Benchmark is Buffalo Trace's entry-level brand — a range of bourbons priced at the very bottom of the market that nonetheless carry the Buffalo Trace name and distillate quality. The Full Proof expression is bottled at the same proof at which it enters the barrel — 125 proof (62.5% ABV) — meaning no water has been added at any point from distillation to bottling. It is, in effect, a barrel-proof bourbon at a budget price.
The concept is audacious. Barrel-proof bourbon typically commands a premium — releases like Elijah Craig Barrel Proof or Stagg Jr. sell for four to five times as much. Benchmark Full Proof offers the barrel-proof experience — intense flavour, high proof, no dilution — at a fraction of the cost. The trade-off is maturity: Benchmark is aged for less time than its premium stablemates, and the youth shows in a spirity edge and a hot, aggressive palate.
Benchmark Full Proof is not a refined bourbon. It is young, hot and occasionally rough. But at fifteen dollars, for a barrel-proof bourbon from one of Kentucky's finest distilleries, it is one of the most extraordinary values in American whiskey. Add water, add ice, use it in cocktails — at this price, experimentation costs nothing. For budget-conscious drinkers willing to tolerate the rough edges, Benchmark Full Proof delivers more bourbon flavour per dollar than almost anything else on the shelf.
