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Today on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, Kavalan shocks the whiskey world with a massive
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competition sweep, Buffalo Trace wants you to camp at the distillery, and we get a surprise
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drop of bourbon lemonade. Plus, I'm pouring up a byte-sized review of a Buffalo Trace
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single barrel store pick.
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Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bytes Podcast. I'm your host Clifton,
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and this is the week of July 16th, 2026. While we are in the thick of the summer slump across
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whiskey, when there's not too many news and announcements, there are some international
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competitions that are heating up. So the first news story comes to us from the International
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Whiskey Competition. They just dropped their 2026 winners. It's done on a 100 point blind
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tasting. So each whiskey is giving a score out of 100. And surprisingly Kavalan has gotten three
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of their top five spots this year. I've not had much experience with Kavalan or Kavalan.
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I've heard it pronounced a couple of different ways, but it is a Taiwanese single malt whiskey.
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And I've heard it compared to a lot of craft whiskey in America because they are a completely
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new category. They're still figuring out how climate affects their whiskey and discovering
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their specific place in the world of world whiskey. I've heard they really excel at their
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wine cask releases. And like I said, I may have tried one once or twice, but I don't have any
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recollection of how it is. But after this, I'm going to have to go seek out a bottle or three
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because the Kavalan Peatist Oloroso Sherry Cask was their number one whiskey of the year with a
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score of 96.97. Their Kavalan Soloist, which was an ex-bourbon single cask strength release,
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got a score of 94.63. And in fourth place, their Kavalan Soloist Madeira Cask got a score of 94.37.
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So three of their whiskeys are in their top five. Now, of course, they're accompanied by
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A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength, which I have heard amazing things about, and a Chinese whiskey called Laizhou
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Amontillado Sherry Cask. Those are number three and number five. But numbers one, two, and four
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are all from Kavalan. So really cool to see that. I love to see new categories of whiskey just in
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general, but especially ones that are doing really well in competitions, especially when they're
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blind. That shows that there's no bias involved at all. You really are getting a true experience
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of what is the best whiskey out there. So while I am a little sad that bourbon didn't hit the top
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spot, I am really excited to see Kavalan do so well. So let me know if you've had any of these
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releases or if you've had any Kavalan in general and let me know which one I should pick up because
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I'm very intrigued to see. They also placed a lot more in their full list. I'm just talking about
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the top five. I mean, there is a huge amount of Kavalan that was selected this year.
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The next piece of news I have for us is a fun one. So Buffalo Trace has announced Camp Buffalo Trace,
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which is a new summer experience featuring bourbon education and overnight luxury camping.
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This was just announced this week, but they are starting this new tradition this summer at
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Buffalo Trace. Of course, this isn't your kid's summer camp. This is for everyone 21 and older.
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They say they are blending nostalgic summer camp inspired activities with hands on bourbon
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education. Camp Buffalo Trace features a full day of interactive programming culminating in a rare
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opportunity for select guests to extend their adventure with an overnight stay in luxury camping
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accommodations on site. They said they are reimagining some classic summer camp activities
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through the lens of America's native spirit, offering four hands on experiences, including
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whiskey woodcraft workshop, which guests will create a custom muddler from authentic barrel
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staves, a bung driving relay, which puts guests to the test in a Cooperage inspired fast paced
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competition, and then a blind tasting and Buffalo Trace trivia. I feel like I would do pretty good
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at that. I know a lot about Buffalo Trace and I'm pretty good at blind tastings if you've seen some
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of my live streams. Um, but lastly, they're ending it with a single barrel challenge. So
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guests will sample three barrels of the same bourbon at different ages and attempt to identify
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each one while exploring how time warehouse placement and maturation influences a whiskey's
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final character. Now, like I said, they are going to have some air conditioned canvas tents
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available with premium furnitures and a fully stocked mini fridge with water. And of course,
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Freddie's old fashioned sodas. Um, it sounds like a fantastic way to experience the bourbon trail.
