Buffalo Trace releases seventh Single Oak experiment

Buffalo Trace has released the seventh of its experimental Single Oak Project Bourbons, in its quest to find the world’s perfect bourbon.

The seventh release from the Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project comprises barrels 18, 26, 50, 58, 82, 90, 114, 122, 146, 154, 178, 186.

The project is part of an on-going research project by Buffalo Trace into the effect different wood grains, proofs and warehouses have on a whiskey as it ages.

The distillery created 192 barrels from 96 trees with different wood grains, with staves air-dried for either six or 12 months. Each barrel is made from just one tree section, and has either a number three or four char. The barrels were then filled with either a wheat or rye mash bourbon at either 52.5% abv or 62.5% abv and aged in either a wooden or concrete-floored warehouse.

The Single Oak Project release number seven is a whiskey blended from 12 barrels aged in Warehouse K, a wooden-floored warehouse, which entered the barrels (char three) at 52.5% abv.

However the aforementioned are the only variables to remain the same for the seventh release. The 12 barrels vary in terms of the whiskey recipe (rye or wheat), stave seasoning (six months or 12 months) and the wood grain size (tight, average or coarse).

Each of the 12 barrels has been bottled separately to allow Buffalo Trace fans to compare the results for themselves.

Release number seven will be available in the US from the end of November with an RRP of US$46.35.

The project will continue until 2015 when 192 barrels have been released. It will then bottle the most popular, as voted for on the Single Oak Project website, as a long-term release.