If you follow the E.H. Taylor line at all, you already know that new releases don’t come around often. Buffalo Trace announced this month that two limited expressions — Four Grain and Cured Oak — are returning in 2026 after years off the market. For anyone planning a visit to the distillery, it’s worth knowing what they are, what makes them different, and whether you can expect to find them when you get there.
What’s Being Released
Four Grain is the more significant of the two announcements. It’s only been available twice before — both times years ago — and Buffalo Trace is now bringing it back as a limited annual release going forward. The mash bill is genuinely unusual for bourbon: corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley combined, where most expressions use either rye or wheat as the secondary grain, not both. The result is a flavor profile that sits in a different lane than the standard E.H. Taylor Small Batch. The 2026 release was distilled in 2015 and aged ten years before bottling at 100 proof.
Cured Oak is rarer still — it has only existed once before, as a 2015 release. What distinguishes it is the barrel treatment: the oak staves used to build the aging barrels were air-dried for significantly longer than Buffalo Trace’s standard process. That extended drying changes the wood chemistry and ultimately what it contributes to the whiskey over ten years of aging. Both bottles carry an $80 suggested retail price.
What This Means if You’re Visiting Buffalo Trace
A few practical notes worth keeping in mind before your trip:
- Four Grain availability at the distillery gift shop: Buffalo Trace has confirmed Four Grain will be sold at the distillery gift shop in Frankfort, which gives visitors a real shot at picking up a bottle. That said, the E.H. Taylor line moves fast, and limited annual doesn’t mean unlimited supply. If Four Grain is on your list, speak with Steve about how best to raise your odds of getting a bottle.
- Cured Oak distribution is national but limited: Unlike Four Grain, Cured Oak is going to select retailers across the country rather than centering on the distillery gift shop. You may find it on the trail — but this one’s worth tracking through your local retailers as well.
- Neither release will be easy to find at retail: The E.H. Taylor line has a loyal following. At $80, these aren’t priced as allocated unicorns, but demand will outpace supply in most markets.
The Colonel E.H. Taylor Room
There’s a reason one of The Bourb Inn’s four bedrooms is named The Colonel E.H. Taylor Room. Edmund H. Taylor Jr. is one of the most consequential figures in bourbon history — the man largely credited with pushing through the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897, which established federal standards for age and proof that the industry still follows today. Buffalo Trace Distillery itself sits on land Taylor developed in the late 1800s.
Staying in the Taylor Room and then driving 16 miles to stand at the distillery he built — and potentially walking out with a bottle bearing his name — is the kind of trip detail that you remember. It’s also the kind of context that Steve, as an Executive Bourbon Steward, can add to the experience well beyond what you’d get from a distillery tour alone.
Plan Your Buffalo Trace Visit from The Bourb Inn
Buffalo Trace is 17 miles from The Bourb Inn — about 25 minutes door to door.
Steve builds every guest a custom bourbon trail itinerary before arrival. If you want to build your trip around the Taylor releases — or around anything else on the trail — he’ll create your itinerary before you arrive.
