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At any given time, Buffalo Hint has upward of 15 whiskey manufacturers on provide, starting from straight bourbons to ryes to wheaters and white canine (unaged whiskey). Inside these types, there are quite a few legacy labels, and inside these labels, varied offshoots, whether or not cask power iterations, assorted age statements, or newfangled finishes. With so many whiskeys within the arsenal, you may assume the distillery is working with all types of recipes—however in truth, it depends on simply 4 key mashbills, plus just a few outliers which might be utilized far much less ceaselessly, as in, say, the one-off releases that populate the Experimental Assortment. Technically, Buffalo Hint’s recipes are tightly held secrets and techniques—nobody however grasp distiller Harlen Wheatley and the distilling staff are aware about the precise particulars of every mashbill—however savvy whiskey drinkers come to their very own conclusions on the fundamental make-up of every.
Mashbill #1 (Bourbon)
The primary of Buffalo Hint’s mashbills is essentially the most generally used, present in legacy labels Buffalo Hint, Eagle Uncommon, E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Stagg, Jr., Benchmark, and Previous Constitution 8. The recipe is predominantly corn, and is extensively believed to comprise lower than 10% rye, with malted barley accounting for the rest.
Mashbill #2 (Bourbon)
The second of Buffalo Hint’s major mashbills is a bourbon recipe that’s greater in rye content material, although not a high-rye bourbon per se—these have a minimal of 20% rye within the recipe. Rye ranges in Mashbill #2 are believed to hover anyplace from 10% to fifteen%, making for barely spicier whiskeys, together with Blanton’s, Elmer T. Lee, Hancock Reserve, Rock Hill Farm, and Historical Age.
Mashbill #3 (Wheated Bourbon)
For its third mashbill, Buffalo Hint swaps out the rye for wheat. Provided that the precise numbers aren’t shared, it’s doable that wheat performs extra of a task on this recipe than the rye does in Mashbill #2. Essentially the most well-known Buffalo Hint model made with this mashbill is Pappy Van Winkle, and most all of the Van Winkle ilk for that matter, together with Previous Rip Van Winkle and Van Winkle Particular Reserve. It’s additionally used for the acclaimed Weller whiskeys, W.L. Weller and William Larue Weller.
Mashbill #4 (Rye)
Then there’s Buffalo Hint’s rye mashbill. The distillery favors corn in all its recipes, so it’s no shock that this mashbill makes use of—reportedly—simply 51% rye, the bottom restrict allowable by legislation to nonetheless be thought of a straight rye whiskey. Among the many Buffalo Hint whiskeys made with this recipe are Sazerac Rye and Thomas H. Useful.
Experimental Mashbills
Buffalo Hint launched its first barrels of experimental whiskey again in 2006. Since then, the distillery has debuted distinctive, one-off mashbills at varied factors. The gathering has included a whiskey made with oats; one made out of rice; and a whiskey made with peated malt. Outdoors of the Experimental Assortment, the distillery has dabbled in 95/5 rye whiskeys (with E.H. Taylor, Jr. Straight and Barrel Proof ryes), a four-grain mashbill (E.H. Taylor, Jr. 4 Grain), and a riff on Mashbill #1 that replaces the rye content material with amaranth, a heritage grain (E.H. Taylor, Jr. Amaranth Grain off the Gods).
When you perceive the small print behind the 4 core Buffalo Hint mashbills, it may be a enjoyable exploration to see simply how these mashbills can progress throughout completely different manufacturers. Take Mashbill #2, as an example—it may be as low-cost and cheerful as Historical Age, a straight bourbon that instructions a price ticket of simply $12, or as prized and treasured as Blanton’s, the ever-elusive single barrel model that goes for as a lot as $200 on the secondary market (up from a prompt retail worth of $65, thoughts you).
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