Buffalo Trace Distillery’s flagship remains their eponymous bourbon, but Eagle Rare has taken on the role of portfolio builder in recent years, at least at the very, very high end of Sazerac’s prized whiskey house. A twenty-year-old expression, Double Eagle Very Rare, appeared in 2019, followed by a 25-year-old in 2023 and a mind bending, wallet melting 30-year-old offering just this past spring. Even the Eagle Rare 17-year-old releases, part of the annual Antique Collection, have consistently seen four figure markups, leaving fans of the brand to fight for allocations of the consistently respectable yet comparatively humdrum 10-year-old classic. That was, until last year.
Fresh off a nearly decade-long, billion-dollar expansion, Buffalo Trace discovered that it finally had enough whiskey to tweak the lower end of the Eagle Rare lineup, so they upped the ante with a new permanent release aged two years longer and bottled at a slightly higher proof. On paper, it doesn’t seem like that would change the standard Eagle Rare formula too much. But does it?
Eagle Rare Bourbon 12 Years Old Review
It’s not a drastic departure from the classic, but there’s definitely a little more on offer here that shouldn’t go unnoticed by longtime fans of the brand. The aroma is perhaps the aspect most transformed by a little more time in the barrel. While the 10-year is famously fresh and light on its feet with notes of fruit and rye-driven baking spice, this 12-year offering delivers a lot more depth with richer notes of dark toffee, chewy caramels, and baked apples smothered in cinnamon sugar. The oak is a little more pronounced, as well, with a bigger smack of vanilla extract, some maple syrup, and undertones of sweet barrel char.
The palate is just as approachable with a slight uptick in proof, but that added octane is noticeable, driving those classic Eagle Rare notes with a little more enthusiasm than its younger sibling. The same butterscotch and caramelized sugar notes dominate the early part of the sip, but the barrel speaks just a little louder, delivering a bit more grip and structure and tempering the sweetness even more for an already well-restrained bourbon. The midpalate is lush with just-overcooked butterscotch, more baked apple, and a bit of green banana that sweetens into the finish, becoming almost flambéed with burnt sugar and fading notes of cocoa, dark cherry, and warm baking spice. The secondary market is still having its way with this one, and it’s probably not different enough to justify those prices. But it’s well worth the SRP, and at that price (or a little more), a must for any Buffalo Trace fan’s home bar.
95 proof.
A / $50 [BUY IT NOW FROM FROOTBAT]
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