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When you head out to your local liquor store in search of your go-to bourbon, in my case Woodford Double Oaked, you can be pretty confident that what you buy today will taste very much like what you’ll buy two months from now and tastes very much like the number of bottles that you have disappeared over the past number of years of the same brand. Consistency is king for major distilleries. For some brands such at Stagg Jr. or in its new more recent form Stagg, every limited-edition batch brings with it a unique and new experience. It’s therefore surprising to find folks who think that if they don’t like one batch of Stagg then they won’t like any of them. The truth of the matter is that there is a wide range of variation within the brand itself, and this post will explore the depth and breadth of the Stagg Jr. and Stagg lineup which now consists of 23 different releases! But first, let’s level set on the brand and its particulars…
The Stagg Jr. line debuted in the fall of 2013 gaining a huge following along the way. It’s a limited-edition barrel proof blend from barrels that are generally eight to nine years in age. Interestingly, in 2013 many felt when this brand was launched that this bottling was too “alcohol-forward” but like the heat from its barrel proof burn, those nay sayers have warmed to what this expression brings to the mix. Historically, this offering has been released two times per year, however in 2023 the distillery released three batches in the same year. They disappear just about as quickly as they appear, with an average retail price around eighty dollars.
So, what’s the difference between Stagg and Stagg Jr.? It’s important to note that Stagg Jr. and Stagg are in fact, one in the same. In 2021 Buffalo Trace dropped the “Jr.” with their release of Batch 18 and simply moved forward with calling the brand “Stagg.” This lineup is not to be confused by the elder Stagg, George T. Stagg which is released as a part of the distilleries annual Buffalo Trace Antique Collection offering. The predominant difference between Stagg Jr. and Stagg and the distilleries premium offering is time spent in the wood. Like we mentioned earlier, this brand usually is comprised of eight-to-nine-year bourbons, they don’t ever make it to the double digits like George T. Stagg.
In a world where not all Staggs (or Stagg Jr.’s) are created equal, and with 23 batches to choose from, which one should you drink? If you’re like me, wading into the interwebs for reviews tells me a whole lot of nothing about what I might like. I end up with a handful of the same random people speaking about hints of cardamom and at the end of the day we all have different palates and what I like is likely going to be different from a whole range of others. What does someone telling me the thirteen things they taste and their thumbs up or thumbs down really mean at the end of the day? Not much. To that end, I set out to create a new proprietary tool that would cut through the noise of internet reviews and help Bourboneur’s everywhere find a pour they’ll love. If you’re anything like me, and I trust that you likely are, I love buying bourbon, but hate buying bourbon that I don’t love. So, lets save you some time and money and preview how this works.
Master Distiller Harlan Wheatley describes the Stagg/Stagg Jr. overall profile to be “rich, sweet, chocolate, and brown sugar flavors mingled in the perfect balance with a bold, rye spiciness. The boundless finish lingers with hints of cherries, cloves, and smokiness.” In general, yes, but the batch variation jumps around considerably, and we have unpackaged that detail through the analysis of crowdsourced flavor intensity data to take all the noise out of the equation and distill each unique batch down to a point on a flavor map. As you can see in the figure below, the individual batches are all over the board with some pulling towards each spectrum of the flavor intensity mapping. If you liked the heavy spiced nature of Batch 3, you’re certain to also like Batch 16; looking for something a bit more balanced, Batch 15 is your jam. Batch 14 would be the sweetest of the lot, hanging out in a space all its own.
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Finding a new release is hard enough with bottles selling out nearly instantly, but, if you’re hoping to trade into a bottle or find one on the secondary bourbon market, you need to be whiskey wise to do so to make sure you’re paying a fair price or making a fair trade. This is where the Bourbon Blue Book™ comes in. Updated weekly, the Bourbon Blue Book™ keeps tabs on nearly 3,000 different bottles of coveted brownwater and sees nearly two hundred thousand queries per month. It’s the go-to resource for bourbon and rye valuation on the web. Below is current pricing information on all batches of Stagg and Stagg Jr.
Unpackage complex flavor intensity data on nearly 500 different bourbons to find a pour you’ll love in our Members Only section, where you can sign up and then pin/add our site to your home screen where it will function much like an app, often referred to as a “web app.” The new web app will incorporate all the existing features available on Bourboneur as well as an expanded offering of tools and resources to help Bourboneur’s everywhere become whiskey wise. Want to keep up with Bourboneur and our upcoming launch, bottles drops and more? Join our community of thousands by scrolling down and subscribing to our weekly email list – you can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, and yes, even TikTok. Show us some love and give us a like on your favorite platform, or all of them and keep up with all the Bourboneur happenings!
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