26-02-2025
The Legend of Buffalo Trace's ‘Intense' Bourbon Just Keeps Growing
The most premium offering in Blanton's bourbon lineup recently earned another major award as the Best Single Barrel Bourbon.
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Buffalo Trace's portfolio of bourbon brands is stacked with names most whiskey fans could recite by heart even under anesthesia. Still, few of the whiskey juggernaut's iconic labels have cultivated a collector following like Blanton's. Case in point: The now famed Blanton's superfan with a collection worth ~$250,000, Dominic Guglielmi, whom we've had the privilege of speaking to on multiple occasions, turned his quest to secure every Blanton's offering released into a glorious whiskey online archive and eventually a book. With a catalog of over 50+ expressions in its history, there are plenty of unicorn Blanton's bottles that only a handful of collectors will ever lay eyes on. But to Blanton's credit, the brand has also made an effort to make the most coveted expression in the permanent lineup more accessible (loosely speaking) over the last several years.
Here's everything you need to know about Blanton's Straight From the Barrel.
As the name implies, Blanton's Straight From the Barrel is dumped from barrels and directly bottled, unfiltered, and at powerful cask strength, making it one of, if not the purist forms of Blanton's available for tasting.
The specific whisky pulled straight from the barrel happens to be Blanton's Gold Edition, which was officially brought to the U.S. in the summer of 2020. It's the same as standard Blanton's in every way, except that it's 10 proof points higher at 103 vs. the standard 93.
In case you're confused about the existence of Blanton's Gold Edition, our former drink editor, Will Price, provided a nice summary of the Blanton's lineup well back in 2020. 'The standard lineup includes Gold, Special Reserve (called Green), and a barrel-proof variant called Straight From the Barrel. Gold is the first of the international Blanton lineup to come to the US. The reason for the odd split is murky. The short version is a Japanese company called Takara Shuzo owns Blanton's brand and distribution rights everywhere except the US, where Blanton's is distributed by Buffalo Trace. Buffalo Trace still distills and ages for every expression — domestic or international.'
Like its non-cask-strength Blanton's Gold cousin, Blanton's Straight From the Barrel (often abbreviated to SFTB) is Blanton's 6—to 8-year-old bourbon bottled at full power—128 proof. As Buffalo Trace describes it, the bourbon is known for its 'strong 'intense, and powerful' flavors of dark chocolate, caramel, and nuts, as well as a spicey finish that's typical of super-high-proof bourbons.
SFTB used to be available only in international markets and was probably easiest to find in Japan.
But as with Blanton's Gold, Buffalo Trace announced that Blanton's SFTB would also be available in the U.S. starting in the fall of 2020 on a 'very limited basis'. Better yet, the U.S. versions would ship in the typical 750ml bottles (international bottles are only 700ml.)
Earlier this February, the 2025 World Whiskies Awards USA winners were unveiled at a gala in Kentucky. The event spotlighted the best American-made whiskey across a range of specialized Straight from the Barrel was named the Best Single Barrel Bourbon at the event. It had also previously earned a Silver Award in the Best Single Barrel Bourbon category in the 2022 World Whiskies Awards. The bottle has also stacked awards from the arguably more prestigious San Franciso World Spirits Competition, including Gold in 2022 and Double Gold in 2023, among others.
Well-known whiskey writer and reviewer Fred Minnick even shared an anecdote about his experience reviewing whiskey for the 2017 San Franciso World Spirits Competition, in which Blanton's Straight From the Barrel was robbed (in Minnick's opinion) of the Best Bourbon prize. But SFTB has also earned plenty of praise from other sectors of the whiskey community long before now. Most memorable, perhaps, is Breaking Bourbon writer Jordan Moskal's key question at the end of his review published back in 2016. 'Why isn't this a part of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection yet?'The question seems more pertinent than ever, given Blanton's SFTB impressive trajectory since then. Whether it'll ever receive that distinction from Buffalo Trace remains to be seen, though it feels unlikely. For now, at least, Blanton's SFTB easily deserves consideration as one of the premium whiskeys the distillery makes, not named Van Winkle.
$150 at Buffalo Trace
