E.H. Taylor Cured Oak 2015, 17 Year

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Cured Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon — 17 Year, 100 Proof

Price

$3,699.95

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

Age: 17 Years (Vintage 1998 - Released 2015) | Region: Frankfort, Kentucky | Proof: 100

Secure payments

Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

100

Proof

50%

ABV

17 years

Age

2015

Released

Kentucky

Region

Not disclosed

Mash bill

The 2015 Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Cured Oak is the original release and the reason the name is chased. Its white oak staves were air-dried outdoors for 13 months before cooperage, more than twice Buffalo Trace's usual period, and the bourbon was then aged seventeen years in Warehouse C, the brick rickhouse Colonel Taylor built in the 1880s. Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof. It carried the longest age statement the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. brand had used to that point.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

Seventeen years — the longest age statement the brand had carried when it was released.

Staves air-dried outdoors 13 months against a house standard of about six.

Aged in Warehouse C, built by Taylor in the 1880s.

Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof.

A one-time release. Nothing followed it for more than a decade.

The stave-curing work traces to a collaboration with the Independent Stave Company beginning in 1998.

Nº 02

How It Was Made

Cured Oak 2015

Barrel staves are cut, stacked outdoors and weathered before a cooper builds anything from them. Rain, sun and microbial action break down the harshest tannins and develop compounds that later migrate into the spirit, and the length of that exposure is a genuine production variable almost nobody markets. Buffalo Trace's usual period runs about six months. For Cured Oak the staves sat out for thirteen, work the distillery traces to a collaboration with the Independent Stave Company beginning in 1998. Only then were the barrels built and filled, and this release went into Warehouse C, the brick rickhouse Taylor put up in the 1880s and the same building that supplies the standing Single Barrel. Seventeen years later it came out at the bonded 100 proof. Everything that distinguishes the bourbon was therefore settled before the distillate existed, which is an unusual thing to be able to say about a whiskey.

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

Mash bill

Not disclosed

Buffalo Trace does not publish mash bills for its brands; the low-rye recipe widely attributed to this release comes from collectors and retailers.

Age

17 years

Stave curing

White oak air-dried outdoors 13 months

More than twice Buffalo Trace's standard of roughly six

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

Nose: Tobacco and dried fruit, carrying the depth seventeen years in oak produces without losing detail.
Palate: Vanilla, toffee and figs, layered rather than arriving in sequence.
Finish: Subtle undertones of dry oak, long and drying — the tannin the extended curing was meant to deliver.

Strategic Position

Seventeen years is long enough that most bourbons are arguing with the wood rather than benefiting from it. The premise of this release is that the wood had already been changed before the whiskey met it — thirteen months of weathering having broken down the harshest tannins in the stave — so extended age could be carried without the usual penalty. Whether that worked is the question the bottle exists to answer, and it is why this one is discussed as an experiment rather than as a vintage. It sits among the wood-led bottlings we keep, beside the other stave experiment in the range.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

→

Collector Note

Two things circulate about this bottle that are worth correcting before you pay a secondary price for it. The first is the warehouse date: Buffalo Trace's own brand pages date Warehouse C to 1885 across three releases, while Sazerac, which owns the brand, dates it to 1881 on its E.H. Taylor collection page. The company contradicts itself, so treat any listing stating one year as settled with caution. The second is outturn. Specific bottle counts are quoted freely for the 2015 release — four thousand is the figure most often repeated — and none of them appear in any Buffalo Trace material. Treat them as unsourced. What is documented is the seventeen years, the thirteen-month stave curing, the warehouse and the bonded 100 proof, which is more than enough to justify the bottle. The ten-year return of 2026 shares the curing and nothing else.

→

How to Taste It

Neat, in a glass with some room, and give it longer than you think. A seventeen-year bonded bourbon built around wood chemistry rewards patience in the glass more than it rewards water — the tobacco and dried fruit on the nose need several minutes and the dry oak on the close is the point rather than a flaw to dilute away. If you are lucky enough to have the 2026 alongside it, taste this one second; ten years first, seventeen after, or the older bottle flattens everything that follows.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled-in-Bond
Release: 2015
Proof: 100
ABV: 50%
Age: 17 years

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled-in-Bond
Release	2015 — original, one-time limited release
Proof	100
ABV	50%
Age	17 years
Stave curing	White oak air-dried outdoors 13 months — more than twice Buffalo Trace's standard of roughly six
Warehouse	Warehouse C, built by Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. (dated 1885 by Buffalo Trace, 1881 by Sazerac)
Mash bill	Not disclosed. Buffalo Trace does not publish mash bills for its brands; the low-rye recipe widely attributed to this release comes from collectors and retailers.
Cooperage partner	Independent Stave Company, from 1998
Outturn	Not published by Buffalo Trace
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

How old is the 2015 Colonel E.H. Taylor Cured Oak?

Seventeen years. That was the longest age statement the Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. brand had carried at the time of release, and it is the single largest difference between this bottling and the 2026 revival, which is ten years old. Both are Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof and both use the same thirteen-month stave curing.

Where was the 2015 Cured Oak aged?

In Warehouse C at Buffalo Trace Distillery, the brick aging warehouse Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. built in the 1880s and which the distillery singles out for its aging conditions. The year is disputed within the company: Buffalo Trace's brand pages give 1885, while Sazerac's E.H. Taylor collection page gives 1881. Warehouse C is the same building behind the standing Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel and the Warehouse C Tornado Surviving release.

How many bottles of the 2015 Cured Oak were made?

Buffalo Trace has never published an outturn for this release. Specific counts circulate widely in retail listings and collector discussion — four thousand bottles being the figure repeated most often — but none of them trace to distillery material. Any listing stating a firm number is stating more than the distillery has.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Cured Oak 2015

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