Buffalo Trace Distillery Reveals Ultra-Aged Eagle Rare 25 Bourbon

Buffalo Trace Distillery has broken barriers with the release of Eagle Rare 25, a 25-year-old bourbon that is the oldest expression ever from the venerable Eagle Rare portfolio. At this advanced age, Eagle Rare 25 emerged from Buffalo Trace’s experimental Warehouse P to showcase the pinnacle of what can be achieved through carefully controlled aging and maturation.

Warehouse P was constructed as part of Buffalo Trace’s ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of American whiskey production. For decades, the distillery has conducted thousands of experiments testing factors like barrel char levels, temperature, humidity, and placement that impact a whiskey’s development over time. Warehouse P provided a purpose-built, state-of-the-art environment to explore extending the typical aging limits without the whiskey taking on undesirable over-oaked or dry characteristics.

According to Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley, Eagle Rare 25 “defies the conventional limits” at its 25-year age. Where most ultra-aged bourbons taste too extracted or astringent, Warehouse P’s unique conditions allowed Eagle Rare 25 to achieve optimal maturity. On the nose, intense flavors of cherry, oak, dark chocolate and icing emerge. The palate offers a balanced profile of vanilla, dark fruit, and butterscotch, followed by an extraordinarily long finish with lingering notes of rickhouse floor, baking spice, and black pepper.

This smooth yet deeply complex flavor profile was achieved through Buffalo Trace’s philosophy that the best whiskey results from carefully marrying a whiskey’s age with its level of maturity. Multiple factors influence a whiskey’s extraction and evolution over decades, and Warehouse P provided the controlled environment to nurture Eagle Rare 25 to perfection over its silver anniversary in the barrel.

The one-of-a-kind nature of Eagle Rare 25 is conveyed through its custom packaging. Each of the approximately 200 bottles produced is presented in a hand-crafted sterling silver display case symbolizing the bourbon’s 25 years of aging. The case features an elegant glass eagle inside the bottle and hand-hammered wings framing a 101-proof liquid said to be “the pinnacle of American whiskey.”

With a suggested price of $10,000 per bottle, Eagle Rare 25 is truly reserved for the most discerning of connoisseurs. However, it stands as a testament to Buffalo Trace’s relentless pursuit of creating the ideal bourbon. Eagle Rare 25 joins the venerable Eagle Rare lineup and demonstrates how the distillery continues breaking barriers through innovation that honors tradition. This release from experimental Warehouse P raises the bar for ultra-aged whiskey and what’s possible when carefully controlled aging extends over decades. Eagle Rare 25 will be an iconic part of Buffalo Trace’s storied history of producing world-class American whiskeys.