Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. is made by that venerable distilling powerhouse known as Buffalo Trace and named after Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. who purchased the O.F.C (Old Fire Copper) distillery in 1869 and began distilling. He only owned the distillery for 9 years before it was bought in 1878 by George T. Stagg which is when the connection to Buffalo Trace becomes more apparent.
While owning the distillery he pioneered the use of new equipment and sour mash techniques that, at least to some degree, are still in use today. He was also one of the key men involved in getting the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 passed while he was serving as the Mayor of Frankfort, Ky which was a position he held for 16 years. To say he had a hand in the bourbon industry is a bit of an understatement and it’s easy to see why Buffalo Trace reached back through it’s roots to honor the man with this line.
Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch Bourbon – Bottled In Bond Review
ABV: 50% (BiB)
Age: at least 4 years
Price: $37
Distiller: Buffalo Trace
EYE
Light caramel
NOSE
Caramel, vanilla and dusty corn are the dominant notes I pick up with hints of cinnamon, raw grains and a strange honey like note and an even stranger malty note show up. It’s not as deep or complex as I would have liked, but it’s hitting some good notes and sometimes that’s enough.
TASTE
The dusty corn is much higher on the palate than it was on the nose and jumps ahead of the caramel and vanilla. The caramel comes across as watery and kind of seeps into the notes of spice, oak and raw grains. It is a bit astringent and I can’t say I’m overly wowed by it at this point, but it’s not terrible or horrifically flawed either.
FINISH
Medium with raw dry corn dominating. Notes of vanilla, raw grains, oak spice and that strange malt like quality comes back again.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Everything lines up nicely, but it still feels about 1 degree off. Medium body that runs a bit hotter than I imagined it would have.
OVERALL
Because it’s Bottled-In-Bond I know it’s at least 4 years old, but it comes across as younger than that and there is something about it that just isn’t fully clicking for me. I don’t love it, but I also don’t dislike it either. Maybe it’s one that will grow on me if I drink it more. Either way it sounds like I need to grab a bottle and get to the bottom of this mystery one sip at a time.
SCORE: 83-86/100*
*Range given because this is a friend’s bottle and I did not try it in a controlled environment (we were playing Elder Sign & Catan at the time).
