Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C
photo by Matt Hakey
When it comes to building the hype and mystique for taters across the world, nobody does it better than Buffalo Trace. Nobody. It’s a double edged sword for bourbon lovers. On the one hand, the distillery graces us with some of the most intriguing products for the bourbon hunt. On the other hand, nothing is more frustrating than coming up empty in the endless hunt for unicorns. (Yes, we know the name “unicorns” is stupid. Give us another term and we’ll use it.)
Enter the next bottle in the long line of mythical creatures in the hunt: Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Bourbon. Announced earlier in May, these Buffalo have allegedly been roaming the wild lately. And while no Buffalo were harmed (i.e. opened) in the filming of this creature, Taters was able to snag a bottle from our friends at Belmont for some Glamour Shots.
Here is what the distillery has to say about this one:
In honor of Col. Taylor, Buffalo Trace is releasing a one-time only edition Warehouse C Bourbon in the E.H. Taylor, Jr. lineup, available this spring…
This ten-year-old Bottled in Bond bourbon was aged in Warehouse C, built by Col. Taylor in 1885, and the barrel warehouse he was most proud of – the final piece in his “model distillery….
The barrels in the E.H. Taylor Jr. Warehouse C release were all aged for ten years in the center of Warehouse C, with half of them coming from the 2nd floor and the other half from the 5th floor….
The second floor is an outstanding aging floor for older barrels. The ricks are very tight, making it slow and difficult to put in new barrels. The floor is very dry, making it ideal for 10 to 15-year-old products. The fifth floor of Warehouse C is a well-rounded aging floor with windows all the way around, providing excellent air flow throughout the floor. There is ample sunlight through these windows which helps heat up the warehouse and the aging process.
The ideal aging locations for these barrels led to a wonderful flavor combination, with a nose of cherry cobbler with rum sauce and a hint of oak; a palate of cherry cola, vanilla bean and toasted oak; and a finish that is long and lingering with a hint of spearmint, coffee, raisin bread and anise.
[Photo courtesty of Buffalo Trace Distillery]
As legend has it…ok, it’s actually true…on Sunday April 2, 2006 Central Kentucky was hit with a severe storm with tornado like winds hitting the distillery property. Already a prized warehouse at Buffalo Trace, the legend of Warehouse C only grew when the barrels survived the storm despite heavy damage to the roof and north brick wall.
Brilliantly, Buffalo Trace released a “Tornado Surviving” bourbon in 2012 – the third limited release in its high-end E.H. Taylor Collection. (We can neither confirm nor deny that the bottle survived the tornado and made it to the Land of Oz!)
Regardless, the lore and luster of these and subsequent releases of the Tornado Surviving bottles have led to the popularity of the collection reaching epic proportions with bottles on the secondary market rivaling what some might otherwise consider spending on a classic car!
Ever mindful of its tater base, Buffalo Trace’s release of Warehouse C Bourbon capitalizes on the mystique of the tornado – as well as floods and blizzards – in bringing this new unicorn to market. While the “tornado” name does not grace the bottle, it does come with the promise of a “one-time only edition” that is sure to lure the bourbon hunters of the world. The odds of finding this creature in the wild are slim to none…with charity auctions and lotteries the preferred destinations of retailers these days. That doesn’t slow down the hunt. It just makes the reward that much sweeter.
But if you do score one, do us all a favor. We know what it looks like sealed. Let us know how it looks open! ;-)
If you’d like to read more about the historic O.F.C. Distillery, you can find information in Colonel Taylor’s lithograph book. Otherwise, please enjoy the photo gallery of Matt Hakey’s photos below.
And, of course, Tater on!
