Yellowstone Bourbon's Special Finishes Collection Keeps Thing Fresh
May 29, 2024 –––––– Sponsored Content
After being established more than 150 years ago, Yellowstone Bourbon continues to keep things fresh. Founded in 1872, created to honor America’s first national park, the brand is, for the first time, offering twists to its world-class historic formula.
The Special Finishes Collection launched in October of 2023 with bourbons that have seen secondary maturation in other types of casks and wood staves.
First, came Toasted, a 100 proof, four-year-old bourbon, which recently received a Double Gold award at the 2024 San Francisco Wine Spirits Competition. Crafted using the same, heritage Yellowstone Bourbon mashbill, a flavorful blend of High Toast, American Oak, Double Toast, Rickhouse, High Vanilla and Spicerack staves were mixed with the Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey for added complexity. The result is a bourbon that explodes with toasted caramel, vanilla, and fall spices on the nose, before ushering in a palate of walnut, toffee, black tea, and white pepper. Its SRP is just $49.99.
“I began experimenting with toasted barrels in 2016, 2017, and 2018 with Yellowstone Limited Edition releases and again more recently with distillery-exclusive Yellowstone Toasted Single Barrel,” explains seventh-generation master distiller Stephen Beam, of the historic Beam family, who revived the Yellowstone brand in 2015. “My experience helped in crafting what stave flavors to use and at what percentage to get the right flavor profile for Yellowstone Toasted.”
Beam followed Toast with Rum, utilizing the same four-year-old Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, this time finished in Cuban rum casks, sourced from Havana, for an additional nine weeks. The release offers aromas of gingerbread, poached pear, and fresh cut hay with a palate leaning toward toasted marshmallow, crème brûlée, toffee, and toasted oak. It was awarded Platinum at the 2024 Fred Minnick ASCOT awards and it likewise has an attainable SRP of $49.99.
“Rum has the sweetest notes of all the casks we’ve used for secondary finishing and was an ideal choice for the next adventure in our Special Finishes Collection,” says Beam. It can be sipped neat or used in a signature Rum Cask Runner cocktail. “The cask’s flavors really respect the original profile of the bourbon and avoid overpowering it to create an expression that stands alone and is sure to delight whiskey fans across the U.S. and internationally.”
After great reviews for the first two releases, Beam plans to continue to innovate and explore a variety of finishes, all of which will continue the brand’s beautiful legacy for another 150 years.
Purchase the latest releases here.
