Sweet Staggy Stagg! This phrase, often said in the voice of Norbert from the old Nickelodeon cartoon Angry Beavers, is a nostalgic line you'll often hear from me, a self-proclaimed Stagg man. As the eponymous hero of the Stagg Hub, my goal will be to keep this page up to date with all the latest releases of both Stagg Jr (which no longer features the "Jr" on the label as of the batch 18 release) and the more senior George T. Stagg (a staple of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, or BTAC for short). If all the batches, proofs, and years have you confused, read on and keep this page bookmarked for easy reference in the future!
If you don't want to scroll through the introductions and background details that will follow, feel free to use the links below to jump down to the release tables:
Please note these are best viewed in non-mobile format on a computer browser.
The History
The origin story for this brand harkens all the way back to 1835, when George T. Stagg was born in central Kentucky. George would come to be known as "The Ultimate Salesman." After starting his early life in the shoe industry, George would find himself transitioning into and excelling in a life of Army work. At the conclusion of his service in the Civil War, George struck up selling Kentucky whiskey in Missouri with a business partner named James Gregory. This business put George in contact with many of the successful Kentucky distillers, one of which was Colonel Edmund Haines Taylor, Jr.—another name you should recognize from the Buffalo Trace portfolio. Taylor, falling on some hard times in the distilling business, ended up owing Stagg a substantial sum of money. Stagg, ever the opportunist, turned a tough situation into a business opportunity. He wiped the debts that Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr owed and, in return, took ownership of both of Taylor's distilleries: the O.F.C. Distillery and the Carlisle Distillery. They worked together as pseudo-partners for a time, though Stagg was ultimately the majority shareholder in all their ventures, including the E.H. Taylor Jr. Company, which was founded in 1879. This relationship would unfortunately not last, with Taylor parting ways and going off to run the Old Taylor Distillery, which is now owned and operated by Castle & Key at the time of writing.
The more notable of the named distilleries in connection to this story is the O.F.C. Distillery, O.F.C. standing for a few names that Taylor used interchangeably: Old Fashioned Copper and Old Fire & Copper. After Taylor's separation and a number of hot-button lawsuits between the two Kentucky gentlemen, the O.F.C. Distillery and other holdings would be renamed under 'George C. Stagg and Co.' in 1890. With his health on the decline at this time, he chose to retire this same year. George T. Stagg would live to be 58 years old, passing away in 1893. His distillery would live on in his name, with 1904 seeing the distillery become "The George T. Stagg Distillery," which is sometimes shortened to "Geo Stagg" in print. This would notably be one of the distilleries that was allowed to remain open through prohibition. An example of this distillery's whiskey, bottled in 1928 as a ripe old 11.5 year bourbon, was opened, studied, savored, and enjoyed when I last got together with my dear friend Gregory Cloyd. What an honor it was to taste, learn, and respect the history of George T. Stagg in liquid form! In 1929, the distillery was bought by the spirits goliath Schenley, which I've also written about, as they then continued to produce whiskey under the new prohibition rules. This distillery was likely one of Schenley's powerhouse Kentucky producers, though they were making all kinds of spirits for the next handful of decades.
As the history of the man behind the name began to fade with the inexorable passage of time, the distillery would once again change hands in 1992, when the Sazerac Company purchased it. The name would become Buffalo Trace Distillery in 1999, apparently due to this location by the bank of the Kentucky River being an ancient Buffalo crossing. That takes us to today, where the same distillery now distills, ages, and crafts whiskey under several of the historical brandings associated with related prominent whiskey figures. The recipes, people, and equipment have all been replaced and modernized, though, meaning the whiskey produced today is not necessarily the same as what came before. So from the perspective of someone who has tasted the old stuff, you might be wondering about my opinion on Stagg bourbon as it stands today. Well, my dear reader, you're in luck, as I make it a point to write about as many of these releases as I can.
Whenever I have completed my own review of any of these releases, I will also include a link to it. If you'd like to share a batch I haven't reviewed yet, I'd be glad to be able to offer my thoughts on a shared sample. For now, let's jump into the nitty-gritty details on everything Stagg bourbon!
Stagg Junior
The ever-bold Stagg Junior, now just simply 'Stagg', is the uncut, unfiltered Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced from Buffalo Trace's mash bill # 1. This is the same mash bill used in the flagship Buffalo Trace, Colonel Taylor, Eagle Rare, and Benchmark bourbon variants. These bourbons are non-aged-stated (NAS), though widely assumed to be 8-12 year blends, which I would attest to based on my experience with these batches through the years. Some batches sip older and some taste a bit younger, but given the notes I've drawn from these, 8-12 years feels like the right range.
In an interesting rebranding, Buffalo Trace decided to drop the 'Jr' from the label on the summer release in 2022, despite this release having all the hype and respect in the world behind it with the old name. They have also begun to add their own batch naming convention as of the Winter batch in 2022, which is really where the confusion starts but also hopefully ends. Since they are taking matters into their own hands, there isn't a clean continuity, as you'll see in the table below. There is at least a robust and repeatable system for the future, so if you're looking at a newer bottling on the shelf, you'll want to look at the bottom right portion of the front label for the batch information.
