george t stagg bourbon 2015 review
George T Stagg Bourbon 2015 Release
Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA
Alcohol: 69.1%
Composition: Buffalo Trace Mash #1, speculated to be 10-12% rye
Aged: 15 years 1 month
Color: 1.4/2.0 on the color scale (tawny)
Price: It’s a lot
From the company website:
“This extremely hearty whiskey ages in new charred oak barrels for no less than 15 years. Straight out of the barrel, uncut and unfiltered, the taste is powerful, flavorful and intense. Open it up with a few drops of water, sit back and ponder the wonders of the universe.”
Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Type & Region: Bourbon, Kentucky, USA
Alcohol: 69.1%
Composition: Buffalo Trace Mash #1, speculated to be 10-12% rye
Aged: 15 years 1 month
Color: 1.4/2.0 on the color scale (tawny)
Price: It’s a lot
From the company website:
“This extremely hearty whiskey ages in new charred oak barrels for no less than 15 years. Straight out of the barrel, uncut and unfiltered, the taste is powerful, flavorful and intense. Open it up with a few drops of water, sit back and ponder the wonders of the universe.”
george t stagg bourbon 2015 overview
George T Stagg (GTS for short), named after one of the company’s legends who helped make Buffalo Trace what is is today, is one of the outrageously coveted bourbons in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. But you already knew that. Like all other GTS releases, this 2015 release is a ~15 year old cask strength bourbon that uses mash #1 and is equally known for its intensity, age, desirability, and asking price.
Within the Antique Collection, it sits age-wise between William Larue Weller (~12 year old wheated bourbon) and Eagle Rare 17 year (same mashbill as Stagg). Because it is cask strength and batched, the ABV and age fluctuate every year, but moreso the ABV, which has ranged from the high 58.45% to the low 70%. So, the 69.1% ABV is one of the highest ones to date.
This 2015 release was distilled in the Spring of 2000 (after we realized the world wasn’t going to end when the clocks hit 0 and around the same time as the Dot Com bubble was beginning to burst). I personally didn’t get this bottle until 2018, and then didn’t even open or review it for a while after that.
Even after I opened it, let’s just say that it took me a while to get this review “right”. Let’s not dawdle much longer and find out more in this George T Stagg bourbon 2015 review.
As an FYI, I bought and use these Glencairn glasses for my reviews and comparisons (because they’re the best): Glencairn Crystal Whiskey Glass, Set of 6, Clear, 6 Pack. Full transparency, this is an affiliate link, so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else from Amazon.
Buffalo Trace Lineup of Reviews
george t stagg bourbon 2015 smell
George T Stagg tackles me with dark, strong, oily, and viscous maple syrup, caramel, and vanilla followed by a surge of heat and a lot of dried cherry. There’s a generous amount of dark cherry with a little less dried citrus and apple, making this a brown sugar, vanilla, and cherry hammer, almost as if it were finished in oloroso casks. I also get some licorice, fennel, dark chocolate, cinnamon-y oak, freshly ground coffee.
Thick layers of roasted and sweet oak, that aren’t overly burnt, provide the foundation for everything else, and sometimes gives off a whiff of dried grass. The heat and overall intensity are not harsh, but it constantly reminds me that this is every bit its 69.1% ABV and then some, and requires tons and tons of air time to be remotely approachable, like 45+ minutes after its poured. You know…let the stagg wear itself out before approaching (is that even correct?).
Overall, it’s all borderline overwhelming given how powerfully rich and intense this is, but also so fragrant, sweet, complex, and constantly dancing back and forth between the darker and brighter notes. I can’t stop diving back into it. I’m trapped and please don’t help me.
Swirling unleashes some hellfire heat, so just don’t do it. As the alcohol somewhat calms, I start to smell a mix of dense and oily caramel, vanilla, dried berries, and roasted oak that become heavily burnt crème brulee with more moderate citrus and dried apple covered in cinnamon, fennel, cardamom. If I can remotely summarize this nose in one phrase: it’s heavily burnt (but not overdone) crème brulee and cherry fudge doused in alcohol, caramel, and dried cherries, with a dash of spices.
Behind all of that is some underlying herbal sweetness and charred oak. It all smells so viscous and oily, with added heat to keep me on my toes. You want to talk about the “sweet oak” scent, this has it up, down, and all around.
As the whiskey gets lower in the glass, the alcohol calms down and I start to get a little lemon meringue that was hit with a bit of blow torch to singe the cream and hints of musty rickhouse and old wood. There’s so much to uncover, and not nearly enough whiskey to be able to discover everything.
