Iowa Distillery Cedar Ridge Showcases A 5 Year Bourbon

Another day and another boutique baby bourbon comes to market. Usually the age statement on the craft distillery releases in this category is just a year or three, but what’s just gone to bottle at Cedar Ridge Vineyards Winery & Distillery in Iowa has a very solid five years behind it.

The Cedar Ridge Reserve Bourbon Whiskey, until recently, was only available in a holiday gift pack from the distillery. There’s apparently enough of it in bottle now it can act as a standalone release, so Cedar Creek has done this, putting this five year expression into 375 ml bottles and pricing it for around $30 a pop.

Bottled at 86 proof, the bourbon has a rather interesting history, according to Cedar Ridge, in that it was produced “and placed in barrels to age right after the flood of 2008, which destroyed the distillery’s original location in Cedar Rapids.” It builds upon the distillery’s original Iowa Bourbon, which had been aged for a year and bottled at 80 proof.

Tasting notes from the distillery for this release indicate a rich and flavorful offering “with notes of vanilla, caramel and spice.”