Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel is exactly what the name promises the famous single barrel bottled uncut and unfiltered, at whatever proof the barrel says it is. Where the Original is polished to 93 proof, this version keeps everything: the full weight of Buffalo Trace’s high-rye mash bill, deep caramel and dried fig, burnt orange and warm baking spice, a long cocoa-edged finish that dilution normally softens. Each barrel lands somewhere north of 125 proof, so no two bottlings read quite alike the horse-and-jockey stopper is the only constant. Long an export-market secret, it remains one of the most chased Blanton’s expressions anywhere. Take it slow, and let a few drops of water do the negotiating.