O.F.C. Old Fashioned Copper Vintage 1996 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Price

$3,499.95

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

Age: None (Vintage Distillation Year 1996) | Region: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA | Proof: 90

Secure payments

Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

Proof

45%

ABV

750 mL

Format

1996

Distillation Year

Crystal

Bottle Style

Kentucky

Region

O.F.C. Vintage 1996 carries a date that means something more specific than most whiskey years: the distillery vintage-dates each bottle in this series to the year the bourbon was distilled rather than the year it was bottled. So 1996 is a filling date, and everything after it is time in wood. It is bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV), the strength this series uses as standard, in hand-cut crystal with real copper lettering and a hand-applied paper label, inside a wooden display box carrying a provenance card for its year.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

The year on the bottle is the year the bourbon was distilled — the distillery states this explicitly for the series, and it is why no age statement appears.

Bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV), the standard strength across this vintage-dated series.

Hand-cut crystal with real copper lettering and a hand-applied paper label — the bottle is a replica of an O.F.C. decanter found in the distillery archives.

The wooden display box carries a copper plaque bearing the distillation year and a provenance card listing events from that year.

The earliest of the three vintages held here: distilled eight years before the 2004 and ten before the 2006.

Nº 02

Old Fashioned Copper Distillery Heritage

Historic Colonel E.H. Taylor Legacy

Named in honor of the Old Fashioned Copper Distillery founded by Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. in 1870, this vintage collection pays homage to the historic Frankfort site now known as Buffalo Trace Distillery. Each release represents a single distillation year, matured in traditional Kentucky oak and preserved within collector-grade archive packaging.

Nº 03

Craftsmanship & Cask Architecture

Vintage Distillation Science

1996 Distillation Year

Vintage Barrel Selection

Distilled in 1996 from Buffalo Trace's low-rye recipe and aged in new charred white oak barrels until peak maturity.

Hand-Cut Crystal Decanter

Real Copper Lettering

Housed in a hand-cut crystal decanter patterned after historic 19th-century archive bottles with inlaid copper lettering.

90 Proof Delivery

Standard Series Strength

Bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV), preserving a rich, velvet mouthfeel with dark fruit, chocolate, and maple depth.

Wooden Display Box

Copper Plaque & Card

Presented in a dark wooden cabinet featuring a copper vintage plaque and a historical provenance card from 1996.

Nº 04

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distillery Tasting Notes

Sensory Profile

Nose: Dark cherry and honey over smoked oak, the fruit sitting deeper than the two later vintages carry it.
Palate: Caramel and toasted vanilla with cocoa behind, weighted by the extra decade rather than dried out by it.
Finish: Coffee, maple and oak, long and slow to fade.

Strategic Position

A vintage date on bourbon usually means nothing, because American whiskey is sold on age statements or on nothing at all. This series is the exception: the year is a filling date, published as such, which makes these bottles readable in a way an unlabelled decanter is not. The 1996 is the earliest fill among the three held here, and the distance between it and the 2004 fill from the same series is eight years of the same distillery doing the same thing. The annual releases sit in the Antique Collection cabinet, and the wider shelf is the wider bourbon vault at Midnight Whiskey.

Nº 05

Collector Note & Index

Vault Provenance

→

O.F.C. Vintage Sequence

Anchors the 1990s distillation tier of the O.F.C. line, alongside O.F.C. Vintage 2004 and O.F.C. Vintage 2006.

→

Bourbon Vault Context

Catalogued within the primary Bourbon Collection and The Vault at Midnight Whiskey.

Collector IndexO.F.C. 1996

Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery
Series Position: O.F.C. Vintage Distillation Series
Category: Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Proof / ABV: 90 Proof (45.0% ABV)
Distilled: 1996 Vintage
Bottle: Hand-Cut Crystal w/ Copper Inlay

Nº 06

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
PRODUCER / DISTILLERY	Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
CATEGORY	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
DISTILLATION VINTAGE	1996
PROOF / ABV	90 Proof / 45.0% ABV
MASH BILL	Buffalo Trace Mash Bill #1 (Low Rye)
DECANTER	Hand-Cut Crystal w/ Inlaid Copper Lettering
PRESENTATION	Wooden Display Box w/ Copper Plaque & Provenance Card
REGION	Frankfort, Kentucky, USA
FORMAT	750 mL
SKU	BT-OFC-1996-750

Nº 07

Records & Assurance

Production Methodology

The series takes its name from the Old Fashioned Copper Distillery, christened by Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. in 1870 on the site Buffalo Trace occupies now, and named for the copper stills, piping and fermenters Taylor invested in to keep his spirit clean. The bottles are a deliberate echo of that: a hand-cut crystal replica of an O.F.C. decanter found in the distillery's own archives, with the lettering in real copper rather than paint. What goes inside is drawn from barrels filled in the stated year and left until the distillery judged them ready, which is why the label gives a fill date and no age.

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 does the year on an O.F.C. Vintage bottle mean?

It is the year the bourbon was distilled, not the year it was bottled. Buffalo Trace vintage-dates each bottle in this series to the fill year, which is why the label carries no age statement — the maturation period is the gap between that year and the release.

What proof is O.F.C. Vintage 1996 bottled at?

Ninety proof, or 45% ABV. That is the standard bottling strength across the O.F.C. Vintages series rather than a figure specific to this year.

What comes with an O.F.C. Vintage bottle?

A wooden display box bearing the vintage year on a copper plaque, and a provenance card inside listing notable events from the year the bourbon was distilled. The card repeats the information on the back label, so a boxed bottle documents itself.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Buffalo Trace Distillery · O.F.C. Vintage 1996 Bourbon

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O.F.C. Bourbon

The Elemental Distinction

Old Fashioned Copper Distillery Heritage