Sazerac 18 Year Old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (2020) 18 year 750 ml

Every fall, the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection releases a handful of the distillery's oldest whiskeys, and Sazerac 18 Year Old is its Kentucky straight rye. This is the 2020 bottling: rye laid down for eighteen years and pulled at its peak, one of the most chased ryes in American whiskey. The distillery's own notes run mature and savory, with oak, leather, molasses and allspice up front, then a cooling finish of mint, eucalyptus, cinnamon, vanilla and lingering pepper. It is fully allocated and hard to find at retail, so a bottle here is a genuine catch. Drink it the way it earns: neat, unhurried, and with nothing to distract from eighteen years in the barrel.

How to drink Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye

Despite sharing a name with the classic Sazerac cocktail, this isn't the bottle to mix into one — save that for a younger, less expensive rye. Let it sit in the glass for several minutes before the first sip; the mint and eucalyptus notes on the finish take a little time to fully emerge.

Rye90 proof · oak · Kentucky, USA