Stagg Batch 26C Bourbon
The Stats
- Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery
- Location: Frankfort, KY
- Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Batch: 26C
- Age: NAS
- Proof: 124.6 (62.3% ALC/VOL)
- Mash Bill: Undisclosed
- Filtration: Unfiltered
- Release: Limited / Batched
- Price: $75
VIDEO REVIEW COMING SOON ↓
Something is changing with Buffalo Trace. Slowly. Very slowly. Depending on where you live, you might completely disagree, but some bottles that used to feel impossible to find are showing up a little more often. And that changes the Stagg conversation.
It is not always just, “Can I find one?” anymore. Sometimes now it is, “Which batch should I actually buy?” So before we start comparing anything, Batch 26C deserves its own shot.
The Whiskey Behind the Bottle
Stagg is one of those bottles almost every bourbon drinker knows. It sits below George T. Stagg in the Buffalo Trace lineup, but it follows a similar idea: barrel-proof bourbon, bottled uncut and unfiltered, without trying to smooth out everything that happens in the barrel. Buffalo Trace currently lists Stagg at eight years old.
The name itself goes much further back. George T. Stagg was a major figure behind the distillery that eventually became Buffalo Trace, and the O.F.C. Distillery was renamed for him in 1904.
Today, new Stagg batches get attention almost immediately. You generally know the broad profile you are walking into: big proof, dark fruit, oak, spice, and that familiar Buffalo Trace character.
26C comes in at 124.6 proof, and it feels like Stagg right away. But what we liked most is that it does not stay completely fruit-forward. It starts sweet and rich, then gets darker and more earthy as you spend time with it. That shift is probably the most interesting part of the bottle.
Tasting Notes
Aroma
Dark cherry comes through first, but not in a bright or fresh way. It is more like cooked cherries, cherry pie filling, and charred oak. Grape, brown sugar, caramel, vanilla, and cocoa also come through underneath.
As it sits, the fruit becomes less dominant. Clove and baking spice start to come through, along with a little pepper and rye spice. It starts sweet and fruit-forward, then picks up more spice and earthiness.
Taste
The palate follows the nose pretty closely. Dark cherry and rich fruit lead things off, followed by barrel char, clove, baking spice, and black pepper.
Mouthfeel is one of the whiskey's strongest parts. It is thick, syrupy, and coats the mouth really well. The more we drank it, the more the profile shifted away from the fruit. Molasses, bitter chocolate, leather, tobacco, and toasted oak started showing up more prominently. That darker side gave 26C real balance for us. Plenty of sweetness, but it never feels soft or overly fruity.
Finish
The finish stays dark and spicy. Clove, black pepper, toasted oak, bitter chocolate, and tobacco linger after the sweeter fruit fades.
At 124.6 proof, it has plenty of warmth, but the proof never takes over the whiskey. It lingers with a nice mix of spice, oak, and darker, earthy notes.
Artfully Bourbon Rating
8.5 / 10 - Very Good
This is a really good Stagg. What we liked most was the balance. You get the dark fruit and sweetness you expect, but there is enough clove, oak, leather, tobacco, and spice underneath it to keep the whiskey from feeling too sweet or one-note.
The mouthfeel helps too. It is thick and coating, with plenty of weight without the 124.6 proof getting in the way. It did not completely blow us away, but it also didn’t give us much to complain about. That is kind of where Stagg sits for us now. You open one expecting it to be very good, and 26C delivers.
Buy or Skip:
Buy
Especially if you can find it close to retail. 26C gives you plenty of what people like about Stagg: dark fruit, proof, oak, spice, and a big mouthfeel. But it also has enough earthy character underneath the sweetness to make it a little more interesting as you work through the glass.
And that gets us back to the bigger question. If Stagg is starting to become a little easier to find, we can finally spend less time talking about whether you can find one and more time asking whether the batch is actually worth buying. 26C is.
Where Does It Rank?
Every whiskey we review is scored using the same 10-point scale, making it easy to compare bottles across styles, distilleries, and price points. Explore our complete whiskey rankings to see how every bottle stacks up.
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