Tired of chasing bottles of Pappy and Blanton’s only to find the price jacked up way above MSRP? Try Benchmark Single Barrel. In a blind tasting test, Benchmark Single Barrel, which costs a third as much as the well-known brands, tasted equally fine.
This is a bottle that would be easy to miss on the shelf in the liquor store. With its square bottle and screw top lid and a price tag of around $25 on a bottom shelf you might assume this is a low quality bourbon. But you would be wrong, this whiskey is made by Buffalo Trace Distillery and rumored to use the same mash bill as some of its more famous spirits.
Although Buffalo Trace does not formally publish its mash bills, the distillery's affiliation with Benchmark in Frankfort, Kentucky, is undoubtedly not classified information. The Buffalo Trace website has a clear list of benchmark items. The whiskey won medals at the International Spirits Challenge and The Spirits Business' American Whiskey Masters earlier this year.
Still, compared to the hype and exorbitant costs surrounding Buffalo Trace mainstays like Blanton's, Eagle Rare, E.H. Taylor, Weller, or the holy grail, Pappy Van Winkle, Benchmark Single Barrel still feels like a best-kept secret—at least for the time being.
TJ Gamble AKA Brewzle the popular YouTuber frequently recommends Benchmark Single Barrel as a fantastic purchase. Additionally the guys over at Men’s Journal also have highly recommended this bourbon.
Given how uncommon it is to find a $25 single-barrel bourbon, what drives Buffalo Trace to make this happen? I think the answer lies within a quote credited to the late Pappy Van Winkle, Sr., that reads: "We make fine bourbon at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon." That is why only the best barrels are selected and bottled at 95 proof for this whiskey.