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I love to see experiences like this. I know Kentucky's not the only one doing it. I've seen
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some craft distilleries, um, putting on these really cool events, but wow, wouldn't it be cool
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to say that you spent summer camp at Buffalo Trace? I would absolutely love the opportunity
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to go try this. Now, this year it's going to take place on August 29th and September 5th,
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and it's going to be a very limited attendance. Um, at least for this first year, it's going to
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be available through an online sweepstakes. Um, they're going to be 90 winners. Each will receive
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a guest pass and those will be able to do the day camp experience, but 10 winners will also get the
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chance to do the overnight luxury camping experience across both dates. So it sounds
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like it's going to be really limited, but it sounds like they're going to beef this up in
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the coming years. It is the start of something really new for the distillery. And I love the
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idea. I've never had a chance to really do glamping. I think the closest thing I've done
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to it is we stayed in a tiny little cabin in Costa Rica, um, a couple of summers ago, which
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was, it was awesome. It was, it was basically like a campsite, but there were the tiny little
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teepee cabins and I love that experience. So add bourbon to the mix and I am there.
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Now, this is just one of the expanded lineup of seasonal activities happening at Buffalo Trace.
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They have their annual Great Buffalo Chase Fun Run every year on July 4th. They have Backyard
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Sessions summer concert series, to Biscuits and Bourbon, which is their exclusive morning tour
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and tasting starting later in July. Um, but I also want to talk about the fact that they
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slid in a announcement of a new product in this press release that I think a lot of people
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may have missed. So they are announcing their Buffalo Trace Distillery bourbon
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lemonade canned cocktail. And you know, I was just talking about the barreled old fashioned
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that Buffalo trace put out, um, during my live stream last week and how it was one of my favorite
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ready to drink cocktails. Now it's exciting to see that they're releasing even more to their lineup.
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This one is going to be available for complimentary tastings and purchase at their
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gift shop starting on July 4th, all the way through September 7th. They say it's a refreshing new,
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ready to drink cocktail made with bourbon from Buffalo trace distillery and real lemon juice.
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So it's really exciting to see more ready to drink cocktails from Buffalo trace. I think they do a
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really good job with them. And I think bourbon and lemonade is just a classic summer drink right now.
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It says it's only at the Buffalo Trace distillery. I'm hoping it's one of those things where they
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launch there and it does really well. And we see it outside of the distillery, but I think we need
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more bourbon ready to drink cocktails. I see some of them, but a lot of times they are either,
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you know, Manhattan's or old fashioned, which are great, but I want a nice summer cocktail.
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And during my live stream last week, I tried two from Penelope, which was their
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Blackberry old fashioned and their peach old fashioned, both of which were fantastic.
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If you miss that live stream, check it out. I tried Penelope's Classic Series lineup and their
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new Architects of Golf release. Um, that was last Thursday night on YouTube catch the replay,
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but yeah, I think Buffalo Trace should absolutely enter the ready to drink,
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uh, summer cocktail market because I am their target audience. I love a good bourbon lemonade,
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but we're going to keep the Buffalo Trace barrel rolling with our byte-sized review.
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All right. Well, like I said, this is a little bit of a shorter episode, but I really wanted
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to tie it all together with this single barrel store pick of Buffalo Trace bourbon. So I know
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Buffalo Trace is one of those controversial ones that you can either find regularly at every
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grocery store, or you have to hunt for hours to find a bottle. Luckily in Southern California,
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Buffalo Trace is pretty regularly available on the shelves, pretty much anywhere you go.
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Now it is harder to find some of their higher end items like Eagle Rare, um, even EH Taylor Small
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Batch, although it's been showing up quite a bit more frequently, at least in mid 2026. But one
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thing that I have found that I absolutely love in their lineup are single barrel store picks
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of just regular Buffalo Trace. To me, it is a huge improvement over standard Buffalo Trace.
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Now Buffalo Trace is a small batch product, but it is not a single barrel. So when you have the
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opportunity to try a independent barrel of it picked by a store that you trust, it's always
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a good time. And this is no exception. This is from my favorite local liquor store here in Southern
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California, K&L Wine and Spirits. And funny enough, this actually came in a handle. I've never
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seen a store picking a handle, but that's how they did it this time around. So it's a 1.75
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liter bottle of a Buffalo Trace store pick. Um, I bought this for 65 bucks. So that's about in line
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with retail. I think, you know, if it were just a 750 milliliter, it'd be closer to $40-ish,
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but, um, really good price for 1.75 liters of bourbon. And this one was distilled on December
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12th of 2016. So it is nine years old and two months. It is aged entirely on the fourth floor
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of warehouse K. And, um, like I said, they bottled this in the 1.75 liters and 375 milliliter
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small bottles. So it's exciting to see different variations of bottling for this, but yeah, over
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nine years old and standard Buffalo Trace, you know, is said to be between six to eight years
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old for the most part. So it's exciting to see an older store pick. And if you're curious, this
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is barrel number one at 25. Um, it says it's currently out of stock, but they do have a
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different barrel available. I think that one's closer to eight years old. Um, but this one,
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I just picked up relatively recently. So maybe they're going to get more in stock soon.
