E.H. Taylor Warehouse C Tornado Bourbon

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Tornado Surviving Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Price

$7,999.95

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

Age: 9 Years, 8 Months to 11 Years, 11 Months | Region: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA | Proof: 100

Secure payments

Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

100

Proof

50%

ABV

Kentucky

Region

2 April 2006

The event

Not disclosed

Mash bill

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Warehouse C Tornado Surviving is a Bottled-in-Bond Kentucky straight bourbon from Buffalo Trace Distillery at 100 proof, made from barrels that sat exposed to the Kentucky weather after a tornado-strength storm tore the roof and north brick wall off Warehouse C on 2 April 2006. The barrels waited through that summer while the building was repaired. Buffalo Trace describes the result as a once-in-a-lifetime product, and it cannot be made again.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof — the standard holds even on a bottling this unusual.

2 April 2006: tornado-strength winds damaged two Buffalo Trace warehouses. Warehouse C lost its roof and north brick wall.

The exposed barrels stayed where they were through the summer, taking Central Kentucky sun, wind and heat directly.

Buffalo Trace only discovered what the exposure had done when the barrels were tasted years afterwards.

Warehouse C is the same rickhouse Taylor built in the 1880s that supplies the standing Single Barrel.

Unrepeatable by definition. The distillery has said as much.

Nº 02

How It Was Made

Warehouse C Tornado Surviving

On the evening of Sunday 2 April 2006, a severe storm carrying tornado-strength winds moved through Central Kentucky and damaged two aging warehouses at Buffalo Trace. One was Warehouse C, the brick rickhouse Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. put up in the 1880s after buying the O.F.C. Distillery in 1869 and setting about modernising it. The storm took the roof and the north brick wall, leaving a group of aging barrels open to the air. Rather than move them, the distillery left them in place through the repairs, and they spent that summer taking direct Central Kentucky sun and heat instead of the controlled conditions a sealed warehouse provides. Nothing was done to them deliberately. Years later, when the barrels were tasted, Buffalo Trace found the exposure had produced something it could not have engineered, and released the whiskey under a name that states plainly what happened to it.

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.

Age

Not published by Buffalo Trace

Retail sources consistently report a range of roughly 9 years 8 months to 11 years 11 months.

Warehouse

Warehouse C, built by Colonel E.H

Taylor, Jr. (dated 1885 by Buffalo Trace, 1881 by Sazerac)

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

Character: Buffalo Trace describes the exposure as having produced a bourbon rich in flavours it calls unmatched, without publishing a formal tasting note for the release.
What drove it: Sun, wind and open air working on barrels that should have been sitting in a sealed brick building.
Note: No distillery nose, palate or finish note exists for this bottling.

Strategic Position

Almost every scarce bourbon is scarce by decision — a small outturn, a held-back stock, an allocation. This one is scarce because of weather, and no amount of planning reproduces it. That puts it in a very small category: whiskey whose defining production input was an accident nobody wanted. Warehouse C still stands and still fills bottles, which is what makes the comparison available. It shelves with the bonded Taylor bottlings we hold, next to the single barrel drawn from the same warehouse under ordinary conditions.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

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Collector Note

Read the sourcing on this one carefully, because the story travels better than the facts do. Buffalo Trace's own account gives the date, the damage, the summer of exposure and the discovery years later — and stops there. It does not publish the age, the outturn, the mash bill or a tasting note. Everything beyond that comes from retail copy, which is where the figures start diverging: the age range is reported consistently at roughly nine years eight months to just under twelve, but barrel counts vary wildly between listings, and the construction year of Warehouse C is given as 1885 by Buffalo Trace and as 1881 by Sazerac, its own brand owner. Buy the bottle for what the distillery documents. The rest is worth knowing and not worth paying for. The small-batch bottling from the standing range shows what the same warehouse produces in a normal year.

→

How to Taste It

Neat, and ideally alongside a standing Taylor bonded bourbon rather than alone. Both are 100 proof and both come out of the same building, so the only real variable is what the summer of 2006 did to these particular barrels — which is the entire reason the bottle exists and the only way to actually perceive it. Drinking it on its own gives you a good bonded bourbon and no evidence. No water needed at this strength; the point here is comparison, not exploration.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled-in-Bond
Proof: 100
ABV: 50%
Age: Not published by Buffalo Trace

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Bottled-in-Bond
Proof	100
ABV	50%
Warehouse	Warehouse C, built by Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. (dated 1885 by Buffalo Trace, 1881 by Sazerac)
The event	2 April 2006 — tornado-strength winds; roof and north brick wall lost
Exposure	Barrels open to the Central Kentucky climate through the summer while repairs were made
Age	Not published by Buffalo Trace. Retail sources consistently report a range of roughly 9 years 8 months to 11 years 11 months.
Mash bill	Not disclosed. Buffalo Trace does not publish mash bills for its brands.
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

What happened to Warehouse C in the 2006 tornado?

On the evening of 2 April 2006, a severe storm with tornado-strength winds tore through Central Kentucky and damaged two Buffalo Trace Distillery aging warehouses. One was Warehouse C, the brick rickhouse Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. built in the 1880s. It lost significant portions of its roof and its north brick wall, which left a group of aging bourbon barrels exposed to the open air. The barrels stayed in place through that summer while the roof and walls were rebuilt, taking Central Kentucky sun, wind and heat the whole time. Buffalo Trace only found out what that had done to the whiskey when the barrels were tasted years afterwards.

How old is the whiskey in Colonel E.H. Taylor Warehouse C Tornado Surviving?

Buffalo Trace has not published an age for this release. Retail listings consistently report a range of roughly 9 years and 8 months to 11 years and 11 months, but that figure does not appear in the distillery's own account and should be treated as reported rather than confirmed. What is certain is the floor: the bottling is Bottled-in-Bond, which requires a minimum of four years in a federally bonded warehouse.

Will Buffalo Trace release Warehouse C Tornado Surviving again?

No. The whiskey exists because specific barrels sat exposed to the weather after storm damage in 2006, and Buffalo Trace has described it as a once-in-a-lifetime product it feels lucky to have been able to release, while making clear it does not hope for another tornado. Warehouse C was repaired and continues to age bourbon under normal conditions, including the barrels behind the standing Colonel E.H. Taylor Single Barrel, so the warehouse remains in use — the circumstances do not.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Warehouse C Tornado Surviving

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E.H. Taylor, Jr.

The Elemental Distinction

How It Was Made