Premium Kentucky bourbon leans into cocktail culture with on-the-go drinks
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AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Yellowstone Bourbon launched nationwide ready-to-pour bourbon cocktails.
- Line includes Old Fashioned, Gold Rush and Espresso Martini in 750ml.
- Company bets on RTD growth as whiskey sales fall, targeting convenience.
A Kentucky distillery known for its award-winning, premium bourbons is heading in a new direction.
Yellowstone Bourbon in Lebanon has launched a line of “ready-to-drink” cocktails.
Actually, they are more accurately described as “ready to pour,” said Stephen Beam, master distiller. The distillery, which is now owned by Luxco and MGP, has three premium cocktails: Old Fashioned, Gold Rush and Espresso Martini, all made with Yellowstone’s signature bourbon.
They come in 750 mL bottles, 50 to 70 proof, giving you about 8 pours for about $25.
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The flavors were chosen for flavor, Beam said. “Obviously people love an Old Fashioned. It’s the most popular bourbon cocktail right now. We wanted to do it with a little twist so we did it with blood orange.”
The Gold Rush is made with fig honey for deeper nuances. And Espresso Martini, made with cold brew that gives it the caffeine equivalent of about a cup of coffee in each serving, shows that bourbon really pairs better with coffee than vodka does.
“The Espresso Martini tends to be the favorite,” Beam said.
But why canned (or is it bottled, since these come in aluminum bottles, perfect for taking camping or to the beach?) cocktails at all, when Yellowstone is primarily known for high-end whiskey?
Because whiskey is having a bad run in general, with sales down 6% industry-wide and many distilleries sitting on record inventory.
But RTDs are having a moment: The RTD sector is booming, up 20% so far this year and is now nearly a $14 billion business if you include hard seltzers, according to Nielsen.
“The generations are changing and, people’s the drinking habits have changed as well. You know, COVID played a big part in that,” Beam said.” I think a lot of people are looking for alternatives (of) something quick and easy, and I know with myself, I don’t always have the ingredients to make a cocktail. ... You want to be convenient, but at still have really high quality. And so that’s what we were going for.”
Pre-made cocktails can serve as an easy introduction to whiskey. Once you realize how good they taste and how easy they can be made, you graduate to making them yourself and move into buying bottled bourbon, he said. Or maybe you don’t, because these Yellowstone cocktails stand up well to a standard restaurant or bar version.
“I’m very proud of them ... I’ve been told by people they’re at the top of the line with what’s out there. So I’m very happy with that,” Beam said.
Beam noted that this isn’t exactly new to him.
“I love experimenting with different things. Some of our first products were flavored moonshines, including Moon Pie moonshine, so we had some track record with flavored drinks,” he said. “And seeing the rise of ready to pour, this made sense.”
After about three years of development, the line launched in early fall and is now going nationwide. They’ve proven popular enough for the company to be preparing a second bottling, and Beam is already developing more flavors, with a seasonal rotation in mind.
“It helps when people taste it,” Beam said. “It’s been well received.”