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Listen, I think standard Buffalo Trace is a solid budget buy, which I know that might upset some
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people, but these store picks are really where it's at. I think they have so much more complexity
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and flavor and they're the same proof they're coming in at the same, you know, 45% ABV 90 proof,
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but I think their flavor packs way more of a punch. So I don't think I've ever reviewed one
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here on the podcast. I've done them several times on my YouTube channel. Um, whether I'm just
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comparing it to a standard shelf bottle or other Buffalo Trace lineup, check those out, just search
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Buffalo Trace on Bourbon Bytes. Um, but yeah, I think it's a first for the podcast. So let's go
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to get this open and poured. And just in case you're curious how to tell if something is a
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store pick, um, Buffalo Trace specifically has a Sazerac Barrel Select sticker on the side of the
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bottle. They do it for their EH Taylor, their Eagle Rare, their Stagg, um, look for it's a
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little gold sticker. Um, and it usually has a picture of the store logo on it as well. Um,
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that's how, you know, it's a store pick. A lot of times they're sold for the same price as the
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regular Buffalo Trace. So you got to keep an eye out actually surprisingly found a Whole Foods pick
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once on the shelf, exact same price as their standard Buffalo Trace. So it definitely pays
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off to keep your eyes peeled, but let's go in and get this nine year, two month Buffalo Trace a nose.
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Oh yeah. I mean, you know, what's interesting is it is that typical Buffalo Trace nose,
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but it has, like I said, an extra layer to it. This has a lot of Oak going on and it kind of
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reminds me a little bit more of like an Eagle Rare. Now Eagle Rare is a 10 year old expression
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of Buffalo Trace. It's a little bit higher proof, but this definitely is in that realm.
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Um, but for the price of a regular Buffalo Trace, which is a big win, it's a little less of the
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cherry. I think cherry is a distinctive note that I get more so on Eagle Rare and Stagg. It's a note
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that I don't always vibe with, but this has just very little bit of it. It's very much more of a
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sweeter caramel, vanilla, um, just typical delicious bourbon note on the nose, very classic
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Buffalo Trace. Um, but man, it just has that extra layer of age and, and, you know, spice that I
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don't get on standard Buffalo Trace at all. It's like a Brown sugar coated pastry is the best way
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to put it, man. I cannot wait to give this a try. So let's give it a taste. Cheers y'all.
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Hmm. Yeah. Now, surprisingly on the palate, that's where the cherry shows up, but it's a
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little bit different than the cherry I get on a Eagle Rare. You know, some people say
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they get grape on Eagle Rare. I have gotten a little bit of that, but to me, it's usually that
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dark, really rich, you know, wild cherry. This though is different. It's a brighter cherry.
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It's almost like a, you know, candy covered cherry if that was a thing. And the more I tasted it,
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it's that candy coating is the strongest thing here. So even more than cherry,
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more of like a candy coated red apple, like at a state fair, it has like that apple skin note.
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Um, but with that sweet glaze of that candy outside, that's really nice. So bright up front.
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I mean, I'm getting a myriad of other flavors there, but they're all in that realm of like
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walking into a old town candy store, you know, like in, you know, some tourist cities you go in,
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they're making the fudge and making the salt waters happy. This is definitely giving me that
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experience, but specifically that candied apple, maybe a little bit of that candied,
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um, or maraschino cherry kind of note. It's really good. It's really, really sweet though.
