Buffalo Trace To Release “Old Fashioned Sour Mash”

Buffalo Trace Distillery has returned to its roots with the latest release in their long-running experimental whiskey program, a bourbon made using an old-fashioned process of souring the mash.  Distilled in May of 2002, this Old Fashioned Sour Mash experiment used Buffalo Trace’s proprietary mash.  The bourbon was cooked and cooled to standard; however, the similarities stop there. The mash was allowed “to sour” before yeast was added to start the fermentation process, a method long abandoned due to its more laborious process.

This sour mash method differs from the more common process used today by nearly all bourbon manufacturers. The routine method calls for cooking and cooling the mash, and then immediately adding yeast and a small amount of previously distilled mash (or “setback”) as it cools to sour the mash.   The traditional old-fashioned sour mash process fell out of favor many years ago, and it was not until a gathering of distillery “old timers” that Buffalo Trace was inspired to revive it.

After the sour mash was distilled, it was entered into barrels at two different entry proofs, 105 and 125. Aged for 13 years on the seventh floor of Warehouse I, the two different entry proofs took on unique characteristics. The 105 entry proof delivers a light body, with notes of vanilla and fruit, and a dry, nice finish, while the 125 entry proof offers a medium flavored body, with spicy flavors mingled with caramel, and a balanced pleasing finish.

These barrels are part of more than 4,000 experimental barrels of whiskey aging in the warehouses of Buffalo Trace Distillery. Each of them has unique characteristics that differentiate them in distinct ways. Some examples of experiments include unique mash bills, types of wood, and different barrel toasts. In order to further increase the scope, flexibility, and range of the experimental program, an entire micro distillery, named The Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. “OFC” Micro Distillery, complete with cookers, fermenting tanks, and a state-of-the-art micro still has been constructed within Buffalo Trace Distillery. Buffalo Trace has increased its commitment to experimentation with the recent addition of its Warehouse X. Although small in size, Warehouse X is designed to explore the extent of environmental influences on the flavor profiles of whiskey.

The Experimental Collection is packaged in 375ml bottles, with two bottles from each entry proof in a case. Both entry proofs were bottled at 90 proof.  Each label includes all the pertinent information unique to that barrel of whiskey. These whiskeys retail for approximately $46.35 each and will be available in late September, 2015.