Table Of Contents
The Details
| Rating | 98 |
| Style |
Bourbon American Whiskey Whiskey |
| Produced In |
Kentucky United States |
| ABV | 50.5% |
| Availability | Limited |
| Price | $10,000.00 |
| Reviewed By | |
| Review Updated | 2024-01-14 |
Eagle Rare 25 Year Old Bourbon Review
In Oct. 2023, Buffalo Trace Distillery announced perhaps its boldest (and rarest) release to date: An ultra-aged, 25 year old Eagle Rare bourbon expression, bottled at 101 proof and with a market release of no more than 200 bottles. Perhaps just as eye-popping as the age is the price, with suggested retail hovering at $10,000.
Eagle Rare 25 is the first release to come out of Buffalo Trace’s previously secretive (though long rumored) Warehouse P, an experimental aging location wherein almost every environmental factor is accounted for and controlled. (The distillery has two experimental warehouses in its portfolio.) Buffalo Trace says it’s invested over $20 million in the experimental program, of which Eagle Rare 25 is an early release.
According to company reps, the main goal of Warehouse P is to push the boundaries of American whiskey. Under normal conditions — especially hot environments — bourbon rarely makes it past 25 years without becoming an astringent, oaky soup. (If there’s any liquid left at all.) By controlling the aging environment, Buffalo Trace has sights set on 30, 40, and even 50 year old bourbons down the road — depending on whether the experiments actually pay off.
We’ve seen 20 year old Eagle Rare before with the highly limited Double Eagle Very Rare, which carries a comparatively light $2,000 MSRP. The barrels containing what became Eagle Rare 25 were around 20 years old when they were moved to Warehouse P in 2018, shortly after it opened. Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley says the special aging environment helped “bind the wood tannins” in the liquid, allowing characteristics of age to shine through without too much astringency.
Eagle Rare 25 is therefore supposed to capture the complexity of age without the negatives that often come with extremely old bourbon. There’s really only one way to find out if the distillery succeeded. Let’s give this a taste!
Eagle Rare 25 Bourbon: Stats and Availability
Eagle Rare 25 is limited to around 200 bottles (distillery reps would only give a rough range) with a suggested retail price of $10,000. It will almost certainly command much more than that in most markets — possibly a multiple, but who really knows? — pitting this against some of the most coveted higher end, highly aged Scotch releases today.
It’s difficult to assess the long term value, especially given the rarity of 25+ year old bourbon in the first place. The Van Winkle 25 year decanters often command well over $20,000 at auction; the handful of Willett Family Estate bottlings over 25 years can also climb well into the five figures.
Harlen Wheatley and his team have stated they hope a bulk of bottles go to bars and restaurants that will actually pour the whiskey; America’s three-tier liquor distribution system makes it difficult for them to exert much influence in that capacity, though. If you’re set on acquiring a taste for yourself, the best bet is likely one of the few high-end bars that end up with a bottle, where it will almost certainly command four figures per ounce.
Eagle Rare 25 Bourbon Review
As with all of VinePair’s whiskey reviews, this was tasted in a Glencairn glass and rested for at least five minutes.
Nose
The aroma is potent from the moment I open the sample bottle, and it emanates from the glass immediately after the first pour. I wait a full five minutes to start taking notes, but certain scents feel like they’re erupting from the Glencairn even while I’m a foot or two away. That’s notable for any whiskey, let alone one as relatively “tame” as this 50.5 percent ABV.
Maraschino cherry syrup leads on the nose, along with lightly spiced cranberry sauce and orange zest. After a bit more time in the glass, the fruit evolves to raspberry, coupled with gradually more enveloping notes of shaved dark chocolate. More time unlocks more chocolate, in this case devil’s food cake and dark chocolate brownies cooling right out of the oven. There’s a small undercurrent of green mint jelly as well, adding some herbal notes to the fray.
The oak is at once both pronounced and refrained, elevating the aforementioned scents but not covering them. It’s like a small bit of oak punctuates the very middle of each scent but dissipates before the other aromas. Overall, this leads to a nosing experience that shows age with few if any overly tannic elements.
Taste
I’m a big proponent of taking a sip to acclimate the palate, but in this case, the whiskey demands a few, as there’s a very rare intersection of age and lightness in the flavor profile. The sweetness is immediate and surprisingly floral, with elements of rose and jasmine. As the whiskey moves back to the midpalate, those flavors shift to Earl Grey tea sweetened with white table sugar.
A second later, bold spice hits the upper palate and works its way down; there’s nutmeg, clove, ginger, and cardamom. That’s paired with a blend of fruit: black cherry, ripe raspberry, and (most notably) persimmon, which balances tartness and fructose in roughly equal proportion.
Then there’s the oak. As with the nose, it lifts but doesn’t drown out the other notes, a flavor that’s both all its own and also shrouded behind the others.
The mouthfeel is on the lighter side, and my main critique thus far — using that term very lightly — is that a bit more viscosity could help the flavors sit longer on the tongue before transitioning to the finish. (Which, as a spoiler, is extraordinarily long.) It’s tough to imagine what this could be like at 110 proof, and perhaps it’s better to leave that to a daydream instead of a written review.
Finish
The finish is long and shockingly bright for a bourbon of this age, heavier on white pepper than any other aspect of the sip; there’s some additional fruit lingering toward the back and sides of the tongue. Oak is once again held in surprising balance for a bright, floral, and complex experience that sits on the back of the tongue for minutes after a sip.
Eagle Rare 25 Bourbon Rating
98/100
Recap
Eagle Rare 25 is just the first of Buffalo Trace’s experiments with ultra-aged bourbon, and it’s tough to call it anything short of a rousing success. My first time sampling the expression was in a flight that also included Eagle Rare 10, Eagle Rare 17 (2023 release), and Double Eagle Very Rare. Eagle Rare 25 stood apart and above those other pours, and revisiting another sample after was a similarly memorable experience.
If there is such a thing as perfect bourbon, it likely I haven’t tried it yet. Nor would I call Eagle Rare 25 the best bourbon I’ve ever tasted. But this is a near-superlative and unique American spirit, one that should already challenge our notions of the relationship between a bourbon’s age and quality. We may need to wait another five, 10, or 25 years before the next experimental Eagle Rare. I only hope I’m in a position to try that as well.
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