Croyview

On a beautiful sunny May bank holiday weekend, my friend and I went for our first ever Bourbon tasting experience. What made it more novel was that it was in the heart of social London, Covent Garden, to be exact.

Buffalo Trace opened its first distillery shop outside of the USA in London at the beginning of May. Their aim? To convert us non-Americans into drinking Bourbon. So, with this in mind, we booked ourselves into the Tradition + Change: Crafting Award-Winning Whiskey experience. To remember the day, we also purchased a commemorative glass in advance.

As soon as we entered the shop the staff were welcoming and chatty. They were as interested in my friend’s recent trip away as checking our tickets. This was a reflection of all the staff we encountered. One of the things I loved was the staff’s love and interest in good alcohol more widely, as well as their evident expertise.

The shop has two tasting rooms. The other tasting experience, Taste of Trace, uses a bright and breezy room with good amount of space. While the Tradition and Change experience takes place in their bar, with its atmospheric lighting and cosy and intimate feel. In addition, it has pictures on the back wall of some the key people in the history of Trace Distillery.

Our experience was packed, with every seat taken. I was surprised by the number of people originally from the USA who participated. As they explained, it is tough to get on a Distillery tour in the USA or even buy the Bourbon. So, having easy access to something they loved was outstanding.

What is Bourbon?

I certainly had no idea how Bourbon was made before I went to the tasting experience. Thankfully, the knowledgeable host and several other experienced participants did. Bourbon is made from Corn, Rye, and malted Barley. In fact, it needs to be at least 51 per cent corn. Then, each distillery/brand will play around with the proportions of each. For example, if the blender wants more spice they add more Rye. Malted Barley is added to enable the chemical reaction that creates alcohol. In addition, for the liquid to be classified as Bourbon, it must also be made in the USA and aged in charred oak barrels.

Buffalo Trace Distillery

The Bourbons from this Distillery are so in demand that it is almost impossible to get some of them in the USA. One of the participants highlighted that they buy the Bourbon in the supermarket here and send it back to the States to friends and family as that is the only way to get it. My neighbour on the experience highlighted that people get allocated a ticket, giving them a right to buy a bottle from the next batch. Now that is something else!

Buffalo Trace is the oldest continuously running whiskey distillery in the USA. When you remember that the USA had a prohibition in the 1920s, which banned alcohol, you realise what an achievement that is. The secret is that the distillery was one of very few to receive a permit to bottle medicinal whiskey, and even fewer were permitted to produce new whiskey from 1930 to 1933. Today, the distillery makes over 23 different brands, collections and experiences (including a very nice Vodka).

The famous people on the wall

There are several famous people on the bar’s wall, each with a unique story. But let’s highlight one: the pioneer of modern Bourbon.

In 1869, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor bought a small whiskey distillery in Leetown, where distilling and whiskey storage had been taking place since 1787. He made many innovations in the distilling of Bourbon, and his focus on high standards made him recognised as the Father of the modern Bourbon Industry.

If you want to learn more about history and key people, see The Buffalo Trace website.

The Bourbons

The Bourbon we were going taste were neatly lined up in the different glasses when we arrived. During the experience, we would taste Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare 10-Year-Old, E.H. Taylor Small Batch, and White Dog Mash. As I’m not a whiskey expert, I will leave it alone trying to explain the differences in tastes in detail. Instead, I’ll try to provide some very brief highlights about what I found out.

The secret to a good bourbon tasting experience is to use your nose! We discovered that a lot of taste is experienced through smell. And like Scottish whiskey adding water brings out a slightly different taste.

It is no wonder that Buffalo Trace has won so many awards and is the best-selling Bourbon in the US. It is lovely, designed for easy drinking, and has flavour. It can be drunk by itself or placed in a cocktail. I will certainly be seeing if I can order that Bourbon next time I’m out. (But mostly likely in a cocktail, as the Old Fashioned I had was gorgeous.)

The Eagle Rare is special as it has been aged for ten years. So, it took ten glorious years to gain flavour from the charred oak barrels it stored in. Now, being from Scotland, my first thought is ten years. What’s the big deal? That’s the point where malt whiskey starts to taste nice. However, for Bourbon, it is a pretty big deal! Due to extremes in temperature, much of the liquid is lost to evaporation, otherwise called Angel Share. Not much is left in the barrel when it gets to ten years! That is one of the reasons why you generally don’t see lots of old Bourbon.

E.H. Taylor Small Batch is a bourbon that honours one of the key people in the distillery’s history. This fella had the excellent idea of going to Scotland to learn from the experts. He then used and adapted the ideas for his climate. One innovation was to try and store the whisky at a more consistent temperature to slow down the maturing process (and get more liquid at the end). So, these Bourbon Barrels are stored at the higher part of the warehouse. This one also uses a bit more Rye so has more spice.

While the White Mash was interesting, it is more like a Schapps due to the high alcohol content. In fact, I wonder what it would be like to be very cold.

Conclusion

This was a very fun hour learning all about Bourbon and Buffalo Trace. I certainly know more than when I went in. What made the experience so good was the excellent and friendly staff. I also now have a new favourite drink: Bourbon. Not bad for an hour, and if my and my friend were any gauge, I suspect decent Bourbon will be the next spirit taking over the UK.