George T. Stagg 2017 64.6% Review - How's it influenced the Bourbons of today?

While Pappy Van Winkle gets the credit for popularizing luxury Bourbon, I’d like to argue that it’s not the most influential style of bourbon. If you look at oaky high-proof bombs of today, that style of whisky started with George T. Stagg. It’s the bourbon that influenced a bunch of influencers to love oaky bourbons. Thus (potentially) dramatically changing the types of whiskies coming to market. 

Pappy was the popular bourbon, but Stagg was the one whisky enthusiasts went for. Back in the early 2010s it wasn’t uncommon for whisky people to trade Pappy Van Winkle for a few bottles of Stagg. If you consider the hard oaky notes of Stagg combined with the high (60%>) ABV, this is the whisky many releases are modeled after. Look at many of the rare $100+ bourbon and rye releases, and it’s going to be styled after Stagg. 

George T. Stagg’s biggest competition, though, comes from the distillery once named after the brand. Buffalo Trace Distillery is responsible for the annual release of Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, and that comes with some great whiskies. Buffalo Trace is also the distillery of Pappy Van Winkle, so there’s one clear winner here (Sazerac company, that owns the distillery). As we covered on The Whisky Topic, Stagg is starting to take a back seat to some of the other Buffalo Trace Antique Collection releases that are part of the set, but it’s always going to be a favorite of mine (even if I like the others better). 

All this is to say, Stagg continues to be relative. This bottle reviewed here also happens to be my favourite Stagg. Is it the herbal note, or the dryness of the finish? Is it the caramel sweetness combined with the boozy butteriness at its high proof? 

Naw. The reason why I love this one is it happens to be the one that I actually own. It’s the only one I’ve ever owned. While I’ve been fortunate enough to taste many of BTAC’s releases, this bottle sits comfortable as part of my whisky collection. Winning our LCBO lottery here in Ontario is that difficult. 

Stagg is incredibly difficult to buy. If you’re new to the bourbon world, be ready for disappointment. But make friends, and if they’re big whisky people, they might just have a bottle.

George T. Stagg 2017 64.6%
Buffalo Trace Distillery 
Category: Bourbon, Cask Strength, BTAC
Score: Become of Patron

Nose: I always say this, but it’s surprisingly ‘soft’ for a boozy 64.6%. This tends to be the case with a lot of high-proof bourbons. Drop in a splash of water, and things start to happen, but otherwise it’s pretty quiet. It’s caramel, candied oranges, floral notes (almost like a rye), some great pepper spice, and plenty of herbal notes. The cherry note (common in high-proof bourbons) is backstage, but it’s there. Brown sugar, general baking spices, and leather-notes. Basically, nose it long enough, and you’ll get all the notes. There’s a lot going on here.

Palate: Hard hit of flavor. Terrific caramel, great spice. The complexity is in the herby notes, you’ll get licorice and baking spices, and brown sugar served on melted butter. The dryness toward the finish is accompanied by a cherry sweetness, and an intense smoked paprika spice. It’s intense. The nose might be soft, but there’s plenty of burn to accompany the hard-hitting booziness in the finish. My forehead sweats, and my cheeks burn, much the same way when I have spicy food. And that’s not that typical for me, with high-proof drinks. 

Conclusion: When drinking other high-proof (60%+ ABV) bourbons I’m always comparing them to Stagg. It’s the baseline. Some are more complex, others oakier, some dryer, and others softer. They all do relatively well as far as my scoring. But George T. Stagg is the original. 

Other reviews from around the Internet: Whiskyphiles.com