Yellowstone Recollection Bourbon Review

I had the distinct pleasure of joining master distiller Stephen Beam of Limestone Branch and Yellowstone Whiskey for a virtual tasting of the new Yellowstone Recollection. What originally started as a distillery exclusive has evolved into a nationwide release.

For those who are unfamiliar with Mr. Beam (this is Kentucky, yes those Beams), who is a seventh generation Beam. Mr. Beam opened Limestone Branch with the vision of bringing back some of the “old brands” from his family heritage. Brands like Yellowstone and Minor Case. A fun piece of trivia, Yellowstone is the second oldest continuously sold whiskey in the United States behind Old Forester. You could purchase Yellowstone for “medicinal purposes” during prohibition. Making Yellowstone a very unique piece of the American Bourbon tapestry.

What makes Recollection different, and why it was brought back. The bottle itself is a throwback to the days when glass was rather expensive and hard to come by. As Mr. Beam explains it, bars used to buy barrels of whiskey and simply refill a bottle as necessary. The bottles on the back bar were thick glass with ornate paintings to draw customers eyes. Ultimately, as we know, as the barrels started to run out of whiskey, some bars would start to combine ‘other’ ingredients to stretch the whiskey just a little further.

Mr. Beam took inspiration from these old style back bar bottles when creating this bottle of whiskey. The ornate screen printed logo, hand filled bottles, and generally old style bottle stand out against on a bar/shelf. The bottle is carefully crafted and intention in every way. The whiskey is 8-years old which Mr. Beam describes as “very traditional” for a whiskey and “in a sweet spot” for bourbon.