Taste Test: This New Bourbon From Buffalo Trace’s Sister Distillery Is a Triumphant Return to Form

Welcome to Taste Test, where every week our critic Jonah Flicker explores the most buzzworthy and interesting whiskeys in the world. Check back each Sunday for his latest whiskey review.

We all experience missteps and stumbles, we all make mistakes, but the key is to just pick yourself up, apologize if necessary, and keep it moving. A. Smith Bowman certainly didn’t need to issue a mea culpa for last year’s Oak Series release, which in my opinion was ruined by just being bottled at a proof too high to really enjoy (135 to be exact, just short of hazmat). The distillery’s latest release, however, is a glorious return to form—Abraham Bowman Oak Series: Hungarian Oak is a fantastic whiskey bottled at 115 proof (still high, but totally manageable) that truly stands out.

A. Smith Bowman is a sister distillery to Buffalo Trace that is located in Virginia (both are owned by parent company Sazerac). In fact, some of the whiskey that is produced at Bowman is originally distilled at other Buffalo Trace distilleries (a rep for the brand won’t say exactly where), and then shipped to Virginia for a third distillation in the distillery’s pot stills and aged there. The Oak Series started over a year ago in March of 2024 with the French Oak expression, a fantastic whiskey (not a bourbon) that made my “best of” list for that year. That was followed by the aforementioned American Oak expression, a bourbon that had a lot of potential but was overshadowed by its incredibly high proof.

Hungarian Oak is the third and final release in the series, which is meant to highlight the effects that different types of wood have on maturation. At 115 proof, a not insignificant 57.5 percent ABV, the effects of the whiskey being aged for 12 years in charred Hungarian oak barrels is pronounced and superb. Like the first release, this is a bourbon, although it’s labeled as a Virginia whiskey for reasons that are unclear (I even asked a rep for the brand to clarify this, but alas). It was distilled on December 6, 2012 and bottled on July 11, 2025. “What surprises me about Hungarian Oak is the lack of pepper or spice, which we have come to expect from our barrels that are aging ten or more years,” said head distiller David Bock in a statement. “Hungarian Oak barrels seem to have replaced any spicy notes with a flavor profile that is rich and glossy.”

I have to agree with him. As you pour the whiskey in your glass, the nose immediately hits you with creamy aromas of milk chocolate, caramel, and butterscotch. It’s sweet but not dessert-like, and the palate follows suit with notes of toffee, cookies and cream, cafe latte, Mary Jane candy, flamed orange peel, salted dark chocolate, and some ripe stone fruit. There’s a decadence to the flavor profile, and the higher (but not too high) proof adds a bit of heat to complement all those rich, creamy notes.

A. Smith Bowman isn’t the American whiskey that most people are talking about—they are too busy discussing the latest Eagle Rare, Wild Turkey, or Booker’s release, and who can blame them? But this distillery is quietly making some truly delicious whiskey—and not just bourbon—that you should absolutely try, starting with this new release. If you want to taste it for yourself, fill out this form at the distillery’s website to secure your chance to purchase a bottle for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Score: 98