There's history and pedigree behind this bourbon. The Buffalo Trace Distillery is designated as a National Historic Landmark. It's won multiple awards over the years and produces an estimated annual 10,000,000 litres of whiskey, within an area equal to 330 football fields. Evidently, this is not enough - a US$1.2 billion infrastructure project is ongoing to increase production and warehousing. Given all the above, I was excited to give this dram my undivided attention. On the nose, instantly surprised at how delicate it all felt. I could sniff out the usual suspects in a lineup: the corn's sweet fructose, charred wood and vanilla overtones, dark chocolate infused with a drop of dark fruit liqueur, winter spices from the low rye mashbill. Hiding behind the lineup: a whiff of grain pokes its malted barley head from up top; a note of freshly peeled yellow-green banana skin slips right undernose; a perfumy note reminiscent of Dior’s Poison - of all things - wafts and dissipates. It’s all very gentle and elusive and makes me wish for a higher ABV spirit. --- Rant intermission, skip over at your own preference --- The label on the Buffalo Trace Bourbon 70cl bottle states the minimum allowed 40% ABV. Apropos size, a big thank you to the EU and it’s bottle size standards silliness; switch over to 75cl already, please and thank you. Back to the ABV: I understand that the same bourbon intended for the US market is bottled at 45% ABV. Would a 10% variation make a difference? And for that matter, is the 45% enough to carry a nose this delicate? I haven’t the faintest, because I can’t b****y well get the US release now, can I? Unless, of course, I order direct from the US, and may the twelve gods of Olympus and all the vikings in Valhalla wish me proper good luck with that. --- Rant over, pardon me and on with the matter at hand --- Disappointingly, the palate does not, as the nose promises, deliver. The not so good news arrive with the mouthfeel - it feels weak, diffused, diluted. On the palate, all the good and familiar bourbon flavours are present but, alas, feel muted, watered down. The sweetness from the corn and barrel is low cal bordering on 0%, the rye spices taste flat as if they've sat in a cupboard for a decade or three, and that all dependable, character-building barley has gone and lost its mettle. Moving on to the finish, well, that one is already looking for the flavours at the start of the next sip. Now, it is possible that I’m over exaggerating --- the sudden onset of a rant certainly has not helped. This is, after all, the winner of multiple awards. On the other hand, would you exclude outright the possibility that the intentional dilution of ABV down to 40% has killed this dram dead in the glass? Final word: I understand the distillery's market positioning. This bottle is made for as wide a consumer base as possible, including that guy who orders "bourbon, Maker's Mark or whatever else you have, please mate" at the club/pub/bar/general merry-making do, for all and sundry, and then another and perhaps one more. The dram is actually of good quality and it is easy to drink. It can be mixed in a cocktail, or poured over ice to make it even easier and refreshing to drink. But if you are like me, and odds are that you are, since you’ve already bothered to read this far down my dour review, then, more often than not, you’d give this drink a soft pass (soft as in "ah you’re buying then, cheers mate"). Final, final word: forget even 45% ABV. I want a cask strength bottling. Let us see those aromas at full blast.