History of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection
History of the BTAC
The Buffalo Trace Distillery releases some of the best bourbons and rye whiskies every fall under their Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Currently, the BTAC is made up of 3 bourbons and 2 rye whiskies, George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller, Eagle Rare 17, Sazerac 18 and Thomas H. Handy. However, this was not always the lineup for the BTAC. Let’s take a look at the origins of the Antique Collection and how it has evolved over the years.
2000-2001: Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17 and Weller 19
2002: Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17, George T. Stagg and Weller 19
2003: Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17 and George T. Stagg. Weller 19 was dropped from the collection in 2003. This is most likely because of Buffalo Trace’s partnership with Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery (Pappy Van Winkle)
2004: Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17 and George T. Stagg
2005: Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17 and a new bourbon, William Larue Weller. George T. Stagg was released in 3 variations in 2005, a fall release, a spring release and a spring KY only release
2006 – 2013: Bufalo Trace finally settled on a line up in 2006. Sazerac 18, Eagle Rare 17, George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller and Thomas H. Handy
BTAC releases by proof and year:
12 comments
I’m getting so frustrated every time I see something good like this it’s know where to be found I live in San Diego and we never get any of the grate releases what can we do. other then move to Tennessee or Kentucky
You’re actually at an advantage in San Diego. You have BevMo which receives all special releases. They’re just really hard to find no matter where you are. I’d suggest finding a good whiskey bar to try some of these great bourbons until they’re released again this fall.
p.s. http://www.qualityliquorstore.com/ is great too and it’s in San Diego
Eureka in UTC has BTAC if you are interested.
Have you or anyone else in the comments section done tastings of any of these? If so, I would be interested in comparing tasting notes!
Love the spreadsheet breakdown at the end. Thanks for the work on it.
As far as finding BTAC, it’s not that difficult if you’re willing to work for it. The other part is being in the right place at the right time and getting to know people in your area.
Does anyone know when BT started releasing the info sheets for each bottling? Have they always done that?
They’ve always done that. You can find them all here: http://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/brands/antique-collection
Awesome, thanks. Are the 19yo Weller sheets posted somewhere too?