George T
Stagg American Bourbon knocks Highland
Park off its perch.
George T. Stagg, the iconic uncut,
unfiltered bourbon released annually
from Buffalo Trace Distillery, has been
named the number one spirit in the
world, knocking off the perennial
favourite Highland Park 18 Scotch Whisky
for the first time since 2005.
The list,
compiled annually by noted spirits
reviewer F. Paul Pacult, was released in
his June 2011 issue of The Spirit
Journal. The George T. Stagg is also the
first American Whiskey to ever be named
number one in The Spirit Journal's 13
years of tabulating.
Notes Pacult, "This version (2010) of
the GT Stagg is the latest layer in an
incredible body of work performed by
Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen
Wheatley that deserves to be recognized
as genuinely great."
The George T. Stagg Bourbon Whiskey is
part of the Antique Collection that is
released each fall from Buffalo Trace
Distillery. Long considered the
frontrunner of the Collection, the Stagg
has collected numerous awards over the
years, including the 2011 Ultimate
Spirits Competition Chairman's Trophy
Winner; 2011 Double Gold Winner, Best
Bourbon, San Francisco World Spirits
Competition; the 2010 American Whiskey
of the Year from Jim Murray's 2010
Whiskey Bible; 2009 Bourbon of the Year
and Best Bourbon Aged 13-17 Years from
Jim Murray's 2009 Whiskey Bible; and the
Best in Class in the 2009 New York
Spirits Awards, among others.
"This is such an honour," notes Harlen
Wheatley, master distiller at Buffalo
Trace Distillery. "To be the top spirit,
not just the top whiskey, but top
spirit, in the world, and then to find
out it's the first American Whiskey to
hold that distinction is quite a
privilege – especially coming from
someone as well respected in the
industry as Paul."
Adds Pacult in his review, "This is more
of a clarion call that American whiskey
distillers run with the best of Scotland
and Ireland and, in some cases, like GT
Stagg, eclipse them."
The 2011 version of the George T. Stagg
will be released later this autumn with
the Antique Collection. |