I’ll repeat this over and over…George T Stagg bourbon 2015 is outstandingly dark, rich, mature, intense, and fragrant – I can’t stop smelling it because it’s so captivating. Just superb.
george t stagg bourbon 2015 review taste and aftertaste
To be safe, I took a very small first sip, and POW I’m immediately inundated with intensity. There are tidalwave amounts of caramel, cinnamon, sweet and herbal anise, oak, baked apple, orange, and tons of heat. George T Stagg is just abusing my palate with the combination of full flavors and abundant heat. It outrageously viscous and generously coats every inch of my mouth in thick oils.
The 69.1% may be a bit less intense in the scents, but it comes in full force in the flavors to punch me in the mouth. I wonder if that intensity masks some of the underlying complexity. George T Stagg 2015 won’t necessarily win any awards for variety, but it’s still a rocket launcher of flavor that’s extremely delicious nonetheless.
“Chewing” overwhelms me with super sweet, dense, and oily caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, and berries followed by eucalyptus, fennel, cardamom, tons of sweet oak, cinnamon, nutmeg, more dried berries, oranges, apples, and don’t forget that furious heat. It’s sweet first, spicy second, then oaky and quite hot third.
I’ll reiterate it again, George T Stagg may just be the richest, most intense, and densest bourbon I’ve ever had, requiring small sips and a very slow approach that still makes it challenging to fully process and appreciate. Every drop of liquid is jam packed with flavor. Speaking of jams, it’s like standing 20 feet away from Jimmy Paige playing a Gibson Les Paul through multiple Marshall Full Stacks at max everything.
And the thing is, the flavors and heat are well-matched so it doesn’t taste unbalanced, although it probably covers up more of the nuance that’s in there. I could add water to find out…but no thanks. 65% ABV Stagg Jr, EH Taylor Barrel Proof, and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof are puny in comparison, highlighting just how ridiculous George T Stagg 2015 is for me.
The finish is very (very) oaky, oily, and slightly sweet with endless roasted oak, caramel, vanilla, cherry, dried orange peel, fennel, and dried grass. The lightly sweet oak seemingly lasts forever, so there’s absolutely no need to rush into another sip.
“Chewing” just leaves even more oaky, oily, and sweet flavors. It’s roasted oak, honey, vanilla, dried berries, sweet and herbal anise and fennel, citrus, and dark chocolate. In many ways, it has the aftertaste of 90% cocoa dark chocolate that then transitions into light grass and herbal notes, a calm end to a raging and furious bourbon. Wow…just wow.
Whiskey is also for sharing, so I use Vivaplex, 12, Amber, 2 oz Glass Bottles, with Lids for smaller samples and Vivaplex, 12, Amber, 4 oz Glass Bottles, with Lids for larger ones. Full transparency – This is an Amazon affiliate link so I may earn a commission if you buy this or something else. Regardless, I actually use these myself.
Place on the Whiskey Shelf
I’m just stunned, battered, and absolutely enamored by this 2015 release of George T Stagg. It’s by and far the most intense, rich, and overwhelming bourbons that I’ve ever had, making even Stagg Jr and EH Taylor Barrel Proof seem weak and bland in comparison (I’ve repeated that a few times haven’t I?). Honestly, writing this review was a bit overwhelming too given how long my notes were and this review is.
The nose is absurdly rich and dense crème brulee soaked in alcohol, and the caramel, cinnamon, fruit, and oak flavors abuse my nostrils and tastebuds from beginning to end. The flavors are just haymaker after haymaker of oily and viscous caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, sweet oak, spice, dark berries, and more.
I’ll say it again and again – this is the most challenging and delicious bourbon I’ve probably ever had, and this is coming from someone who drinks a decent amount of cask strength / barrel proof whiskey. It completely destroys any subtlety and commands that you enjoy it, and then takes you hostage. I was not remotely prepared and I feel a little inadequate.
Now that I’ve reviewed both Stagg Jr and EH Taylor Barrel Proof, I can certainly tell the resemblance to Stagg Jr (less so EH Taylor Barrel Proof), but everything is cranked all the way up with more viscosity, richness, intensity, and depth. This is a challenging bourbon that takes at least 30 minutes to appreciate and finish one small glass.
With all those superlatives and exaggerated notes, there’s really only one thing keeping George T Stagg 2015 from “Glass Case” level: the volcano-like heat. 69.1% ABV is inherently intense as to be expected, but this level of furious heat takes it down just one small notch from otherwordly. I would have enjoyed even more if the heat was dialed-back just a little, letting everything else just run free all over me. I’ve had far less hot Elijah Craig Barrel Proofs and Stagg Jrs that were only a few proof points lower and dramatically less angry.
So to wrap up this very long review, George T Stagg Bourbon 2015 is absolutely superb and I’ll never be fully prepared to smell and taste it. Then again, I’ll likely never be able to find another bottle either, so I’ll be left hanging for a while.
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