Let’s just put it right out there – not all bourbon in the USA is made in Kentucky. Many great craft distilleries around the country, such as Garrison Brothers out of Texas, have their own spins on this native American spirit. Another upstart operation as well, with what it terms a “California bourbon,” has just unveiled the second whiskey bottling in a running series that’s been proving hard to keep on store shelves.
The distillery, Sonoma County Distilling, has out in the wild right now its West of Kentucky Bourbon No. 2., pricing around $55 a bottle. This is a wheated bourbon offering, according to the distillery, combing into its mash bill American heartland grown corn, wheat and malted barley. The pot still this whiskey is made from is set over an open flame, interestingly, which is said to promote “high flavor over high alcohol” while also showcasing “the depth of this group of grains.”
New and used small barrels are used to age the whiskey for around a year, during which time it is influenced by “the daily coastal variations of Sonoma County’s climate” to create a bourbon said to have notes of “toasted vanilla, almond, toffee brittle, and coffee.”
As for what a California bourbon is, according again to the distillery, it seems to be a whiskey which “follows in the unyielding footsteps of our distilling forefathers while combining the intuitive nature of California.” What then does that make a Kentucky bourbon, I wonder?
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