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And the more I drink it, the more it settles on the mid-palate and the back end of the palate
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with this dark, rich, caramelly, almost a little bit chocolate, but more of like a caramel chocolate
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blend and finish, you know, that Oak shows up just a little bit. I think it's not nearly as
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Oaky as it was on the nose, but it definitely shows up on the back end of the palate. And
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it actually gives it a bit of a longer finish than I would normally expect. I would say it's
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about a medium finish, nothing too crazy, but for a 90 proof bourbon, I'm not upset about that at
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all. Overall, this is just an extremely drinkable bourbon. And I think a solid improvement over
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standard Buffalo Trace. Now, if you don't like Buffalo Trace, you may not like this one,
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but as someone that appreciates just regular Buffalo Trace, this is worth the 10 plus extra
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dollars that I've been seeing it go for when it is more, otherwise it's around the same price.
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It's not going to blow your socks off. It's not going to be the best tasting bourbon you've ever
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had, but it will satisfy that craving for something special, something unique. And
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especially if you're a Buffalo Trace lover, I mean, you're going to enjoy the heck out of this.
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So now it's time to give it a score for my byte-sized review. I keep it simple here. We
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do just one score considering all things like palate, price, availability, proof,
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nose, finish, uh, all the things. So for this one, like I said, it was $65, but for a handle,
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so I'm going to round that down to like 35 ish for the regular 750 milliliter bottle.
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I think this is an absolute win, especially with it's being nine years old. Usually if you have a
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good store, they'll let you know the age of the bourbon. Um, if they do have a pick, sometimes
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they have some NDAs where they can't, you know, disclose this information, but, um, I know K&L
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is very, very transparent. Like I said, they have this one that was nine years, two months,
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and then they had another one that was an eight year. So of course I went with the older one to
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it a try, but man, is that a good buy for the money now? Hard to find? Yes. I know availability
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does have a factor into it. I wouldn't go pay secondary for a Buffalo Trace store pick. Definitely
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not. It's definitely meant to be a, um, no, I don't want to say bottom shelf, but a lower to
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mid tier, you know, drinking bourbon. Um, you know, I'd say mid tier is usually around $50 to
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$70. So this is a little bit below that, but overall, I mean, there's not much to complain
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about here. It's a solid proof. It's, it's a great price. And for what it is, I'm going to
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give this one a eight out of 10, and that seems really high, but you got to consider this is a
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nine-year-old bourbon for the equivalent of like 35 bucks. I mean, it's going to be hard to find
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something like that. I mean, Knob Creek, I think is the one that's more of a standard available,
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um, release at that age. But again, that's not a single barrel. If you want a single barrel Knob
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Creek, you had to go quite a bit higher in price. Um, but you do get that jump in proof as well.
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Don't get me wrong. I love me some single barrel picks of Knob Creek, but for a single barrel
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store pick and an eight to nine-year-old age range. I mean, I think this is fantastic and
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it's going to be hard to find a better bourbon for the price. Evan Williams single barrel, maybe,
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I mean, I guess, but it's not necessarily a pick either. So, um, not saying it's unbeatable,
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but I think it's a solid eight out of 10 for all things considered price availability and just
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overall experience. This is a everyday drinker. I mean, I will say I bought this handle about
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two or three weeks ago and I'm already through half of it. Now, of course I've been using it.
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It's just kind of like a, um, casual sipper on the house. You know, when we have people over,
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this is kind of what I pour them. Um, but yeah, this has definitely been a favorite in the Bourbon
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Bytes household. Shout out to the folks at K&L Wine and Spirits. This is not sponsored. I am just
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a loyal patron of their store. Um, I go regularly and yeah, I just saw this on the shelf the other
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day and I was like, you know what? I'll give it a try because they've not failed me yet on a store
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pick. But speaking of patrons, if you do want to support the channel and allow me to buy more fun
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bottles like this, you can join the Byte Club, which is what I call my membership program here.
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You can go to bourbonbytes.com for as little as $2 a month and support the channel. Your support
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means a ton. It allows me to buy some really cool bottles like this. You can also join on
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patreon.com/bourbonbytes. Um, same benefits. It's just your preferred platform. Thank you all
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to all my Byte Club members. Um, thank you for making this possible and making me want to continue
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these bourbon exploratory journeys. But with that being said, that wraps it up for this week's
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episode. Thank you all so much for listening. I will be back next week for another Bourbon Bytes
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podcast episode, same place, same time every Thursday morning. Make sure you follow me
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wherever you get your podcast, leave a thumbs up if you're watching on YouTube and until next time,
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cheers and game on!
