Buffalo Trace 2025 Antique Collection has landed in the UK - and they’ve added a new bottle for the first time in 20 years

Buffalo Trace is pretty renowned for making some darn good whiskey but it may have just outdone itself.

The appearance of American whiskies has been slowly growing in the UK market, with everyone from whiskey enthusiasts to novice drinks discovering the nuanced rye flavoured against the traditional Scotch and Irish. There are a lot of reasons behind its meteoric rise in popularity in the UK alone: its legacy, quality, taste, and price - but one of the main differences you’ll find with American whiskies and Buffalo Trace in particular is its experimentation. Alongside honouring the tradition and legacy of its flagship whiskies, Buffalo Trace doubles down on innovation - and the results are delicious.

One of the crowning gems in its tiara though is its Antique Collection. Launching in the US last month and heading to the UK in December, the Antique Collection features six rare whiskies from the distillery’s most iconic brands - and we got a sneak preview tasting of all of them.

E.H Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon

The most exciting part of this year’s collection has to be the addition of a brand new bottle - the E.H Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon. The first addition to the BTAC since 2006 had a lot of expectations around it, but this bottle can’t help but wow. Aged for a staggered fifteen years (and four months), it’s a deep and smooth whisky, with dark, soft sugar cane and notes of honey. As you’d expect with a whisky of this age, you’ll get beautiful aromas of toasted oak and roasted corn coming through, making it recognisably and undeniably Buffalo Trace.

The rest of the collection is just as exciting, with the bottles varying in age, warehouse, and mashbill, bringing all the best of the distillery.

Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon

The next we tried was the Weller Kentucky Straight Bourbon. Unlike the previous dram, the emphasis on the rye has been removed, and replaced with wheat instead, bringing a slightly sharper and lighter aroma on the nose. On the palette, it’s predominantly tobacco notes, with waves of maple, and finishing with a hint of banana and citrus which really bring out the grain profile. If you wanted to dip your toe (or your tongue in this case) into the world of great whiskey that you could understand without being an expert, this is the one you’d start with.

Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Next up was the Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon - one of the most coveted bottles of the collection. On the nose is a tart cherry flavour, building to a supple leather flavour. It’s a bourbon where you can taste the age of a deep flavour and leads to a beautiful caramel finish. It’s modern finish on the classic brand, paying homage to the original 1975 Eagle Rare with its 101-bottle proof.

George T Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Also in the collection is a George T Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon - described by the team as a “powerhouse” bourbon, which embodies the namesake’s legacy. Aged for over fifteen years, on the nose we got a fresh vanilla, a hint of pine and light citrus. There is some serious heat on the palette - although this isn’t surprising when you learn that it has a whopping 71.4% ABV, bottled at to 142.8 proof. This is one you’ll want to add a few drops of water to in order to open up the flavour profile, and experience the complex fruit layer, and earthy undertones.

Sazerac 18-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

The penultimate in the collection is an OG classic and likely the one most will be familiar with, the Sazerac 18-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. It’s the most playful on the nose within the Sazerac distilling tradition, a blend of sweet and savoury on the nose building to gorgeous floral notes. It’s softer than the rest of the collection with botanical, herbaceous undertones, and an ever-so-slightly smokey finish on the palette. It has to be one of our favourites of the collection this year, and provides an interesting, nuanced contrast from the rest of the collection.

Thomas H Handy Sazerac

The 2025 collection closes with another Sazerac, this time the Thomas H Handy Sazerac and it’s possibly the best example of what a seriously good rye should be like, and if you’re a classic rye-whiskey-loving kind of drinker, then this will be the one you want; it’s a stronger twist on the oak tradition with a frank deprecation of colour and flavour. On the nose, it’s open with apple and pepper as the overriding flavour profile which deepens on the palate, with lively oak and a trail of spice. It has a long, warm finish with warm oak and vanilla aromas - thanks in part to its long year maturation and slightly elevated ABV than previous iterations.

Where to get it

The Buffalo Trace Antique Collection will be available to buy from selected retailers, including Harrods, Hedonism, and Fortnum and Mason shortly, arriving from mid-December for £150 per bottle. Plus, if you are out and about doing some (probably festive) shopping in London, don't forget about Buffalo Trace Distillery's flagship UK store in Covent Garden which has all the best of its bottles. The one shop stop for the whiskey lover in your life. You can find it at 32-33 Long Acre, London, LND WC2E 9LA.

• I'm a drinks writer, and these are the bottles I'm buying this festive period

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