Buffalo Trace Distillery has announced the tenth member of their Col. E. H. Taylor, Jr. line, Amaranth Bourbon Whiskey, crafted using the “Grain of the Gods.”
While all bourbons must be 51% corn, Buffalo Trace’s E. H. Taylor line traditionally uses rye as a flavoring grain to make up the second largest percentage. The new release uses Amaranth, an ancient grain used by the Aztec people in both daily meals and religious ceremonies. The plant, which is similar to wheat, was such a part of their life that it was known as “the Grain of the Gods.”
While wheat is known for adding softer and silkier flavors to a bourbon, Amaranth adds new and complex flavors that range from butterscotch and spearmint on the nose, or pecans and dark berries on the finish. Official tasting notes from the distillery for the new release include a nose of “fresh spearmint… followed by honey, with a hint of cherry.” On the palate, we’re told to expect coffee and vanilla with a long finish of oats and honey.
Like most members of the E.H. Taylor line, Taylor Amaranth will be bottled-in-bond (distilled at the same distillery in the same distilling season, aged a minimum of four years in a government bonded warehouse, and bottled at 100 proof). Taylor, a founding member of Kentucky’s distilling industry, helped pass the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. The special Amaranth mash bill was distilled over a decade ago and has been aging at Buffalo Trace ever since.
Previous expressions in the E.H. Taylor line include Four Grain, Cured Oak, Warehouse C Tornado Survivor, as well as the more readily available Small Batch and Single Barrel. Col. E. H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof is the only member of the line not bottled-in-bond, as it is not proofed down to 100.
The distillery expects that this will be the only release of the Taylor Amaranth bottling. As with previous E.H. Taylor releases, each bottle will be encased in a cardboard tube. Six-bottle cases of E. H. Taylor Amaranth will come in wooden crates similar to those used by Taylor himself. We can expect to see a very limited amount on shelves in late July for a suggested retail price of around $70.
