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George T. Stagg from 2025 Buffalo Trace collection named Best in Show at 2026 ASCOT Awards
The 2025 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection expression took top honors across all whiskey categories. Forbes reported the results from the competition organized by Fred Minnick.
Jul 14, 5:29 AM·1m read1 source
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George T. Stagg from the 2025 Buffalo Trace Antique Collection was named Best In Show at the 2026 ASCOT Awards. Forbes reported that the bourbon also received the top award across every whiskey category, including bourbon, rye, Irish, Scotch and Japanese.
Judges cited a complex profile with notes of sarsaparilla, clove, nutmeg, dried fruits, smoky chocolate, torched cherry skin and a leathery finish. The expression carries 71.4% ABV and was aged nearly 15.5 years at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky.
Fred Minnick, who organized the ASCOT Awards, had previously ranked the same expression number one on his list of the 100 best whiskies of 2025.
He described notes of brown sugar and peach cobbler and said nosing the bourbon resembled walking into a Kentucky barrel warehouse. Minnick also called the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection one of the most defining limited edition series in whiskey. The bourbon won Best Bourbon at the International Whisky Competition in 2024.
It carries a suggested retail price of $150 yet typically sells for around $1000 on secondary markets. Buffalo Trace offers a year-round barrel-strength Stagg using the same mash bill that is regularly available for under $200.
