Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon vs Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
No flavour axis separates these two, so the choice is price and occasion.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Bourbon | Bourbon |
| Origin | Kentucky, United States | Kentucky, United States |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | 45% ABV | 45.7% ABV |
| Cask | New charred American oak | Fire-charred new American white oak, air-seasoned 18-60 months, toasted before charring |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £32 | £58 |
| Per 10cl | £4.57 | £8.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £102 | £181 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both Kentucky whiskies, from different distilleries.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Cask as each producer describes it: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon in new charred american oak, Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon in fire-charred new american white oak, air-seasoned 18-60 months, toasted before charring.
Neither states chill filtration.
Colour: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon silent, Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon natural colour.
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon is £26 dearer a bottle than Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
Strength keeps that ordering: £102 a litre of pure alcohol for Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon against £181.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon is 5th cheapest and Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon 25th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 7 |
| Fruity | 5 | 5 |
| Spicy | 6 | 6 |
| Woody | 6 | 7 |
| Sherried | 1 | 1 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 6 | 7 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is woody, 6 against 7.
Identical on peaty, sweet, fruity, spicy, sherried and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Brown sugar, vanilla and a clean pepper finish. The bourbon benchmark for the money.
Full record →Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Rich caramel and baking spice with unusual depth for the strength. Genuinely small batch.
Actually small batch, unlike most bottles using the phrase: Michter's states each batch is held in a tank sized for a maximum of twenty barrels. It also publishes a barrel entry proof of 103 against the 125 legal maximum, which is unusually low and unusually disclosed.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon for old fashioned, first bourbon and value, Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon for sipping neat.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon: buffalotracedistillery.com, michters.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.