Company on Label:Â Buffalo Trace
Whiskey Type:Â Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Mash Bill Percentages: Buffalo Trace Mash Bill # 1 (Low Rye < 10%)
Proof: Varies, thus far between 125.9° and 134.4°
Age:Â NAS (Rumored to be around 8 years)
Further identification: Stagg (Junior) normally releases twice per year, a winter and a summer release, but since 2023's new naming convention was put in place and we saw a "C" batch land within the calendar year, that may be changing
Power Ranking All the Best Stagg Batches
Amongst The Whiskey's Top Stagg Jr Batches (Click to Expand)
Stagg Jr Batch Information: All the Proofs and Release Dates
Batch | Proof | Release Date |
125.9 proof | Late Winter 2023 | |
127.8Â proof | Winter 2023 | |
130.2Â proof | Summer 2023 | |
132.2Â proof | Spring 2023 | |
130Â proof | Winter 2022 | |
131Â proof | Summer 2022 | |
128.7Â proof | Winter 2021 | |
130.9Â proof | Summer 2021 | |
131.1Â proof | Winter 2020 | |
130.2Â proof | Summer 2020 | |
128.4Â proof | Winter 2019 | |
132.3Â proof | Summer 2019 | |
Batch 11 | 127.9Â proof | Winter 2018 |
Batch 10 | 126.4Â proof | Summer 2018 |
Batch 9 | 131.9Â proof | Winter 2017 |
Batch 8 | 129.5Â proof | Summer 2017 |
Batch 7 | 130.0Â proof | Winter 2016 |
Batch 6 | 132.5Â proof | Summer 2016 |
129.7Â proof | Winter 2015 | |
Batch 4 | 132.2Â proof | Summer 2015 |
Batch 3 | 132.1Â proof | Winter 2014 |
Batch 2 | 128.7Â proof | Summer 2014 |
Batch 1 | 134.4Â proof | Winter 2013 |
George T. Stagg
The more senior, older-age bourbon from Buffalo Trace bears the historical name George T. Stagg. As of the more recent bottlings, the inside of the back label features a sketch of Stagg himself that can be seen once the bottle has been sufficiently consumed to reveal the image. First introduced in 2002 in response to a growing consumer demand for well-aged barrel proof whiskey, this has become a yearly staple of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.
What this release also does really well is layer in a level of transparency that is non-normal for Buffalo Trace and Sazerac as a whole, with the antique collection seeing a release letter that accompanies each year's vintage. These letters feature information such as the year of distillation, release timing, proof, mash bill grain sources, fermentation specs, distillation techniques, aging locations, evaporative loss, and aging specifics. All of the released letters can be viewed and downloaded at the bottom of this page.
Company on Label:Â Buffalo Trace
Whiskey Type:Â Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Mash Bill Percentages: Buffalo Trace Mash Bill # 1 (Low Rye < 10%)
Proof: Varies, between 125.9° and 134.4°
Age:Â Varies, between 15-18 years
Further identification: George T. Stagg, a critical component of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection (BTAC), releases once per year, other than the notable exceptions of a multi-release in 2005 and no release in 2021 due to a lack of quality barrels; while the release year isn't distinctly called out on a bottle of George T. Stagg, you can figure out your release year by reading the laser code, or by using the proof table below
Power Ranking the George T. Stagg Releases
Amongst the Whiskey's Top George T. Stagg Releases Ranked (Click to Expand)
George T. Stagg Releases by Year, Proof, and Age
Release Year | Proof | Age |
135.0 | 15 years, 3 months | |
138.7 | 15 years, 5 months | |
2021 - No release | N/A | N/A |
130.4 | 15 years, 4 months | |
116.9 | 15 years, 3 months | |
2018 | 124.9 | 15 years, 4 months |
2017 | 129.2 | 15 years, 3 months |
2016 | 144.1 | 15 years, 4 months |
2015 | 138.2 | 15 years, 1 months |
2014 | 138.1 | 16 years, 4 months |
2013 | 128.2 | 15 years, 11 months |
2012 | 142.8 | 16 years, 9 months |
2011 | 142.6 | 18 years, 5 months |
2010 | 143.0 | 17 years, 7 months |
2009 | 141.4 | 16 years, 7 months |
141.8 | 15 years, 6 months | |
2007 | 144.8 | 15 years, 6 months |
2006 | 140.6 | 16 years, 3 months |
2005 (Fall) | 141.2 | 15 years, 4 months |
2005 (Spring, Lot A: Kentucky) | 130.9 | 16 years, 8 months |
2005 (Spring, Lot B: all states) | 131.8 | 16 years, 8 months |
2004 | 129.0 | 16 years |
2003 | 142.7 | 15 years |
2002 | 137.6 | 15 years |
George T. Stagg Release Letters
I hope this was a helpful article for you. Don't forget to bookmark this page, share it with your friends in the whiskey community, and join the conversation below!