After 16 years, so I'm told the Single Oak Project has concluded and we have a winner. Barrel #80. A rye bourbon, with an entry point of 125 proof, with staves aged for 12 months, average grain size, from warehouse L (concrete), #4 char, and from the bottom of a tree. Rumored...ok stated by buffalo trace staff to be 8 years but not stated anywhere on the bottle. OK a lot of BS and the 45% abv already screams rip off. Nose - the rye comes off instantly. I'm definitely not smelling the mashbill 2 here. Red fruits, toffee, caramel, and some apple. I can already tell this has been ruined by the proof but we'll move on. Taste - Spice actually does well here to save us from the thin mouthfeel. Soft fruits on the arrival, followed by nice spice, rye bread, apple cinnamon, a touch of toffee, touch of caramel drizzle. Finish leaves you with a touch of barrel char and smoke. Overall a very nice bourbon that I'd gladly buy to put next to a buffalo trace single barrel. Only problem is these are 75 bucks and comes in a 375 at 45%. Absolutely absurd. Bottom line - the thin body from under proofing has robbed us what might have actually been a spectacular bottle. Still the rye forward flavors might push this a notch above most Buffalo Trace products combined with a bit of smoke and spice. This isn't a Saz either, it's older, more mature and frankly it's very good flavor for something that was mixed roughly 1 part water 2 parts whisky. If you don't care about price, mouth feel, or finish this might have a shot at a 4.0 from some people. I kinda think mouthfeel and finish are just as if not more important than the flavor and nose. Just a note/thought. This is pretty aggressive in terms of spice for a buffalo trace product. I'll be interested in how much distribution and what kind of wild buffalo trace craze happens on these. The price places them well beyond what they're worth and frankly imo feel already priced at what should be full secondary. The standard blanton's buyer is not going to likely appreciate the more aggressive nature while the bourbon geeks that frequent here will still find themselves annoyed with not even being 50% for crying out loud. The end result is I'm not sure this will get the demand from consumers once they try it that other products have. But we'll see.