Sips & Sites & Bites

When Traveller Whiskey launched in 2024, it came in quietly confident at 90 proof … smooth, balanced, and built to be shared. Now Chris Stapleton and Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley have decided to turn the volume up.

Meet Traveller Whiskey Full Proof.

Bottled at 121 proof, this is the first extension of Blend No. 40, and it answers a simple question: What happens if you push the blend harder without losing what made it work in the first place?

Stapleton has long leaned toward higher-proof pours, so experimenting with a bigger version was a natural move. The story goes that after a show, two potential full-proof blends made their way backstage for a tasting with the band and a few friends. No focus groups. No marketing panels. Just a roomful of people who know what they like. The 121-proof version won unanimously.

And that’s the one that made it to the bottle.

What’s interesting here isn’t just the proof bump … it’s how the blend reacts to it. Wheatley has said that playing with proof can pull different flavors to the surface, and apparently Traveller’s recipe responds differently than Buffalo Trace’s straight bourbons. At 121, the whiskey opens up: caramelized sugar gets darker, the baking spice sharpens, toasted oak steps forward. There’s more vanilla, warm toffee, and a thread of dark fruit that lingers longer than it does in the 90-proof release.

It drinks bigger, obviously, but not hot for the sake of being hot. The core DNA is still there … it’s just amplified. If the original Traveller was easygoing, Full Proof is that same personality with a little more edge and a longer finish.

For a blended whiskey, that’s worth noting. American blends don’t always get the same spotlight as straight bourbons, but this release makes a strong case for what careful blending can do, especially when proof isn’t treated as an afterthought.

Traveller Full Proof is rolling out nationwide at a suggested $39.99 for a 750ml, which puts it in an interesting lane: high proof, accessible price, and backed by one of Kentucky’s most established distilleries. Not exactly a small experiment.

If you liked the original but wanted a little more weight in the glass, this is probably your bottle. And if you’re someone who typically reaches for barrel-strength releases, this might be the blend that gets your attention.

Either way, it feels less like a gimmick and more like a natural progression … the same song, just played a few notches louder.