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Today on the Bourbon Bytes Podcast, Kavalan shocks the whiskey world with a massive
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competition sweep, Buffalo Trace wants you to camp at the distillery, and we get a surprise
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drop of bourbon lemonade. Plus, I'm pouring up a byte-sized review of a Buffalo Trace
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single barrel store pick.
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Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bytes Podcast. I'm your host Clifton,
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and this is the week of July 16th, 2026. While we are in the thick of the summer slump across
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whiskey, when there's not too many news and announcements, there are some international
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competitions that are heating up. So the first news story comes to us from the International
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Whiskey Competition. They just dropped their 2026 winners. It's done on a 100 point blind
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tasting. So each whiskey is giving a score out of 100. And surprisingly Kavalan has gotten three
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of their top five spots this year. I've not had much experience with Kavalan or Kavalan.
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I've heard it pronounced a couple of different ways, but it is a Taiwanese single malt whiskey.
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And I've heard it compared to a lot of craft whiskey in America because they are a completely
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new category. They're still figuring out how climate affects their whiskey and discovering
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their specific place in the world of world whiskey. I've heard they really excel at their
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wine cask releases. And like I said, I may have tried one once or twice, but I don't have any
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recollection of how it is. But after this, I'm going to have to go seek out a bottle or three
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because the Kavalan Peatist Oloroso Sherry Cask was their number one whiskey of the year with a
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score of 96.97. Their Kavalan Soloist, which was an ex-bourbon single cask strength release,
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got a score of 94.63. And in fourth place, their Kavalan Soloist Madeira Cask got a score of 94.37.
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So three of their whiskeys are in their top five. Now, of course, they're accompanied by
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A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength, which I have heard amazing things about, and a Chinese whiskey called Laizhou
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Amontillado Sherry Cask. Those are number three and number five. But numbers one, two, and four
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are all from Kavalan. So really cool to see that. I love to see new categories of whiskey just in
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general, but especially ones that are doing really well in competitions, especially when they're
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blind. That shows that there's no bias involved at all. You really are getting a true experience
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of what is the best whiskey out there. So while I am a little sad that bourbon didn't hit the top
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spot, I am really excited to see Kavalan do so well. So let me know if you've had any of these
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releases or if you've had any Kavalan in general and let me know which one I should pick up because
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I'm very intrigued to see. They also placed a lot more in their full list. I'm just talking about
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the top five. I mean, there is a huge amount of Kavalan that was selected this year.
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The next piece of news I have for us is a fun one. So Buffalo Trace has announced Camp Buffalo Trace,
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which is a new summer experience featuring bourbon education and overnight luxury camping.
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This was just announced this week, but they are starting this new tradition this summer at
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Buffalo Trace. Of course, this isn't your kid's summer camp. This is for everyone 21 and older.
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They say they are blending nostalgic summer camp inspired activities with hands on bourbon
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education. Camp Buffalo Trace features a full day of interactive programming culminating in a rare
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opportunity for select guests to extend their adventure with an overnight stay in luxury camping
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accommodations on site. They said they are reimagining some classic summer camp activities
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through the lens of America's native spirit, offering four hands on experiences, including
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whiskey woodcraft workshop, which guests will create a custom muddler from authentic barrel
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staves, a bung driving relay, which puts guests to the test in a Cooperage inspired fast paced
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competition, and then a blind tasting and Buffalo Trace trivia. I feel like I would do pretty good
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at that. I know a lot about Buffalo Trace and I'm pretty good at blind tastings if you've seen some
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of my live streams. Um, but lastly, they're ending it with a single barrel challenge. So
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guests will sample three barrels of the same bourbon at different ages and attempt to identify
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each one while exploring how time warehouse placement and maturation influences a whiskey's
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final character. Now, like I said, they are going to have some air conditioned canvas tents
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available with premium furnitures and a fully stocked mini fridge with water. And of course,
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Freddie's old fashioned sodas. Um, it sounds like a fantastic way to experience the bourbon trail.
