FRANKFORT, Ky. — Buffalo Trace announced that it will be dropping the word “Jr.” from its highly sought-after Stagg Jr. brand, starting with Batch 18. Currently, they are on Batch 17, which will be released in the near future, which means the name change will officially happen sometime in early-to-mid 2022.
Stagg Jr. was so named because it was essentially the less mature, more rambunctious version of the distillery’s even more sought-after George T. Stagg bourbon, a member of its premium Antique Collection, all of which are released only once per year.
George T. Stagg, also known as “Papa Stagg” and “Stagg Sr.,” will in fact not be released in 2021 at all, after the distillery confirmed a few months ago that the long-gestating 2021 batch simply didn’t live up to the company’s high standards.
In other words, the Stagg Jr. name was simply a tongue-in-cheek way for the distillery to acknowledge that bottles of Stagg Jr. were “merely” 8-9 years old, rather than the extra mature 15-19 years that is common with George T. Stagg. Notably, Stagg Jr. is still presented at Buffalo Trace’s particularly high barrel proof, which has meant strengths that usually fall around 65% ABV (130 proof).
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