The barrels can make, break or change the complexity of any whiskey. Buffalo Trace Distillery began experimenting with different wood 15 years ago, resulting in a re-imagined whiskey brand called Old Charter Oak.
By Federal standards, bourbon is required to be aged in a new, charred oak container — most is aged in oak from the American Ozarks. But there is no specification it must be American white oak (the standard bearer). This new Old Charter Oak line is an entire collection of bourbon aged in oak barrels from different oak varietals, and is designed to explore the role oak plays in making whiskey. The oak used for the brand varies by country of origin, or species, or U.S. state.
The first Old Charter Oak Bourbon release is Mongolian Oak Bourbon. It is aged in barrels from trees grown in Mongolia, which were sourced by Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley in 2006, but it was 2008 before the barrels arrived at Buffalo Trace and filled with Buffalo Trace’s Mash #1. Aged 10 years, the Mongolian Oak tastes vastly different from bourbons aged in barrels made from American white oak.
“We know, from previous research we’ve done, how important oak is to the final taste profile,” stated Wheatley. “The barrel is responsible for about 50% of the flavor profile in bourbon. So it only made sense to take that one step further and see how different barrels from different oak tree varieties would taste in comparison to what we think of as ‘traditional’ oak barrels.”
Old Charter Oak will be packaged in an upscale package, glass bottle with a cork finish. Each bottle will have an oak medallion on the front depicting the Charter Oak tree.
Old Charter is a brand that has always celebrated the central role that oak plays in making great whiskey, given its namesake. The brand dates back to 1874, when Adam and Ben Chapeze created the bourbon, naming it in honor of the Charter Oak tree, a famous symbol of American independence and free spirit, which grew in Connecticut in the 12th or 13th century until it fell in a storm in 1856. Old Charter changed owners a few times, until it was purchased by Buffalo Trace in 1999. The existing Old Charter Bourbon is still produced by parent company Sazerac and there are no plans to discontinue it. The Old Charter Oak series is an upscale brand extension, much like Buffalo Trace has done with its E. H. Taylor, Jr, line.
The suggested retail pricing for the Mongolian Oak is $69.99. Later this year, there will be two other new releases, from oak trees harvested from other countries. Later releases are planned a few times each year, but the different oak varieties will have different price points.
