Jonathan Masiano, the owner of Masiano’s Fine Wine & Spirits in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, is somewhat of a bourbon legend because of the amazing barrel picks of bourbon he would have at his store. His store has become a destination for bourbon connoisseurs. He made his first single barrel trip to Kentucky in the summer of 2014 and has since tasted over 1,400 barrels and has selected over 350 for his store. Enter Bardstown Bourbon Company, who is now selling whiskey in its own right, but will distill for others and has a bottling plant for its own whiskey and for clients. BBC possibly distills some of this whiskey, and the blending and bottling occurs at their plant, as is disclosed on the label. Jonathan and his wife Jennifer started K.Luke Whiskey Company in 2021, named for their children Kaitlin and Lucas. For K.Luke, they pick barrels from both Kentucky and Indiana to be blended together to meet the flavor profile that the Masianos are looking for. The Masianos employ a blind taste test when picking barrels, not knowing anything about the barrels being sampled and relying solely on the whiskey in the glass. Fred Minnick, a well known bourbon expert, had this to say about K. Luke Batch 1: “This was made for a bourbon drinker.” K.Luke is now being distributed in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and Hokus Pokus got in a few bottles. Uncorked, who also distributes Old Carter and Proof & Wood, handles distribution in Louisiana. I tried both the 100 proof and barrel strength, and, of course, bought the barrel strength at around $110. This is Batch 3 and comes in at a nice 115.9 proof, and is a blend of high and low rye bourbons from Kentucky and Indiana.

The color on Batch 3 is a solid amber, and I would guess these bourbons are in the five to eight year old range. Nice film and legs on the swirl. Very traditional bourbon nose with caramel, vanilla, some bright fruitiness there, and freshly baked cornbread. On the palate, vanilla dominates over the caramel, with some notes of green apple and lemon, and the high rye bourbon then kicks in with some herbal notes. On the finish, vanilla persists along with some fruitiness and light clove that lingers and lingers.

Overall, this is a really good cask strength bourbon that hits all the right notes. It has been a distinct pleasure to finally check out what Jonathan Masiano does with picking barrels. I can’t disagree with Fred Minnick’s review – this was definitely made for bourbon drinkers. If you can find a bottle of K.Luke, you should definitely pick it up.