A ‘bourbon monster’ is coming from Kentucky Owl. Good luck finding it.

Kentucky Owl, a cult favorite bourbon, on Monday announced its latest release: Bourbon Batch No. 9.

The new launch, unfortunately, also is limited: Only 10,314 bottles will be for sale next month, at a suggested retail price of about $300.

For this version, master blender Dixon Dedman blended four different distillates from four different mash bills, some as much as 15 years old.

The results is the highest-proof batch yet, at 127.6, with a lot of sweet fruit and creamy cinnamon, vanilla, oak, honeysuckle, caramel and a spicy finish, according to the tasting notes.

“This is the most robust Kentucky Owl batch I’ve ever created,” Dedman said in the release. “It may be the most flavorful liquid ever bottled for the brand. To me, it’s a bourbon monster in the best way possible. I hope it’s something both serious and casual whiskey drinkers appreciate.”

Although the coveted super-premium Kentucky Owl will be available in more states, it still will be “highly allocated,” said Lee Tatum, managing director for Kentucky Owl.

Kentucky Owl, which was founded in 1879 by C.M. Dedman, was revived by Dixon Dedman of the Beaumont Inn in Harrodsburg in 2014. The brand developed an outsized following, especially after Garden & Gun magazine named the bourbon the winner of the drinks category of its annual Made in the South Awards in 2014. The next year Beaumont Inn was honored by the James Beard Foundation.

In 2017, the brand was purchased by StoliGroup, which is building a $150 million distillery and bourbon park in Bardstown with designs by the world-renowed Shigeru Ban Architects.

This story was originally published September 24, 2019 at 5:42 AM with the headline "A ‘bourbon monster’ is coming from Kentucky Owl. Good luck finding it.."