McAfee’s Benchmark, commonly sold simply as Benchmark, was created by Seagram in the late 1960s and marketed with the slogan “Measure your bourbon against it.” Sazerac bought the brand in 1989, and it’s made today at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, using Sazerac’s own reserved mash bill. The “McAfee’s” name honours James, George and Robert McAfee, frontier explorers who first surveyed the Buffalo Trace site in 1773. It carries no age statement but is understood to be aged around three years, bottled at 40% ABV.
CHARACTER
Caramel: rich and sweet on the nose and palate
Green Apple: bright green apple candy on the nose
Cinnamon: warming spice on the nose
Vanilla: soft oaky sweetness on the nose
Baking Spice: a building spice note through the palate and finish
TASTING NOTES
NOSE- Green apple candy and caramel, with a sprinkling of cinnamon and vanilla’d oak.
PALATE- Caramel and mint, corn-forward sweetness building into baking spice.
FINISH- Short, with a jolt of lingering baking spice and wood.
