Benchmark Top Floor Bourbon Whiskey
Benchmark Top Floor is an 86-proof (43% ABV) Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey vatted from barrels pulled from the top floors of Buffalo Trace Distillery's warehouses — where rising heat accelerates maturation and deepens flavor. Named, like the rest of the line, for the surveyor's benchmarks of the McAfee brothers' 1770s Kentucky expeditions, it is the smooth, everyday-drinking expression of Sazerac's value bourbon family. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.
- ABV: 43% (86 proof)
- Size: 750mL
- Age: no age statement (straight bourbon = minimum 2 years)
- Origin: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky; Sazerac Company
- Production: barrels selected from top warehouse floors; Kentucky straight bourbon
Heat Rises — So Does Flavor
Warehouse geography matters: the top floors of a rickhouse run hotter, the wood breathes more, and the whiskey ages faster and deeper. Benchmark Top Floor is built entirely on that idea — a vatting of those barrels, proofed to an easy-drinking 86. Orange oils and Christmas spice on the nose, butterscotch and orange marmalade on the palate: simple, honest bourbon. It rounds out the Benchmark family in our bourbon collection.
Tasting Notes
Mild orange oils and Christmas spice with buttery sweet caramel and a whisper of raw leather. The palate follows — butterscotch, orange marmalade, a hint of sourdough — leading to caramel corn and subtle oak on the finish.
How to Enjoy
Neat, on the rocks, or in a highball — this is the everyday table bourbon of the line, and an easy-going whiskey sour base.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does "Top Floor" mean?
The barrels are selected from the top floors of Buffalo Trace's warehouses, where heat rises and maturation runs faster and deeper.
What is the proof of Benchmark Top Floor?
86 proof (43% ABV).
Is Benchmark Top Floor good for cocktails?
Yes — its smooth, caramel-forward profile is built for highballs, sours, and easy mixing.
Top-floor barrels, bottom-shelf price — order Benchmark Top Floor online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.