Just in case you felt that there weren’t enough opportunities in the whiskey world to drop the cost of a used car on a bottle of bourbon, Buffalo Trace has stepped in to provide exactly that. Today, the hype-creating bourbon megalith unveiled a new brand, and it’s a whopper: Eagle Rare 25 Year Old. It carries an absolutely outrageous $10,000 MSRP, but is unique for several reasons that stretch well beyond the eye-popping age statement. Let us state for the record: That price tag will absolutely not be stopping well-heeled collectors from snapping up the mere 200 bottles of Eagle Rare 25 Year Old that are being released.
Yes, only 200 bottles, which likely means that this batch of Eagle Rare 25 Year Old was created from just a small handful of barrels, albeit ones that had no doubt lost a lot of whiskey over the years to evaporation. With that said, there are a few key reasons why this release stands out, and why bourbon geeks will be losing their mind over this news:
1. Obviously, the age statement is a big deal. It’s the oldest expression of Eagle Rare ever released, joining the flagship bottle (10 years), the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection expression of Eagle Rare 17, and the elusive, 20-year-old Double Eagle Very Rare.
2. Perhaps more importantly, though, this release is the first from Buffalo Trace’s Warehouse P, one of the company’s two experimental warehouses. As they put it, “a purpose-built, state-of-the-art warehouse, Warehouse P was constructed to test if it was possible to extend favorably both the aging and maturation process typical for American whiskey and bourbon.” There will no doubt be some heavy-hitting releases coming from these warehouses in the future, and Eagle Rare 25 is our first preview of what those brands might entail. It’s also the payoff of a $20 million-plus investment for Buffalo Trace.
3. The Eagle Rare brand itself has been doing some of its best work lately, as the 19-year-old expression in this year’s BTAC collection was the most pleasantly delicious surprise in the group.
“Eagle Rare 25 defies the conventional limits of typical bourbon aging,” said Buffalo Trace Distillery Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley in a statement. “When crafting whiskey in conditions like those we experience in Kentucky, two reactions happen over time: more liquid is lost due to evaporation – also known as angel’s share – and extraction of flavors from the barrel becomes more intense, often leading older whiskeys to taste over-oaked, astringent, and dry. The unique set of aging conditions in Warehouse P has allowed us to create a 25-year-old bourbon that smooths out the extractions and highlights the desirable flavors found in ultra-aged American whiskey products.”
It almost feels as if including tasting notes is somewhere in the vicinity of pointless, given that none of us are likely to actually encounter this bottle in any way, shape or form, but Buffalo Trace says the following: “Eagle Rare 25 boasts notes of intense cherry, oak, dark chocolate, and an icing drizzle beginning on the nose; the palate is a balance of vanilla, dark fruit, and butterscotch, followed by an extremely long finish with lingering notes of rickhouse floor, baking spice, and black pepper.”
So there you have it. A mere $10,000 gets you the hand-blown crystal decanter and custom display box. The company says that small handful of bottles will be “released to select retailers, bars and restaurants globally,” and it will no doubt be fun to see what a high-end restaurant is charging per liquid oz of Eagle Rare 25. Does your local package store accept unborn children, in lieu of traditional payment?
Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident brown liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.