By Richard Thomas
Rating: A-
(Credit: Sazerac)
Five months ago, I was fortunate enough to be invited to Buffalo Trace Distillery for the grand opening of the John G. Carlisle Cafe, the eatery opened inside the old Elmer T. Lee employee clubhouse. I personally found the Art Deco-influenced decor of the cafe complimented the Arts and Crafts architecture of the building itself, which is vintage 1930s having been built during Albert Blanton’s post-Prohibition construction boom, and I recommend making a stop there during any visit to the distillery. Even if you are just there to line up and take a crack and landing a prized bottle in the distillery shop (read on, because that notion is pertinent to this review), grab some iced tea or a Freddie Johnson root beer before you go home.
As part of that event, the invited press group received a sneak peek at the then-postponed Elmer T. Lee 40th Anniversary Bourbon. The 40th anniversary referenced is not when Lee was hired (1949, so that was 1989), but for the brand itself (1986). Just two years after Lee spearheaded the development of Blanton’s Single Barrel, part of an industry-wide effort to revive the fortunes of the bourbon industry in an era when sales were still falling, the owners of what was then the George T. Stagg Distillery asked Lee is they could introduce a single barrel brand named after him. The result was a brand that is produced in smaller numbers, is more prized and has been scarce for longer than Blanton’s.
Buffalo Trace’s rye-based mash bills more or less fall into two categories: mash bill #1 is the low rye mash bill and used for brands actually owned by Sazerac; mash bill #2 is a traditional bourbon mashbill, and is used for bourbon brands owned by partner companies. Both Blanton’s and Elmer T. Lee fall into the latter category, so what really distinguishes the two is where the barrels chosen were aged.
At the event, I was told those barrels came from Warehouse P, which is the same warehouse that houses the climate controlled “lab” ricks Buffalo Trace uses for ultra-aging. This version of Elmer T. Lee does not come from that part of the warehouse, but instead was drawn from the upper floors. I was also told it was nine years old. Neither of those things were referenced in the press release, but the rest of the details were: this is a cask strength version of the Elmer T. Lee single barrel, ranging from 124.8 to 138.6 proof depending on which specific barrel is used for a given bottle.
Fun fact: according to Harlen Wheatley, Lee’s favorite evening tipple was not bourbon, but a pina colada.
The Bourbon
I found the nose led with butterscotch and caramel, underscored by a current of clove and oak shavings, with hints of mint and pine coming up only after repeated nosings. Even with a splash of water (which was absolutely necessary for those who wanted to taste, rather than simply drink this bourbon), the whiskey leads with its spicy side. It’s like liquid cinnamon toast, but with more bite, as if clove and anise were added to the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. The finish opens with that butterscotch that disappeared on the palate, but only briefly, whereupon it reverts to cinnamon toast with extra bite, before turning to a fading current of just ginger.
The Price
This release was a distillery-only product, and availability was rationed through an online bottle lottery. Basically, patrons registered online, and if selected they had to show up at the distillery at a designated time to pick up and pay for their bottle. It was priced at $99.99, but retail flippers (not the black market) have bottles and are already asking up to $1,200 each for it.
