What we’re drinking: King of Kentucky Small Batch, a new limited-edition, three-bottle collection of Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Where it’s from: With a name inspired by thoroughbred horse racing (the sport of kings), King of Kentucky was launched in 1881 as a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Brown-Forman acquired the brand in 1936 from Selected Kentucky Distillers and converted it to a blended whiskey until it was discontinued in 1968 (it’s the whiskey they’re drinking in It’s a Wonderful Life). In 2018, Brown-Forman revived the brand as an ongoing release of single-barrel, barrel-proof expressions.
Why we’re drinking these: Look, I can’t afford the revived King of Kentucky expressions. Limited in release, these rare bottles often go for several times their price on the secondary market.
“It became a unicorn,” says Chris Morris, Brown-Forman master distiller emeritus. “It became one of the most sought-after whiskeys, not only in the United States, but in the world.”
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Sometimes a hard-to-find whiskey justifies the sticker shockTo get the brand to a larger audience, Brown-Forman recently decided to release a different take on King of Kentucky to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States and the creation of Kentucky County, Virginia, which became the state of Kentucky. “Having it as a single-barrel release would not allow us to spread this wonderful story across the nation,” Morris says.
The Small Batch series was crafted at the Brown-Forman Distillery in Shively, KY. The three bottles, all aged 12 years, feature the same mash bill (75% corn, 15% rye, 10% malted barley) and utilize the same proprietary yeast strain. They only differ by proof, which ranges from 105 to 110.
“This whiskey is so complex that a little addition of water reveals different aromas and flavor characteristics,” Morris says. “We’re showing off how proof and the addition of water alter the flavor profile of the same spirit.” (An interesting take, similar in spirit to what Pinhook is doing with aging in its Vertical Series.)
Let’s test them out.
How they taste: All three of these expressions hail from a blend of barrels aged 12 to 18 years that were heat cycled between 60 and 85 degrees. Despite the advanced aging, it’s not going to be as astringent or bitter as you’d expect. While the 107.5 and 110 proof bottles are sweeter, spicier and fruitier, I’m going to concentrate on my favorite, Batch 1 (52.5% ABV), which offers the most rounded mouthfeel and a nice balance of dark fruit, caramel, coconut, marshmallow and cloves. Does it match the single-barrel release from 2025? Not quite, but the overall proofing experiment is interesting, and all three are certainly elevated sipping bourbons.
Fun fact: Noted bourbon fan Jim Gaffigan was at our tasting at NYC’s Overstory. “I have a King of Kentucky story,” he told the crowd. “I was on tour with Jerry Seinfeld. As many of you know, Jerry Seinfeld has no money. We were in a hotel in North Carolina, and he said, get whatever you want. It was a big, fancy bar, and I saw King of Kentucky. I had never tried it. It might be 50, 75 bucks a pour, but Mr. Seinfeld can handle that. And so I ordered it, drank it and it was unbelievable. It was life-changing. And then Jerry was like, you want to get another one? And I was like, Oh, sure. So I got another one. And eventually the bill came and those pours were $500.”
Where to buy: King of Kentucky Small Batch will be available in limited quantities for a suggested retail price of $299 per bottle in select markets. (The traditional Single Barrel expression will continue its annual release in the fall.)
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