Review: Stagg Jr., Colonel E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof, and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof - Battle of Three Barrel Proof Beasts

Review: Stagg Jr., Colonel E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof, and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof - Battle of Three Barrel Proof Beasts

We're Up All Night To Get Lucky

There's a new game in town.  From the legendary George T Stagg bourbon that rocks the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection every year comes a new, young, barrel proof offspring called Stagg Jr.  It's not on the shelves yet.  Stores are lining up to get half a dozen bottles.  We got lucky.

Queue soundtrack =>

New Stallion in Town?




Sadly the days of finding George T. Stagg, Pappy, and AH Hirsch on the shelves are long gone.  Could Stagg Jr be the prodigal son?  The little brother who rises to great heights?  The Eli Manning, the Serena Williams of the family, ready to step up and take the championship?  We put it to the test against our other two favorite barrel proof beasts.





Contenders

Colonel E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof (NAS) 67.25%, 134.5 proof  $75.99
Stagg Jr. ("nearly a decade") 67.20%, 134.4 proof  $49.99
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof (12 Years) 67.1%, 134.2 proof  $39.99

Let's break it down and see how they do.

Appearance

ECBP:  Dr. Pepper.

Taylor:  Honest Tea.

Stagg:  Chamomile.

Winner:  ECBP is the darkest.  (Stagg looks extremely dark in the bottle because it's got a strategically placed black label on the back).


Nose

Stagg: Crushed pepper, bitter orange rind, blue cotton candy, canned corn.  Hot and heady.

Taylor: Way more refined.  Far less hot than the Stagg.  Sweet honey, tangerines, herbals - mint, maybe tarragon/rosemary or some other leafy spice.  Clove cigarettes.

ECBP: Cinnamon, roasted pecans, smoky pork, oiled leather.

Winner: Elijah Craig wins the nose hands down.

Body (neat)

Granted this is masochism, but it's important to see which is most drinkable neat...

Taylor: Very drinkable.  More heat than burn.  Shockingly un-painful at 134.5 proof.

Stagg: Way rougher than the Taylor.  This is rocket fuel w/o water.

ECBP:  Very smooth and rich, also stunningly drinkable at full test.  Cherries, Luden's cough drops, but a little less balance than the Taylor.

Winner: Taylor wins the neat taste test.

Body (w/ a dozen eye-dropper drops of water & 10 minutes in the glass)

Stagg: Opens up much nicer than the nose.  Now we're getting tastes of old man Stagg.  Big bold taste backed by the oak and char.  Rich raisins and sweet peaches.  Still raw and hot.

ECBP:  Not much change with the water.  Very nice spice.  Hint of licorice.  Cherries.  Woody.

Taylor:  Solid delicious bourbon here.  Spice, spirit warmth, molasses sweetness all coming together in a musky, cologne, oiled leather drinkability.

Winner:  Tie between the Taylor and the ECBP.  Taylor is more refined and balanced, Elijah has more richness and body.

Finish

Stagg:  Massive chest warmth and throat burn.  Robusto cigar smoke on the breath.  Chili peppers on the tongue.  It's still showing the youth and breathing fire through the water, but it's a lively and fresh powerful blast of whiskey.

ECBP: The finish is the worst part of this whiskey.  A bitterness creeps up, over-sour cherry skin, maybe a rough oak cask taste.  It's got all the elements of a nice finish but they don't come together right.  The wood doesn't cancel out the burn and the sweetness doesn't compliment the spice.

Taylor:  It's kind of "all in" with the Taylor.  The wood flavor comes out but doesn't overpower.  The sweetness and spice combine into a nice round punch.  It's by far the smoothest finish with a nice long lingering campfire-stone smokiness.

Winner:  The Taylor wins again for finish.

Overall

Best Value:  For the money we give the award to the Elijah Craig.  At half the price of the Taylor, it's a very impressive beast.  It's way smoother than the Stagg Jr, has a lot more spice, and is easily some of the best valued juice we've seen in a long time.  It has a similar flavor profile as Pappy 23 year, with lots of wood snap and a dry spicy crisp crack.

Best Overall:  Without considering money, the Colonel E.H. Taylor takes the prize.  It's not quite as dark and rich as the ECBP, but with just a few drops of water it's simply delicious.  The best all around balance, and honestly this is the closest whiskey to the original George T Stagg.  A huge ballsy beast that hits you in the chest but gives you that thick, sweet, nutty, smoky, rich awesomeness that you will be thinking about the next day.

No ribbon for Stagg Jr?  We're going to let this bottle open up for a few days and suffer through another greatest hits tasting.  After all, the first time we had George T Stagg we'd never tasted anything at that proof before, and it took some getting used to.  It turned out to be an all-time favorite.  Also it's worth noting that we'd still go out and buy another bottle of this for safe-keeping if it was available.  We're talking best-of-the-beast here and although it we couldn't give it gold or silver, bronze in this competition is nothing to sneeze at.  It's a big, spicy, hot, punchy new friend that has found a welcome place on the shelf.

We're up all night 'til the sun
We're up all night to get some
We're up all night for good fun
We're up all night to get lucky

/SmokyBeast

Update:  Ok, so we put the Stagg Jr. in the decanter, let it air out for a few days, added some different amounts of water (up to 50%), let those air out, and have basically given it every benefit of the doubt.  Sadly we can't get behind this.  A beast it is!  But not a beast that we really care to drink.  The nose and body have some interesting flavors, but it's just so hot and burning that it's not easy to drink.  We love Buffalo Trace and really had high hopes for this one, but sadly it's getting a SmokyBeast "C-".