The Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain and Cured Oak Return After Years Off Shelves
Buffalo Trace Distillery has brought back two of the most talked-about bottles in American bourbon history. The Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain and Cured Oak expressions are hitting select retailers starting May 2026, and for serious bourbon drinkers, this is the kind of news that doesn't come around often.
Both bottles carry a suggested retail price of $79.99 for a 750ml — a number that should turn heads, considering what original versions of these same expressions have been fetching on the secondary market for years.
The Man Behind the Name
Before diving into the whiskey itself, it helps to understand who Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. actually was — because this isn't just branding.
Taylor is widely credited as one of the most consequential figures in the entire history of American whiskey. He purchased what was then called the O.F.C. Distillery in 1869 — the very same property that today operates as Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. During his time running the operation, Taylor introduced a number of techniques that transformed how bourbon was made, including advanced grain handling systems, copper fermentation tanks, and steam-heated warehouses for more consistent aging.
Perhaps most significantly, Taylor was a driving force behind the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 — a piece of federal legislation that established strict quality standards for American whiskey at a time when the market was flooded with adulterated and mislabeled products. The act required that bottled-in-bond spirits come from a single distiller during a single distillation season, be aged under government supervision for a minimum of four years, and be bottled at exactly 100 proof. Those standards still exist today.
"Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. was a true pioneer whose commitment to craftsmanship helped redefine what bourbon could be," said Charley Costa, Brand Manager for Whiskey at Buffalo Trace Distillery.
Both new releases carry the bottled-in-bond designation — a fitting tribute to the man who made it mean something.
Four Grain: The Bourbon That Breaks the Rules
Image credit: Buffalo Trace Distillery
A Mashbill Unlike Anything Else in the Lineup
The E.H. Taylor, Jr. Four Grain Bourbon was first introduced in 2017 and generated serious excitement among collectors and drinkers before quietly disappearing. Now it's back, and Buffalo Trace is positioning it as an annual limited release going forward — which is a big deal for a brand that doesn't hand out that kind of commitment easily.
What makes Four Grain so different starts at the most basic level: the grain recipe itself.
Standard bourbon is built on a foundation of at least 51 percent corn, typically paired with malted barley and either rye or wheat. Four Grain, as the name suggests, uses all four of those grains together — corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley. According to Buffalo Trace, this mashbill was designed around the idea of what Taylor himself might have distilled back in the 1800s, using grains that would have been available and accessible to him during that era.
Each grain pulls its own weight in the final product. Corn provides the foundational sweetness that bourbon drinkers expect. Rye adds a familiar spice and gives the whiskey its backbone. Wheat softens things out with a subtle, gentle sweetness that rounds the edges. Malted barley contributes depth with a quiet toasted character underneath it all.
The result is a bourbon that doesn't taste like anything else in the E.H. Taylor lineup — layered, complex, and balanced in a way that takes deliberate craft to achieve.
"What makes Four Grain so special is how unconventional it is," said Harlen Wheatley, Master Distiller at Buffalo Trace Distillery. "It's also a clear example of what we call a 'graduated experiment' — one that began as a deliberate exploration and evolved into a release worthy of returning as a permanent expression. Rye and wheat are often used separately, but combining them creates a completely different flavor experience. Alongside corn and malted barley, we're able to build layers of flavor that balance sweetness, spice and depth in a way you don't typically see in bourbon."
Age, Proof, and What's in the Glass
This 2026 release was distilled in 2015 and aged for ten years before bottling at 100 proof. It's worth noting that the original 2017 and 2018 releases were aged for 12 and 13 years respectively, so long-time fans will find a slightly younger whiskey in this bottle. Whether that registers as a downgrade or simply a different chapter in the same story is largely a matter of personal taste.
On the palate, expect caramel, vanilla, and chocolate — with that lightly spiced finish that the rye and wheat combination produces. It's a bourbon that rewards slow sipping and a little patience.
