We’ve sampled traditional Benchmark, as well as their Top Floor and Bonded expressions. Today, we check out another in the Benchmark lineup - Benchmark Single Barrel.
Where the Buffalo Cross
The Benchmark brand is produced by Sazerac at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. In smaller letters on the bottle, you’ll see a reference to McAfee Brothers. These larger-than-life pioneers - James, George, and Robert McAfee - were early settlers of what later became the Commonwealth.
In 1773, they discovered the great buffalo crossing along the banks of the Kentucky River. Later, bourbon legends the like of Taylor and Stagg would build the OFC Distillery at the very site, leading to the name “Buffalo Trace”. As land surveyors, the McAfees left behind their markers, known as “benchmarks”.
The Tasting
Buffalo Trace is mum on the mash bill for the Benchmark lineup, but most agree that it shares the same low-rye (less than 10%) Mash Bill No. 1, which is also used in the Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Old Charter, and E.H. Taylor expressions. Benchmark Single Barrel is bottled at 95 proof. Unlike many single barrel products, there is no indication as to age or warehouse location of the aged barrels. The label does show this as a straight bourbon, and lacking an age statement, we can assume that the finished product has aged for at least 4 years.
Eye: Amber with a few medium legs displayed when swirled in the Glencairn glass.
Nose: Pleasant, with caramel sauce drizzled over Grannysmith apple slices.
Palate: Sweeter with brown sugar and fruit. Unremarkable, but nice.
Finish: Medium with nutmeg, cinnamon, oak char, balanced with vanilla.
Overall: At 95-proof, this expression of Benchmark is between the low 86-proof Top Floor version and the 100-proof Bottled-in-Bond Bonded rendition. Priced locally at $25, this is a fine bargain pour - especially when comparable bottles of the flagship Buffalo Trace just can’t be found everyday. At a higher-proof, with more bourbon-bang-for-the-buck, I’d lean towards either the Bonded or Single Barrel as my pick of the litter. Fine for everyday sipping, this is one that won’t bust the bank.