Buffalo Trace And Scandinavian Tobacco Release New Prohibition Collection
Buffalo Trace Distillery, maker of some of the most collectible whiskies on the market, has unveiled the second edition of its Prohibition Collection, a limited-edition set of whiskies that commemorate the spirits produced legally at the distillery during Prohibition. Each whisky also has a cigar of the same name, meant to be paired with each spirit.
Known at the time as George T. Stagg Distillery, Buffalo Trace was one of six distilleries granted a license to make medicinal whisky during Prohibition, the period from 1920 to 1933 where alcohol was banned in the United States. The brands prescribed in those days were sold in small, colorful bottles, and today Buffalo Trace has released modern-day versions of five of those whiskies: Mirror Brook, Very Oldest Procurable (V.O.P.), Anderson’s Belle, Old Fashioned Mountain Corn and Silver Wedding Rye Whiskey.
Cigar Aficionado sampled the whiskies last night at a press preview, held at Club Macanudo in New York City, and also sampled one of the cigars meant to be paired with the spirits.
Buffalo Trace is keeping the age of the whiskies private, but Harlen Wheatley, Buffalo Trace master distiller, referred to them as “mature” during the tasting.
“As the oldest continuously operating distillery in America, Buffalo Trace Distillery carries a legacy built by pioneers like Albert B. Blanton, who guided it through Prohibition,” says Wheatley. “The Prohibition Collection honors that history while embodying our long-lasting commitment to crafting exceptional whiskey.”
Buffalo Trace partnered with Scandinavian Tobacco Group on a series of five cigars, each one made from a different blend, each meant for pairing with the whisky that shares its name, called Buffalo Trace Distillery Prohibition Collection Series #2. Justin Andrews of STG spoke in brief about the cigars last night at Club Macanudo. Each cigar is a toro, measuring 6 1/2 inches long by 52 ring. Some are made in Honduras, others in Nicaragua.
The whiskies and cigars are diverse:
Mirror Brook is a blend of bonded Kentucky straight whiskies, bottled at 100 proof. The cigar of the same name is made with a barber-pole wrapper combining maduro and Honduran-grown Corojo, with a Honduran binder and a mix of Nicaraguan and Panamanian filler.
Very Oldest Procurable (V.O.P.) is a barrel-proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The V.O.P. cigar is made with an Ecuadoran sun-grown wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and a mix of Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers.
Anderson’s Belle is a 100-proof, bottled-in-bond wheated Bourbon. The cigar is made with Sumatra-seed wrapper, and is all Nicaraguan on the inside.
Old Fashioned Mountain Corn is a 110-proof straight corn whisky. The cigar it’s meant to be paired with is a mix of Ecuador Habano wrapper, Honduran binder and Nicaraguan filler.
Silver Wedding Rye Whiskey is a 125-proof Kentucky straight rye whiskey. The cigar is a Honduran puro, featuring a Corojo-seed wrapper.
The whiskies come in 375 ml bottles, evoking the smaller bottles of history, housed in a custom wooden display case featuring historical images of the distillery. Each of the bottles are heavily inspired by their Prohibition Era packaging, right down to the cut-outs for doctors to apply the prescription for medicinal whiskey, the only way one could legally purchase alcohol at the time.
The Buffalo Trace Distillery Prohibition Collection Series #2 whiskies will be shipped to select retailers, bars and restaurants at a suggested retail price of $999.99 for the five small bottles. They are expected to sell for considerably more after markup. (The first series can be found for about triple the price, depending on the source.)
The cigars, which are sold separately from the whiskies, will be available starting tomorrow via Cigora, and will also be distributed via Meier and Dutch.
The cigars are being sold as a complete set, packed in colorful boxes of five (20 cigars total), decorated with the vibrant designs found on the bottles. The suggested retail price for the set is $500, which works out to $20 per cigar. Production on this run is limited to 750 sets.
Whiskies from Buffalo Trace include Blanton’s, Weller, Eagle Rare and more, including the eponymous Buffalo Trace whisky. STG and Buffalo Trace also partner on the popular Weller by Cohiba cigar, a limited-edition cigar intended to pair with Weller Bourbon.
Buffalo Trace calls this an annual limited-edition set, so expect a third edition in 2026.
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