Buffalo Trace's 2019 fact sheet gives the full process. The grain bill uses 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. The grains were milled through a #10 screen and cooked at 240°F in Kentucky limestone water treated by reverse osmosis, then fermented as a sour mash in carbon steel and black iron fermenters. The spirit was double distilled through a beer still and doubler, came off at 135 proof, and went into new white oak barrels from Independent Stave (#4 char, charred for 55 seconds, 53 liquid gallons) at 125 proof in the spring of 2001. The barrels rested on the second floor of Warehouses K and L; at bottling the whiskey was 18 years and 4 months old and had lost 83.5% of its original volume, and it 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.

When was the 2019 Sazerac 18 distilled?

The 2019 Sazerac 18 Year Old was distilled at Buffalo Trace in the spring of 2001 and aged on the second floor of Warehouses K and L until it was 18 years and 4 months old. That made it the oldest whiskey in the 2019 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, ahead of that fall's Eagle Rare 17 at 17 years and 3 months. The three Sazerac 18 releases before it, from 2016 through 2018, were all distilled in the spring of 1998.

What does the 2019 Sazerac 18 taste like?

Buffalo Trace's official note for the 2019 Sazerac 18 Year Old gives a floral nose with cherries, a palate of vanilla and maple syrup that turns to dark berries, and a long finish of oak, black pepper and spearmint. The distillery's note for the 2018 release, distilled in 1998, had listed dark chocolate, tobacco and cinnamon instead.

How much of the 2019 Sazerac 18 was lost to evaporation?

According to Buffalo Trace's fact sheet, 83.5% of the original whiskey in the 2019 Sazerac 18 Year Old evaporated over its 18 years and 4 months of aging. That was the highest loss among the five 2019 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection bottles, with Eagle Rare 17 next at 66%, and higher than the 72.1% and 72.7% the distillery recorded for the 2016 and 2017 Sazerac 18 releases.

Is the 2019 Sazerac 18 chill filtered?

Yes. Buffalo Trace's fact sheet lists chill filtration for the 2019 Sazerac 18 Year Old, which was bottled at 90 proof, the lowest strength in the 2019 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Eagle Rare 17, at 101 proof, was the only other chill-filtered bottle in that set; George T. Stagg, William Larue Weller and Thomas H. Handy were released uncut and unfiltered.