Buffalo Trace Experimental

[KyleCBreese]

Wondering which BTEC's people thought were very good and which people thought were horrible?

I finally saw one available in NJ and had to buy it. It seems the only experiment was that the staves were air-dried for 6 months.

Are they generally worth the $50 price tag?

[Conquistador]

Like most things in life, it is worth whatever you are willing to pay. With products like BTEC and the BT Single Oak Project, the whiskies can be vastly different between releases. Many have posted negative reviews of the BTEC oat and the BTEC rice, and others thought the BTEC wheated bourbons were OK to very good. But I think the major consensus was that these types of whiskies might be nice to try if you can afford them (again, we come back to "worth" being what you would be willing to pay), but none would really be something you would buy as a regular purchase. Since these are 375ml bottles, what we're really talking about are $100 bottles (for a standard 750ml). There are very few whiskies that I'd purchase on a regular basis for $100 a bottle.

[KyleCBreese]

I agree. I guess since I haven't seen it in NJ, my curiousity got the best of me and I had to buy it. If I hear excellent reviews on a certain Experiment, I would buy it again. I guess 1 bottle is good for now.

[The Advantage]

I have all four of the Experimental Wheats and really loved the Wheat 115. Still working my way through the others. I just got all of the Extended Stave Drying Time ones, might sample tonight.

[tanstaafl2]

I know I am probably the exception but I enjoy the experiments so I am always looking for ones I haven't seen. I use the BT website to try to keep track of what is out there.

Although these are experiments some of them are 15-20yo bourbons and quite good in their own right. The oat bourbon was certainly an exception although I found the rice bourbon to be perfectly fine if a bit bland. The risk you take with an experiment I suppose.

The 13 month extended drying time stave experiment just got high marks in the latest whisky advocate blog which you can take for what it is worth. The 6 month was supposedly the reference barrel in that it was the reported routine drying time (although even that seems a bit long). At 15yo this are both well aged interesting bourbons to me. I also thought the wheat barrel entry proof bourbon experiment was interesting and look forward to trying the similar rye barrel entry proof bottles.

Are they worth the cost? Well, as noted it is relative to each individual. I don't drink bourbon daily so when I do make the time to do so I am always looking to try something new and different and I particularly enjoy comparing different things. These certainly fit the bill!

[KyleCBreese]

The 6 month was supposedly the reference barrel in that it was the reported routine drying time (although even that seems a bit long).

Just purchased 2 of the 2014 BTEC (the 105 and the 125), and they have 3-month stave drying times, so it looks like the 6-month drying time wasn't just a reference.

[garbanzobean]

I know I am probably the exception but I enjoy the experiments so I am always looking for ones I haven't seen. I use the BT website to try to keep track of what is out there.

Although these are experiments some of them are 15-20yo bourbons and quite good in their own right. The oat bourbon was certainly an exception although I found the rice bourbon to be perfectly fine if a bit bland. The risk you take with an experiment I suppose.

The 13 month extended drying time stave experiment just got high marks in the latest whisky advocate blog which you can take for what it is worth. The 6 month was supposedly the reference barrel in that it was the reported routine drying time (although even that seems a bit long). At 15yo this are both well aged interesting bourbons to me. I also thought the wheat barrel entry proof bourbon experiment was interesting and look forward to trying the similar rye barrel entry proof bottles.

Are they worth the cost? Well, as noted it is relative to each individual. I don't drink bourbon daily so when I do make the time to do so I am always looking to try something new and different and I particularly enjoy comparing different things. These certainly fit the bill!

To parrot part of tanstaafl2's post, I really enjoyed the BTEC 15 yr Extended Stave drying time bottle I purchased. It was marked up a good bit ($64ish), but was a really enjoyable pour. There are still a few left on the shelf at my local store, but I think I will leave them for other like-minded bourbon anoraks to try and enjoy. Hopefully they get as much a kick out of trying them as I did.

[mopgcw]

personally, I liked the rice experimental. the oats not so much.