Buffalo Trace Announces the Return of a Pair of Rare EH Taylor Bourbons

(Photos: Buffalo Trace)

On Thursday, Buffalo Trace announced that it is reviving two of the most sought-after expressions in the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. lineup with the return of Four Grain and Cured Oak bourbons.

The two limited releases pay tribute to Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr., widely regarded as one of the founding figures of modern bourbon production and a driving force behind the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897.

Buffalo Trace said Four Grain, first released in 2017, will become an annual release and will be available at the distillery gift shop, the Sazerac House and select Kentucky and Louisiana retailers. Cured Oak, returning for the first time since its original debut in 2015, will be distributed nationally through Sazerac’s allocation network to select retailers, bars and restaurants. Both releases carry a suggested retail price of $79.99 per 750-milliliter bottle.

The 100-proof Four Grain Bourbon combines corn, rye, wheat and malted barley in a mashbill designed to showcase balance and complexity. Distilled in 2015 and aged for 10 years, the bourbon delivers notes of caramel, vanilla and chocolate layered with a lightly spiced finish, according to the distillery.

“What makes Four Grain so special is how unconventional it is,” Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley said in a news release. “Rye and wheat are often used separately, but combining them creates a completely different flavor experience.”

The returning Cured Oak expression also carries a 10-year age statement and is bottled in bond at 100 proof. The whiskey was aged in barrels made from white oak staves air-dried for 13 months, more than double the standard curing period used for most barrels at the distillery.

According to Wheatley, the longer curing process creates additional depth and complexity, producing notes of tobacco, dried fruit, vanilla and seasoned oak with a long, dry finish.