Koopers Rye Aged in Buffalo Trace Barrels Is Excellent

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

What’s in a barrel? (I mean that philosophically, of course, not literally—it’s whiskey, whiskey is what’s in the barrel.) Some distillers claim that as much as 80 percent of the flavor of any whiskey comes from the wood it’s aged in, although you certainly cannot dismiss the fact that the un-aged white dog must also be well made in order for it to succeed. Texas blending house Koopers Whiskey seems to have made sure that every step from still to barrel was carefully considered when it came to its new 10-year-old rye, sourcing high-quality distillate from Illinois and aging it in used Buffalo Trace bourbon barrels—and the result is a deep and flavorful rye whiskey worth trying.

Koopers was founded by husband and wife team Troy and Michelle Kooper in 2012 as a blending house, not a distillery. That means that they source whiskey from different distilleries across several states, and then try to show that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts via blending. In this case, it seems they have succeeded. This new rye whiskey started its life in Illinois, specifically at Chicago craft distillery Koval, which makes some very… interesting spirits (the Koopers trained there as distillers). Look, I like that distilleries like this exist because it furthers the craft movement and by proxy pushes the bigger distilleries to innovate. It’s been a while since I’ve tried anything from Koval, but in the past the whiskeys just haven’t done it for me. Maybe I’d feel differently now, but that’s been my historical take.

This new whiskey was made from a mashbill of 100 percent rye grain, which is how Koval’s own rye whiskey is made. It was then sent to Ledbetter, Texas, where Koopers is located, to be aged in small 15-gallon new charred oak for nine months. That is another warning sign for me, because I typically don’t love American whiskey aged in small barrels, it just tastes too green and woody. That plus the fact that it was aged in Texas must have really accelerated those first months of maturation, but in 2016 the whiskey was moved into a used Buffalo Trace barrel that previously held bourbon for seven years. And that, apparently, was where everything clicked into place.

Let’s get to the question you might be asking yourself right now—does it matter that this was specifically a used Buffalo Trace barrel, and not one from, say, Wild Turkey or Four Roses? Maybe, maybe not. Looking at it broadly, the fact that this was Koval distillate that was put into full-sized bourbon barrels for nearly a decade, whatever bourbon that might have been, was probably the key factor. Taking a more micro view, every bourbon from a different distillery does have its own flavor and attributes, and one can make the case that those notes soak into the wood.

We will never really know the answer here, but the resulting whiskey is excellent. The rye character still shines through, with big notes of fruit and spice that lead the palate. But this is a dark and brooding whiskey, a James Dean type of sipper that feels young and spry but also has a depth that you might not expect at first glance. There are strong notes of pepper, oak, maple, dark roast espresso, dark chocolate, leather, and tobacco on the palate. And 100 proof works perfectly here—this is not bottled-in-bond, but it drinks with the heat and heft you might associate with that style.

It’s all there in the name: Koopers 10-Year-Old Straight Rye Whiskey Finished in a Buffalo Trace Barrel. That’s exactly what this whiskey is, no mystery involved. This bottle might be a hard one to find, as just 231 were released earlier this month and they sold out at the distillery. But keep your eyes peeled, because if you do find one out there at a liquor store or secondary market website, you will not be disappointed.

Score: 92

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