Woodford Reserve Batch Proof Bourbon 2019 Release

Elite old-school Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

The Woodford Reserve Distillery (people born in the 1800s probably knew it as the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery) was established back in 1812 — which means it's older than lawn mowers or sewing machines. Now it belongs to the Kentucky-based behemoth Brown-Forman, and one of the numerous Spirits they produce is the eponymous Woodford Reserve, a top-class small batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, introduced to our palates in 1996. The distillery boasts with ancient copper pot stills and a century-old cypress wood fermenters. They also have one of the only heat cycled barrelhouses in the world, which gives the Spirits its legendary color and flavor.

Woodford Reserve Batch Proof is a limited affair of the standard version without dilution. It's the closest you'll get to sneaking inside the distillery and pouring the Bourbon straight from the barrel. Since the production uses continuous column style stills (your Irish Whiskey went through one), their batches are quite limited, so stocks of The Reserve are fortified with Bourbon from the distillery in Shively, the birthplace of Old Forester. It's an annual release, each year getting an innovative overhaul. The 2019 release comes from a select group of barrels and is an expression on a whole new level.