Kentucky Peerless Straight Bourbon

Worth the wait — Kentucky Peerless Straight Bourbon is creamy, rich, and satisfying.

The current iteration of Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company came about just a few years ago in 2015. But the roots go WAY back to the late 1800s when an ancestor of the current owners — Henry Kraver — built a thriving business distilling some of the best American Whiskey around from their home base in Henderson, Kentucky. They would have continued operations had it not been for a temporary ban on distilling in World War I to preserve corn. Now owned by Corky Taylor and run by his son Carson and master distiller Caleb Kilburn, their Peerless Rye was declared one of the top 20 Whiskies in the world in 2017.

The Taylors have been making award-winning Rye Whiskey since they re-opened the doors in 2015. Their Kentucky Peerless Straight Bourbon — as they like to say — is the first Peerless Bourbon available without a prescription in more than 100 years. And it just might be worth the wait. It’s a four-year-old that was barreled at a lower proof (~107, which is 53.5% ABV). Bottling at a lower proof cost more but yields a richer, fuller flavor. Then the resulting Bourbon is bottled at cask strength — which over time and evaporation has increased to about 54.45% ABV. It’s worth noting that they do NOT use chill filtration, which really adds a lovely texture and mouth feel.