This Brown-Forman bourbon has been named the American Whiskey of the Year
It’s called King of Kentucky, but the 2019 release of the Brown-Forman straight bourbon is now the U.S. king, according to one renowned whiskey critic.
The drink that’s only available in Kentucky was selected by Fred Minnick as the 2019 American Whiskey of the Year over 35 contenders. Minnick sampled each drink in a blind tasting, and he knew right away that King of Kentucky would be the winner or a finalist.
“In my career, I have done a lot of blind tastings and there’s never been a Kentucky bourbon that dominated my palate so heavily,” said Minnick, editor-in-chief of Bourbon+ Magazine and longtime judge for the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. “When I tasted the eventual winner, I knew it was special.”
King of Kentucky hit stores in July and was priced at $250 in limited qualities. The bourbon was established in 1881 and was discontinued in 1968 until Brown-Forman revived the label in 2018.
Last year’s version of the bourbon was the most expensive bourbon Brown-Forman ever released at $200.
BreakingBourbon.com wrote that the 2019 drink featured the aroma of honey, cherry, cinnamon, peaches, leather and seasoned oak, with notes of dark chocolate, brandy cherries, sweet oak, and rye spice coming through in its flavor.
Minnick told Forbes that this year’s King of Kentucky “is the longest combination of heat cycling and maturation time in history.” The bourbon is aged 15 years and proofs range from 125 to 135.
Just 2,000 bottles of the latest King of Kentucky version were made available, Brown-Forman said.
Michter’s 20-year-old Kentucky bourbon came in second place in Minnick’s rankings, followed by Uncle Nearest 1820 from Tennessee, Angel’s Envy Cask Strength and Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch. Four of Minnick’s top five were made in Kentucky.
“I would put the Top 5 up against any whiskey in the world,” Minnick said. “But I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out the lack of availability of these whiskeys. However, I didn’t select these based on availability, I selected them for their flavor profiles. These are the very best I’ve tasted all year.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 1:06 PM with the headline "This Brown-Forman bourbon has been named the American Whiskey of the Year."