Buffalo Trace Distillery Releases 13th Edition of Stagg Jr.

Buffalo Trace has announced the 13th release of their Stagg Jr. Bourbon. Like all previous releases, this is barrel strength, 8 years old, and unfiltered. The edition comes in at a whopping 128.4 proof (64.2% alcohol).

The tasting notes for the 13th edition are:

Nose: Loads of dark cherries, followed by honey
Taste: Cream caramel mocha followed by cherries
Finish: Long finish of toasted oak, dark chocolate, and cinnamon

Stagg Jr. was first introduced in 2008 and is released twice a year. The next batch (#14) is scheduled for late Spring/early Summer. No suggested retail price or mash bill was provided. It was not announced that this release would be coming to Ohio.

My Take

Like most bourbons and whiskeys released by Buffalo Trace, there won't be enough supply to meet demand. From the limited exposure I've had, their products tend to score in the middle of the pack and the quality doesn't seem to meet their scarcity or demand level. For those reasons, I'm not expecting this to be widely available in Ohio. When I ran a check of previous availability, The State showed previous releases of Stagg Jr. as 'special order' with an Ohio price of $46.78 + tax.

As with anything from Buffalo Trace, it's probably worth it to have a bottle on hand since they are so hard to come by, but be prepared to be underwhelmed by the quality of what's inside.

If you see this out and about or get a taste, drop a note in the comments below with your thoughts.

Source: Buffalo Trace