Credit: Lost Cargo
Stagg is a barrel-proof bourbon produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery and typically released twice per year, once in the spring and again in the fall.
Formerly known as Stagg Jr., it is released twice a year and is bottled at barrel proof and without chill filtration. It’s aged for between 7 and 9 years, younger than the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection’s George T. Stagg, which is always at least 15 years old.
Stagg uses Buffalo Trace’s Mashbill #1, which is shared with Eagle Rare, many E. H. Taylor releases, Buffalo Trace, and Benchmark, among others.
First introduced in 2013, it has become highly sought after and difficult to find, like many of Buffalo Trace’s releases.
It was known as Stagg, Jr. until Batch 18, when Buffalo Trace dropped the “Jr.” designation.
Private Selection
Buffalo Trace began offering private selections of Stagg barrels in early 2021. According to the distillery, barrels are offered at a minimum age of 8 years old and feature a copper medallion and handwritten strength on the front label. The first barrel offered as a private selection was auctioned in starting in November 2020, with proceeds benefitting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.1Breaking Bourbon – St. Jude Gifts that Give Auction provides the opportunity to purchase the first Stagg Jr. barrel ever sold to the public. The barrel raised $75,1002Archived from vfundraise.com.
Batches
Stagg batches were previously unofficially numbered and identified by each release’s proof. Starting with the 19th batch in 2022, Buffalo Trace added a “22B” batch number to the front label, corresponding to the year (“22”) and the second batch (“B”).
