EH Taylor Barrel Proof Batch 11, 129

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey — Batch 11, 129.0 Proof

Price

$479.95

✔ 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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Adult signature (21+) at delivery

129

Proof

64.50%

ABV

None

Age

2022

Year

750 mL

Format

L22

Code

Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Barrel Proof Batch 11 is the 2022 release at 129 proof, 64.50% ABV, uncut and unfiltered. It landed on the same figure as the 2014 release, to the decimal, eight years later. It also arrived the year after the cancelled George T. Stagg had inflated demand for the line — with Stagg back on shelves, this release had to stand on what was in it.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

129 proof, 64.50% ABV — identical to the 2014 release.

Up 1.7 proof from the 2021 bottling, back into the middle of the range.

Released the year George T. Stagg returned, after its 2021 cancellation.

The first release in two years to compete without a distortion attached to it.

The L22 code is the only thing separating it from a 2014 bottle on the shelf.

Identical strength to Batch 3 says nothing about identical age or warehouse.

Nº 02

Barrel Proof, Explained

Barrel Proof Batch 11

Identical dump proof does not imply identical whiskey, and 2014 and 2022 are the clearest demonstration the line offers. Barrels reach a given strength by different routes: a barrel high in a warm rickhouse loses water fast and concentrates quickly, so it can arrive at 129 proof in fewer years than a barrel on a cool lower floor that takes far longer to reach the same figure. Both are 129 when dumped and neither tells you anything about the other. Since Buffalo Trace publishes no age, no warehouse and no floor data for any release in this line, the proof is the only number available — and it is the one number that cannot distinguish between a fast maturation and a slow one. Two releases eight years apart landing on the same figure is coincidence in the arithmetic, not similarity in the whiskey.

Nº 03

The Identifiers

What separates this release

Strength

Barrel proof

Uncut, not proofed down

Filtration

Non-chill filtered

Proof shared with

Batch 3, released 2014 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

Coming off 2021: A 1.7-proof rise back to the middle of the band, after the previous year's drop to the bottom of it. Neither move signals anything beyond which barrels were pulled.
Against its twin: 64.50% exactly matches the 2014 release. 129 is one of only three figures the line has ever repeated — alongside 127.2, used twice, and 127.3, used three times — which makes the comparison between them clean and the confusion between them easy.
What is documented: 129 proof, a 2022 bottling, hand-selected barrels, no water added, no chill filtration.

Strategic Position

2021 was an artificial year for this release. Buffalo Trace cancelled George T. Stagg, and demand that would have gone to the distillery's flagship uncut bourbon arrived here instead, lifting a bottle at the bottom of its own proof range into unusual prominence. Stagg came back in 2022. This is the first release since 2020 that had to be wanted on its own terms, and it is worth reading that way rather than as a step down from the year before — the 2021 premium was never really about the 2021 whiskey. It sits among the barrel-proof bottlings we stock, directly after the Stagg-year release of 2021.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

→

Collector Note

Two bottles at 129 proof, eight years apart, and no way to tell them apart from the front label — L22 is this one, L14 is the 2014. What makes this twin different from the three-way collision at 127.3 is the market gap between the two halves. The 2014 release came out before this line was seriously hunted, which means most of it was opened and drunk; the 2022 came out at the height of allocation, which means far more of it was held. Same number on the glass, very different survival rates, and the older bottle is the scarcer object by a wide margin. That asymmetry runs the opposite way to what a buyer might assume from a more recent release being harder to buy at retail. The 2014 batch at the identical 129 carries the same warning from its side.

→

How to Taste It

If your bottle has been open a while, taste it before you judge it. A 2022 release is four years in glass now and a part-full bottle of barrel-proof bourbon changes measurably over that span — oxidation works more slowly at 64.5% than it does at 40%, but it works, and the direction is usually toward softer and flatter. That matters more on this line than on most because there is no published note to check yourself against, so an oxidised bottle simply becomes your impression of the batch. Decant into a smaller vessel once you are past halfway, or drink it down rather than saving it.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Class: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch: Batch 11
Release year: 2022
Proof: 129
ABV: 64.50%
Age statement: None

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Batch	Batch 11
Release year	2022
Proof	129
ABV	64.50%
Strength	Barrel proof — uncut, not proofed down
Filtration	Non-chill filtered
Laser code	L22
Proof shared with	Batch 3, released 2014 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 11?

129 proof, or 64.50% ABV, bottled uncut and unfiltered. It shares that figure exactly with Batch 3, the 2014 release. The L22 laser code identifies this one; L14 identifies the 2014.

How is the 2022 release different from the 2021?

By 1.7 proof points and by circumstance. The 2021 release came out in the year Buffalo Trace cancelled George T. Stagg, which pushed demand for barrel-strength bourbon from the distillery onto this line and lifted that bottling well beyond what its 127.3 proof would suggest. Stagg returned in 2022, so this release competed without that distortion.

Does the same proof mean the same whiskey?

No. Barrels reach a given strength by different routes — a barrel in a hot warehouse position concentrates faster and can reach 129 proof in fewer years than one in a cool position that takes far longer. Buffalo Trace publishes no age, warehouse or floor data for this line, so the proof figure is the only number available, and it is precisely the number that cannot distinguish a fast maturation from a slow one.

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E.H. Taylor, Jr.

The Elemental Distinction

Barrel Proof, Explained