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I love to see experiences like this. I know Kentucky's not the only one doing it. I've seen
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some craft distilleries, um, putting on these really cool events, but wow, wouldn't it be cool
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to say that you spent summer camp at Buffalo Trace? I would absolutely love the opportunity
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to go try this. Now, this year it's going to take place on August 29th and September 5th,
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and it's going to be a very limited attendance. Um, at least for this first year, it's going to
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be available through an online sweepstakes. Um, they're going to be 90 winners. Each will receive
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a guest pass and those will be able to do the day camp experience, but 10 winners will also get the
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chance to do the overnight luxury camping experience across both dates. So it sounds
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like it's going to be really limited, but it sounds like they're going to beef this up in
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the coming years. It is the start of something really new for the distillery. And I love the
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idea. I've never had a chance to really do glamping. I think the closest thing I've done
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to it is we stayed in a tiny little cabin in Costa Rica, um, a couple of summers ago, which
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was, it was awesome. It was, it was basically like a campsite, but there were the tiny little
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teepee cabins and I love that experience. So add bourbon to the mix and I am there.
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Now, this is just one of the expanded lineup of seasonal activities happening at Buffalo Trace.
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They have their annual Great Buffalo Chase Fun Run every year on July 4th. They have Backyard
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Sessions summer concert series, to Biscuits and Bourbon, which is their exclusive morning tour
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and tasting starting later in July. Um, but I also want to talk about the fact that they
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slid in a announcement of a new product in this press release that I think a lot of people
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may have missed. So they are announcing their Buffalo Trace Distillery bourbon
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lemonade canned cocktail. And you know, I was just talking about the barreled old fashioned
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that Buffalo trace put out, um, during my live stream last week and how it was one of my favorite
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ready to drink cocktails. Now it's exciting to see that they're releasing even more to their lineup.
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This one is going to be available for complimentary tastings and purchase at their
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gift shop starting on July 4th, all the way through September 7th. They say it's a refreshing new,
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ready to drink cocktail made with bourbon from Buffalo trace distillery and real lemon juice.
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So it's really exciting to see more ready to drink cocktails from Buffalo trace. I think they do a
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really good job with them. And I think bourbon and lemonade is just a classic summer drink right now.
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It says it's only at the Buffalo Trace distillery. I'm hoping it's one of those things where they
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launch there and it does really well. And we see it outside of the distillery, but I think we need
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more bourbon ready to drink cocktails. I see some of them, but a lot of times they are either,
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you know, Manhattan's or old fashioned, which are great, but I want a nice summer cocktail.
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And during my live stream last week, I tried two from Penelope, which was their
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Blackberry old fashioned and their peach old fashioned, both of which were fantastic.
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If you miss that live stream, check it out. I tried Penelope's Classic Series lineup and their
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new Architects of Golf release. Um, that was last Thursday night on YouTube catch the replay,
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but yeah, I think Buffalo Trace should absolutely enter the ready to drink,
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uh, summer cocktail market because I am their target audience. I love a good bourbon lemonade,
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but we're going to keep the Buffalo Trace barrel rolling with our byte-sized review.
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All right. Well, like I said, this is a little bit of a shorter episode, but I really wanted
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to tie it all together with this single barrel store pick of Buffalo Trace bourbon. So I know
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Buffalo Trace is one of those controversial ones that you can either find regularly at every
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grocery store, or you have to hunt for hours to find a bottle. Luckily in Southern California,
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Buffalo Trace is pretty regularly available on the shelves, pretty much anywhere you go.
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Now it is harder to find some of their higher end items like Eagle Rare, um, even EH Taylor Small
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Batch, although it's been showing up quite a bit more frequently, at least in mid 2026. But one
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thing that I have found that I absolutely love in their lineup are single barrel store picks
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of just regular Buffalo Trace. To me, it is a huge improvement over standard Buffalo Trace.
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Now Buffalo Trace is a small batch product, but it is not a single barrel. So when you have the
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opportunity to try a independent barrel of it picked by a store that you trust, it's always
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a good time. And this is no exception. This is from my favorite local liquor store here in Southern
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California, K&L Wine and Spirits. And funny enough, this actually came in a handle. I've never
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seen a store picking a handle, but that's how they did it this time around. So it's a 1.75
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liter bottle of a Buffalo Trace store pick. Um, I bought this for 65 bucks. So that's about in line
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with retail. I think, you know, if it were just a 750 milliliter, it'd be closer to $40-ish,
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but, um, really good price for 1.75 liters of bourbon. And this one was distilled on December
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12th of 2016. So it is nine years old and two months. It is aged entirely on the fourth floor
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of warehouse K. And, um, like I said, they bottled this in the 1.75 liters and 375 milliliter
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small bottles. So it's exciting to see different variations of bottling for this, but yeah, over
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nine years old and standard Buffalo Trace, you know, is said to be between six to eight years
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old for the most part. So it's exciting to see an older store pick. And if you're curious, this
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is barrel number one at 25. Um, it says it's currently out of stock, but they do have a
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different barrel available. I think that one's closer to eight years old. Um, but this one,
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I just picked up relatively recently. So maybe they're going to get more in stock soon.
