Eagle Rare 30 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 750mL

Buffalo Trace Distillery continues its endeavor to forever evolve the whiskey category as the world knows it with the release of its oldest bourbon to date – Eagle Rare 30.

Tasting Notes:

Deep mahogany in color, Eagle Rare 30 opens with layered aromas of baked cherry, brown sugar, caramel and honey, complemented by subtle nuttiness, warm tobacco and well-integrated oak with a hint of smoke.

The palate is rich and expansive, coating the mouth with sweet aged stone fruit and caramel.

Its finish is long and velvety, evolving from sweetness to a gentle smokiness, with a refined oak character that remains smooth, balanced and enduring.

"The result is a stunner of an ultra-aged bourbon. I’m often not a fan of American whiskey this old, with expressions from brands like Blade and Bow, Redemption, and I.W. Harper that have broken the 30-year mark falling well short of drinkability. There are, however, some exceptions—Michter’s 25 and Celebration Sour Mash (the latter is a blend of ages) push this boundary successfully. Add this bourbon to that list. Eagle Rare 30 is way less earthy than its younger counterpart, something that I couldn’t get past with the 25-year-old—notes of wet leather and barrel char dominated the palate for me. The 30-year is totally different, with softer notes of fruit, spice, vanilla, tobacco, leather, and toasted wood all in the mix, but never careening into the harsh, bitter, tannic notes that you might expect. If I had one quibble, it’s that I would have wanted to try it a bit stronger than the 101 at which it was bottled, but that’s a small detail because 101 is still plenty high (and I don’t know what the cask strength actually was)." - Jonah Flicker, Robb Report (94 Points)

"One thing that both Eagle Rare 25 and Eagle Rare 30 have in common is their absolute rejection of the astringency one expects of bourbons at their age. For Eagle Rare 30, it’s a textural vibrancy that’s further sculpted by the favorable hallmarks of hyper-aging, from magnificent oak tones to nuanced sweet notes and delicate spices. Sure, Eagle Rare 30 has the DNA of its 10-year predecessor, but with flavors pushed deeper into the oak than any Buffalo Trace expression before it, this one emerges anew, only recognizable as an immediate bourbon of the year candidate." - Frank Dobbins III, Uproxx