Seasoned oak | Root beer | Red grape | Cedar | Vanilla cream | Tobacco | Ground coffee

Cherry | Fruit cake | Blackberry | Cinnamon | Spiced tea

Chocolate-flavored brandy | Apricot | Peach | Charred oak | Leather | Light clove & spice

In 2025, Sazerac added E.H. Taylor to their annual limited edition Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. As the first ever expansion to the collection, it was a big deal. They chose to release it at 100 proof, emphasizing balance, blending, and overall drinkability, leaving the high proof version to retain its focus on its annual barrel proof batches.

As we see with other barrel proof bourbons released in limited batches from Kentucky distilleries, sometimes batches are great, and other times they just get by. That was true when we last reviewed  E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch 9, and subsequent batches were good, non-flashy barrel proof bourbons that didn’t quite live up to the expectations of the E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof name. Batch 14, on the other hand, gets a lot more right than usual.

The bourbon’s aroma is quite varied, with scents of seasoned oak upfront, followed by root beer, red grape, cedar, vanilla cream, tobacco, and ground coffee all coming together in a dynamic way. It’s not overly balanced by any means, but the variety offered is impressive. The palate puts cherry up front, complemented by the layers of fruit cake flavors, alongside blackberry, cinnamon, and spiced tea. The finish is not to be outdone, dishes up chocolate-flavored brandy along with apricot and peach, which is extremely effective. Charred oak, leather, and light clove and spice follow.

Despite being a Buffalo Trace-distilled bourbon and the extra layer of expectations that come with it, E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof Bourbons don’t always deliver the way you want them to. That’s where there is a disconnect between reality and expectation, because no bourbon brand has a perfect record. But it's batches like Batch 14 that show how interesting and dynamic a particular batch of E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof Bourbon can be. That’s where Batch 14 is best at: flavor variety. Combined with a good balance overall and a slight hit of proof and spice on the tail end of its finish, it drinks far easier than you’d expect it to at 127.2 proof. That aligns with what the Taylor brand is known for and what makes Batch 14 a joy to sip.