Head to head · same category, comparable price
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon vs Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select
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 | Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Bourbon | Bourbon |
| Origin | Kentucky, United States | Kentucky, United States |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | 45% ABV | 45.2% ABV |
| Cask | New charred American oak | New charred American oak |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £32 | £38 |
| Per 10cl | £4.57 | £5.43 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £102 | £120 |
| 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.
Both matured in new charred american oak; nothing further disclosed.
Neither states chill filtration.
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select is £6.00 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 £120.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon is 5th cheapest and Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select 9th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 0 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 6 |
| Fruity | 5 | 5 |
| Spicy | 6 | 6 |
| Woody | 6 | 6 |
| Sherried | 1 | 1 |
| Cereal | 4 | 4 |
| Oily | 6 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is sweet, 7 against 6.
Identical on peaty, fruity, spicy, woody, sherried, cereal and oily.
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 →Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select
Dried fruit, mint and cocoa. Rounder and less sweet than most at the price.
Woodford is the rare Kentucky bourbon distilled in copper pot stills. The 45.2% we list is the producer's own figure (90.4 proof); a 43.2% UK/EU bottling is widely reported but we could not verify it on any producer or retailer page. Despite common belief, Woodford publishes no mash bill percentages anywhere.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon for old fashioned, first bourbon and value, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select for mint julep and cocktails that need body.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon and Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select: buffalotracedistillery.com, woodfordreserve.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.