Myers’s Rum Recruits Buffalo Trace Favorites Like Eagle Rare, Weller Bourbon for Quintet of Bespoke Cask Finishes

(Photo: Sazerac)

On Wednesday, Myers’s Rum unveiled a quintet of spirits finished in Buffalo Trace Antique Collection casks. The collaboration promises to combine some of the world’s most coveted whiskeys with the distinctly funky flavor of Jamaican rum.

Myers’s recruited assistance from George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller, Sazerac Rye 18 YO, Thomas H. Handy and Eagle Rare 17 YO to accomplish the lofty goal. Each expression began life with the brand’s four-year dark rum before finishing an undisclosed time in their respective Buffalo Trace barrels.

It’s not the first (or likely the last) time that Sazarac has married its flagship brands by way of a limited release. Corazón Tequila’s annual “Expresiones del Corazón” collection has finished agave spirits in Weller, Sazerac Rye, Stagg, Larue and even Blanton’s barrels in years past. Myers’s is the first to add rum into the equation.

Expressions in the Myers’s Signature Cask collection will roll out at a suggested retail price of $79.99 beginning this month. Alcohol content and tasting notes, however, vary wildly between each of the bottlings.

“In crafting these rums, we focused on sourcing and experimenting with outstanding spirits and producers to create category-redefining products,” Sazerac master blender Drew Mayville remarked in a news release. “With these new collections, we’re crossing spirit categories to see how the flavors interact, challenging ourselves to think creatively to develop products that entice consumers to try something they may not have previously considered.”

A full breakdown of the Signature Cask Collection is as follows:

Myers‘s Rum Signature Cask Collection – Finished in George T. Stagg Barrels is bottled at 100 proof, the highest of the bunch. Finished in a barrel that previously held 15-year barrel-proof bourbon reserves, this expression is said to boast aromas of dark molasses, leather and coffee alongside flavors of dark cherries and brown sugar. Myers’s claims that its palate is “the most powerful and complex of the five.”

Myers‘s Rum Signature Cask Collection – Finished in William Larue Weller Barrels adjust the alcohol content down to a cozy 83 proof. Time spent in 12-year wheated bourbon barrels is said to impart aromas of butterscotch and ripe bananas, flavors of vanilla, charred oak and sweet baking spice and a bourbon-tinged finish.

 Myers‘s Rum Signature Cask Collection – Finished in Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old Barrels is bottled at 86 proof. Myers’s says that the “natural sweetness of rum” plays ball against the “sharpness of the rye” with notes of orange peel, pineapple, subtle spice and lingering pepper.

Myers‘s Rum Signature Cask Collection – Finished in Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye Barrels clocks in at 84.5 proof. A rye-driven spiciness once again takes center stage, evidenced by mulled aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg and fruit. The Handy barrels used for this expression previously held 6-year unfiltered whiskey.

Myers‘s Rum Signature Cask Collection – Finished in Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Barrels, purportedly the most bourbon-forward in the collection, is bottled at 86 proof. Expect aromas of vanilla, baking spice and dark chocolate mixed with a palate of tropical fruit, oak and vanilla.