Grand Traverse Bourbon
  • Category Bourbon
  • Country United States
  • Region Michigan
  • Distillery Grand Traverse Distillery
  • Style Straight Bourbon Whiskey
  • Maturation New oak barrels
  • Alcohol 46%*
*please note that the ABV of this bottle may vary California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 WARNING.
  • caramel
  • rye
  • spicy
  • leather
  • tobacco
  • vanilla
  • honey
  • charred
  • malty

Grand Traverse Distillery

Grand Traverse Bourbon (0.7l, 46%*) *please note that the ABV of this bottle may vary

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Character Goatson
Take a Michi-gander at this here Bourbon, fellas.

This is how it's done in Traverse City: First, you get yourself a German custom-made Arnold Holstein still. Then you go all local. Everything is grown on the nearby Send Brothers Farm, sent down into the distillery once a week, then milled on site. That's how Kent and Landis Rabish, father & son, have done it since opening the Grand Traverse Distillery in the early 2000s. These dudes don't cut corners or take prisoners. It's focus and dedication that brought in all the laurels, crowning their range of Vodkas, Gins, and Whiskeys.

The Grand Traverse Bourbon that's at the core of their lineup is no exception in that regard. The award-winning spirit is all local, from the mash bill of 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley, down to the Michigan Great Lakes water that's used to bring it down to 92 proof. There's no chill filtering involved and the juice stays in new oak barrels for 3 years and 3 months. If that's what Michigan style stands for, then sign us up! 
  • Category Bourbon
  • Country United States
  • Region Michigan
  • Distillery Grand Traverse Distillery
  • Style Straight Bourbon Whiskey
  • Maturation New oak barrels
  • Alcohol 46%*
*please note that the ABV of this bottle may vary California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 WARNING.
Appearance / Color
Deep copper

Nose / Aroma / Smell
The corn can be felt on the nose along with some spice from the rye, the peppery kind. There's notes of vanilla, honey, and malt, as well as a hint of char.

Flavor / Taste / Palate
More rye spice reveals itself on the palate and is balanced by caramel sweetness and a hint of leather and tobacco.

Finish
The finish is smooth and ever so slightly warming. 
Flavor Spiral TM
About the Flavor Spiral
What does Grand Traverse Bourbon taste like?

The Flavor Spiral™ shows the most common flavors that you'll taste in Grand Traverse Bourbon and gives you a chance to have a taste of it before actually tasting it.

We invented Flavor Spiral™ here at Flaviar to get all your senses involved in tasting drinks and, frankly, because we think that classic tasting notes are boring.

Back to flavor spiral
  • caramel
  • rye
  • spicy
  • leather
  • tobacco
  • vanilla
  • honey
  • charred
  • malty
Dog Dogson's Smartass corner
Character Dogson

Speaking of breeding winner horses, two of Pinhook’s co-founders have horseracing in their DNA. Jamie Hill and Mike McMahon continue the tradition of their families as third-generation horsemen, owning a bloodstock agency and a thoroughbred racing company. Applying that knowledge to Whiskey just made sense.

Bourbon matures quicker than Scotch due to higher temperatures in American warehouses.
Straight Bourbon must be matured for at least 2 years. If a bottle has no age statement, it’s at least 4 years old.
"Remember that iconic poster from World War II showing Rosie the Riveter as a patriotic American woman doing her part for the war effort? Well, hundreds of businesses did their part too, and the Bourbon distillers stepped right up with ‘em.

Distilleries all over Kentucky and Tennessee were re-tooled to distill fuel alcohol and ferment penicillin cultures to treat wounded soldiers."

Limestone Branch Distillery, which produces Yellowstone Bourbon, also makes Minor Case Bourbon and Bowling & Burch Gin.

Pinhook’s high-proof Bourbon won Gold at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, while the Straight Rye Whiskey won Double Gold the following year. In 2021, their Bourbon War Vertical Series 5 Year and the 2021 Flagship Bourbon won a Gold Medal each, with a Double Gold going to their Tiz Rye Time Vertical Series 5 Year. Pinhook is evidently doing something right!

Similar drinks
Dog Dogson's Smartass corner
Character Dogson

Speaking of breeding winner horses, two of Pinhook’s co-founders have horseracing in their DNA. Jamie Hill and Mike McMahon continue the tradition of their families as third-generation horsemen, owning a bloodstock agency and a thoroughbred racing company. Applying that knowledge to Whiskey just made sense.

Bourbon matures quicker than Scotch due to higher temperatures in American warehouses.
Straight Bourbon must be matured for at least 2 years. If a bottle has no age statement, it’s at least 4 years old.
"Remember that iconic poster from World War II showing Rosie the Riveter as a patriotic American woman doing her part for the war effort? Well, hundreds of businesses did their part too, and the Bourbon distillers stepped right up with ‘em.

Distilleries all over Kentucky and Tennessee were re-tooled to distill fuel alcohol and ferment penicillin cultures to treat wounded soldiers."

Limestone Branch Distillery, which produces Yellowstone Bourbon, also makes Minor Case Bourbon and Bowling & Burch Gin.

Pinhook’s high-proof Bourbon won Gold at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, while the Straight Rye Whiskey won Double Gold the following year. In 2021, their Bourbon War Vertical Series 5 Year and the 2021 Flagship Bourbon won a Gold Medal each, with a Double Gold going to their Tiz Rye Time Vertical Series 5 Year. Pinhook is evidently doing something right!

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