What proof is E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof Batch 4?

127.2 proof, or 63.60% ABV, bottled uncut and unfiltered. It is the lowest proof in the history of the line — no release has ever gone below it, and only Batch 14a in 2025 has matched it exactly.

Why is Batch 4 considered a fan favourite?

Enthusiasts have consistently named the 2015 release as the point where Colonel E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof became reliably good rather than simply strong, and that reputation has held for a decade. It is worth treating as accumulated opinion rather than specification: Buffalo Trace published no tasting note, no age statement and no outturn for the release, so there is nothing from the distillery to anchor the consensus to.

Is Batch 4 the same as the 2025 release at 127.2?

No. Batch 14a, the first of three sub-batches in the 2025 release, was also bottled at 127.2 proof, but it is a separate barrel selection a decade later. The laser codes separate them — L15 for the 2015 Batch 4, L25 for the 2025 release — and no reputation carries across. They share a number, not a whiskey.

EH Taylor Barrel Proof Batch 4, 127.2

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Batch 4, 127.2 Proof

Price

$1,299.95

✔ 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: 127.2

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Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

127.5

Proof

63.75%

ABV

None

Age

2016

Year

750 mL

Format

L16

Code

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Batch 5 is the 2016 release at 127.5 proof, 63.75% ABV, uncut and unfiltered. It sits at the centre of the tightest three-year stretch the line has produced: 2015, 2016 and 2017 landed inside a span of 0.9 proof, closer together than any other three consecutive releases before or since. No other batch carries 127.5, so the number on the face identifies it outright.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

127.5 proof, 63.75% ABV.

The middle year of the line's closest-spaced run — 127.2, 127.5, 128.1 across 2015 to 2017.

0.9 proof separates those three years. The next tightest triple spans 1.0, and most span three or four.

127.5 appears nowhere else in fourteen years of releases.

No record, no proof twin, no controversy — the only batch in the range with none of the three.

Near the bottom of the line's band, roughly two proof points above its all-time floor.

Nº 02

Barrel Proof, Explained

Barrel Proof Batch 5

Skipping chill filtration is the choice that matters most at this end of the range. The process removes the fatty acids and esters that turn whiskey cloudy when it is cold, and with them a measurable part of its texture. At 134 proof that loss is largely masked by the alcohol; at 127.5 there is far less covering it, so the oily weight an unfiltered bottling carries is proportionally more of the experience. It is the same decision Buffalo Trace applies across every batch in this line, but its effect is not constant — the lower the proof, the more of the whiskey it is responsible for. The barrels themselves were hand-selected and bottled without water, and the distillery publishes neither the warehouse, the floors, the age nor the mash bill for any release.

Nº 03

The Identifiers

What separates this release

Strength

Barrel proof

Uncut, not proofed down

Filtration

Non-chill filtered

Proof shared with

No other release

127.5 is unique in the line.

Batch numeral on label

None

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

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

What a mid-band proof changes: At 63.75% there is less alcohol weight sitting on top of everything else than on the 134s, so whatever the barrels gave is proportionally more of what reaches you.
On the absence of a note: Buffalo Trace published nothing for the 2016 release and no durable consensus formed around it the way one did around 2015.
What the record supports: 127.5 proof, a 2016 bottling, hand-selected barrels, nothing added and nothing filtered out.

Strategic Position

Every other release in this line has a hook: a record, a twin it can be confused with, a cancelled Stagg that spiked demand, a year the distillery split into three. Batch 5 has none of them, and that is the most accurate thing anyone can say about it. In a series where the proof is the entire published specification, a year that produces no story is what the programme looks like when nothing unusual happens — which makes it a better picture of the line's normal output than the batches people actually talk about. It sits in the wider barrel-proof archive at Midnight Whiskey, between the 127.2 floor of 2015 and the 128.1 release of 2017.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

→

Collector Note

The quiet batches are where a collection gets built, and they are also where sets go wrong. Nobody sets out to hunt the 2016 release, so it disappears from shelves without the attention that keeps the record years in circulation, and a run assembled later tends to be missing exactly the years nobody was excited about at the time. If you are working toward a complete line rather than a highlights reel, this is the kind of year to secure while it is still ordinary. Authentication is as simple as it gets here: 127.5 belongs to no other release, so the proof on the face settles it without reference to the L16 code — which is not true of the three releases at 127.3 or the two at 129.

→

How to Taste It

Open it. There is no reason to treat this bottle as an occasion: no record to mark, no reputation to test yourself against, no twin to compare it with. At 127.5 it needs nothing in particular from you — neat is fine, water is fine, and either way you are tasting the line's ordinary output rather than one of its extremes. If you have been saving the interesting batches and never getting to them, this is the one that should be open on the shelf while they wait.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch: Batch 5
Release year: 2016
Proof: 127.5
ABV: 63.75%
Age statement: None

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch	Batch 5
Release year	2016
Proof	127.5
ABV	63.75%
Strength	Barrel proof — uncut, not proofed down
Filtration	Non-chill filtered
Laser code	L16
Proof shared with	No other release. 127.5 is unique in the line.
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 5?

127.5 proof, or 63.75% ABV, bottled uncut and unfiltered. It is the only release in the line to carry that figure, which means the proof printed on the face identifies it without needing the laser code — unlike the three releases at 127.3 or the two at 129.

Is there anything notable about the 2016 E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof?

Only its ordinariness, which is itself unusual in this line. Batch 5 set no record, shares its proof with no other release, and attracted none of the attention that surrounds 2015 or the 2025 three-proof split. It sits at the centre of the closest-spaced run the series has produced: 2015, 2016 and 2017 landed within 0.9 proof of each other, tighter than any other three consecutive releases.

How old is E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof?

Buffalo Trace publishes no age statement for the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof line and no release carries one on the label. Figures in the region of six to ten years circulate among collectors and retailers, but they originate outside the distillery and should not be treated as specifications.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Barrel Proof Batch 5

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E.H. Taylor, Jr.

The Elemental Distinction

Barrel Proof, Explained