E.H. Taylor Seasoned Wood Bourbon

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Seasoned Wood Kentucky Straight Bourbon — Wheated, 100 Proof

Price

$2,699.95

✔ Authenticated by the house — seal, fill level, and label inspected before release
✔ Documented provenance on every bottle
✔ Climate-safe, collector-grade packaging

Age: NAS (Aged 12+ Years) | Region: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA | Proof: 100

Secure payments

Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

100

Proof

50%

ABV

Mar 2016

Released

Kentucky

Region

$70

SRP

Wheat recipe

Recipe

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Seasoned Wood is a wheat-recipe Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky straight bourbon from Buffalo Trace at 100 proof, released in March 2016 as the eighth entry in the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. collection and the first wheated bourbon issued under the brand. Aged well over a decade. Its barrels were built from staves given three different treatments — an enzyme bath and kiln drying, six months outdoors, or a full twelve months outdoors — all prepared at Independent Stave Company with the oak maturation specialist Dr. James Swan consulting.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

A wheat recipe bourbon — the first wheated bourbon Buffalo Trace released under the E.H. Taylor brand.

Three stave treatments in one release, not one: enzyme bath plus kiln, six months outdoors, twelve months outdoors.

Staves bathed in enzyme-rich water heated to 100 degrees, then kiln-dried to a target humidity before cooperage.

Prepared at Independent Stave Company, with Dr. James Swan consulting on oak maturation.

Aged well over a decade; Buffalo Trace has not published a precise age.

Eighth release in the collection, March 2016, and a stated one-time-only bottling.

Nº 02

How It Was Made

Seasoned Wood

Barrel staves are normally weathered outdoors for a set period before a cooper works them, and Buffalo Trace's usual run is around six months. Seasoned Wood used three different preparations in a single release. One group of staves was immersed in an enzyme-rich bath with the water heated to 100 degrees, then moved into kilns and dried until they reached a target humidity for coopering. A second group was seasoned outdoors for six months. A third was left outdoors for a full twelve. All were seasoned, dried and crafted at Independent Stave Company, which consulted on the project with Dr. James Swan, a specialist in oak maturation. The barrels were then filled with Buffalo Trace's wheat recipe and aged well over a decade — the only wheated whiskey the distillery has put out under this brand. Buffalo Trace makes a single wheated mash bill and varies the result through warehouse and floor placement rather than through recipe, which is worth knowing when comparing this against its other wheated bourbons.

Nº 03

At a Glance

The defining facts

Designation

Bottled-in-Bond under the Act of 1897

One distillery, one distillation season, federally bonded warehouse, exactly 100 proof

Batching

Small batch

Age

Well over a decade

Buffalo Trace has not published a precise figure.

Release

March 2016

Eighth in the collection; stated one-time-only

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

Nose: A delicate aroma of caramel and dried fruit.
Palate: Bright on the first sip; oak tannins balanced by butterscotch, almond, citrus notes and a hint of spicy clove.
Finish: Soft and balanced in body, with an aftertaste Buffalo Trace describes as lingering perfectly.

Strategic Position

Cured Oak asked one question — what does doubling the stave seasoning do — and answered it with a single treatment. Seasoned Wood asks a harder one by running three treatments into the same release, which means the bottle is a blend of outcomes rather than a clean test. That is either the more interesting object or the less rigorous one depending on your temperament, and it is why the two get argued about rather than ranked. The wheated mash compounds it further: this is the only wheated bourbon in the Taylor range. It sits with the wheated bourbons on our Buffalo Trace shelf, opposite the thirteen-month curing experiment beside it.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

→

Collector Note

Two things make this harder to price than the rest of the Taylor experiments. It was declared a one-time release and has not returned, unlike Cured Oak and Four Grain, both of which came back in 2026 — so the finite claim has held for a decade and counting. And it has no precise age statement: Buffalo Trace said well over a decade and never narrowed it, which means any listing quoting a specific number of years for Seasoned Wood is supplying a figure the distillery did not. Be wary of that, and be wary of tasting notes borrowed from Cured Oak; the two are different mash bills as well as different wood programmes. The four-grain experiment that followed it took the collection in a different direction entirely.

→

How to Taste It

Neat, and give it water if it fights you. Reviewers found the wood assertive on first pour — acerbic, even — with apple and custard sitting behind it, and half a teaspoon of water softening the oak enough to let custard, vanilla and crème brûlée through. That is an unusual recommendation for a 100-proof bourbon and it follows directly from what this bottle is: a wheated whiskey carrying wood extracted three different ways. Start neat, decide whether the oak is in your way, and dilute deliberately rather than by habit.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled-in-Bond
Release: March 2016
Proof: 100
ABV: 50%
Age: Well over a decade

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled-in-Bond
Recipe	Wheat recipe — the first wheated bourbon under the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. brand
Proof	100
ABV	50%
Age	Well over a decade. Buffalo Trace has not published a precise figure.
Stave treatments	Three, used across the release: enzyme-rich bath at 100 degrees followed by kiln drying; six months outdoor seasoning; twelve months outdoor seasoning
Cooperage	Independent Stave Company, consulting with Dr. James Swan on oak maturation
Batching	Small batch
Release	March 2016 — eighth in the collection; stated one-time-only
Suggested retail	Around $70 at release
Designation	Bottled-in-Bond under the Act of 1897 — one distillery, one distillation season, federally bonded warehouse, exactly 100 proof
Region	Kentucky
Distillery	Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky

Nº 07

Records & Assurance

Authentication & Vault Preservation

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Colonel E.H. Taylor Seasoned Wood a wheated bourbon?

Yes. Seasoned Wood is made from Buffalo Trace's wheat recipe and is the first wheated bourbon the distillery released under the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. brand. Buffalo Trace produces only one wheated mash bill and creates variation between its wheated bourbons through warehouse and floor placement rather than by changing the recipe, so the difference here comes from the barrels and the maturation rather than the grain.

How were the Seasoned Wood barrels treated?

Three different ways, within the same release. Some staves were immersed in an enzyme-rich bath with the water heated to 100 degrees and then kiln-dried until they reached an ideal humidity for crafting into barrels. Others were seasoned outdoors for six months. Others again were left outdoors for a full twelve months. All were seasoned, dried and crafted at Independent Stave Company, which consulted with Dr. James Swan, a specialist in oak maturation, on the project.

What is the difference between Seasoned Wood and Cured Oak?

Both are Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. experiments in stave preparation, and they differ in two ways rather than one. Cured Oak used a single treatment — white oak air-dried outdoors for 13 months — and is not a wheated bourbon; its 2015 release was bottled at seventeen years. Seasoned Wood, released in March 2016 as the eighth entry in the collection, used three treatments across one release and is made from Buffalo Trace's wheat recipe, aged well over a decade. Both are Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof, which is why they are compared on wood and grain rather than on strength.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Seasoned Wood

Curated For You

Michter's US★1 Barrel Strength Sour Mash Whiskey 112.6 (2026 Limited Release) Michter's Distillery

$169.95

The Macallan TIME : SPACE Sherry Cask 20 Years Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2026 Release) The Macallan

$1,699.95

The Macallan TIME : SPACE Mastery 200 Year Anniversary Edition Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky — 2024 Bicentenary Release The Macallan

$1,599.95

3 in stock

The Yamazaki Smoky Batch The Third Single Malt Japanese Whisky Suntory

$449.95

1 in stock

E.H. Taylor, Jr.

The Elemental Distinction

How It Was Made