Hokus Pokus recently got in a few bottles of 15 Stars 7&15 Year Old Bourbon. There is scant information on the internet about where this bourbon was sourced, other than we know the two bourbons blended together are from Kentucky. But, if I had to guess, given the age, that this is 1792 Barton juice given that Bardstown is on the label, but I’ll let my palate decide. The bottle this at a very drinkable old school proof of 107. The name comes from the fact that Kentucky was the 15th state and the American flag became the star spangled banner in 1795. Vermont became a state in 1791 after New York gave up its claims to the state. Kentucky became a state in 1792 after previously having been part of the State of Virginia. In 1795 the flag went from a circular thirteen star arrangement to the arrangement we now have on the blue canton with rows of stars. It was about this fifteen star flag that Francis Scott Key wrote our national anthem. In 1818 Congress changed the flag to twenty stars with the admission of Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, and Mississippi, and provided that every time a new state was admitted a star would be added as the United States was continuing to grow from the Atlantic to the Pacific. They also limited the stripes to thirteen at that point to represent the original thirteen colonies who rebelled from British rule. As a weird historical aside Vermont, which was riddled with competing land grant claims of settlers from New York and New Hampshire, declared itself an independent republic in 1777 during the revolution but delayed joining the United States until 1791.

The price tag on this Bourbon is hefty – $140. My children bought this for me for father’s day. The pewter looking top on the bottle is pretty cool and I am sure that added to the price a bit.

The color on this is a nice deep amber, but with no mahogany notes. Very nice thin film with decent legs on the swirl. Very traditional nose but with lots of caramel, some pleasant oak tannin, and a hint of fruitiness and rye. On the palate, the 15 year old bourbon really begins to assert itself; candied raspberries and cherries, rich vanilla, cocoa bean, baking spices, and oak. Really really good. Rich mouthfeel. On the finish the candied fruits and baking spices mingle into a nice oak fade.

This bourbon doesn’t look really old but it tastes really old. It has a mouthfeel and complexity of an older bourbon. This doesn’t have as much rye on this as I would expect if it came from 1792. It could be that someone created a contract brand with the help of Bardstown Bourbon Company and this is the result. But, I will see, given how hard it is to get older aged bourbons nowadays for those special moments, like Father’s Day, I think this particular bourbon is worth the price tag.