The Ultimate Guide to the 2024 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection
It's whiskey hunting season and collectors have been awaiting this highly anticipated release.
Courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery
As the days grow short and the evening air begins to chill, bourbon enthusiasts prepare for “hunting season.” Autumn is when most whiskey distilleries unveil their annual limited-time offerings, often the year’s most in-demand and collectible bottles.
Few annual releases rival the prestige of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Among enthusiasts, this grouping of five whiskeys inspires a particular zeal. Since its inception in 2000, the lineup has grown from three bottles to the current lineup of George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller, Sazerac Rye 18-Year-Old, Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old, and Thomas H. Handy rye.
Each bottle represents an elevated interpretation of Buffalo Trace Distillery’s different whiskey recipes, presented at either barrel proof point, a lengthy barrel maturation, or both.
Every year, the Antique Collection varies slightly, similar to different vintages from a winery. The offerings are blended differently, depending on the barrels that the distillery has available every year. Thus, there are annual fluctuations in proof and age.
These differences add to the collectability. Enthusiasts often compare each year’s releases and seek out expressions from years past that were uniquely delicious.
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“Each expression in the 2024 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection offers its own distinctive flavor profile, but I expect the William Larue Weller Bourbon to be a crowd favorite this year.”"
Harlen Wheatley, Buffalo Trace Distillery’s master distiller
Inevitably, one or two expressions become fan favorites each year.
“Each expression in the 2024 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection offers its own distinctive flavor profile, but I expect the William Larue Weller Bourbon to be a crowd favorite this year,” says Harlen Wheatley, Buffalo Trace Distillery’s master distiller.
Wheatley certainly knows his bourbon, but taste is always subjective. Thankfully, Buffalo Trace gave us an early sample of the 2024 Antique Collection and shared the juicy production details for each bottle. Before you start your hunt, read through this guide to discover which of these elusive bottles are the most worth targeting. Happy hunting!
Eagle Rare 17-Year-Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery
One of the big hits of last year’s Antique Collection was Eagle Rare 17. The bottling was composed entirely of 19-year-old bourbon, and it was lauded as one of the most delicious and full-flavored expressions in the bottle’s 23-year history.
This year’s bottle clocks in at the usual 101 proof (50.5% ABV) and was aged for 17 years and 4 months on the lower levels of Buffalo Trace’s rickhouses. The aroma on this year’s Eagle Rare 17 is rich and alluring, as it mixes notes of salted caramel with deep red fruit, like apple or cherry.
On the palate, the caramel and cherry remain and are joined with hints of warm baking spice and sweet pipe tobacco. It offers a satisfying finish reminiscent of warm vanilla. Overall, it’s a balanced and immensely pleasing pour with a solid depth of flavor, but few surprises.
George T. Stagg Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery
When fans discuss their favorite bottles in the Antique Collection, George T. Stagg is often near the top of the list. Distilled from the same mash bill as Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace, George T. Stagg presents a high-octane, deeply aged expression of that same distillate. Conspicuously absent from the 2021 collection, the bottle returned in 2022 at 138.7 proof, its all-time high.
The 2024 bottling is still intense at 136.1 proof and was aged for 15 years and 2 months. On the nose, its advanced age is apparent immediately. Woody, damp oak and barrel char fill the nose, while caramelized apple and dark maraschino cherry balance out the oakiness.
This bourbon doesn’t pull any punches. It’s still bold and oak-forward, but the heavy cherry sweetness plays a bigger role this year, along with notes of clove, allspice, and a bit of leathery tannins. The mouthfeel is viscous and coats the palate pleasantly, with a long-lingering trace of fine tobacco and salted caramel.
Like most past iterations, the 2024 version of George T. Stagg is bold and assertive. This year’s offering shows its age a bit more than past bottlings, but the base of caramel, cherry and apple notes provides enough sweetness to prevent the bourbon from becoming too tannic or overoaked.
Sazerac 18-Year-Old Straight Rye Whiskey
Courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery
The 18-year-old Sazerac rye is often the most overlooked bottle in the Antique Collection, likely because it’s just 90 proof. Sazerac 18 might not put up flashy counting statistics, but it steadily delivers on all of the intangibles that make it a consistent winner.
This year’s rye, again 90 proof and aged 18 years, 5 months, has a pleasing aroma of rich caramel with a hint of barrel char and a fruity presence similar to grape or plum. This rye also has a nice, leathery earthiness to the nose, with a pinch of herbal spice. On the palate, the whiskey begins with a big pop of sweet caramel, followed by a hint of rye spice and black pepper.
The real fun comes on the finish, with fresh herbal notes of Thai basil and mint present. Don’t let the lower proof throw you. From the nose to the palate and through the finish, this year’s Sazerac 18 presents one of the rye’s most interesting and complex bottlings in recent years.
Thomas H. Handy Rye Straight Rye Whiskey
Courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery
Named after the former owner of the famed Sazerac House in New Orleans, Thomas H. Handy is the more youthful and higher-proof counterpart to the Sazerac 18-year. Often overshadowed by the two cask-strength bourbons in the collection, it’s nonetheless a fan favorite among rye whiskey lovers.
The 2024 version was aged for 6 years in the middle to top floors of Buffalo Trace’s warehouses. It clocks in at an ample 127.2 proof, a slight uptick from last year’s 124.9-proof bottling.
On the nose, this year’s Thomas H. Handy presents a strong aroma of dark chocolate and orange zest, with a hint of allspice and caraway seeds. A bright orange peel note takes center stage on the palate with a big pop of clove, nutmeg and allspice. In the background, there’s a bit of dark roast coffee along with some herbal flourishes.
The mouthfeel of this rye is spectacular. It gently coats the mouth with a pleasant caramel flavor, accented with black pepper and clove. It’s a flashier, more intense expression of rye than this year’s Sazerac 18, but still quite satisfying.
William Larue Weller Straight Wheated Bourbon
Courtesy of Buffalo Trace Distillery
William Larue Weller is a perennial favorite in the Antique Collection, likely due to sharing a mash bill with Buffalo Trace Distillery’s other wheat-forward powerhouses in the Van Winkle line. This year’s 125.8-proof wheated bourbon was blended from barrels aged for 12 years and 6 months on lower floors of the rickhouse.
Wheatley is convinced this will be the fan favorite of this year’s collection.
“The vintage offers layers upon layers of aroma complexity, followed by the most delicious caramel and complex fruits, with a flavorful, long creamy and fulfilling finish,” he says. “At nearly 126 proof, this uncut, unfiltered whiskey is sure to satisfy those who appreciate a bold, barrel-strength pour.”
It’s hard to imagine any bourbon enthusiast will not enjoy its thick aroma of caramel apple and toasted marshmallow. Those sweet notes are balanced by a bit of pipe tobacco and leather on the margins.
Once sipped, the fruit notes that Wheatley points out are immediately noticeable — dark cherry, fig, and plum that are balanced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and a bit of oak. The finish is like rich butterscotch with warming, lingering spice notes of clove and cinnamon.
It’s difficult to argue with the master distiller here. This bourbon is delicious.
