What we’re drinking: The United States of Bourbon, the first-ever blend of bourbon from all 50 states
Where it’s from: Lost Lantern is an independent whiskey bottler based in Vergennes, Vermont. The company recently won the Independent Bottler of the Year at the 2026 Icons of Whisky America Awards.
Why we’re drinking this: You may have heard something about America turning 250. Whiskey’s played a big role in our country’s history, and bourbon is a quintessentially American product. So this 50-state infinity bottle concept isn’t completely crazy.
That said, the process wasn’t easy (it took seven years) and may not have worked with anyone other than the team at Lost Lantern, which has a terrific track record of sourcing and blending whiskey. “In the very early days of just talking about Lost Lantern, blending bourbon from all 50 states was on our ‘how cool would it be if we could eventually do that’ list,” says Nora Ganley-Roper, the co-founder and head blender at LL. “So we’ve been batting around this idea for longer than Lost Lantern has existed.”
Lost Lantern Is Declaring This the Summer of Bourbon (Again)
The award-winning independent bottler goes all in on exceptional craft bourbon single casks and one multi-distillery blendThe first thing the company did was send Adam Polonski, co-founder and head of whiskey sourcing, on a whirlwind trip. “We visit everywhere we work with,” he says. “The Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming — those were among the states where I was like, if any state is going to blow this whole thing up…those states have three or four distilleries each, and that means there has to be one that actually makes bourbon in-house that’s good enough for our purposes. Thankfully, all those states ended up being quite good, and they would have to be willing to sell it to us. North Dakota had one option, and if that one option said no or didn’t actually make their own bourbon, then the whole thing couldn’t have happened. Hawaii was another state where there’s only one distillery that makes bourbon.”
Then came the blending itself, a difficult task considering that the United States of Bourbon is probably the widest-ranging American whiskey ever created. “I’ve been practicing for awhile, but the way I decided to do it is I essentially blended three whiskeys,” Ganley-Roper says. “I blended the base first as a distinct thing, and that was about two-thirds of the blend, but it was probably only 12 distilleries, so that was manageable. And then that whole blend basically became one component part of the next.” (The duo also kept four barrels back so they could continue using this year’s products for any follow-up United States of Bourbon releases.)
Still, a 50-state blend might come off as a novelty. Polonski acknowledges that. “We’ve actually had some retailers say to us, ‘If anyone else said they were doing this, that would be a gimmick, but because it comes from Los Lantern.’ Nora has done a really good job on blending for years now, and this is a serious whiskey. We’re not just doing it because we can but because we also think it’s really good and special.”
How they taste: The two 50-state releases are a blend of two- to 10-year-old bourbons. The 1776 Edition is a blend of four- to eight-year-old bourbons.
- United States of Bourbon 100 Proof: At 100 proof, I got a lot of caramel corn and molasses on the nose with hints of cherrywood, caramel, vanilla, orange zest and a bit of nuttiness on the palate. It offers a rich mouthfeel and thankfully feels like a cohesive, well-intentioned bourbon.
- United States of Bourbon Cask Strength: Coming in at 122.9 proof, this one has a bit more of a chocolate note with hints of cherry and wood spice.
- United States of Bourbon 1776 Edition: At 121.4 proof, this expression is full of dark chocolate, walnut, orange zest and cherry cola. A spicier bourbon, it’s probably my favorite (and the hardest to come by, as you’ll see below).
Fun fact: The United States of Bourbon 1776 Edition is a one-time-only blend created from bourbon sourced from the 13 original states. It’s limited to just (natch) 1,776 hand-numbered bottles.
Where to buy: The United States of Bourbon is available in limited quantities through the Lost Lantern site for $80 to $200.
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