Cinnamon powder | Fireball candy | Sandalwood | Light fruit punch | Dose of ethanol

Cinnamon syrup | Summer fruits | Bold rye spice | Peppery oak | Light baking spices | Intense

Rye spice | Dry cinnamon stick | Charred oak | Leather | Dry & warming

Thomas H. Handy is often overlooked in the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Being the youngest of the bunch and the only one aged below 10 years, the rye can often seem like a “bad deal” compared to the rest of the Collection. One thing is for certain, though; the sip is always bold, and it makes its presence known.

Handy is usually known for its big, bold cinnamon and baking spices profile. While some of those flavors are present in this year’s sip, they’re not as much of a lead star as past years’ releases. Opening with a nose that brings the heat, literally in the form of ethanol, scents of cinnamon powder, Fireball candy, sandalwood, and a pleasing light fruit punch are present. The intensity carries over to the palate, where bold spice abounds along with a dab of summer fruits and oak. The finish is more straightforward, with a concentration around rye spice, charred oak, leather, and dried cinnamon stick. It provides for a dry, warming finish that neither flourishes nor disappoints.

This year’s edition of Thomas H. Handy is the odd man out for the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. While the rest of the Collection was firing on all cylinders, Handy delivers a sip that is good and certainly bold, but also lacking where it counts, particularly in the finish, which ends on a ho-hum note.

Overall, the sip is more straightforward, with less depth than in years past. While it will still sell out instantly for those bottles that make their way to shelves at MSRP, it feels like it’s actually pushing the limits of what’s acceptable for the new $150 MSRP of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection when you consider the increased quality of other similarly aged barrel proof ryes that have entered the market, which has changed tremendously since Handy was first released. While a 6 year old barrel proof rye used to be considered novel, nowadays, it barely stands out among the slew of other barrel proof ryes. Not only do more carry higher age statements, but the quality of these releases has drastically increased over the years. Given that the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection sets the bar for a range of high quality American whiskeys each year, it would be nice to see future editions of Thomas H. Handy released at a higher age that allows for additional depth, similar to the rest of the Collection.