George T Stagg

On the masthead of this blog you will notice the beautiful bottle of George T Stagg, one of three whiskeys in Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection. Selling for a hefty $50-$60 per bottle, the 2006 release is already nearly sold out. I still find a few bottles remaining on the shelves of well-stocked and upscale outlets, sometimes even locked in display cases, but they won’t be there a month from now. Distributors are getting stingy with their allocations, not only because this bourbon is in great demand for collectors and bourbon lovers, but also because they hate to see these bottles turning up on eBay auctions where they are often sold at a huge and probably illegal profit. Prices on eBay today range from $84.95 (plus $15 shipping) to $104.95. A rarer 2005 bottle is going for $109.95 and an even more uncommon 2004 release is $139.95.
Bourbon drinkers tend to feel strongly about this bourbon, dividing into two camps with almost no one in the middle. Either they hate it, considering an uncut, unfiltered bourbon simply undrinkable. Others—myself included—love the full oak and peppery finish of this chocolate thunder. Some choose to proof it down by adding water, but I prefer to sip an shot of this throughout a relaxing evening, never proceeding to the next sip until the explosion of flavor in my mouth has subsided and the taste is completely gone.
George T Stagg is probably my favorite premium bourbon, but because Buffalo Trace releases it so infrequently I have to stretch it out throughout the year. As soon as it was released in the fall I bought as many bottles as I could justify and will savor them throughout the year. To sip Stagg is to savor the seasons of the state that gave it the flavorful fortitude that makes it unique. Uncut, unfiltered, unpretentious.
If you are lucky enough to find an outlet that makes the fact sheet that the distillery released with the bottles, you find the kind of stuff that avid bourbon fans love. Interestingly the 2004 release (which I believe was their first venture into the ‘straight-out-of-the-barrel’ market) was only (did I really say “only?”) 129 proof, but the 2005 and 2006 releases were 141.2 and 140.6 proof respectively. I still haven’t figured out why their would be a 6% alcohol content difference from one year to the next since they mix 89 barrels. All I can figure out is that the first year’s release came from a different part of the warehouse or was a different age than subsequent years.
The fall 2006 release was distilled in 1990 and aged for over sixteen years and when you roll this over your tongue you taste every temperature change that drew that whiskey in and out of the char in all 187 months. The deepness of the bourbon’s color is a precursor of the rush of taste that explodes when you sip it. The taste is shockingly caramel, palpably warm and oaky, and feels like it thickens into a light syrup swirling over your taste buds. If you have to proof it down you will still enjoy the flavor, but the robust peppery finish is part of the pleasure as far as I am concerned, Try just a little of it neat first and then make adjustments if you must. While I enjoy Booker’s, Jim Beam’s readily available contribution to the U&U market, Stagg far surpasses it for a memorable bourbon tasting experience. I love Stagg.

Here is the fact sheet from the good folks at Buffalo Trace:

GEORGE T. Stagg

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

 

Distiller

Buffalo Trace Distillery, Franklin County, Kentucky

Age Profile

Year of Distillation: Spring of 1990

Release: Fall of 2006

Release Brand name: George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Proof for release: 140.6 proof

Recipe

Large Grain: Kentucky Corn; Distillers Grade #1 and #2

Small Grain: Minnesota Rye

Finish Grain: North Dakota Malted Barley

Cooking / Fermentation

Milling screen: #10

Cook Temperature: 240 degrees Fahrenheit

Water: Kentucky Limestone with Reverse Osmosis

Fermentation: Carbon Steel / Black Iron fermenter

Mash: Sour

Distillation & Aging

Distillation: Double Distilled; beer still and doubler

Proof off still: 135 Proof

Barrel: New, White Oak; #4 Char; Charred for 55 seconds

Barrel maker: Independent Stave; Lebanon KY

Barrel entry proof: 125 proof

Barrel size: 53 liquid gallons; 66.25 Original Proof Gallons

Warehouse: Warehouse I

Floor: 8^th

Evaporation loss: 57.57 % of the original whiskey lost to evaporation

Bottling

Barrel selection: 89 hand picked barrels

Filtration: None

Product Age: 16 years and 3 months old at bottling

Tasting comment: “Like a big chunk of dark chocolate”

 

Whisky Magazine Issue #61

I am dying to see a copy of Issue #61 of Whisky Magazine. A trip to the bookstore today found only Issue #60, with hardly a mention of bourbon, still on the stand. I’ll share the basic contents as soon as I get my copy. Congratulations again to the folks at Buffalo Trace who just keep racking up the awards.

Welcome to My Bourbon Blog!

I am a bourbon lover. It just might be because I am a Kentuckian and love the things my state produces. Perhaps I love the craftsmanship of past generations preserved in a postmodern world. Maybe I just love the taste. Whatever the reasons, I resonate with bourbon and all things connected with it. The smell of a rickhouse, the torrent of white dog in the lockbox, the cold caress of a copper whiskey thief, or the amber glow of a half-filled glass held up in the light all awaken something asleep in me. Chords in my heart begin to vibrate in harmony when I nose the difference in a rye and a wheat bourbon. Those moments are far more powerful than the alcohol in the bourbon, regardless of the proof.

So this blog will be my notes about bourbon. I’ll give my impressions of all the standards, experimentals, single-barrels, and whatever else I discover. I’ll share my take on distillery tours, tell how much I paid for stuff, and ask for pointers from others. I’ll post useful websites and try to get interviews with master distillers. I look forward to hearing from other bourbon lovers out there.

One other thing: this isn’t a whiskey blog. It’s a bourbon blog. I don’t care about scotch. I might make an occasional reference to Tennessee whiskey, or some variation like Sazerac rye, but rest assured that this blog is about bourbon. I hope other bourbon lovers will enjoy it.