Everything You Need To Know About The New E.H. Taylor Bourbon Release

Buffalo Trace just announced its latest bourbon release and the whiskey world is already abuzz. This June, Colonel E.H. Taylor 18 Year Marriage will hit shelves at $70. It will not last long. So get your affairs in order.

The Frankfort, Kentucky-based distillery is no stranger to creating cult classics. These are the same folks that produce Pappy Van Winkle and WL Weller, after all. And this newest offering technically contains some of the same liquid that goes into those revered labels. The ‘marriage’ in Taylor 18’s name refers to a blend of three separate bourbon mashbills: one with a high-rye content, another with low-rye (the profile of standard Taylor releases), and a wheated recipe—the vaunted formula for which connoisseurs clamor.

Owning a Bottled-In-Bond classification, the whiskey is required to wear a strength of 100-proof, all derived from a single distilling season. This isn’t by chance. The label’s namesake, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. was a 19th Century champion of the bourbon industry. His lobbying efforts helped establish the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, securing quality standards and sustained status for American whiskey.

The ‘vintage’—if you’d like—of this latest release is 2002. A full nine years before the E.H. Taylor line was even introduced, these three sorts of bourbon rolled off the still in Frankfort and hit the barrel, ready for a prolonged slumber in virgin oak.

They weren’t awoken until earlier this year, when master distiller Harlan Wheatley deemed the time right for them to mingle. He might just have been onto something. Taken together, they result in a seductive liquid with top notes of freshly baked cinnamon buns. On the palate is more of the same—confectioner’s delight, with the faint emergence of mint in the finish. Despite, or perhaps because of its ample body, it exists as an extraordinarily smooth sipping spirit.

For bourbon fans, the question is not whether or not they’ll enjoy what’s inside the slender bottle. It is whether or not they’ll be able to find it. Buffalo Trace has a nasty habit of being far too fair with its pricing. Consider the suggested retail on its 20-year-old Pappy: $199.99. This is a bottle that consistently sits on shelves for ten times that. And even then, it doesn’t sit there for very long.

Even at twice its listed price of $70, an 18-year-old limited release from Taylor would be viewed as a steal. Indeed, if ever you see it for under $200 you might want to consider playing the lottery that day. But if you’re not happy leaving things to chance, now is the time to start putting out feelers with local liquor shops. If you are a loyal customer anywhere, don’t be afraid to ask for a favor—or a heads up, at the very least.

As it’s set to release in June, Colonel E.H. Taylor 18 Year Marriage is just now starting to trickle its way down distribution channels. That means the stores vying for an allocation will soon know their fate. And if you’re friendly enough with them, they might share that crucial intel. So don’t be left high and dry. Happy hunting!