Review: King of Kentucky Goes the Blending Route with a Trio of New Bourbons

Few of the whiskeys produced by the Louisville-based Brown-Forman Distillery have generated as much attention as its sought-after King of Kentucky label. The brand was founded in 1881 by John Roach, a distiller, entrepreneur, and avid horse-racing enthusiast who named the bourbon for his favorite sport. (Alongside hunting and polo, horse racing is often called the “sport of kings.”) Brown-Forman acquired King of Kentucky in 1936 from a now-defunct company called Selected Kentucky Distillers and converted it from being a straight bourbon to a blended whiskey, which it remained until being discontinued in 1968. But in 2018, Brown-Forman revived the brand as a limited release single barrel, featuring older whiskeys.

All King of Kentucky releases since then have followed that format, and the results have been impressive, scoring from 93 to 95 points in our reviews. In addition to this year’s single barrel release, which will come out later this year, the distillery is now doing something a bit different: it’s releasing batched expressions.

Special Batches

The new release has three 12 year old bourbons, differentiated as Batch 1, Batch 2, and Batch 3. All three have the same base recipe, each accounting for a blend of around 100 barrels aged for 12–18 years across several of the distillery’s warehouses. All have the same mashbill—75% corn, 15% rye, and 10% malted barley—representing a shift from some previous batches that have used Brown-Forman’s signature 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley mashbill, which has been used for other Brown-Forman products like Old Forester 1924, Cooper’s Craft, and formerly Early Times, which is now owned and produced by Sazerac. The key difference among these batches is their ABVs: Batch 1 is 52.5%, Batch 2 is 53.75%, and Batch 3 is 55%.

According to master distiller emeritus Chris Morris, the different proofs were meant to highlight specific flavors for each batch. He started by blending the individual barrels together, some of which were as high as 75% ABV, which yielded a natural batch strength somewhere between 60%-65% ABV. From there, he set out to find a baseline, adding water as he went and experimenting with different proof points before eventually landing on 52.5%, which he says yielded the most balanced profile. Using that as a jumping off point, he started exploring higher proofs, homing in on 53.75% and 55% which, while not nearly as balanced as 52.5% in his estimation, contributed interesting flavors. “These are complex as well, but they’re more out of balance—and out of balance is a good thing,” he says, noting that the 53.75% was generally sweeter and spicier than the baseline, while 55% had a higher concentration of fruit notes.

The decision to release these whiskeys as batches rather than single barrels was centered on showcasing a special allotment of barrels. Many of Brown-Forman’s rickhouses (notably for Old Forester and Woodford Reserve) undergo heat cycling, a process that uses steam to artificially heat the buildings to around 85–90°F during the colder months. The upside is that the added heat can speed up maturation during colder months, leading to more complex profiles in less time. The main drawback is that it causes a fairly high angels’ share, with older barrels losing considerable volume to evaporation as they age. And that’s exactly what happened with this release.

As Morris notes, these barrels were originally earmarked for King of Kentucky single barrels, with some having been tasted for consideration back in 2018 when the brand was resurrected before being left to age longer. But as time went on, some of the barrels, particularly the oldest ones, had their yields ravaged by high evaporation, with the worst-affected retaining only around 16% of their original volume. There just wasn’t enough liquid left for them to be viable candidates for the single barrel program, so the team had to get creative. “We had barrels that were so low-yielding that we couldn’t bottle them [as single barrels], but we could put them in a batch,” Morris says. “And that’s how you start building this compound, composite flavor.”

In previous years King of Kentucky has been in fairly limited distribution, but these newcomers are being acclaimed as the widest-available release yet. Though the focus is still on Kentucky, these whiskeys will also be available in 36 states, at a suggested retail price of $299. Brown-Forman confirmed that each state will receive an equal number of bottles of each batch, so ideally, fans can snag all three and taste them vertically. The company said the jury is still out on whether we’ll see more of these batched King of Kentucky releases in the future, but it confirmed that the regularly scheduled single barrels are slated for this fall.

How Do They Taste?

Bourbons in this age bracket can be overly tannic, with the oak gradually overshadowing other flavors as the whiskeys age. But these whiskeys all display a sense of grace and vibrancy that belies their age, which Morris credits to the distillery’s flavorful yeast strain and the barrels themselves, which were built by the old Brown-Forman Cooperage from long-seasoned oak. Our full notes are below.

94 points - King of Kentucky 12 year old Small Batch (Batch 1)
ABV: 52.5%
SRP: $299
Availability: Nationwide

The nose is loaded with beautifully mature aromas—rich gobs of caramel, fragrant tobacco leaf, fragrant potpourri, smoky barrel char, and warm dark chocolate. The palate is spicy and offers more melted caramel and dark chocolate. On the finish, chocolate, peanuts, spice, a hint of candied orange, vanilla, and pepper spice emerge. Full-bodied, well-balanced, and with plenty of richness and thickness of flavor.—DF

94 points - King of Kentucky 12 year old Small Batch (Batch 2)
ABV: 53.75%
SRP: $299
Availability: Nationwide

Tobacco, vanilla, almond paste, marzipan, and aged oak aromas on the nose. Spicy on the palate, with more tobacco and aged oak, plus cinnamon, raspberry jam, cherry pie, and candied black cherry slightly outpacing chocolate sweetness. There’s more fruit on the finish, mainly luscious red berries. Overall, it’s quite a bit more fruit-forward than the other two in the trio, but it’s a nicely aged and integrated whiskey.—DF

94 points - King of Kentucky 12 year old Small Batch (Batch 3)
ABV: 55%
SRP: $299
Availability: Nationwide

Aged oak, baking spice, and tobacco on the nose. The smooth, creamy palate is filled with sweetness but has plenty of backbone and bite—pancakes and maple syrup, vanilla cream, and chocolate, with dried herbs, savory spice, and a pleasant earthiness. A long and flavorful finish is filled with chocolate, coffee, and herbs. Great balance, and with somewhat more pronounced flavors than its lower-ABV counterparts.—DF