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Listen, I think standard Buffalo Trace is a solid budget buy, which I know that might upset some
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people, but these store picks are really where it's at. I think they have so much more complexity
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and flavor and they're the same proof they're coming in at the same, you know, 45% ABV 90 proof,
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but I think their flavor packs way more of a punch. So I don't think I've ever reviewed one
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here on the podcast. I've done them several times on my YouTube channel. Um, whether I'm just
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comparing it to a standard shelf bottle or other Buffalo Trace lineup, check those out, just search
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Buffalo Trace on Bourbon Bytes. Um, but yeah, I think it's a first for the podcast. So let's go
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to get this open and poured. And just in case you're curious how to tell if something is a
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store pick, um, Buffalo Trace specifically has a Sazerac Barrel Select sticker on the side of the
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bottle. They do it for their EH Taylor, their Eagle Rare, their Stagg, um, look for it's a
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little gold sticker. Um, and it usually has a picture of the store logo on it as well. Um,
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that's how, you know, it's a store pick. A lot of times they're sold for the same price as the
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regular Buffalo Trace. So you got to keep an eye out actually surprisingly found a Whole Foods pick
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once on the shelf, exact same price as their standard Buffalo Trace. So it definitely pays
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off to keep your eyes peeled, but let's go in and get this nine year, two month Buffalo Trace a nose.
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Oh yeah. I mean, you know, what's interesting is it is that typical Buffalo Trace nose,
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but it has, like I said, an extra layer to it. This has a lot of Oak going on and it kind of
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reminds me a little bit more of like an Eagle Rare. Now Eagle Rare is a 10 year old expression
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of Buffalo Trace. It's a little bit higher proof, but this definitely is in that realm.
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Um, but for the price of a regular Buffalo Trace, which is a big win, it's a little less of the
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cherry. I think cherry is a distinctive note that I get more so on Eagle Rare and Stagg. It's a note
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that I don't always vibe with, but this has just very little bit of it. It's very much more of a
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sweeter caramel, vanilla, um, just typical delicious bourbon note on the nose, very classic
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Buffalo Trace. Um, but man, it just has that extra layer of age and, and, you know, spice that I
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don't get on standard Buffalo Trace at all. It's like a Brown sugar coated pastry is the best way
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to put it, man. I cannot wait to give this a try. So let's give it a taste. Cheers y'all.
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Hmm. Yeah. Now, surprisingly on the palate, that's where the cherry shows up, but it's a
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little bit different than the cherry I get on a Eagle Rare. You know, some people say
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they get grape on Eagle Rare. I have gotten a little bit of that, but to me, it's usually that
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dark, really rich, you know, wild cherry. This though is different. It's a brighter cherry.
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It's almost like a, you know, candy covered cherry if that was a thing. And the more I tasted it,
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it's that candy coating is the strongest thing here. So even more than cherry,
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more of like a candy coated red apple, like at a state fair, it has like that apple skin note.
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Um, but with that sweet glaze of that candy outside, that's really nice. So bright up front.
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I mean, I'm getting a myriad of other flavors there, but they're all in that realm of like
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walking into a old town candy store, you know, like in, you know, some tourist cities you go in,
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they're making the fudge and making the salt waters happy. This is definitely giving me that
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experience, but specifically that candied apple, maybe a little bit of that candied,
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um, or maraschino cherry kind of note. It's really good. It's really, really sweet though.
