Buffalo Trace Distillery announced its first experimental whiskey for 2020–a wheated recipe bourbon aged for four years, cut with water, then re-barreled and left to age for another eight years. 

The Experimental Collection is packaged in 375ml bottles, and each label includes all the pertinent information unique to that barrel of whiskey. These whiskeys SRP at $46.99 each and will be available in May with limited availability.

The barrel, filled with Buffalo Trace’s wheat mash recipe and entered into the barrel at 114 proof, was put away to age in one new barrel on Dec. 10, 2007, the company said. After four years of aging in Warehouse C the barrel was removed, the bourbon was cut with water to lower it down to 100 proof, and then put back into the same barrel and left to age another eight years in the same warehouse, Buffalo Trace said. 

“We’ve always known water was a necessary component in making whiskey,” stated Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley in a press release. “This experiment helped us to understand how important a role water actually plays in whiskey production.  The result of this experiment led us to a bourbon that is actually one of my favorite experiments.” 

This is the 23^rd  experimental release from Buffalo Trace Distillery, having started with its first experimental release in 2006. There are more than 25,000 experimental  barrels of whiskey aging in the warehouses of Buffalo Trace Distillery, including unique mash bills, types of wood, and different barrel toasts. Buffalo Trace also has an experimental warehouse, Warehouse X, which is designed to explore the extent of environmental influences on the flavor profiles of whiskey.