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By Richard Thomas
Score: A
(Credit score: Brown-Forman)
For any model that’s revived and reintroduced throughout my profession as a meals, drinks and journey author, I’m at all times amazed when the lot rely reaches a number of or (particularly) a double digit quantity. Inevitably I discover myself pondering “Has that newcomer actually been round that lengthy? Is it really a fixture now?
The reply is sure, King of Kentucky is now in its seventh yr. Furthermore, as a generally late middle-aged, generally ultra-aged, single barrel, cask power expression of Brown-Forman’s Kentucky bourbon, sure, King of Kentucky is certainly a fixture of the ultra-hot autumn launch season that sees so most of the most wanted names in American whiskey hit retailer cabinets.
Regardless of the royal title, King of Kentucky’s final iteration was really fairly backside shelf, making its fashionable revival ironic. When Brown-Forman acquired the model rights in 1940, they turned it into an unremarkable blended whiskey. That low tier standing mixed with the growing gross sales stoop within the late Sixties (which led to the Nice Whiskey Bust of the Nineteen Seventies) goes a protracted method to explaining its discontinuance in 1968. So, to see it revived a number of years in the past as a brilliant premium expression, effectively, clearly it had extra to do with the identify than any reminiscence of what King of Kentucky used to symbolize.
Grasp Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris selected two a lot of barrels, entered in 2007, for this lot of King of Kentucky. They’re all sixteen years previous, and the proof on the pattern barrel despatched to me was 130.4.
The Bourbon
As soon as in my copita glass, this bourbon takes on an amber coloring that leans heavy into nut brown. On the nostril, the stone fruitiness and tannins come collectively like a strongly brewed peach tea. Alongside that could be a present of vanilla and a touch of chocolate and coconut which can be paying homage to a Mounds bar. The palate brings on extra of that gourmet-level Mounds bar expertise, coupled to honey, vanilla and a gloss of woody spiciness. The end opens milk chocolate and vanilla sweetness with a notice of nuts, however this fades quick to a light-weight, lingering hint of wooden spiciness.
The Value
King of Kentucky now formally retails for $350, however a survey of on-line retailers reveals loads of shops hawking this bottle for 5 occasions as a lot.
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