Celebrity spirits are a dime a dozen these days — and we’ve reviewed more than a few of them here. Every actor, musician, and retired athlete with a publicist and a drinking habit seems to have one. But when eleven-time Grammy Award winner Chris Stapleton teams up with Buffalo Trace’s Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley, you pay attention. Traveller Whiskey Blend No. 40 carries the weight of the Buffalo Trace name, the credibility of master distiller Harlen Wheatley, and the star power of one of country music’s most respected artists… the question is whether any of that star-studded potential actually made a difference inside the bottle.
History
As I just mentioned, Traveller Whiskey is a collaboration between Chris Stapleton and Buffalo Trace Distillery’s Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley, founded in 2024 and backed by Sazerac.
Stapleton, born and raised in Paintsville, Kentucky, has been a fixture in Nashville since the early 2000s — first as a songwriter penning hits for other artists, then as a solo performer who broke through with his debut album Traveller in 2015. That album, a raw and old-school country record, won multiple Grammys and turned Stapleton into one of the biggest names in the genre.
Stapleton has been open about the fact that he’s a longtime bourbon enthusiast and a fan of Buffalo Trace specifically. He’s also been candid in interviews about his complicated relationship with alcohol — he’s talked publicly about getting a grip on excessive drinking without pursuing total sobriety. We saw something similar when we reviewed Blackened Whiskey (a whiskey produced by a recovering alcoholic musician).
On the manufacturing side of the partnership, Harlen Wheatley needs no introduction. He’s been at Buffalo Trace for decades, overseeing the production of everything from Buffalo Trace Bourbon to Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, W.L. Weller, and the coveted modern Pappy Van Winkle lineup. According to Wheatley, the two experimented with more than 50 different blends before settling on Blend No. 40 (hence the name on the label).
Buffalo Trace Distillery, of course, is owned by the Sazerac Company, a privately-held spirits conglomerate based in New Orleans with roots going back to the 19th century. Sazerac owns a staggering portfolio of distilleries and brands, and Buffalo Trace is their crown jewel. Traveller is the first celebrity-collaboration whiskey that Buffalo Trace has put its name on, which either speaks to the seriousness of the partnership or the size of the marketing opportunity. Probably both.
The brand has already secured a deal as the first-ever Official Whiskey of Major League Baseball, so whatever you think about the liquid, the marketing machine behind this thing is not messing around.
Product
Here’s where things get a bit murky, and I’m just going to be straight with you: there is very little publicly disclosed about what’s actually inside this bottle.
Traveller Whiskey is classified as a “blended whiskey”, which by TTB (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) definition means it must contain at least 20% straight whiskey, with the remainder being any combination of other whiskey types or neutral grain spirits. Sazerac has claimed that the current blend contains zero percent grain neutral spirits, which is good in theory as it means everything in here is actual whiskey. But even then, the definition of “whiskey” is so broad and sets so low a bar for the quality of what’s actually in the bottle that, honestly, truly neutral grain spirits might actually be a better option in terms of flavor profile.
The blended whiskey label gives Sazerac the flexibility to change the blend components in the future without relabeling, which is probably exactly why they chose it. Yet another good business decision that went into this bottle of whiskey… but one that often comes at the cost of quality.
The mash bill is undisclosed. The specific distilleries contributing whiskey to the blend are undisclosed. Sazerac has confirmed it’s “a completely unique combination of whiskeys hand selected from multiple distilleries,” but won’t say which of their distilleries are involved or whether any of it was even made at Buffalo Trace itself. For a whiskey that leans so heavily on the Buffalo Trace name and reputation, that’s a notable gap in transparency.
What we do know: it’s 90 proof (45% ABV), it carries no age statement, and it is brown. The “No. 40” in the name refers to the fact that this was the 40th blend they tested out of more than 50 candidates.
Beyond that? Your guess is as good as mine.
Packaging
The bottle is a relatively standard shape: nothing fancy, nothing offensive. Clear glass, which lets the whiskey itself do the talking, and I’ll give credit where it’s due because the design philosophy here is restrained and effective.
The front label is minimal: just “Traveller Whiskey” and “Blend No. 40” in clean, understated typography on a small white label. It doesn’t try to overwhelm you with information or pretend to be something it’s not. Behind the bottle, the back label features a hand-drawn style map of the Lexington, Kentucky area that shows through the glass from the front. It’s a nice touch and evokes something between an old pioneer survey map and the opening credits of Bonanza. It gives the bottle a sense of place and heritage (even if that heritage is unearned) without being heavy-handed about it.
The stopper is a wood and natural cork closure, which is always a welcome sight. No cheap plastic screw-cap here. The overall shelf appeal is solid — it looks like a premium whiskey, it feels like a premium whiskey, and it doesn’t scream “celebrity vanity project” from across the store.
If anything, the packaging is probably the best thing about this bottle. So buckle up for the downhill slide, because this is where it starts.
