Stagg Jr Batch 24C Review
For the second year in a row, Buffalo Trace has released a batch “C” of Stagg Jr…it’s beginning to look like this may be the new normal for the brand! Hopefully, with more batches being released, there will be a better chance for people to find and purchase a bottle of this great juice. If you have a bottle then grab a pour as I sip my way through this Stagg Jr batch 24C review. Let me know you thoughts about the flavors.
Series: Formerly Stagg Jr, now simply Stagg
Classification: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Age: NAS (aged at least 4 years per regulations, but rumored to be 7-9 years old)
Proof: 128.9
Proof Designation: Barrel Proof
Filtered Status: Non-Chill Filtered
Mash bill: Buffalo Trace Mash #1, undisclosed but speculated to be 82% Corn, 8% Rye, 10% Barley
Distillery: Buffalo Trace
Company: Sazerac Company
Distilled/Aging Location: Frankfort, Kentucky
Release Date: Winter, 2024
MSRP: $70 (2024)
Secondary Market: $150 – $300
Availability: Low/Rare – Hard to Find
Stagg Jr Batch 24C Review
My tasting reviews are unique in that I include the notes of several well-known whiskey critics. The hope is that this format will help me and others to explore and expand their tasting experience. After you have taken your own tasting notes, read the reviews and see if there is a flavor note that others discerned that now you can detect as well.
For this tasting: Opened Bottle (about 2 weeks), Glencairn Glass, Neat, Room Temp, Breathe: 5 minutes
Legs
The legs for this pour were pretty decent and suggested a great pour! 12 seconds for the beads to form on the crown. 48 seconds for the first legs to start falling (that’s a long time). And about 96 seconds for the first legs to reach the bowl.
I had thought that these stats would lead to a luxurious, velvety mouthfeel…but the heat and spice over-whelmed the mouthfeel.
Nose
Cherry cola, toffee, caramel corn, dark caramel, brandy-soaked vanilla, creme caramel, toasted barrel, sweet leather, tobacco, orange peel, dark fruits, a hint of butterscotch.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Bourbon Forage Fishing: Very classically Stagg but also very rich and buttery, like a cherry scone. It has an intense butteriness.
Bourbon Bums: It comes in hot, dark. Syrupy, molasses, oak, ethanol, cinnamon and spice, dark cherry coke.
Amongst the Whiskey: The nose leads with hot and boozy vanilla extract. Angel food cake follows shortly after on the warming glass. Early on in the glass it is a hasty and hurried array of aromas: there’s flashes of savory tones, toffee, and the slightly synthetic chocolate of a tootsie roll. Deep inhales produce notes that are musty, sharp, disjointed, harsh, and proofy. Vanilla and castoreum aromas are the most dominant, oddly. There’s also a medicinal characteristic to this reminiscent of cherry cough syrup. Sweet tarts come to mind suddenly in this all-over-the-map pour. Play dough and popsicle sticks give the feeling of the arts and crafts department. There’s plenty of unmitigated ethanol all throughout the cloud of vaporized bourbon sitting in the bulb of my glencairn. I don’t like this very much, but the vanilla cake and bready tones are somewhat redeeming.
Palate
Cinnamon red hots, old leather, tobacco, light caramel, black pepper, dark chocolate, grape, a hint of molasses. More spicy and savory than sweet.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Bourbon Forage Fishing: Woo! It drinks a little hot. It’s very savory. I don’t think it’s as sweet as your typical Stagg Jr. It’s creamy, buttery, and almost has a kind of meatiness to it towards the end and finish. It’s very rich, creamy, and buttery.
Bourbon Bums: Woody, oaky, a dark grape note, spicy, cinnamon, cherry cola. It could be better after a week of air gets into it.
Amongst the Whiskey: Holy hot. Wow, this is an odd pour. At first taste, I find the same medicinal cherry from the nose, now magma hot, and drizzled over pancakes. If you’re into cough syrup pancakes, this might be the pour for you, but for me, it’s a disaster of a first sip that makes my face scrunch in disapproval. The linger is impossibly drying and leaves no desire for further sipping. Forcing myself into another sip is much of the same as the first that concludes with an alacritous wave of cinnamon hots. Tasting late in the glass reveals a stale box of fruit loops, utterly unsatisfying. With strong aeration, the dominant vanilla and toffee tones return in a miniscule moment of enjoyment, if you could call it that.
Finish
Moderately long with a dryness. Oak, vanilla, light caramel.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Bourbon Forage Fishing: A savory, almost meatiness. Creamy.
Bourbon Bums: na
Amongst the Whiskey: The finish is short, flat, and completely stale, like cherry cola gone bad. My last taste offers cinnamon graham cracker and the same short, dry, disappointing finish as the rest of the glass.
Mouthfeel
The mouthfeel is moderately pleasant and creamy. But, the spiciness of the pour and heat of the alcohol do overcome the creaminess of the mouthfeel.
The Burn
3 out of 5. This means that it drinks at it’s proof and the burn from the alcohol is about what I would expect it to be for 128.9 proof. I would guess this to be around 125 – 130 proof. A 4 or 5 would mean that it drinks below it’s proof.
Tasting Summary
Stagg Jr 24C drinks a little hot. It has a moderately complex palate of mostly spicy and savory notes with some mild sweetness, but is lacking if fruit. Spicy cinnamon, leather, black pepper, some dark chocolate tobacco, light caramel and brown sugar.
24C is my favorite of 2024 (except now I hear that there is a batch 24D?!). But…it’s not in my top tiers of Stagg batches. I have a bunker bottle, but I wouldn’t search for it or pay much more than MSRP for a back-up.
My Rating
The higher the score the better the whiskey is in my opinion. For reference, my best rated bottle so far is the George T. Stagg 2022 (138.7p) with a score of 9.7.
| Score Type | Score | Examples |
| Likability Score | 8.5 | 1.0 – 10.0 |
| Availability Score | 2 | 1-Rare, 2-Hard to Find, 3-A Little Hunting, 4-Easy to Find |
My Tasting Notes
A blank version of this tasting notes wheel is available in both a color and a black & white version in the member’s area.
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