The grain bill runs Minnesota rye as the large grain, Kentucky corn (distillers grade #1 and #2) as the small grain and North Dakota malted barley as the finish grain, milled through a #10 screen and cooked at 240°F in Kentucky limestone water treated by reverse osmosis. It was fermented as a sour mash in carbon steel and black iron fermenters and double distilled through a beer still and doubler, coming off at 135 proof. In April 1998 the spirit entered new white oak barrels from Independent Stave — #4 char, charred for 55 seconds, 53 liquid gallons — at 125 proof. After 18 years on the second floor of Warehouse K, 24 barrels were hand-picked for the release, with 72.1% of their original whiskey gone to the angels' share; the batch was chill filtered and bottled at 90 proof.

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.

Is the 2016 Sazerac 18 tanked whiskey?

No. Buffalo Trace bottled the 2016 Sazerac 18 directly from barrels filled in April 1998 and aged 18 years, with no tanked whiskey in the batch. It followed the 2015 edition, the last Sazerac 18 drawn from the stainless steel tank that had held Buffalo Trace's 1985 rye.

When was the 2016 Sazerac 18 distilled?

The 2016 Sazerac 18 was distilled at Buffalo Trace in the spring of 1998, with the barrels filled that April. The whiskey matured on the second floor of Warehouse K until it was 18 years old and was released in the fall 2016 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection at 90 proof.

Is the 2016 Sazerac 18 chill filtered?

Yes. Buffalo Trace's release data for the 2016 Sazerac 18 lists chill filtration ahead of bottling at 90 proof. The Thomas H. Handy in the same 2016 Antique Collection, made from the same rye recipe, was bottled unfiltered at 126.2 proof.

Is the 2016 Sazerac 18 the same whiskey as the 2017 release?

They share a distillation season, not a bottling route. Both the 2016 and 2017 Sazerac 18 were distilled at Buffalo Trace in the spring of 1998 and bottled at 90 proof, but the 2016 came directly from barrels, while Buffalo Trace's 2017 notes say the whiskey for that release was emptied into a stainless steel tank in 2016, which halted its aging.