What we’re drinking: Buffalo Trace Prohibition Collection #2
Where it’s from: Buffalo Trace is a family-owned company based in Frankfort, KY, dating back to 1775. The distillery is currently home to Blanton’s, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, W.L. Weller and the annual Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.
Why we’re drinking this: We enjoyed 2023’s inaugural Prohibition Collection so much that we were curious how the distillery would create a follow-up. As a reminder, the Prohibition Collection is a limited-edition collection featuring five bottles commemorating the whiskeys (legally) produced and sold by the Buffalo Trace distillery (when it was known as the George T. Stagg Distillery during Prohibition). Only six distilleries in the country were granted licenses to produce “medicinal” whiskey, including what’s now known as Buffalo Trace.
“Over the last 240 years, we’ve been making whiskey, and this is a paying homage to the work that these guys did during Prohibition,” says Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. “Bringing great labels back to life is exciting for us.”
Buffalo Trace’s Newest Whiskey Collection Is a Nod to Prohibition
This new limited-edition set honors five Prohibition-era brands legally produced at the distilleryWhile not following the historical recipes per se, the whiskeys here take their names, packaging design and background from documents discovered in the distillery’s archives. “We’re making really good whiskey today,” Wheatley says. “We’re blending that with these time-honored labels that we have in our history at the plant. The fun thing that we had to do was go into our archives of millions of barrels and pick out the whiskeys that match the stories of these labels.” (The yeast they use, however, is the same as it was during Prohibition.)
Those historic labels and their new liquid counterparts:
- Mirror Brook is a 100-proof, bottled-in-bond blend of Kentucky straight whiskeys. The name first appeared in a letter written by Albert Blanton in 1932, in which he directed cases of O.F.C. bottled in 1919 to be rebottled as Mirror Brook to update obsolete pre-Prohibition labeling.
- Very Oldest Procurable (V.O.P.) is an uncut, unfiltered Kentucky straight bourbon. It was originally one of the whiskey brands bottled but not owned by the distillery during Prohibition.
- Anderson’s Belle is a 100-proof, bottled-in-bond wheated bourbon. The original was meant to honor a woman (though there is no record of who “Anderson’s Belle” was in the Distillery’s archives).
- Old Fashioned Mountain Corn is a 110-proof Kentucky straight corn whiskey. The original was fully owned and produced by the distillery during Prohibition, according to an original letter written by Blanton. Featured on the original and recreated packaging is the claim “Made in the Heart of the Bluegrass,” which appeared on many Prohibition whiskey brands, referencing a time before industrialized cities became the norm.
- Silver Wedding Rye Whiskey is a 125-proof Kentucky straight rye whiskey. Originally, it was crafted in Midway, KY, under Blanton’s supervision and references a 25th anniversary.
How they taste: A small media group (including yours truly) was able to sample very limited sips of each new bottle at a mid-January tasting in New York. Opinions varied wildly on what was best. Personally, I dug the slightly fruity and oaky Anderson’s Belle — Buffalo Trace does wheated bourbons extremely well, if you take a look at their portfolio — the V.O.P (which offers a bit of rye spice) and Silver Wedding, the last of which is earthy and bold with a touch of sweetness for balance. You’ll either like the corn whiskey or you won’t (I think it’s a good representation of the category). Mirror Brook fell a little thin to me, but you’ll find notes of rye, chocolate, oak spice and cherry.
Fun fact: The entire collection is housed in a custom wooden display case featuring historical images of the distillery, with each of the five 375ml bottles inspired by their Prohibition Era packaging and original bottle size. The back cartons feature the era’s standard cut-out for doctors to apply the prescription for medicinal whiskey.
Where to buy: The Buffalo Trace Prohibition Collection #2 will be released in limited quantities this month at a suggested retail price of $999.99 for five 375ml bottles. A companion five-cigar set by the Scandinavian Tobacco Group is available for sale at Cigora.
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