The Hills Bottle Shop in Agoura Hills carries Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch as part of its selection of rare and hard-to-find bottles, alongside the everyday bottles most shops stock.
Quick facts about The Hills Bottle Shop
- Service area: Agoura Hills, CA; Calabasas, CA; Westlake Village, CA; Oak Park, CA
- Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-10pm, Sat 8:30am-10pm, Sun 8:30am-9pm
- Address: 30651 Thousand Oaks Blvd, Agoura Hills, CA 91301
- Phone: (747) 222-7237
The Hills Bottle Shop serves Agoura Hills, CA, Calabasas, CA and Westlake Village, CA.
What is Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch?
Colonel E.H. Taylor Small Batch is a wheated-recipe bourbon bottled in bond at 100 proof, produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery and named after Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr., one of the figures credited with shaping the American bourbon industry in the 19th century. The bottled-in-bond designation means it meets specific federal standards: aged at least four years, distilled in a single season by a single distiller, and bottled at exactly 100 proof.
Why is this bottle so hard to find?
Demand for the E.H. Taylor line consistently outpaces what Buffalo Trace allocates to retailers. Small Batch is the entry point of the Taylor lineup, which makes it one of the most searched bottles in the series, and most shops either do not receive regular allocations or sell through them quickly. The Hills Bottle Shop focuses specifically on sourcing rare and allocated bottles, which is why it shows up here when it is not on the shelf at a grocery store or chain retailer.
What does it taste like?
Small Batch is known for being approachable for a bottled-in-bond bourbon while still carrying real depth. Expect notes of vanilla, caramel, and a light spice on the finish. The 100 proof gives it enough weight to hold up on its own or in a cocktail without being aggressive. It is the kind of bottle that works for someone new to allocated bourbons and for someone who has been collecting for years.
How does it fit into the E.H. Taylor lineup?
The Taylor lineup from Buffalo Trace includes several expressions beyond Small Batch:
- Small Batch, the most widely allocated and the starting point for most collectors
- Single Barrel, which comes from one barrel and varies bottle to bottle
- Warehouse C Tornado Surviving, a limited release tied to a specific warehouse
- Old Fashioned Sour Mash, Four Grain, and Seasoned Wood, each released in smaller quantities
Small Batch is the one you are most likely to find at a shop that actively pursues allocated stock, and it is the one most people are looking for when they ask about the Taylor line.
Is this a bottle worth buying when you see it?
For anyone interested in allocated bourbon, yes. The price-to-quality ratio on Small Batch is one of the reasons it stays in demand. It is not a bottle that sits on shelves, so when a shop has it, that is the time to pick it up. The Hills Bottle Shop serves customers in Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Westlake Village, and Oak Park, and carries this kind of bottle specifically because the owners understand that people in this area are looking for more than what a standard liquor store stocks.
Can I find other hard-to-find bourbons here alongside it?
The Hills Bottle Shop describes itself as carrying every niche you can think of in terms of liquor, with rare and hard-to-find bottles as a core part of what they do. If you are hunting the Taylor line or other allocated releases, this is the kind of shop built around that search rather than one that occasionally stumbles into an allocation.
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