EH Taylor Barrel Proof Batch 3, 129

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Batch 3, 129.0 Proof

Price

$1,399.95

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

Age: NAS (Estimated 8–10 Years) | Region: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA | Proof: 129.0

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Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

129

Proof

64.50%

ABV

None

Age

2014

Year

750 mL

Format

L14

Code

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Batch 3 is the 2014 release at 129 proof, 64.50% ABV, uncut and unfiltered. It is the first batch in the line to fall below 130, arriving 6.4 proof points beneath the 2013 release — still the largest year-on-year move the range has made. Everything issued since has stayed inside the band this bottling opened.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

129 proof, 64.50% ABV. The first release under 130.

A 6.4-point drop from Batch 2 — the biggest single-year change in the line.

The batch that set the range: every release from 2014 onward sits between 127.2 and 131.1.

Sits almost exactly at the median of the line's fourteen-year proof history.

Shares its proof to the decimal with Batch 11 from 2022. The L14 code is the only separator.

The first identification ambiguity in the range — created in 2014, but not a problem until 2022.

Nº 02

Barrel Proof, Explained

Barrel Proof Batch 3

Dump proof is not a target. Bourbon enters the barrel at a set strength and leaves at whatever the wood and the warehouse produced, so the figure on the label is a measurement taken at the end rather than a specification set at the start. That is why two selections eight years apart can land on 129 to the decimal without anything connecting them: coincidence is the only available explanation when nobody is aiming. It is also why a six-point drop between consecutive years signals a different barrel selection rather than a change of method — Buffalo Trace hand-picks the barrels for this release, bottles them without water and without chill filtration, and has published neither the warehouse, the floors, the age nor the mash bill for any batch in the line.

Nº 03

The Identifiers

What separates this release

Strength

Barrel proof

Uncut, not proofed down

Filtration

Non-chill filtered

Proof shared with

Batch 11, released 2022 at the same 129

Proof

Batch numeral on label

None

Colonel E.H. Taylor labels carry no batch number.

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

Where this sits in the range: At 129 proof this is the middle of the line rather than an edge of it. Batches 1 and 2 are four to six points above; the lowest releases sit under two points below. If any batch represents the house strength, it is this one.
On notes: No Buffalo Trace tasting note was published for the 2014 release. Two selections landing on the same number are not the same whiskey.
What is verifiable: 129 proof, a 2014 bottling, hand-selected barrels, no water added and no chill filtration.

Strategic Position

For two years the line looked like a high-proof programme: 134.5, then 135.4. Batch 3 ended that, and ended it decisively — a drop of more than six proof points, the largest the range has ever recorded, into territory it has occupied ever since. Twelve releases have followed and all of them sit between 127.2 and 131.1, a span of under four points. That makes this the first honest data point about what E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof actually is, and the two releases before it look in hindsight like a different exercise. It sits among the later barrel-proof bottlings we hold, one year after the 135.4-proof high-water mark.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

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Collector Note

This is the first bottle in the line you cannot identify from the label. 129 proof appears twice — here in 2014 and again on Batch 11 in 2022 — and because Colonel E.H. Taylor labels carry no batch numeral, the two are indistinguishable on the shelf. The laser code settles it: L14 is this one, L22 is the 2022 release. Check it before you pay, because the error is not symmetrical. A 2014 bottling is eight years scarcer than its twin and has spent those years being opened rather than held, so a Batch 11 sold as a Batch 3 costs the buyer and the reverse costs the seller. The ambiguity was not anyone's decision, incidentally — it appeared retroactively when a selection eight years later happened to land on the same number. The 2022 batch at the same 129 carries the same caution in reverse.

→

How to Taste It

If you are working through the line, open this one first and use it as the baseline. At 129 proof it sits at the median of fourteen years of releases, which means every other batch reads as a deviation from it in one direction or the other — the openers hotter, the 127s gentler. That is a more useful starting position than either extreme, and it is the reason a middle batch is worth having open even when the record-setters are the ones people want. Neat to establish the reference, then water if you want it; there is nothing here that demands dilution the way the 134s do.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch: Batch 3
Release year: 2014
Proof: 129
ABV: 64.50%
Age statement: None

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch	Batch 3
Release year	2014
Proof	129
ABV	64.50%
Strength	Barrel proof — uncut, not proofed down
Filtration	Non-chill filtered
Laser code	L14
Proof shared with	Batch 11, released 2022 at the same 129 proof
Batch numeral on label	None. Colonel E.H. Taylor labels carry no batch number.
Age statement	None. Buffalo Trace publishes no age for this line.
Mash bill	Not disclosed. Buffalo Trace does not publish mash bills for its brands.
Region	Kentucky
Distillery	Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Brand owner	Sazerac Company
Format	750 mL

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

What proof is E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof Batch 3?

129 proof, or 64.50% ABV, bottled uncut and unfiltered. It was the first release in the line to fall below 130, arriving 6.4 proof points beneath the 135.4-proof Batch 2 of 2013 — the largest year-on-year change the range has recorded.

How do I tell Batch 3 from Batch 11?

By the laser code etched into the glass. Both releases are 129 proof exactly and Colonel E.H. Taylor labels carry no batch numeral, so the proof printed on the face cannot separate them. An L14 code identifies the 2014 Batch 3; an L22 code identifies the 2022 Batch 11. No other release in the line carries 129.

Why did the proof drop so far in 2014?

Because barrel proof is an outcome rather than a target. Bourbon enters the barrel at a set strength and is bottled at whatever the barrels held when they were dumped, which depends on evaporation and therefore heavily on warehouse position. A six-point drop between consecutive years reflects a different barrel selection, not a change in method. Buffalo Trace does not publish warehouse or floor data for this line.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Barrel Proof Batch 3

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E.H. Taylor, Jr.

The Elemental Distinction

Barrel Proof, Explained