Cured Oak: The One That Got Away
Image credit: Buffalo Trace Distillery
A Second Chance at a Near-Mythic Bottle
If Four Grain is the crowd-pleaser, Cured Oak is the one that's going to make collectors and obsessives do a double take.
The original Cured Oak was released in 2015 and was a one-time bottling — the brand's seventh-ever expression. It came and went without much fanfare for those outside the inner circle of bourbon enthusiasts, but in the years since, it's taken on a kind of legendary status among people who track what they missed and what it costs to fix that mistake.
The 2026 version is not a direct replica of that original. The most notable difference is the age statement: the 2015 release carried 17 years of barrel time, while this new edition comes in at 10 years. That gap will likely frustrate some people who were hoping to finally taste what they couldn't get the first time around. But it also opens up an interesting possibility — that future batches from this same distillate could be released at 11 or 12 years in coming years, giving the expression a kind of extended run that the original never had.
What Cured Oak Actually Means
The name is a reference to the process used to prepare the oak staves before the barrels are built — specifically, the drying process.
When white oak is harvested and milled into staves for barrel construction, those staves need to be dried, or "cured," before they're used. This curing process draws out harsh tannins and allows the wood to develop the compounds that will eventually interact with the whiskey inside. Standard industry practice runs about six months for this step.
Buffalo Trace extended that window to 13 months for the barrels used in Cured Oak — more than double the normal timeframe.
"What you notice with Cured Oak is the added depth and complexity that comes from the extended curing process," Wheatley said. "Most of our barrels are cured for six months, but with this release the extended curing brings forward richer notes that create a longer, more layered finish."
That longer curing time shows up clearly in the glass. Tasting notes run toward tobacco, dried fruit, vanilla, and toffee — an oak-forward profile that's richer and more brooding than the Four Grain, with a finish that lingers long after the last sip.
Like the Four Grain, it's bottled-in-bond at 100 proof.
What These Bottles Mean for the Brand
Buffalo Trace launched the E.H. Taylor line roughly 15 years ago as an experimental series — a vehicle for small-batch, high-quality releases that sat apart from the distillery's core portfolio. Over time, the brand built a reputation that's hard to overstate. E.H. Taylor expressions routinely generate long wait lists, lottery systems at retail, and secondary market prices that bear little resemblance to what's printed on the bottle.
The decision to bring back Four Grain and Cured Oak — and to price them at $79.99 — is a notable move. For collectors familiar with what vintage versions of these bottles trade for, that number is almost jarring. For everyday bourbon drinkers who want to experience what the brand does at its best without hunting down a unicorn bottle, it's a genuine opportunity.
"Four Grain and Cured Oak reflect that legacy in distinct ways: one through an unconventional grain composition, the other through the influence of barrel aging," Costa said. "Together, they demonstrate how intentional innovation and a dedication to quality can produce truly distinctive whiskeys."
Where to Find Them and What to Expect
Both expressions began rolling out in May 2026.
The Four Grain will be available at the Buffalo Trace Distillery gift shop, the Sazerac House gift shop, and select retailers in Kentucky and Louisiana. Its designation as an annual limited release means it should return in future years, though quantities will remain limited.
The Cured Oak is being handled differently. It will move through Sazerac's distribution network to select retailers, bars, and restaurants across the country — a broader reach, though still far from wide release.
Anyone hoping to simply walk into a liquor store and find both bottles on the shelf should probably temper expectations. These are limited releases from one of the most sought-after names in American whiskey. Moving quickly is the smarter play.
At $79.99 each, both bottles represent fair value for what they are — and for what the E.H. Taylor name has historically commanded in any form. Whether a drinker is drawn to the unusual grain complexity of the Four Grain or the deep, wood-driven character of the Cured Oak, what's in the bottle reflects the same commitment to craft that Taylor himself brought to the distillery more than 150 years ago.
That kind of legacy tends to age well.