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And the more I drink it, the more it settles on the mid-palate and the back end of the palate
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with this dark, rich, caramelly, almost a little bit chocolate, but more of like a caramel chocolate
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blend and finish, you know, that Oak shows up just a little bit. I think it's not nearly as
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Oaky as it was on the nose, but it definitely shows up on the back end of the palate. And
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it actually gives it a bit of a longer finish than I would normally expect. I would say it's
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about a medium finish, nothing too crazy, but for a 90 proof bourbon, I'm not upset about that at
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all. Overall, this is just an extremely drinkable bourbon. And I think a solid improvement over
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standard Buffalo Trace. Now, if you don't like Buffalo Trace, you may not like this one,
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but as someone that appreciates just regular Buffalo Trace, this is worth the 10 plus extra
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dollars that I've been seeing it go for when it is more, otherwise it's around the same price.
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It's not going to blow your socks off. It's not going to be the best tasting bourbon you've ever
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had, but it will satisfy that craving for something special, something unique. And
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especially if you're a Buffalo Trace lover, I mean, you're going to enjoy the heck out of this.
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So now it's time to give it a score for my byte-sized review. I keep it simple here. We
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do just one score considering all things like palate, price, availability, proof,
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nose, finish, uh, all the things. So for this one, like I said, it was $65, but for a handle,
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so I'm going to round that down to like 35 ish for the regular 750 milliliter bottle.
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I think this is an absolute win, especially with it's being nine years old. Usually if you have a
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good store, they'll let you know the age of the bourbon. Um, if they do have a pick, sometimes
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they have some NDAs where they can't, you know, disclose this information, but, um, I know K&L
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is very, very transparent. Like I said, they have this one that was nine years, two months,
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and then they had another one that was an eight year. So of course I went with the older one to
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it a try, but man, is that a good buy for the money now? Hard to find? Yes. I know availability
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does have a factor into it. I wouldn't go pay secondary for a Buffalo Trace store pick. Definitely
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not. It's definitely meant to be a, um, no, I don't want to say bottom shelf, but a lower to
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mid tier, you know, drinking bourbon. Um, you know, I'd say mid tier is usually around $50 to
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$70. So this is a little bit below that, but overall, I mean, there's not much to complain
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about here. It's a solid proof. It's, it's a great price. And for what it is, I'm going to
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give this one a eight out of 10, and that seems really high, but you got to consider this is a
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nine-year-old bourbon for the equivalent of like 35 bucks. I mean, it's going to be hard to find
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something like that. I mean, Knob Creek, I think is the one that's more of a standard available,
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um, release at that age. But again, that's not a single barrel. If you want a single barrel Knob
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Creek, you had to go quite a bit higher in price. Um, but you do get that jump in proof as well.
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Don't get me wrong. I love me some single barrel picks of Knob Creek, but for a single barrel
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store pick and an eight to nine-year-old age range. I mean, I think this is fantastic and
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it's going to be hard to find a better bourbon for the price. Evan Williams single barrel, maybe,
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I mean, I guess, but it's not necessarily a pick either. So, um, not saying it's unbeatable,
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but I think it's a solid eight out of 10 for all things considered price availability and just
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overall experience. This is a everyday drinker. I mean, I will say I bought this handle about
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two or three weeks ago and I'm already through half of it. Now, of course I've been using it.
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It's just kind of like a, um, casual sipper on the house. You know, when we have people over,
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this is kind of what I pour them. Um, but yeah, this has definitely been a favorite in the Bourbon
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Bytes household. Shout out to the folks at K&L Wine and Spirits. This is not sponsored. I am just
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a loyal patron of their store. Um, I go regularly and yeah, I just saw this on the shelf the other
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day and I was like, you know what? I'll give it a try because they've not failed me yet on a store
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pick. But speaking of patrons, if you do want to support the channel and allow me to buy more fun
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bottles like this, you can join the Byte Club, which is what I call my membership program here.
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You can go to bourbonbytes.com for as little as $2 a month and support the channel. Your support
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means a ton. It allows me to buy some really cool bottles like this. You can also join on
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patreon.com/bourbonbytes. Um, same benefits. It's just your preferred platform. Thank you all
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to all my Byte Club members. Um, thank you for making this possible and making me want to continue
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these bourbon exploratory journeys. But with that being said, that wraps it up for this week's
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episode. Thank you all so much for listening. I will be back next week for another Bourbon Bytes
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podcast episode, same place, same time every Thursday morning. Make sure you follow me
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wherever you get your podcast, leave a thumbs up if you're watching on YouTube and until next time,
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cheers and game on!
