Eagle Rare

COST: $55 for 750 mL bottle

AGE: 10 yr

MASH BILL: Undisclosed, Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1 (low rye bourbon)

PROOF: 90

Out of the standard offerings from Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare is probably my favorite expression. (EHT being a pretty close second, though I’ve never tried them side by side to see which wins out.) That said, it’s not something I purchase often because of how difficult it has been to find and how expensive it’s gotten. I honestly think the last time I purchased a bottle of Eagle Rare it was probably 2012 time frame. Let’s dive in!

APPEARANCE: Honeyed amber (1.3), medium thickness, fast legs accompanying a thin ring of beads that slowly coalesce to slow, tear drop legs.

NOSE: Orange peel, cherry, and seasoned oak. There’s also a sort of herbaceous woody profile that’s prominent. Think of a really old, woody rosemary bush. A mix of sweet and earthy notes blend effortlessly like a granola bar with vanilla, honey, toasted almonds, and dried raspberries. I occasionally get a giant hit of cherry that just overwhelms all other notes.

PALATE: A very pleasing, oily mouthfeel coats the palate with ease. Rich red fruit notes really steal the show here. Cherries, raspberries, fig, and even watermelon Jolly Rancher. There’s no doubt that the woody notes from the nose are more clearly charred and slightly tannic oak here on the palate. Vanilla and honey weave in and out from sip to sip. It’s not very deep or complex, but it is tasty!

FINISH: Short, semi-dry finish. Notes of white pepper, brown sugar simple syrup, and a barrel stave soaked in Cherry Coke linger for a good 15 seconds before a simple tannic oak note is the only note left fading out over the same amount of time.

RATING: 6.7/10

VALUE: 8.9/10 (this value is based on a ratio of the $/mL to the rating above compared to this same ratio for all other r/Bourbon reviews I’ve made and normalized to 10)

OVERALL: Classic, red fruit, moderate oak, great mouthfeel! It’s a little one dimensional on the palate and the finish is rather short. I think it could benefit quite a bit from 10 more proof points, but it’s a must buy if you can find it less than $50, which is doable in a lot of markets or from the distillery. (A little plug for the ER store picks out there – there can be some absolute bangers for pretty much the same price.)

I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen Eagle Rare at a local liquor store in the last 4-5 years, and most of those have been for $70 or more a bottle. Hopefully as the market starts coming back into balance and Buffalo Trace boosts production this expression will become more available again and at reasonable pricing, because I would love for this to be a staple in my bar.

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, WhistlePig PiggyBack SiB, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, JD SiB BiB, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Barrel Bourbon Batch T8ke, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08