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Blanton’s and Hancock’s President’s Reserve bourbons are both single barrel bourbons distilled at the one and only Buffalo Trace Distillery. Of course, if you were to visit the Buffalo Trace website, you’d never know that Hancock’s was a bourbon they produce at all as it’s not even listed. A true oddity, Freddie’s Old-Fashioned Soda is even on the list, right alongside George T. Stagg, and the obscure Single Oak Project bourbon series, but not a hide nor hair of Hancock’s to be seen. To find it you’ll need to jump over to Sazerac’s website and even there you’ll find little more than a brief mention noting it’s amber in color and a “well-crafted whiskey.” That’s deep. Both Blanton’s and Hancock’s President’s Reserve bourbons share a similar backbone of using Buffalo Trace’s Mash Bill #2 however, and in this post, we’ll break down the similarities and differences between these two kissing cousins.
Mash bill #2 has several familiar bottles associated with it, including amongst others, Rock Hill Farms, Elmer T Lee and of course Blanton’s and Hancock’s President’s Reserve to name but a few. This mash bill is a “high rye” mash bill and contains around fifteen percent rye…so not technically a “real” high rye as this classification starts around twenty percent. A comprehensive overview of mash bills associated with various Buffalo Trace produces can be found here.
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Classification: Bourbon
Proof: 88.9
Age: No Age Statement (NAS)
Mash bill: Undisclosed (BT “Mash bill #2” – Higher Rye 12-15%)
Despite being relatively obscure in terms of marketing material online, Hancock’s President’s Reserve is named after the early American settler Hancock Lee. In 1775 Hancock and his brother, Willis established the Leestown settlement along the banks of the Kentucky River naming it after their family. This settlement became a hub for the shipping of tobacco, hemp and perhaps, most importantly, whiskey. The brand is named for Hancock’s pioneering spirit…Willis is apparently chopped liver in terms of history, having died a year after the establishment of Leestown in a skirmish with native Americans.
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Classification: Straight Bourbon
Proof: 93
Age: No Age Statement (NAS) – rumored to be six to eight years
Mash bill: Undisclosed (BT “Mash bill #2” – Higher Rye 12-15%)
Blanton’s is a bottle which has enjoyed practically worldwide notoriety it seems with its iconic horse and rider topper, sought by taters everywhere. A company man, Colonel Albert Bacon Blanton joined the Buffalo Trace Distillery after finishing high school early, going to work as an office boy in 1897 at a whole sixteen years of age. Through a series of promotions, he worked his way up the ladder to become President of Buffalo Trace by the age of forty. So how does one get to be called “Colonel” without any military service? Well, that title ends up being honorific, having been bestowed from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Colonel navigated the distillery through the throws of Prohibition and left an enduring legacy in the bourbon industry. Blanton’s was the first ever single barrel bourbon sold commercially and honors the legacy of the Colonel who was such a driving force within not just Buffalo Trace but the whiskey industry overall.
If you were to pick up and try Blanton’s or Hancock’s President’s Reserve next to each other, or for that matter alongside any of the other Buffalo Trace mash bill #2 bourbons you’d likely feel there’s some similarities resultant from all these bourbons at the end of the day precipitating from the same mash bill. Barrel picking and warehouse location is just as important here as age. Warehouse H is generally Blanton’s only and is the only metal-clad warehouse at the Buffalo Trace distillery. It’s likely this nuance which helps create the unbelievable consistency displayed in the Blanton’s single barrel line. Year after year, barrel after barrel, Blanton’s delivers a surprisingly consistent product for being a single barrel offering.
What is striking amongst the Mash Bill #2 offerings is that proof seems to weigh heavily on the quality of pour, and at the lower end of the spectrum, Hancock’s 88 some odd proof just doesn’t deliver in the same way that Blanton’s does. I’m not the only one who thinks this way, as I came across this quote from Breaking Bourbon regarding Hancock’s Reserve which seemed to perfectly capture my thoughts “The odd man out in Buffalo Trace Distillery’s lineup of single barrel bourbons, Hancock’s President’s Reserve delivers a forgettable pour to go along with its equally forgettable appearance.” Brutally accurate.
Having similar bones between Blanton’s and Hancock’s President’s Reserve (and Elmer T Lee and Rock Hill Farms for that matter), you can probably be assured that if you like one, you very well will like the lot. Similarly, if you aren’t a fan of one – you may want to forgo forking over the cash to try to get hands on another born from the same recipe.
If you’re looking to pick any of these up, good luck – they’re all highly allocated and rarely seen in the wild these days. You’re either going to be paying the king’s ransom at a liquor store with a massive markup, well above secondary, or for those with access to these markets picking one up in one of the many “getting spots” online. No matter where you find one, make sure you don’t get taken by using the Bourbon Blue Book™ which includes nearly weekly updates on the going rate for these and over 3,500 other bottles of coveted brownwater.
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