Kentucky Owl was a old bourbon brand revived by Dixon Dedman, a Kentucky hospitality guy, and Mark and Sherri Carter, who were winemakers in California. Kentucky Owl was a pre-prohibition brand owned by Dixon’s family. Kentucky Owl would source really good bourbons and then rebarrel them. KO ultimately became a sought after bottle for bourbon nerds. Very expensive and highly allocated even after distribution expanded beyond Kentucky. Stoli then purchased the brand, but, for whatever reason, did not have Dixon or Mark and Sherri stay on as employees or even have them sign a non-compete. Now Kentucky Owl is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, largely because, in my opinion, it was Dixon, Mark, and Sherri who made Kentucky Owl what it was. Each of them promptly started their own firms, and continue to rebarrel their bourbons in new oak charred barrels, just as Kentucky Owl did. The Carters started Old Carter, which expanded beyond Kentucky bourbons to include Indiana whiskies made at MGP, including bourbon, rye, and American Light corn whiskey. Dixon stated 2XO, which rebarrels Kentucky bourbons and also finishes bourbons with wood chips held in place by stainless steel chains in the barrel, generally with a high rye mashbill. 2XO stands for Two Times Oak.

Add to that Old Carter temporarily ceasing production because, unfortunately, Mark and Sherri are getting divorced. It was recently announced that Mark purchased Old Carter at auction for over $18 million with inventor backing. So, Old Carter will be continuing to produce very high end and costly whiskies, but without the input of Sherri’s palate.

While all this was going on, I asked Hokus Pokus if they could get any 2XO for me to buy and try. Hokus has gotten many Old Carter releases, but no 2XO. They said they would look into it, and they were able to get a case of 2XO’s Oak Series French Oak Kentucky Straight Bourbon. This was released this fall. I had expected to pay hundreds of dollars for a cash strength 2XO. Instead, this bottle is 92 proof and cost around $40. Obviously, Dixon is trying to reach a wider audience at this price point and proof. While 2XO has some higher end limited release bourbons, the Oak Series appears to be 2XO’s flagship product.

The color on this is a solid amber, and given that this is proofed down, I would peg the age of this bourbon at six to eight years. Just a thin film and sheen on the swirl with no legs at first, although after a few sips some droplets and legs appear. On the nose I get floral notes, with some nice but subtle cherry notes; I get a hint of mint as well. The nose is rather unremarkable. However, the palate has some really ambed up flavors of cherries, caramelized suger, cinnamon, and herbal rye notes and some really nice oak in the background. On the finish, there is a hint of cocktail bitters, black and white pepper, and a hint of baking spice with some oak in the background. Despite the low proof, the finish is very long. Because the 2XO website suggested it, I tried it in a cocktail, bourbon and coke zero. It was good but I prefer this bourbon neat. I think this would be great in an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan.

This bourbon is pretty good. I think it would be better at 100 proof, but I also get that it wouldn’t be $40 at that proof. I had my wife and stepson try it, and they both agreed that this was good. This bourbon has complex flavors with a nice oak backbone that doesn’t overwhelm the palate. I would recommend this to a bourbon drinker who is starting to drink bourbon neat, because the flavors are complex but at low proof, and the price is extremely reasonable. It is $20 less than KO’s Wiseman bourbon which has been found to be a little bit unimpressive. In short, Stoli made a mistake in not doing everything possible to keep Dixon Dedman on. While they hired a Bourbon Hall of Famer in his place, master distillers and blenders aren’t fungible no matter what big corporate types may think.