Buffalo Trace Distillery continues its exploration into oak tree varietals with the release of its Old Charter Oak Canadian Oak. For the newest release, Buffalo Trace obtained a small number of barrels from Canada and filled them with its Mash #1. Canadian oak trees differ from American oak trees in that they are harder and have a tighter grain structure, which affects the bourbon as it ages.
“The tighter grain allows the whiskey to penetrate more layers in the wood, but it does take it longer to do it” says Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. “So the longer the bourbon ages, the more flavor can be extracted.”
This is the third release in the Old Charter Oak Collection. The first two releases were Mongolian Oak and French Oak. All the Old Charter Oak Bourbon series will be released over time, with a fourth release scheduled for early 2020. Subsequent releases are planned a few times each year, indefinitely.
By federal standards, bourbon is required to be aged in a new, charred oak container. However, there is no specification it must be American white oak, it’s just that nearly all bourbons made today are aged in white oak. The Old Charter Oak Canadian Oak was aged for 10 years.
In late 2018, Buffalo Trace announced its Old Charter Oak series, a collection exploring the different taste profiles of barrels obtained from trees grown in different countries, climates and soil. The Old Charter brand dates back to 1874, with its creation by Adam and Ben Chapeze, 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.
Priced at $69.99, Old Charter Oak Canadian Oak like the first two releases in this series, supplies will be limited.
