon is made from the same recipe and is more or less the same age, yet in there, Jolly Rancher Green Apple jumps out at me. Incredible.
Taste-wise there is a vibrant corn/grain sweetness but with a kettle-corn twist on the sweetness. Some vanilla, light oak, and light to medium spice, particularly cinnamon. The finish is on the long side for me and improves with each successive sip. More sweetness, light spice, light wood and zero drying effect. Of the three phases of the experience, I would say taste takes the top spot with the finish slightly edging out the nose for the second step on the podium, but I am splitting hairs here, I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of this bourbon.
Restructuring intervention complete, but wait, there's more! For those interested in more Taylor goodness, feel free to peruse below, beginning with this posts's original introduction.
Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. was quite the individual - a mayor, Kentucky state senator, successful businessman, all with notable distinction, but those achievements take a backseat to the purpose of this post because Colonel Taylor was also one heck of a whiskey man. While the topic of this post is the bourbon bearing his name, I feel it would be a great injustice to not mention at least a bullet-point summary of his whiskey contributions. In 1870 Colonel Taylor purchased a small distillery that today is known as Buffalo Trace. By all historical accounts, Colonel Taylor labored tirelessly to improve the quality of bourbon production and presentation which in turn cemented bourbon's perception as a premium spirit. In his day, bourbon's quality was often compromised by unscrupulous vendors who horrendously altered the whiskey they purchased from a distillery before selling it to individual consumers - think rampant dilution compensated with grain alcohol, turpentine, tobacco juice for color, etc. Because of this, bourbon began to gain a reputation of rot-gut garbage and Colonel Taylor, along with other distillery owners, joined forces to address this issue. Among the innovations - whiskey would be individually bottled at the distillery under brand names and sold to vendors in sealed bottles as well as the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 that introduced a Federal Government supervised standard in spirit production, maturation, bottling, and labeling.
Colonel Taylor also changed for the better the perception of the distillery itself. He was the first to build a distillery not as an industrial plant, but as a tourist destination. His distilleries featured intricate architectural details, elaborate gardens, and ample space for visitors to explore, relax, host formal social events, or just a leisurely afternoon family picnic. The last distillery he owned, the Old Taylor Distillery on Glenn's Creek near Frankfort, Kentucky was recently purchased, restored, and back to distilling whiskey under the name Castle & Key. Happily, the new owners preserved and accurately restored much of Colonel Taylor's original vision both architecturally as well as in spirit production. To oversee spirit production, Marianne Eaves, formerly Woodford Reserve's co-master distiller, was hired as master distiller.
Now let's talk bourbon - produced by Buffalo Trace, a distillery Colonel Taylor once owned, Colonel E. H. Taylor Small Batch is sold as a non-age-stated, Bottled in Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Because it is Bottled in Bond, we know that the bourbon in the bottle is at least 4 years old and is bottled at precisely 50% ABV. Having tried numerous whiskeys that are four and five years old, upon trying E. H. Taylor Small Batch, it became blindingly obvious to me that Buffalo Trace is using much older whiskey than the legal minimum. Indeed, even Buffalo Trace's master distiller Harlen Wheatley has verbally stated in interviews that the bourbon used in the E. H. Taylor line is on average 10 to 12 years old.
Further, Buffalo Trace has also stated that E. H. Taylor Small Batch is produced using their Mash Bill #1, which is also known as their 'low rye' mash bill. Currently, Buffalo Trace has three bourbon 'recipes', each differentiated by its mash bill:
Mash bill #1, low rye (thought to be less than 10% rye), produces their E. H. Taylor, Eagle Rare, George Stagg (both antique and Jr.), their namesake Buffalo Trace, Old Charter, and Benchmark #8 bourbons.
Mash bill #2, high rye (thought to be 12 - 15% rye), produces their Elmer T. Lee, Blanton's, Hancock Reserve, and Ancient Age bourbons.
Mash bill #3, wheated (wheat in place of rye), produces their Weller and Van Winkle bourbons.
Incredibly, Buffalo Trace has offered nine different variants of whiskey within their E.H. Taylor family, yet most were limited, one-and-done type releases. Almost all releases however were produced from the mash bill #1 recipe. There are four annually produced E. H. Taylor whiskeys:
Small Batch - the most common, verbally stated that each batch consists of 20 to 40 barrels of bourbon blended and selected by their tasting panel. In my opinion the most consistent in regard to taste-profile.
Single Barrel - just as the name implies, a single barrel of bourbon that Buffalo Trace's tasting panel feels is representative of the E. H. Taylor taste profile. Personally, I have had examples of single barrel that are toe-curlingly incredible, but I have also had examples that I felt were less impressive than the Small Batch.
Barrel Proof - also as the name implies - effectively Small Batch that is bottled without dilution. The only offering in the E. H. Taylor lineup that is not Bottled in Bond as it is not bottled at precisely 50% ABV. Naively, I passed up the opportunity to purchase a bottle of this at retail over three years ago; I have yet to see another bottle in the wild.
Straight Rye - not a bourbon and as such, made from Buffalo Trace's forth whiskey recipe, their rye whiskey recipe. I have never personally sampled this, though it is the easiest of the E.H. Taylor lineup to find in retail shops.
Now we get into the exotic, one-time/limited releases in the E. H. Taylor lineup. I have personally seen only one of these in the wild, but I would love to try some, particularly the tornado survivor:
Old Fashioned Sour Mash - Buffalo Trace state that whiskey bottled under this label utilizes a sour mash process similar to one used in Taylor's day - one that allows the mash to sour naturally for days before distillation. I believe this was one of Buffalo Trace's experimental offerings and as such its production run was small and finite. I do not believe Buffalo Trace has produced this variant in some time.
Warehouse C Tornado Surviving - just as the name implies, on April 2, 2006, a tornado passed near the distillery and damaged Warehouse C (a warehouse that Taylor himself had built in 1881). It took some time for the warehouse to be repaired, in fact the warehouse went roofless and partially wall-less for an entire summer, exposing the barrels stacked inside to the elements. Upon tasting the barrels years later, Buffalo Trace felt they had something special and as such offered a very limited, very rare product. I have never personally tasted this bourbon, but have read recaps from many who have tasted this bourbon blind, and all agree that it is beyond fantastic.
Cured Oak - The barrels used to produce this variant were constructed of staves that were seasoned (aka cured) for 13 months (more than double the standard length of time) before being assembled into barrels. The bourbon was aged for an astonishing 17 years in these barrels before bottling.
Seasoned Wood - one of two E. H. Taylor bourbons not to be made from mash bill #1, this rendition featured Buffalo Trace's wheated bourbon recipe. The barrels for this release utilized staves that were immersed in an enzyme rich bath for a period of time before being kiln-dried as well as staves that were seasoned outdoors for six months and still other staves that were left outdoors for a full 12 months. Finally, all the staves were brought together to form the barrels in which this release was aged.
Four Grain - essentially a one-time release, however Buffalo Trace spread the release across two consecutive years. Demand skyrocketed for this release when Jim Murray named this bourbon his 2018 World Whiskey of the Year. Just as the label indicates, this offering was made from a custom mash bill containing corn, malted barley, rye, and wheat. Aged for 12 and 13 years respectively and released in 2017 and 2018, this bourbon became one of the most sought after items of the year, particularly after the accolades started flowing.
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