Neat
The color in the glass is a light amber — a little redder and richer than your typical gold or straw-colored whiskey, with a distinct hint of orange to it. It’s actually quite pretty.
The nose starts off promising, making me doubt my skepticism about the contents. It’s surprisingly sweet and fruity; orange citrus jumps out front and center, followed by brown sugar, a whisper of vanilla, and some cedar chips hanging out in the background. Let it sit for a minute and that cedar really opens up and becomes prominent.
On the palate, the first sip is light and sweet: brown sugar and vanilla lead the way, and for a moment you think this might actually be a nice, approachable little sipper. But then things take a turn. That brown sugar develops an edge, shifting from sweet to something closer to torched or toasted brown sugar — caramelized past the point of pleasantness. And then the dark chocolate arrives.
Dark chocolate sounds like it should be a good thing in a whiskey. Not here. It starts creeping in through the mid-palate and by the finish, it’s the dominant flavor — and it brings all the bitterness of a 90% cacao bar with it. The finish lingers, and what lingers is that bitter, astringent dark chocolate note. It’s not entirely pleasant, and it overstays its welcome considerably.
The nose writes checks the palate can’t cash.
On Ice
Ice does what ice usually does: it smooths things out and compresses the range. The highs aren’t as high and the lows aren’t as low, which in this case is absolutely an improvement.
Right away, the brown sugar and vanilla come through cleanly, with those hints of orange citrus from the nose making a welcome appearance in the flavor itself. It’s more pleasant than the neat experience, with a more compact and less dramatic flavor arc.
The dark chocolate is still there, though. It still provides a bitter bite on the back end. It’s reduced compared to neat (the ice does help to tame it) but not fully eliminated. You’re still left with that unwelcome bitterness as the parting note. Better than neat, but that’s a low bar to clear.
Cocktail (Old Fashioned)
This is where I was really hoping the whiskey might redeem itself. A lot of simpler, lighter whiskeys find their calling in an Old Fashioned — the bitters and sugar can fill in the gaps and complement what the spirit brings to the table.
And for a brief, shining moment, it works. The angostura bitters play beautifully with the brown sugar and vanilla notes up front, and the initial interaction of aromatics is genuinely nice. You take that first sip and think, “Okay, here we go, this is its lane.”
Then reality sets in. This whiskey was already bitter on its own. Adding angostura bitters to a whiskey that’s already bitter is like adding salt to seawater. The bitterness compounds on itself and the whole cocktail becomes a war between sugar and astringency. You can make it work by adding more sugar than I’d typically want in an Old Fashioned — significantly more — but at that point you’re essentially making simple syrup with extra steps.
Fizz (Mule)
I went to the mule hoping maybe the ginger beer and lime could mask what the Old Fashioned couldn’t fix. The result was… fine? It tastes like a mule. The ginger beer and lime do their thing. But the whiskey contributes almost nothing to the experience. The only real indication that this isn’t a vodka-based mule is a faint hint of bitterness on the finish and maybe a touch more depth, presumably from that dark chocolate element doing its thing in the background.
Otherwise, there’s nothing unique or notable about this whiskey’s contribution to the drink. For a $35-$40 bottle, if the best you can say about a cocktail is “well, you can almost tell it’s not vodka”… that’s not a great endorsement.
Overall Rating
Traveller Whiskey Blend No. 40 is a whiskey that feels like it was designed to be approachable and easy-drinking (“Easy to Drink, Hard Not to Love” is literally the tagline) but then somebody accidentally dialed up the dark chocolate bitterness to a level that undercuts everything else the whiskey is trying to do. The nose is genuinely pleasant. The opening notes are sweet and inviting. But that bitterness arrives like an uninvited guest and refuses to leave, and it follows you from the neat pour, through the ice, into the Old Fashioned, and even haunts the mule.
For this price point, there are significantly better options. Buffalo Trace’s own flagship bourbon is cheaper and better. Wild Turkey 101 is cheaper and better. Four Roses Small Batch is in the same price range but leagues ahead in terms of complexity and balance. The Buffalo Trace name and Chris Stapleton’s face might move bottles off the shelf, but what’s inside doesn’t justify the purchase when the competition at this price point is this strong.
I wanted to like this. The packaging is great, the whiskey expertise from Sazerac is impressive, and the concept isn’t bad. But the execution produced a whiskey whose attempt at depth and richness backfired into a persistent, unpleasant bitterness that sabotages every format I tried it in. I would not voluntarily buy this again.
| Traveller Whiskey Blend No. 40 Production Location: United States Classification: Blended Whiskey Aging: No Age Statement (NAS) Proof: 45% ABV Price: $40 / 750 ml Overall Rating:   |
Overall Rating: 1/5
The nose promises you Kentucky, but the finish delivers you a mouthful of baker’s chocolate and regret.