Bardstown Bourbon Company has always played the long game. When the distillery opened, they bridged the gap between new-make and age by blending their own distillate with older sourced whiskey; a transparent, forward-thinking approach that allowed their in-house spirit to mature while they kept the lights on. Now fully of age, their estate-distilled Origin Series … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Bardstown Bourbon Company Origin Series High Wheat Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Catherine and I had been talking about a true vacation for a while — not a work trip masquerading as leisure, but actual downtime. After my experience in Broken Bow, OK, last summer, I put my Ai, Perplexity, to work finding an interesting destination that was drivable but that had a dstillery. What it found … Continue reading Missouri Whiskey Country: Four Distilleries, Four Bottles, One Excellent Trip

A Blend of Castle & Key Distillery (Frankfort, Kentucky) and Still Austin Whiskey Co. (Austin, Texas) The Bottle DistilleriesCastle & Key, Frankfort, Kentucky & Still Austin Whiskey Co., Austin, TexasSeriesPinhook True Small Batch — "Castle & Still"TypeKentucky Straight Bourbon WhiskeyAge6 Years (both barrels)Proof119.8 (Cask Strength)ABV59.9%FiltrationNon-Chill Filtered (Unfiltered)Retail Price$95 Background My journey with Pinhook has been … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Pinhook True Small Batch Bourbon Blended By Castle and Still (2025 Release)

The Bottle DistilleryCastle & Key, Frankfort, KentuckySeriesPinhook True Small BatchSelectionTriple Double Single Barrel Pick — 2025 ReleaseTypeKentucky Straight Bourbon WhiskeyAge6 YearsProof117.2 (Cask Strength)ABV58.6%FiltrationNon-Chill Filtered (Labelled unfiltered)Retail Price$80 Background Regular readers may know I have a complicated relationship with Pinhook. I was decidedly unimpressed with their early releases — in fact, I wrote about what I … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Pinhook True Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Triple Double Single Barrel Six Year Old

Regular readers know I have been following Dixon Dedman’s 2XO project with interest, from my review of 2XO French Oak Bourbon to my recent Tasting Notes on 2XO The Sneakerhead Blend. In both cases, I found his double‑barreling approach could make relatively modestly aged Kentucky bourbon drink older than the label might suggest, a lesson … Continue reading

Tasting Notes: 2XO Gem of Kentucky – Barrel #161 (108 Proof)

A couple of years ago, I reviewed Nashville Barrel Company's single barrel straight bourbons picked from Midwest Grain Products (MGP) in Indiana after visiting their tasting room while on vacation — and I was genuinely impressed. You can read that review here. Nashville Barrel Company is a non-distiller producer that has built its entire identity … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Nashville Barrel Company Straight Wheated Bourbon Whiskey — Single Barrel #9527

100 Proof · NAS (Est. 4+ Years) · Sourced & Bottled by Bardstown Bourbon Company(?) · ~$70–$75 Introduction Frank August is a brand that arrived with a lot of style and a story that reads more like a fashion house launch than a bourbon release. The brand was co-founded by Johnathan Crocker, a former fashion … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Frank August Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon

It has been a minute since I picked up a bottle of Penelope Estate Collection whiskey, though they have been a recurring feature on the blog lately. I previously reviewed the Penelope Estate Collection Private Reserve 9 Year Old Bourbon back in February, and more recently, I shared my thoughts on the Penelope Omega 11 Year Old Straight … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Penelope Estate Collection 10 Year Old Single Barrel (2025 Release)

There's a bit of history worth unpacking before we get to the glass. Wild Turkey 101 carried an 8-year age statement for decades, then lost it in the early 1990s when the domestic version went to a no-age-statement expression. The age-stated version lived on in Asian export markets in 700ml bottles, becoming something of a … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Wild Turkey 101 8-Year Old Bourbon

Louisiana’s political history and bourbon have more in common than you might think. When Kentucky Senator Spirits announced the Louisiana Senator series with an inaugural release dedicated to Huey P. Long, it felt like a bottle tailor‑made for those of us who live at the intersection of law, history, and whiskey. With my own family’s … Continue reading Tasting Notes: Louisiana Senator Bourbon – Release 1 (Huey P. Long)8 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon – 107 Proof – Kentucky Senator Spirits – Louisiana Senator Series